Xo. 4.] COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING. 35 



ing' fniit, else Ave should not have a(l<)])ted horticulture as a 

 profession; and personallv J believe that then^ is no better 

 country in the world than right here in Massachusetts in 

 which to engage in the business. 



In the first place, ]\rassacliusetts can grow fruit of the 

 very highest quality. We can't grow as good Ben Davis as 

 they can in Colorado and Missouri (and personally I wish 

 that we would stop trying to), but no country in the world 

 can beat us on Baldwins and Greenings and Hubbardstons 

 and a dozen other similar varieties, if we will only take 

 care of our orchards. And while in the past anything has 

 sold that was red and had the shape of an apple, yet as 

 competition increases, and as people become educated up to 

 an appreciation of what an apple ought to be, quality is go- 

 ing to count more and more, and Massachusetts will have 

 more and more advantage, if she will only take it. 



In ihe second ])lace, we are right in the midst of the l)est 

 markets in the world. There are 23,000,000 people within 

 a radius of oOO -miles fnmi the sj)ot where we now stand, 

 and no equal number of people anywhere on the globe has 

 a larger proportion who spend money freely for just such 

 necessary luxuries as fruit. 



But this nearness to markets is both an advantage and a 

 disadvantage. It is an advantage, because we can get our 

 fruit to market cheaply and quickly, and when we come to 

 compete with Oregon, we ought to have the difference in 

 freight and express as a lever on our side. But it is also 

 a disadvantage, because we are so close to those markets 

 that every man in Massachusetts who has a barrel of wind- 

 fall apples sends them to market, in the hope of getting 

 something for them; and though he usually realizes on this 

 hope, yet sometimes he doesn't, and in any case, whether he 

 gets anything out of it or not, he gives a "' black eye '' to 

 Massachusetts fruit in general which it is often difficult to 

 overcome. One of our greatest needs at the present time is 

 to devise some scheme to keep poor fruit out of the market. 

 Of course the ideal remedy for. this is not to grow poor fruit, 

 but until we arrive there, what are we to do ? 



In the third place, we took up orcharding on the scale on 



