Popular Fruit Growing, 



CHAPTER I. 



FACTORS THAT MAKE UP A GOOD FRUIT-GROWING SEC- 

 TION. 



Accessibility. — One of the first requisites for success in fruit 

 growing is ready communication with a good market. This may 

 be obtained by nearness to the market itself, or to shipping facili- 

 ties where transportation to the market centers may be had at 

 reasonable rates. Water communication is often better than 

 rail, especially for those kinds of fruits that are easily injured 

 by rough handling. Two or more competing lines of communica- 

 tion generally tend to give the shipper better service than when 

 one road has the monopoly. Accessibility is of the first impor- 

 tance though it Vvill not entirely take the place of suitable soil 

 conditions; however, it may sometimes make it profitable to use 

 an inferior soil. The distance which fruit can be hauled with 

 safety or profit depends largely on the nature of the product 

 itself. The apple grower can afford to be farther from shipping 

 facilities fhan the peach or berry grower, as his fruit is less 

 likely to be damaged in hauling. Growers of perishable fruits 

 should not be more than two or three miles from a shipping 

 station. 



Good wagon roads make it easy to get to market quickly 

 •with large loads of produce in good condition and form a very 

 important factor in the development of any fruit section. 



If the location is so far from the consumer that the produce 

 must be sTiipped by a common carrier it is important that enough 

 fruit be raised in the section to make the business of handling 

 and shipping it one of sufficient importance to command special 

 attention from the carrier and the buyers, so as to make it a 

 place where buyers will go for fruit. In starting a fruit industry 



M C. Stait Collet 



