STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIET'i . 93 



I want to say, as I have said once before today, that I think 

 we look too far away for our markets. In his famous lecture, 

 "Acres of Diamonds," Russell H. Conwell tells the story of the 

 man who, after a struggle with a refractory collar button, 

 invented the lever button and made a large fortune from the 

 royalties. He had been going around all his life with his for- 

 tune under his chin and couldn't see it. We farmers in New 

 England are something like that. We have the good markets 

 here, and they have the money to pay for quality. Let our 

 watchword be "Quality," so when any one buys a New England 

 grown article he will know that it will be fresh and good. And 

 don't put all your eggs in one basket. Grow small fruits along 

 with apples, so if your apples are a glut you will have some- 

 thing else to fall back upon. If we will put the best that is in 

 us into this thing to produce the best quality of fruit that we 

 are capable of producing, many of our farms may be turned into 

 "Acres of Diamonds." 



Question : What price do you get for blackberries and rasp- 

 berries ? 



Mr. Putnam : Down there we get about ten cents a quart 

 for blackberries. We have a market at home, where I am. My 

 red raspberries last season averaged right through the season 

 ten cents a pint. At the last I did sell some as low as seven 

 and a half cents when the peaches crowded them. It gives a 

 very good profit on raspberries, I assure you. 



Question : What varieties of grapes do you suggest for 

 Maine ? 



Mr. Putnam : I don't know the conditions. I am sure you 

 could plant the Green Mountain in this section and I think the 

 Moore's Early. I rather doubt if you could ripen the Concord 

 in many sections here. For a red grape I hardly know which 

 one to say. Your Experiment Station must be able to give you 

 information on varieties which I cannot give you. The Dela- 

 ware will ripen early if your soil suits it. The Brighton is the 

 best grape we grow. It is one of those grapes which are self- 

 sterile. That is something you should look out for; they 

 will not fertilize their own blossoms, but must have another 

 variety which is stronger. They produce pollen, but the trouble 

 seems to be that the pollen will not fertilize its own blossom. It 

 requires a different strain to fertilize it, so that the cross ferti- 



