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I am quite sure that on© of the first things you would ask him 

 would be I What is your training and experience with fruit? Probably most 

 fruit growers would suggest some agricultural school or college course, 

 coupled with actual work in an orchard as a preliminary. 



The grower might then turn to some of the difficulties of orchard- 

 ing so that the young ■veteran would have a thorough understanding of the type 

 of business he was thinking of entering. It is not easy to get a start in 

 orcharding, he would say. In the first place, h© must have a good-sized 

 orchard - 20 acres of bearing trees at least - in order to handle it effi- 

 ciently. The equipment is expensive and unless you have a good sprayer and 

 ■imilar tools you will never be able to grow good fruit. Thus the original 

 investment in a good bearing orchard is sure to be large. On the other hand, 

 it takes a long time for young trees to come into real bearing. This makes 

 it hard to start on a small scale, for one must vmit too many years before 

 there is a profitable income. 



However, the general outlook is favorable. We can look forward 

 with considerable confidence to a period of good times when most people are 

 working and can afford to pay g.iod prices for apples. It may well be a 

 period of reward for the established orchardlst, but undoubtedly this same 

 orchardist would caution the veteran that to profit by these prospective 

 good times he must have plenty of espies to sell. If he were to reverse the 

 process and spend the years of good times in building up an orchard, he would 

 have to pay for it during a less profitable period, if such a time should 

 come. 



Therefore, to the veteran who may be considering coming back to 

 his farm orchard, all of this would have its advantages. Even this veteran 

 should give his home place as careful appraisal as though he were buying a 

 new one. The size of the farm, soil, location, prevalence of frost, number 

 of trees, equipment, living conditions and financial arrangements should 

 all enter into his decision, for they all will have an effect for many years 

 upon his income. 



To come back to the m n who is starting in on a new place, without 

 doubt the established grower would emphasize to him the need of having an 

 immediate source of income. This might come from a large block of bearing 

 apple trees. It might come from some other farm enterprise, or it might 

 come from some type of work off the farm, but it must be large enough to 

 pay the family living expenses and aleo the costs of developing the farm 

 or orchard for larger future profits. If a veteran can get started on that 

 basis, he will have a solid foundation under his business for the years ahead. 



We shall, without doubt, have a large group of veterans in our next 

 generation of fruit growers. I think w© can expect too that our present fruit 

 growers, rather than professional counselors, ^re the ones who will give these 

 veterans the sound advice and the training that will get them off to a good 

 start, 



— James W. Dayton 



