STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 69 



RESPONSE. 



By D. H. KxowLTOX. 



I have listened with deep interest to the cordial welcome 

 extended to us by Mr. Aloore, and I assure you I fully appreci- 

 ate this welcome, for the good people of Winthrop are earnest 

 in whatever they set themselves about. Then again there is a 

 peculiar feeling that comes over the members of the society, for 

 as we are told by the speaker, we are to-day once more in the 

 cradle of infancy. Yes, we are once more back to the place of 

 our birth, no longer babes wrapped in swaddling clothes as 

 you sent us forth many years ago, but strong in the strength of 

 vigorous manhood. When our labors were begun here there 

 were only a few men in Winthrop who were growling fruit for 

 market; to-day there are nearly 300 Winthrop farmers who have 

 surplus fruits in their cellars. More than this we find that the 

 good old town of Winthrop raised about 27,000 barrels of apples 

 in 1896. What is true of this town is also true of other towns in 

 the State, so that at this time there are many thousand barrels of 

 apples in the State ready for the market. When our work 

 began as a society the market was only a local market, that is, 

 a market in this country, but so widespread has fruit culture 

 become in the United States that although the local market is 

 large it is not sufficient to consume all our fruit, and the indica- 

 tions are that approaching three million barrels of apples will go 

 to foreign markets. In this it may be well for us to note that 

 when our Maine apples get there in prime condition they lead 

 the list, and right here there comes in the prospect of finding a 

 good market for our fruit at all times. Give the Maine apple a 

 fair chance and place it in the hands of honest packers and we 

 have nothing to fear. The low prices of fruit this year may be a 

 sort of blessing in disguise, for it gives thousands of people in 

 remote parts of Europe an opportunity to test the merits of our 

 fruit in their own homes. So it is in the markets the higher we 

 get the broader is the horizon. With lower freights and 

 improved facilities for storing and shipping fruit, more and more 

 the markets of the world are going to be open for Maine fruit. 



