o STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



THE OUTLOOK. 



There is one thing more of which I am prompted to speak, as 

 secretary of the society. It has been my pleasure several times 

 in the past to say more or less upon the same subject. It is the 

 outlook for fruit culture in Maine. I am not an optimist, by 

 any means, neither am I a pessimist, when I say that the outlook 

 is good. It is good in just the same sense as dairying or stock- 

 growing. In each, well-directed efforts in this State have paid 

 the farmers well. The richest farming towns in jNIaine are 

 those in which the most intelligent production of the dairy and 

 orchard have prevailed. They lead now and will continue to 

 lead in the future. 



Success here means no chance affair. It will come to him 

 Vv'hose skill and industry overcome the innumerable difficulties 

 by which fruit growing is beset. First of all, it does not mean 

 the setting of more trees but it does mean the most skillful cul- 

 ture of those now standing in our orchards. We have trees 

 enough until we know how to make them produce the best fruit. 

 The time has gone by when nature will fill our baskets without 

 effort on our part. There are two things involved in this — one 

 is to raise more fruit from our trees, and the other is to make 

 it better. It is with reference to these things that the program 

 for our present meeting was largely shaped — and the evidence 

 shown you on these points, I hope, will be conclusive. 



The second essential is to handle and market your fruits to 

 the best advantage. The eft'orts of several of our fruit growers 

 to organize an effective fruit growers' association for disposing 

 of our fruits did not meet with general approval. But the time 

 is coming when fruit growers will feel the need of such an 

 organization. The seed sown here will surely grow, and the 

 efforts will not have been in vain. In closing, I wish to empha- 

 size, under this head, the importance of offering for sale honest 

 fruit, i. e., fruit that in all respects shall be just as represented. 

 If it is No. I on the barrel head make the fruit so inside. It 

 will do no harm to sell No. 2 or No. 3 fruit, but scrupulous 

 honesty must prevent your getting the No. 2 or No. 3 into the 

 No. I barrel. This matter of packing is suggested by some 

 recent reports from the English markets, where scabby apples 



