418 BOAKD OF AGEICULTUEE. 



labor in their cultivation and in preparing the crop for mar- 

 ket ; but if near any of the cities or large towns affording a 

 ready market, they may be made an important item on the 

 farmer's balance sheet at the close of the year. 



When a number of individuals, either as a firm or an 

 incorporated body, propose to go into any manufacturing 

 enterpeise, their first inquiries are, what are the facilities 

 for producing the goods which they propose to make, what 

 are the advantages of location as regards the raw material 

 and markets for the product, what the probable demand and 

 supply, what may reasonably be expected as profit. Tried 

 by these tests, the cultivation of fruit deserves the careful 

 consideration of the farmers of Massachusetts. With many 

 advantages of soil and climate for producing the fruits that 

 enter most largely into general consumption ; with every 

 advantagre of location as reg-ards both the home demand and 

 foreign markets ; with thousands of acres of cheap and at 

 present unproductive laud admirably adapted to the culti- 

 vation of fruit ; with a demand for home consumption con- 

 stantly increasing, and a foreign market yet in its infancy 

 but susceptible of indefinite extension, — there would seem to 

 be no reason why fruit should not become one of the leading 

 agricultural products of the State. 



