Il8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I never could have had that farm had it not been for hare! 

 cider. The former owner drowned his character and his 

 manhood in barrels of hard cider. Did you ever think what 

 a wonderful thing can happen in six years? I have two little 

 boys at home who say they are going to be fruit growers. 

 These two little fellows are growing up and making a living 

 in fruit growing on the same farm where the former owner 

 lost his grip through hard cider. That comparison may make 

 any man thoughtful — it shows great responsibilities. There 

 have been great changes in fruit growing in the last fifty 

 years and the next fifty years will contain great responsibilities 

 for the fruit grower if he handles his business honorably and 

 profitabl}'. I asked my boys what was the best way for them 

 to increase their sale of apples — they are 12 and 15 years old — 

 they once went into Hackensack with a load of apples in bas- 

 kets and brought back $35. You never saw a man with a 

 million-dollar check as proud as they were, and of course I 

 wanted to know how they did it. One of them said, "When- 

 ever we find some boys playing on the street we give every 

 boy an apple ; they all run home to their mothers and tease 

 until she comes out and buys a basket of apples." Those 

 boys know how to play upon human nature. The idea was 

 to get a single apple into the hands of each boy, and the boy 

 going home with the taste of it in his mouth, is like putting 

 yeast into flour — it works. The first thing you know, the 

 mother comes out and wishes to buy a basket of apples for 

 the children. Every time the minister comes to our house 

 my boys go out and put a small basket of apples into his 

 wagon — they know the minister is one of the best advertisers 

 we have — wherever he goes he says something about the 

 apples from "Hope Farm" and how fine they are, and eight 

 chances out of ten those people who have heard him speak 

 of our apples come to our farm and buy fruit. Those boys 

 always make it a point to give a few apples to everybody who 

 visits our farm. We don't sell all the good apples and keep 

 the poor ones for our own use, I assure you. I don't believe 

 in that kind of livins^. You can sav what vou wilh about raw 



