72 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



best that can be grown : I began 22 years ago with these inten- 

 tions, and have endured 20 years longer than some of my friends 

 and neighbors predicted at the start, and that in spite of the 

 fact that I have been working on a rocky, heavy, clay soil on 

 a farm situated from 150 to 200 miles from all the best markets. 



If brother Hale had given up the year before he struck his 

 first big crop of peaches, I fear the birth of this valuable Society 

 would have been delated many years, and there would have 

 been several hundred thousand less peach and other fruit trees 

 than there are now upon many of the hills, and in many of 

 the valleys of Connecticut. In Massachusetts to-day it is very 

 essential that we have a love for the business, are walling to 

 work, and are not content to stop short of the top. The top 

 is something which keeps getting higher as competition increases 

 and the insects and plant diseases become more difficult to 

 handle. Our business is now in such a situation that it requires 

 constant watchfulness and study through the entire season. 



Sixth— Profitable small fruit culture : the profits in this as 

 in other lines of business often depend much on the supply and 

 demand. Some 12 or more years ago Hale Brothers were put- 

 ting up "Yankee Jam" from the last pickings of their red 

 raspberries because of low prices and people getting tired 

 of the fruit. I put up nearly a ton one year rather than sell 

 the fruit at 10 or 12 cents per quart. I have here three photo- 

 graphs of a field of Cuthbert raspberries taken July ist, 190T. 

 or about three weeks before picking. The fruit from this field 

 last season sold at 19^4 cents net f.o.b., and the year before that 

 at iyy2 cents net f.o.b. For the entire crop there were no com- 

 missions paid or other expenses to come out of the amount 

 received. The first shipments brought 20 cents in Boston and 

 the last two crates 24 cents wholesale. The field is six years old. 

 You will notice the perfect foliage, and while the canes are tied 

 close to the stakes, shading them completely from the sun's hot 

 rays, the fruit is all on the surface of the hills, getting all the 

 sunlight possible to make color and quality perfect, and enabling 

 the vines to quickly dry oflf after a shower, and therefore ready 

 to pick. 



Fine red raspberries will be scarce and high for some years 

 to come or until some of their many enemies can be overcome, 

 for there are so manv wavs thev can be used bv those who like 



