184 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
ADDRESS BEFORE THE NORTHEASTERN GEORGIA APPLE 
GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
By MR. LOUIS B. MAGID, of Tallulah Park, Georgia. 
It is said that an Apple a day will keej) the Doctor 
away. A Michigan A])ple Grower recently said be¬ 
fore the A])ple Advertising Association of America 
that a Michigan apple will keej) two doctors away. I 
say a Georgia apple a day will starve the entire medi¬ 
cal ])rofession. 
Northeast Georgia possesses all the natural condi¬ 
tions paramount to the successful conduct of Com¬ 
mercial Horticulture and “Apple growing in Par- 
ticiilar,” in fact the entire Northeastern corner of 
Georgia ranging in altitude fi'oni 1,500 to 3,000 feet 
is Nature’s own nursery, not only for Ai)ple culture, 
hut for almost everything in Agriculture. The mild 
climate of the winters and the (*ool nights of the sum¬ 
mers, the am])le rainfall, perfect air and water drain¬ 
age makes Northeast Georgia a healthy and thriving 
])lace for man, beast and plant life. With such na¬ 
tural conditions at our disposal, where man, beast 
and plant life can thrive to ])erfection, I ask, how 
much longer will we remain blind to these great op- 
])ortnnities of becoming the foremost fruit and meat 
l)rodncers of the South ? 
Agriculture is the foundation of manufacturers 
and commerce. The attainment of material things 
in life de]^ends largely upon specialization in one’s 
chosen life work and success is attained only by per¬ 
sistent work based on scientific lines and business 
methods and some more work. 
That the profession of Agriculture in its varied 
branches offers today for a young man the greatest 
opi)ortimity in life, no one doubts, but the rewards 
and fruits of this line of business are not attained un¬ 
less the same amount of energy, business acnmen and 
persistency is given as one does to other lines of bus¬ 
iness of individual or corporate successful attain¬ 
ments. 
Apple raising in North Georgia is, in a sense, not a 
new discovery. When white men first encroached 
upon the Indian inhabitants of these monntains the 
A})i)le Tree was found here i)rosperiug, however. 
Commercial apple orcharding in Northwest Georgia 
is what we are here to discuss. The natural requi¬ 
sites to produce a superior api)le suitable for home 
and export markets we jmssess, the problem that 
confronts ns is to maintain the present fertility of 
onr soil, the proper selection of varieties, careful at¬ 
tention and proper cultivation of the young ap])le 
trees, spraying, pruning in time with the proper ma¬ 
terials and tools, and last, but not least, the careful 
packing and delivery of and honest grade bushel of 
apples to the consumer. I need not take your time 
to tell yon that the Georgia apple is superior to those 
of other sections in flavor, size and keeping quali¬ 
ties. This is an acknowledged fact even by States 
where ai)ple culture is one of their principal indus¬ 
tries. 
There now exists a growing demand for perfect 
apples. Northeast Georgia, more than any other 
section, is capable of supplying the same since the 
consumer is willing to pay for perfect fruit. If you 
will examine the market page of my Cosmopolitan 
daily pai)er, you will see that even the humble and 
undesirable a])ple known as “Ben Davis,” is quoted 
at $6.00 per barrel, wholesale, which means $2.00 
l)er bushel. A Massachusetts daily paper speaking 
recently editorially on the price of apples, states that 
Baldwins are selling at $7.50 per barrel in Boston, 
which is $2.50 per bushel. That one bushel box 
apples are selling in Boston at from $2.50 to $4.50 
wholesale. 
Gentlemen, you know the j^rofits that await you in 
the culture of apples even when sold at prices of one 
half of that which I have named here, but the day 
has passed when the products of the orchard and 
farm will be sold without profit to the producer, as 
has been the case heretofore. We have been accus¬ 
tomed to hear statesmen, bankers and the average 
man discussing “High Cost of Living.” Of the 
many reasons advanced it is my ojiinion that one of 
the causes of “High Cost of Living” does not en¬ 
tirely rest with the prevailing idea that it is the 
‘ ‘ Middle Man and High Freight Rates, ’ ’ but there is 
a third factor and a legitimate one that makes the 
cost of present day living higher than in former 
years and that is, the producer demanding his legit¬ 
imate and due profit, earned by the tilling of the soil 
in supplying food and sustenance not only to the en¬ 
tire poulation of the United States but many foreign 
countries. 
The greatest commercial crime committed in the 
19th century was against the farmer, who is the real 
]u-oducer of wealth, but who got this wealth? Not 
the farmer, owing to lack of scientific knowledge in 
his business, but largely the unwillingness on the 
part of the bankers and business men to give him 
the required financial co-operation to make the occu¬ 
pation of farming a business. In addition, our own 
government, in creating its National banking sys¬ 
tem, put the stamp in the statute book that the farm¬ 
er, the backbone of the nation and the government, 
