40 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



4. "Finall}- and in short, to collect and tabulate such 

 a mass of data upon practical fruit growing as 

 will place many moot questions beyond the 

 range of peradventure. . . . '' * 

 A shrewd business man, before investing liis money in any 

 business will make in(|uir}' in regard to supply and demand. 

 \\diile it is true that large quantities of fruit are annually 

 exported it is chiefly to the home market that we must look for 

 the future of the fruit industry. In no country in the world is- 

 there such a demand for fresh fruit. Fruit in most countries 

 is considered a luxur}- and is only eaten by people of means. 

 In America this is not the case. Here fruit has come to be a 

 necessity and the great fruit market of the world is the Ameri- 

 can workingman. We need only to look to census reports to 

 realize the growing demand for fresh fruit. The value of 

 orchard fruits have increased from ?>?> cents per capita in 1850 

 to $1.11 per capita in 1900. If the small fruits were included 

 the \alue would be very much higher. We must make allow- 

 ance, however, for the fact that a larger proportion of the fruit 

 is now^ exported than in 1850. The demand is increasing more 

 rapidly than fruit trees are being planted. I merely mention 

 this is passing that you may see that the fruit business is a safe 

 proposition as far as supply and demand are concerned. 



How THK Work is Conducted. 



One or more inspectors are sent into the field equipped with 

 soil augers, cameras, and specially prepared note books for 

 collecting information regarding age, fertilization, tillage, 

 spraying, past and present troubles, yields, markets, prices, etc. 

 Each inspector makes a close examination of the soil and takes 

 observations on the site, aspect, and general conditions of the 

 orchard. Every orchard of five acres or more in a given area 

 is examined. As the re})orts come in from the inspectors they 

 are carefullv classified — tilled or untilled. pastured or not pas- 

 tured, si)rayed or not sprayed, etc. By pitting all the orchards 

 managed in one way against all the orchards managed in some 

 other way, fairly reliable conclusions ma\' l)e drawn. (See 

 sample report. ) 



* John. Craig, Cornell Exp. Sta. Rul. •_'()(!. p. •2:il {VM)W). 



