54 TENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



the output of the valley will not supply one-tenth of the demand. If 

 the growers will co-operate in marketing they will find that they will 

 save the cost of competition and no one will deny that competition is 

 costly. Competition between the growers in the Bitter Root has in 

 the past reduced the price so low that apples did not bring nearly 

 what the market would have warranted. If co-operation in mar- 

 keting can be learned it will save this community thousands of dollars 

 per year. The cost of marketing will be considerably lowered and 

 a much wider field can be covered as market organizations can operate 

 over a larger territory and do it at much less expense than the 

 individual. 



Occasionally we hear the question asked, can an orchard be made 

 to pay if properly cared for? An incident which has been brought 

 to my attention this year is that "one grower was paid $546 net for 

 the Mcintosh which were produced on 100 six-year-old and 85 seven- 

 year-old trees. This' shows what may be done with orchards which 

 have been properly managed. After the good prices which have pre- 

 vailed this year it is to be expected that the orchardists will take better 

 care of their trees next year than ever before. They are coming to 

 the conclusion that orcharding may be a very profitable undertaking. 



At present we still have too many poor varieties in this valley. 

 The poor varieties, either on account of low quality or because of their 

 being unsuited to this section, can never become profita^ble. It has 

 been proved by experience that the Mcintosh and Wealthy are the 

 two best varieties to grow, while in some parts of the valley we may 

 add to this short list the Delicious and Rome Beauty. These vari- 

 eties grow profitably and are in demand at good prices. As soon 

 as we get the proper spirit of co-operation and have weeded out the 

 undesirable varieties the problem of marketing our apple crop need 

 give us no further worry. 



