No. 4.] FRUIT GROWING. 89 



Here is another part of the story. Mj boxes cost me 

 three and a half cents apiece. The market men who han- 

 dled them were also handling other fruit, and pretty soon 

 inferior fruit came hack packed in my boxes, because my 

 name was on them. The men who brouijht the inferior 

 fruit to the market knew exactly what they were doing. I 

 only mention this in connection with what Mr. Hale has 

 said. Pack your fruit honestly. A good name is the best 

 capital you can have. 



Then another thing. Don't spread out too thin. That is 

 the trouble with a great many fruit growers in New Eng- 

 land. They try to grow thirty or forty varieties of pears, 

 to make a great spread on the tables at agricultural 

 fairs, and carry off the premiums for the greatest number of 

 specimens of fruit. Cut yourselves down to half a dozen, 

 and then grow them to perfection. I would give more for a 

 dozen fine Beurre Bosc pears than I would for a bushel of a 

 good many other varieties. Grow the best fruits, put them 

 up honestly, and your reputation is made in the matter of 

 growing fruit. 



Mr. McIntosh. The speaker this afternoon has stated 

 that he had an order for some apples at from two dollars to 

 two dollars and a half a barrel, and fifty cents a l)arrel less 

 for farmers' packings. I have noticed that there has been 

 some improvement in the method of packing apples, but 

 there is room for a great deal more. There is nothins; that 

 spoils an apple quicker than getting a bruise on it ; it does 

 not have the natural flavor. It is not possible to have apples 

 retain their flavor after they are bruised. 



The Chairman. Will Mr. Hadwen of Worcester give 

 us the results of his experience ? I presimie he has grown 

 more fruit for home consumption, especially, than any man 

 around Worcester. 



Mr. O. B. Hadwen. I feel incapable of adding anything 

 to what has been said this afternoon in relation to fruit 

 growing. It is true that I have had a little experience in 

 handling all kinds of fruit, — apples, pears, peaches and 

 small fruits, — and I have taken a great deal of satisfaction 

 during my farm experience in the fact that I have been able 

 to grow fruits more or less. 



