igS THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



leather shoes on, and he presents a card saying he is ]\Ir. 

 Catchem from Philadelphia, and is a memher of the commis- 

 sion firm of Catchem & Spendem ; is there any harm in your 

 being able to recognize that man and saying to him: "I have 

 heard of you, you operated in Missouri, and our fruit grow- 

 ers' association has been informed that you bought fruit and 

 didn't pay for it." Is there any harm in knowing that? Sup- 

 pose this Pomological Society of Connecticut wants to buy 

 twenty thousand trees this coming spring to plant ; suppose 

 you go to a nurseryman and say, "I have got an order here 

 for twenty thousand trees, and that is all the trees the Con- 

 necticut people are going to plant because they are all in ovir 

 society, and this is a combined order for our people.'' How 

 much do you suppose you would have to pay for those trees? 

 Wouldn't your nurseryman let you have them for consider- 

 ably less than 25 or 50 per cent, oft"? We have been doing 

 that; we bought fifty thousand trees this last fall, and I would 

 be ashamed to tell you how much we paid for them, because 

 I got into trouble once for stating how much they cost, to a 

 nurseryman, for he said they couldn't be grown for that. 

 There is no use of talking, there is danger of overdoing the 

 fruit business and overdoing the apple business ; but it is the 

 fellows like Hale and Goodwin wdio are going to overdo it, 

 and they are going to beat out the small man, not because 

 they can grow any better apples, but because they are going 

 to keep posted, because they are going to standardize the 

 goods. There is no reason why you shouldn't standardize 

 your apples, and the small growers will have to get together, 

 — if they don't, they will get left. I don't w^ant any bad fruit to 

 go to market, because that hurts the prices of good fruit; 

 but the more good fruit you send to the market* the better I 

 will like it. and the more bad fruit you send makes it worse 

 ofif for everybody. I w'as reading on your program the 

 objects stated for your organization. Well, that is a good 

 thing ; but if you want a business organization, 5'ou will have 

 to get closer together than your Pomological Society. It won't 

 do to let every man come into your business organization 

 and go out just as quick as he w^ould like ; you must give up 

 some of your privileges for the common good, and you must 



