7 
March, 1917 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
103 
those organizations and mosl cor 
tainly education along these two 
lines, better fruit and more hon- 
esty in fruit marketing. We have 
been at the job in a more o** less 
enthusiastic manner. AVe possi- 
bly have accomplished something, 
at least. T hope we have, for we 
have tried to, but I want to tell 
you that we will never have a very 
appreciable increase in better fruit 
in AYisconsin, or a very great in- 
crease in honesty with which it is 
put upon the market, if we leave 
all this- education to the State 
Horticultural Society and the De- 
partment of Horticulture of the 
University. Why? Because it, is 
a physical impossibility for those 
two organizations, manned as they 
are, to reach enough people. AVe 
can do something, but we cannot 
do it all. AVe will have to depend 
then on some other means of 
education if Ave are to accomplish 
this result. 
The second means that T think 
of helping accomplish this result is 
our fruit growers’ associations. 
Those that we haA-e are doing much 
to educate the people of their com- 
munities as to how to produce bet- 
ter fruit and how to pack hon- 
estly, and how to put the right 
kind of commodity upon the mar- 
ket in an honest manner. AVe 
hear very little complaint about 
fruit that Icomes from these sec- 
tions of the state where we have 
local co-operative associations. But 
in .Wisconsin, Avhere probably 
three-fourths or more of the fruit 
that reaches the local markets and 
to some extent the wholesale mar- 
kets, is produced in communities 
where there is not enough com- 
* mercial orchardists for an organi- 
zation, even if all these organiza- 
tions are at the job educating the 
people as regards these things, Ave 
Avill not even then succeed if aa’c 
stop at that point. 
I confess that I believe that the 
greatest force in educating men 
who are selling fruit in AVisconsin 
from commercial orchards and 
from home orchards, at any rate 
the semi-commercial orchard, is the 
individual fruit growers, because 
the individual fruit growers can 
come in contact Avith the greatest 
number of people. They can come 
in contact with them in a way in 
Avhich the officials of the state de- 
partments, or even the officials of 
co-operative associations cannot, 
and I believe to a very great ex- 
tent that Avhether A\ r e make im- 
provement or not in these matters 
depends upon individual educa- 
tion by example. AVe are trying 
to teach this in our work in the 
demonstration orchards and I be- 
lieve people learn more quickly by 
example than in any other Avav. 
Did you ever -stop to think that 
a great deal of the produce we 
market is marketed upon a Avrong 
hypothesis. Did you ever stop to 
question a man’s reason for at- 
tempting to sell all the wormy, 
scabby and gnarly fruit Avhich lie 
produces along with the good 
fruit? I dare say you have and 
you have arrived at this conclu- 
sion, namely, the man does it be- 
cause he Avants to get the greatest 
possible returns from the crop he 
produces. Well, let us consider it 
one step farther. Is the man aa'Iio 
practices the marketing of poor 
fruit, or the man w r ho practices 
putting culls in the center of the 
barrel, really Avorking upon the 
right hypothesis to accomplish the 
result which he wants to occom- 
plish. namely, getting dollars and 
cents? I believe if AA r e folloAv such 
a practice to its conclusion. Ave 
Avill find that he is doing just ex- 
actly the opposite. He is practic- 
ing a method which Avill reduce in 
the end the amount which he 
would obtain, because first of all, 
those organizations and most cer- 
commodity. Any man Avho is pro- 
ducing good fruit is obliged to 
market at the present time in com- 
petition Avith the kind, of fruit A\e 
have been having on Ihe Aladison 
market, and you Avill find that the 
buyer is constantly pushing the 
price doAvn. He is buying some- 
thing he calls apples and as buyers 
have not differentiated between 
cull stock and good stock to the 
extent that they should, he buys 
at the loAvest possible price in 
order that he may make something 
on the deal after sustaining the 
losses Avhich necessarily occur in 
handling an inferior grade of fruit. 
Tlie result is that the loAver price 
paid for a poor grade has a de- 
pressing effect even on the good 
grade. A poor commodity tends to 
lessen demand and thus the man 
who puts such fruit on the market 
lessens his chance of disposing of 
the crop and establishes a lower 
price for his commodity. 
The condition avc have just cited 
may be more or less temporary, 
but the injury the grower is doing 
himself does not stop here. He is 
doing himself a permanent injury 
by ruining his reputation for the 
production of a good grade of that 
commodity. AVhy do you patron- 
ize a certain tailor, or a certain 
concern that manufactures a given 
product? AVhy do you buy a cer- 
tain brand of goods? Because the 
manufacturer, or the man Horn 
whom you purchase it has estab- 
lished a reputation for his com- 
modity. We buy most commodi- 
ties very largely on reputation. 
Fruit, however, Ave buy largely on 
lack of reputation, bceaus- there 
has been no reputation established 
So, a man, I care not whether he is 
going to market individually or eo- 
operativelv, must establish a repu- 
tation for good products if he ex- 
( Continued on Page IQS) 
