126 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



(and perhaps I would show better judgment to neglect it this after- 

 noon) and that is the question of whether we shall plant or not. 

 I am talking, of course, especially from the commercial stand- 

 point. There is no question about planting for home use. Every 

 one should do that. But I do feel that there is quite a question 

 on the matter of commercial plantations. I have no doubt that 

 in this audience there are a great many people who have an orchard, 

 or who want one. If that is not true this is a very unusual Massa- 

 chusetts audience. 



I therefore want to give you my experience yesterday in my office 

 in Amherst. I went back to my office after dinner and was met 

 by one of my short-course men, a graduate of Harvard, who wanted 

 to get some advice on what part of the State to locate in. After 

 he had gone a young lady came in who had a brother who had 

 graduated from Harvard and she wanted to know where this 

 young man could be placed so that he could learn orcharding. 

 I gave her as good advice as I could and she went out. After she 

 had gone a young man came in, a senior in Yale, who came 

 up with the special object of talking over orchardizing with me. 

 He said he was going into orcharding on a large scale. I talked 

 the matter over with him and gave him what advice I could, try- 

 ■ ing to make him realize the difficulties, but when he left the office 

 he was of the same opinion. I told him that he ought at least to 

 have a foreman who was well up in the business. About ten 

 minutes after he left a traveling man came in, or at least I 

 think he is still a traveling man, and I know he had been. He 

 had already bought a farm, so that it was no use to discourage 

 him, and I gave him as good advice as I could, and sent him 

 away as happy as it was possible for me to do. That is a sample 

 of what I did yesterday. I also dictated seven or eight letters to 

 people who were in the same predicament. This is why I think 

 that we ought seriously to consider that side of the question. I 

 dislike to take this stand, because I have been very enthusiastic 

 in the matter of orcharding, and I still am. As you may know, 

 I have an orchard, and I am afraid that the people may think 

 I want the market for myself. Of course I want a share of it 

 but I do not want it all. 1 still believe that for people who under- 

 stand the business or go into it in the right way, orcharding is 

 the best branch of farming. 



