46 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



not evil. M}' only object is the dissemination of knowledge and the 

 right kind of knowledge. I love my native State and I love to see 

 every form of industry prosper, from the plow to the loom. The 

 resources of our noble State are boundless, and our farmers onght 

 to produce every pound of beef, every bushel of corn, and every 

 barrel of flour we need or that we can possibly consume. We ought 

 also to produce every tree and vine that we need. Orcharding here 

 in Maine is but in its infancy, and as the nursery is the source from 

 v/hence is procured the foundation of the orchard, this l)usiness 

 needs to be greath- encouraged. It has done much for us in the 

 past, it may do more for us in the future. But there is no need of 

 our sending out of the State for trees. We might produce them 

 here. Several Maine nurser3'men have in years past been engaged 

 in the business and have propagated and disseminated thousands of 

 good trees. Why have man\' of them gone out of the business? 

 Why has it not proved successful? There are reasons surely, and 

 it will do us no harm to consider some of them. I will begin 

 Yankee-like by asking the question : Why has the nursery business 

 in Maine failed to meet the wants of our orchardists? First, it has 

 failed from a want of capital ; second, it has failed from a want of 

 a thorough knowledge of the business, and thirdly, it has failed 

 because it has been attempted as a temporary resort instead of being 

 pursued persistentl}' as a permanent business. The nursery liusi- 

 ness to be conducted properly, requires large capital, extensive 

 grounds, and an abundant supph' of manure, especialljMf the object 

 be to meet the demands of the market. Should one man or a num- 

 ber of men want one hundred thousand trees at one time, the nurser^-- 

 man must be al^le to furnish them from his own stock, or from some 

 one in the same business near at hand. Now, if a man has the 

 capital, the necessary grounds and the requisite knowledge to l)egin 

 with, it will of course be of great advantage, it would help him 

 along amazingly, but it is not absolutely necessary' that he should ; 

 he could begin in a small way and enlarge his capital as his business 

 increases. It is true, large orders might come in when the business 

 was small, and it would be somewhat mortifying and discouraging 

 not to be able to fill those orders, and have them go elsewhere, but 

 tlie only wa}- would be to put what yon have on the market in good 

 shape, and work the business up gradually. 



But this does not militate against what was stated at the first, 

 that a man must have capital if he would be successful ; it is one of 



