92 



had intended to say. His mind was entirely a blank. The only 

 thing he could think of at all was a little story he had read in a paper 

 a few days before, so he had to give them that. He said, "Friends 

 great oratory is almost a thing of the past. The kind of oratory 

 that sways men's minds and influences their Avhole life is almost 

 gone. Caesar is dead, Abraham Lincoln is dead and I am not feel- 

 ing very well myself." 



I am just a little reluctant to bring up this subject in the pres- 

 ence of you people who have had considerable experience in the 

 growing and marketing of fruit, many of you being much older and 

 having had more experience than I have had, but we have all had 

 different experiences and these things appeal to us in diff'erent ways. 

 For this reason I shall hope to call your attention to a few things 

 in marketing as I have seen them, with the hope that it may be of 

 some little value to you. While my subject is the marketing of 

 fruit, what 1 shall say along this line will apply equally as well to 

 any or all other farm crops. 



The advances that have been made along horticultural lines the 

 past few years are simply wonderful. \\'e naturally expect any 

 new industry just starting up to make marked progress, but in 

 horticulture we have one of the oldest industries known, as we 

 presume that ever since the apple was in the garden of Eden more 

 or less fruit has been produced. And now after these thousands of 

 years to start up and make such progress is nothing less than mar- 

 velous. The sources from which we may learn how to grow crops 

 are many. We have our United States Department of Agriculture, 

 our several state departments, our agricultural schools, Farmers' 

 Institutes, books, papers and last but not least these associations, 

 but unfortunately, while these tell us how to grow crops, they don't 

 give us much instruction on the marketing of them. Now, that 

 seems to me one of the most important things we have to consider : 

 it is the end of the business from which we get the price to buy the 

 necessities, comforts or luxuries of life as the case may be. 



Notwithstanding the wonderful progress that we have made 

 along the line of crop production, we must admit that other indus- 

 tries have better systems of marketing their product than we have. 

 And yet I do not recall the first practice followed in marketing other 

 products that would not apply equally as well to ours. 



I do not know of any better way that I can call your attention 

 to a few things I wish to at this time than by a short study of the 

 methods of those engaged in other lines and comparing their ways 

 with ours. Just for the purpose of comparison I am going to try 

 and call your attention to some of the ways and workings of the 

 International Harvester Company. As you all know they are a 

 large corporation with many factories turning out many different 

 implements, and yet they make but one thing in each factory. This 

 might suggest to us the advisability of being a specialist. I think 

 the day of the specialist if not already here is coming very fast. 

 I\Iany arguments might be brought in support of this, but the one 

 having to do with my subject is this : If we are growing but one crop 

 we can produce that in sufficient quantity so that our influence is 

 felt in any market that we care to enter, and to the extent we can 



