10 
SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 
year of nearly 5,000,000 boxes of oranges; pears, grapes, 
peaches and strawberries by the car load, and young plan¬ 
tations of each that in the near future will furnish train 
loads. 
That we have reached perfection in varieties and modes of 
•cultivation of these fruits, no one will claim. On the con¬ 
trary, it is plain that we are only on the threshold of eco¬ 
nomical, scientific, successful and practical production of 
fruit. But we have now reached a point where we can look 
ahead and with certainty see what the possibilities and prob¬ 
abilities of production are. We see now five million boxes 
of oranges, and trees enough planted that with our present 
knowledge will in a few years bear ten million, fifteen million, 
or twenty million boxes; and pears, peaches, pineapples and 
strawberries are coming in uncounted carloads. 
IS THERE OVER-PRODUCTION? 
This fact brings us face to face with the great problem of 
to-day. Our efforts at production have been so successful 
that we look with pride upon our magnificent crops of fruit 
and vegetables, and can confidently rely on rapidly increas¬ 
ing quantity and improved quality. Here then is the prob¬ 
lem. What shall we do with it. Is there an over-produc¬ 
tion? 
The five million boxes we have grown this year would only 
give each inhabitant of the TJniled States one orange a 
month. Is that too many? And yet the growers have not 
received from the sale of this crop the cost of its production. 
Acres of cabbage are rotting in our fields to-day, and 
millions of people are hungry for cabbage. In view of these 
facts, is it wise to continue to devote undivided attention to 
the growing of fruits and vegetables, for which we receive no 
fair compensation? 
Though I do not believe we are growiag more fruit than 
ought to be used under proper conditions, yet it does occur 
to me that we have now reached a point where we must grap¬ 
ple with the stubborn facts that our present production has 
outgrown our present means and methods of transporting, 
distributing and selling. It is the height of folly to go on 
increasing our output without at the same time providing 
some way to dispose of it at a profft. That thing must be 
done, and it will be well for this convention to give its best 
thoughts to a discussion of the paramount question. With 
this in mind, it may not be out of the way to call your atten¬ 
tion to some of the prominent features of the situation. 
As stated before, five million boxes of oranges will just 
about give each inhabitant of the United States one orange a 
month. It would seem possible that, under favorable condi- 
