OUR CROPS 6 1 



himself at a disadvantage. He is not able 

 railroad charges on the one and only rail- 

 road being so high to ship with profit, and 

 the local market is soon glutted. He either 

 sells his grapes at a cent a pound, makes the 

 crop into wine, or tears up his vineyard in 

 wrath and sows the land to alfalfa, vowing 

 that grapes cost more to irrigate, prune, 

 cultivate, and bank up for the winter than 

 they bring in the market. Co-operation 

 alone will bring relief, and with the influx 

 of intelligent farmers, who understand that 

 in union is strength, prosperity is bound to 

 come. Even in peach-growing the small 

 farmer cannot be sure of his market. The 

 large grower is, of course, safe enough. 



Last June I was in a peach orchard con- 

 taining about sixty trees in full bearing. A 

 lovely display it was indeed, the great round 

 fruit glowing in the evening sunlight, and 

 bending the branches almost to the ground. 

 But the owner did not share my enthusiasm. 

 There was no market, and the peaches were 

 spoiling, for the peach is the most perishable 

 of crops. There were not enough for a car- 

 load, too many for village peddling. Even 



