82 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



fruit exhibit at the Trans-Mississippi and International 

 Exposition at Omaha, in which Illinois is represented as 

 the home of the big red apple, with 400,000 acres in apple 

 orchards, and 20,000,000 apple trees." Missouri, Arkansas, 

 and Kansas are setting out more apple trees than Illinois. 

 Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee are 

 all in the business of orcharding. Millions of trees are 

 yearly being planted in these states, and unless the farmers 

 of New England wake up, and that soon, the western 

 fruit-growers will wrest from us the only crop we can raise 

 to compete with them at a profit. 



All the facts go to show that orcharding in Connecticut 

 may be made to pay. That an acre of orchard may be 

 made to pay, on an average, from $150 to $300 a year, 

 after the trees are six years old, facts go to prove. How 

 an orchard should be treated to give an annual profit of 

 from ^150 to $300 is a subject for another paper. You 

 will all admit that we do grow apples, even here in Con- 

 necticut, without care ; and with care we do not know how 

 fine we can grow them, or what profits may be realized 

 from so growing them. 



If, then, we can grow superior apples here, the question 

 is, "How can we grow them so as to meet and destroy 

 the western and southern competition which is sure to 

 pour in upon us, as with other farm crops ?" My answer is, 

 "By co-operation, or combination, on business principles; 

 and, for successful orcharding, it must be the business of 

 the farmers." The strong competition in almost every 

 business is causing combinations or trusts to be formed, 

 so as to lessen the cost of production, supply the goods 

 cheaper to the consumer, and yet give a larger profit to 

 the producer of the goods. 



To reach the most profitable results, orcharding must be 

 followed in the same way. Co-operation, or combination, 

 is the only way to lessen the cost of producing the apples, 

 and at the same time of increasing the profits. The ad- 

 vantages of co-operation are as follows : 



First : A few skilled or expert men, such as farmers 

 singly could not afford to hire, could be emplo3'ed for the 

 company. In this, a saving for expert labor would be 



