SfXTF.nxril ANNUAL MEETING. 59 



Prfsident Eddy: I now wish to introduce to you Mr. 

 E. Cyrus Miller of 1 laxdenville, Mass., owner of Hillside 

 Orchards. Mr. Miller is a near neighbor of ours and as he has 

 to deal with conditicMis \-ery similar to our own we should 

 learn nnich fr(jni his remarks. 



The Profitable HandUng of a New England Apple Orchard. 



By E. Cyrus Mill?:r of Haydenville. Mass. 



Afr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : While we 

 in New England have not attained the remarkable re- 

 sults that our fellow orchardists of Colorado and Oregon 

 have in line of profitable fruit growing, nevertheless, I am 

 firmly con\-inced that the next few years will witness a marked 

 impro\-ement in the methods of management of our orchard 

 lands and results will be obtained that were never dreamed of 

 a few years since. Admitting all the difficulties, that we have 

 to overcome, such as the increasing prevalence of insect and 

 ftingtis pests, and that even more difficult proposition, the 

 labor problem, nevertheless I am filled with optimism when I 

 consider the quality of our soil and the character of our climate 

 and our rapidly expanding markets, — these forming a trinity 

 of advantages, which is not surpassed, if equalled, in any 

 other section of our countiy- AAdiile our rough and rugged 

 old New England may not be the "garden spot of the world," 

 nevertheless, there are some of us who know that our fertile 

 fields and sunny slopes, sheltered perchance by virgin forests 

 or towering mountains, provide an environment for the suc- 

 cessful culture of that monarch of all fruit, the apple. To 

 sustain ni}- contention that apple culture may be one of the 

 most profitable lines of work, both in regard to financial re- 

 turns and as a healthful and pleasant occupation, I would 

 affirm that the most valuable acre of land devoted to agricul- 

 ture within our borders, excepting only such high priced land 

 lying close to our large cities and devoted to the intensive 

 market garden industr}-, is the acre occupied by the well fed, 

 scientifically pruned apple orchard. When one sees 9.S barrels 

 of apples taken from three trees, 95 per cent of which were 

 marketable apples, it begins to show the possibilities there are 



