No. 4.] FRUIT GROWING. 219 



fruit grower is unusually free from a shortage of labor is be- 

 cause he is so near to the great centers of immigration. Many 

 large growers, for example, make it a regular practice to keep 

 in touch with the Italian consul in New York, and in such rush 

 seasons as the time of picking apples or peaches, secure through 

 him a supply of extra laborers. Others, who employ a large 

 number of men throughout the season, go to the consul in the 

 spring and secure regular men for the entire season. 



There seems to be no reason to expect this labor situation to 

 change, and any fruit grower who has ever faced a shortage 

 of labor, who has seen his fruit rotting on the trees or on the 

 ground, will appreciate the feeling of security which this labor 

 supply brings. 



The fourth contention, as to good markets, really needs little 

 evidence to sustain it. The mere fact that every other orchard 

 section in the country is looking to our markets as the best 

 outlet for its products is fairly good proof that they are satis- 

 factory to the fruit growers of other sections. And if the 

 orchard man in Virginia, 500 miles away, finds them acceptable, 

 and still more, if the fruit growers of Oregon and Washington, 

 nearly 3,000 miles away, consider them worth while, they cer- 

 tainly ought to prove so to the Massachusetts fruit grower 

 who could not locate more than 125 miles from them if he 

 wanted to. 



There is no section in the country where there are so many 

 people per square mile as right here in this northeastern corner 

 of the country. That in itself is of great importance. But 

 more important still is the fact that nearly all of these people 

 are nonproduoers of foodstuffs. They are mechanics, mill 

 operatives and operators, and professional men. .Many of 

 them are well paid, and most of them spend their money freely. 

 In most other farming sections practically every one is growing 

 the same kind of products, so that the local market is a negli- 

 gible quantity; but here in Massachusetts every village and 

 small town has its manufacturing plant, with the result that 

 oftentimes these small places offer exceptional opportunities 

 to the man who locates near them and who produces a really 

 high-class article in either fruit or vegetables. 



If we grant, then, that the fruit grower of Massachusetts 



