HORTICULTURE 129 



follows that general of staple products find their best outlet in the 

 general and open markets; special and accessory products find their 

 only outlet in particular and personal markets. 



This law is well illustrated in the market for glass-house prod- 

 ucts. Persons wonder that there should be sale for forced straw- 

 berries after the southern-grown product is in the market; but the 

 fact is that one does not compete with the other. They are not 

 purchased by the same parties. There is a market for glass- 

 house produce and a market for field-grown produce; if the 

 glass-house produce is offered in the other market the prices are not 

 sufficient to pay the cost. Shall apples be grown on free stocks or 

 on dwarfs? Whichever is liked; but with the dwarf -grown fruit 

 one cannot compete in the open market. One cannot afford to sell 

 dwarf -grown apples in barrels; such apples cost too much to raise. 

 One cannot afford to grow Baldwin or Ben Davis on dwarfs, for 

 apples thus grown cannot compete with large-tree orchards ; and the 

 gain in quality (due to the better care) of such low-quality varieties 

 when grown on dwarfs, costs more than it is worth. The dessert 

 apples can be profitably grown, perhaps, on dwarfs, provided they 

 are put into a dessert market. The staples may be sold to the itiner- 

 ant buyer, but the special products must be handled by the producer 

 or his agent. Many grow fruit, but miss the market ! These facts 

 respecting the two classes of products and markets are the most im- 

 perative lessons for the American fruit-grower to learn. The for- 

 eign market may be expected to increase. European consumers de- 

 sire our fruit. It is handsome, uniform, and much of it is of excel- 

 lent quality. It is also well packed ; or, rather, that which is not well 

 packed does not reach the discriminating consumer. The English 

 are now well acquainted with American apples, and fruit-buyers on 

 the Continent, particularly in Germany, are learning to know them. 

 The foreign market is only fairly opened ; it is not yet supplied. It 

 is believed that the European fruit-growers cannot compete with the 

 American in general-market fruit and they are looking for a growing 

 trade in American produce. As exportation increases the more dis- 

 criminating the foreign market will become. Greater and greater 

 attention must be given to packing and grading, selection of varieties, 

 and particularly to good tillage, thinning and spraying; for spraying 

 gives a better keeping as well as a sounder fruit. 



There are good and bad years in fruit-growing, as there are in 

 manufacturing or store-keeping. The fruit-growers should go into 

 the business, therefore, as a long-time or more or less permanent 

 undertaking, expecting to become more adept each year. He should 

 then distinguish the type of market for which he desires to grow. If 

 he is to compete in the general open markets he must work on a com- 

 paratively large base. The man who has only a small area will gen- 

 erally do best in the growing of special things if he have sufficient 

 skill for personal markets. As a people, Americans are not diverse 

 enough in fruit-growing. Too many aim at the general, common 

 market. It seems that success in the general metropolitan and export 

 markets is to be more and more secured bv large-area fruit-farming, 



