140 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETT. 



of the times and looking well to the business end of their affairs 

 which is the disposal of their products. It takes a very smart per- 

 son not to make some mistakes. After many years of experience 

 in the business I have come to the conclusion that orcharding, to 

 be profitable in a business point of view, like all other farm opera- 

 tions, must be conducted in an intelligent business-like manner, and 

 that means constant care and good management both in getting up 

 an orchard and the disposal of the fruit. For any one to say that 

 apple raising cannot be made a profitable business in Maine shows 

 ignorance of the capabilities of the State in that line. Untold 

 wealth lies concealed in thousands of our granite hill farms and no 

 surer, easier or better way to extract it can be found than by means 

 of the roots of fruit trees intelligently managed. In raising large 

 quantities of fruit we must necessarily have much that in many 

 years will not pay a profit to market in a green state. In the older 

 fruit growing sections, New York especially, evaporating all such 

 has become a very large business, each of several counties produc- 

 ing much more than the whole State of Maine ever did, and in many 

 instances, single factories evaporate more. There is no year but 

 that unmarketable fruit is worth something for evaporating and some 

 years it will pay extra well, and what little of the Maine product has 

 found its way into market is preferred to the western article, and at 

 a better price and will continue to do so if we will only put up a 

 nice honest thing. The market for it is extending and more and 

 more is steadily disposed of in the market and it is the only way 

 that apples can be dried to obtain a fair price for the labor required. 

 I make it a rule to evaporate all the apples I raise that will not 

 sell for $1.25 delivered at the depot and quite often it is better to 

 evaporate them at a higher price. Some years some varieties will 

 grow to be scabby. It is useless to try to keep such ones any great 

 length of time for market, and I find the best thing to do with them 

 is to evaporate them together with all of my fall fruit. When the 

 market is glutted, I make three qualities of my winter fruit. No. I's 

 extra. The No. 2's are those that are wormy only in the blossom 

 end and those a little under size for No. I's, and all others go for 

 No 3's if not too small to evaporate. These last I always dry, and 

 watch the markets to determine whether to evaporate the No. 2's or 

 not after having got through with all others. My No. I's will gener- 

 ally bring $1.00 per barrel extra and such No. 2's as I make sell 

 pretty well up to the ordinary price of No. I's. I find this to be the 



