14 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



into this State a large number of commission men from various 

 cities, and it brought also a number of buyers into the State 

 who purchased quite an amount of the crop ; but the lack of 

 proper transportation facilities, of refrigerator cars, prevented 

 buyers from a distance from handling as much of the crop 

 as they otherwise would have done. I know of buyers from 

 Central New York who came here, and in one instance a 

 buyer from Ohio, and one from Philadelphia, but, as I said 

 before, the lack of any provision for refrigerator cars prevented 

 those men from buying the fruit because they did not feel that 

 it could be safely marketed. And further than that, the lack 

 of transportation in connection with the Xew York market 

 was such that the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 

 could not give us any direct service within twenty-four 

 hours, or at least deliver the fruit the next morning after it 

 was picked, and this prevented much if any of the fruit going 

 to that market. There was a little of it that was sent by 

 express, and some of it went into the New York market by 

 steamers, but the bulk of the crop had to go to commission 

 men in Providence, Boston, Worcester and Springfield, and a 

 few smaller outlying towns in New England. As the result 

 of this lack of preparation the market in Hartford, Conn., 

 Springfield, Mass. and Providence. R. I. was overloaded 

 throughout the whole season, and the fruit sold there from 

 25 to 50 per cent, less than it did in other markets because 

 those markets were overloaded. 



That is about all I have to say, and I think that covers the 

 situation. Another season I think the situation will be decidedly 

 different. The volume of business in Connecticut was such as 

 to have attracted the attention of the refrigerator car line 

 people, and the next season, if there is any fruit crop here, both 

 of the large refrigerator car lines of the country will be pre- 

 pared with a stock of ice in the State, and with cars enough to 

 handle the business, and there will be a chance for wider dis- 

 tribution to better markets, and with the consequent better 

 prices to the growers. Our New Haven railroad will also plan 

 to take our fruit, and get it into the New York market. Not 

 to lay it down there the next morning, but to get it there by 

 midnight. It must be there by midnight so as to be ready early 

 for distribution the following morning. I can assure you that 



