STATIC POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 27 



required to do so by law that the industry may be protected 

 and fostered. The end must be reached and you members of 

 this society may well outline the policy of action. 



The place the bee occupies in the economy of apple produc- 

 tion is not appreciated. If we would have complete fertiliza- 

 tion of the blossoms the friendship of the bees must be culti- 

 vated. The reason for their absence in many localities calls 

 for investigation. Whether due in part to the continued use of 

 arsenical preparations in spraying or not. the cause should be 

 found and removed. 



In the decrease in number of song and other birds seen about 

 the homes, fields and orchards, there is another cause for anxi- 

 ety. From a purely economic standpoint the presence of these 

 friends of the farmer, in largest possible number, becomes a 

 necessity. 



Why have they failed to appear? What can we do to call 

 them back? Here again we touch the problem of spraying so- 

 lutions and it is one to be critically considered. The chief com- 

 petitors of the New England orchardist in the next ten years 

 will be the growers of the extreme West. After that the field 

 of competition will broaden as the middle South and West in- 

 crease their fruit crop. Certain climatic conditions and the 

 geographical location naturally give the New England grower 

 an advantage. He is, and always will be, from one to two 

 thousand miles nearer the best European markets than the 

 large growers of the West. At the same time as improved 

 methods of caring for and shipping fruit multiply this natural 

 advantage will become of less and less significance under meth- 

 ods now^ prevailing. 



Stringent laws rigidly enforced in the extreme West, coupled 

 with methods of care and fertilization peculiar to that section 

 have resulted in putting upon the markets of the world fruit 

 of remarkable size, beauty and uniformity. That it lacks in 

 texture and flavor is as yet a minor consideration. What pleases 

 the eye satisfies the purchaser. The lesson must be self evi- 

 dent. New England fruit can be grown as smooth, as sound, 

 as uniform as that from the arid and irrigated regions and the 

 measure of color we can insure is still an undetermined factor. 

 Let us not forget to carry in mind the fact that we can supply 

 in quality what can not be equalled in warmer latitudes. The 



