92 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



of our fruits, and shows why one man makes a success 

 where another makes a failure. 



When setting apple trees, it has been my practice to 

 plant peach trees between them, which, in my case, has 

 proved profitable, the cost of cultivation being only a little 

 more than when apples alone are planted. 



Some may fear that if fruit is extensively planted here 

 in New England, our markets will be overstocked, and that 

 prices will drop to a point below the cost of production. 

 I, for one, do not fear this for choice fruit, well grown and 

 properly handled. It is the poor and improperly handled 

 fruit that will not pay. 



As an example of how good fruit may be injured by 

 improper handling, let me give you an experiment that I 

 made when at the Missouri Experiment Station. I had six 

 barrels of Ben Davis apples carefully picked and divided 

 into two lots of three barrels each. One lot was sorted, 

 making two barrels of No. i fruit and one barrel of No. 2 

 fruit ; the other three barrels were not sorted beyond the 

 throwing out of worthless apples. The two lots were marked 

 so that they could be known. I then went to a dealer and 

 asked him to put me up three barrels of Ben Davis and 

 deliver them at the depot, barreled and ready for shipping. 

 I saw these apples before they were put up ; when picked 

 from the trees they were as good as the other two lots. 

 The three lots were sent to a commission house in St. 

 Louis, with the request that each of the three lots should 

 be examined and sold on its merits. The first lot returned 

 me $6.30, or $2.10 per barrel; the second lot S5.40, or 

 $1.80 per barrel; the third lot $4.20, or $1.40 per barrel. 

 Thus I received 30 cents per barrel for simply sorting the fruit 

 as it should be, and 70 cents more per barrel for fruit properly 

 handled, sorted and packed, than I did for fruit equally as 

 good when picked, but bruised and dirty from improper 

 handling. 



We have here the reason why one man can sell his 

 fruit at a profit, while another is compelled to sell at a loss. 



If, in giving you this paper, I have shown that upon our 

 hills fruit can be grown at a profit when properly handled, 

 and there are any here who enjoy caring for trees and 



