20 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



it is harvested. The old method of the farmers in Maine was 

 to take the apples into the cool, damp cellars, which were found 

 under a great man}- of the homes on the farms, — put them 

 into the bins where they were kept till such time as the fa/mer 

 had the opportunity to take them to market, a few at a time, 

 as the entire crop of most farms could be put into bins in small 

 cellars. But this period is passed, as the most of the farmers 

 who have any orcharding worthy of special consideration have 

 more fruit than can be kept housed and cared for in such a 

 way. More than this, the most of these cellars that were once 

 damp and cool, now have furnaces placed in them for the 

 heating of the house, so that they become dry and this is not 

 a fit place to keep fruit in. Consequently, to my mind, one of 

 the most important questions before the orchardist of Maine 

 is the place in which to keep his apples until the market calls 

 for them. There are plenty of apples throughout the middle 

 states for the fall and early winter consumption, but after 

 January these apples have mostly disappeared, and the Maine 

 apple is in competition with the Oregon and Washington apple 

 in all the markets of the East. The western apple grower has 

 provided for the care of his apple through methods of cold stor- 

 age in the large cities which provide for the keeping of them 

 until such time as the market demands them. 



The Maine apple has no provision whatever made for it. ex- 

 cept through the buyers who come into the State in the fall, 

 make their own bid for the apples, and carry them off, as the 

 farmers are obliged to sell for almost anything they can get, 

 for the reason that they have no place in which to care for 

 them. These buyers use cold storage plants in the large cities, 

 or ship them abroad. The Maine farmer or apple grower in 

 most cases has no choice in the matter of the disposition of his 

 apples. He can let them rot on the ground or sell them to 

 some speculator for just what he will give him for them. 

 Hence, the next step toward advancing the interests of the 

 apple growers in the State is some manner and place for hand- 

 ling this crop. The Aroostook farmers have made large potato 

 houses on their own farms, which give them a certain inde- 

 pendence in regard to their potato crops. When they first 

 commenced to raise potatoes, they were absolutely at the mercy 

 of the buyer. With a place in which to keep them, they can 



