DISCUSSION OF FRUIT CULTURE. 



March 2, 1912. 



The meeting held at Horticultural Hall today was devoted to a 

 general discussion of the subject of fruit growing. Edward B. 

 Wilder, Chairman of the Committee on Lectures, presided and there 

 were also present, as principal speakers, Mr. Wilfrid Wheeler of 

 Concord, Massachusetts; Professor F. C. Sears of the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College; Professor B. S. Pickett of the New 

 Hampshire College, Durham; and Mr. Harold L. Frost of Arling- 

 ton, Massachusetts. 



A stenographic report of the meeting is given herewith. 



THE FRUIT QUESTION. 



By Wilfrid Wheeler, Concord, Mass. 

 With Stereopticon Illustrations. 



In the great movement countryward which has been upon our 

 minds so much of late years the fruit question has taken a very 

 important part, for with this great question of country life opened, 

 it has been necessary to give people who are going back to our 

 farms a sure and safe means of livelihood, and no branch of agri- 

 culture or horticulture has offered better inducement for a good 

 living on the farm than fruit growing. New Englanders have seen 

 the beautiful western apple come with its fine color, large size, 

 and splendid package, and take our market by storm. Hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars have gone from New England to the pockets 

 of our western growers, almost before we knew it, while still greater 

 amounts have gone from the East to the West for investments in 

 western fruit lands; while had such sums been devoted to the 

 development of our country, the East would now have been in the 



