The Portland daily press., 1892-02-19


\ ket. He said the present season has
clearly shown the capacity of the En-
| glish market for consuming almost any
| amount of fruit that can be sent into it.
The low price of American fruit the
past season was due to the inferior quail
| ty of the fruit sent to market.
The method of selecting fruit has
much to do with the price it will bring
| The Baldwin apple is a favorite and well
known fruit. The King and the Ben Da-
Wis varieties are good sellers. He
| thought the prospect for Maine apples
was encouraging for the future. New
barrels are preferable to old ones, as the
appearance of the package has some
thing to do with the sale, and a better
price is got for fruit in new barrels than
for the same fruit in old barrels. Every
lot of apples having its brand, is sold
separately upon its own merits.
Mr.. T. M. Merrill
of New Gloucester said that he had
found better results from the use of
flour barrels than from new barrels. A
somewhat lengthy interchange of opin-
ion upon the subject of barrels followed,
number of persons taking part in it.
Professor Cook said that part of the
trouble with apple packing came from
the employment of incompetent men to
pack the barrels; men who put things
into barrels that never ought to have
been put there.
1t was inquired whether or not the
practice of that kind of packing was not
just what certain buyers wanted.
Mr.. Gilbert said that it was the univer-
sal complaintiof the farmers in the town
of Greene that the packers who were
sent in there, put in more No. apples
than the farmers put in when they
packed apples themselves.
Mr. Merrill, as buyer of apples, re-
torted pretty sharply, making a point
against the farmers of Greene.
said he believed the whole trouble was
in the fact that the buyers were not
willing to pay the difference between No.
1 and No. 2 apples. They are not willing
to pay us a fancy price for a fancy apple,
but would rather pay a smaller price and
take double the quantity of fruit.
Mr.. Wheeler moved that committee
be appointed to secure from the legisla-
ture larger appropriation for the Pomo-
logical Society.
Mr. Knowlton doubted the expediency
of pressing the matter at the present
time, and spoke in opposition to the mo-
ton.
MI. Gilbert suggested modification
of the motion, that the committee be APP
pointed to inquire into the expediency of
action and report at the annual meeting
in September. His motion was seconded
| and received a passage. The chair APP
pointed the following committee: ID. III.
Knowlton, G. E. Wheeler, Willis Luce.
EVENING SESSION.
The evening session was attended by
even larger assembly of persons than
were present on Wednesday. A pleas
ant feature of the evening was the music
kindly given by the Cornish quartette.
The programme included paper by L.
F. Abbott of Lewiston upon "Fruit
Growing in Maine Compared with other
A gricultural Industries"
1t had been announced that General G.
P. Mattocks would be present, in the
evening and address the meeting upon
the subject of the proposed fruit exhibit
ton at the Worlds Fair in Chicago, but
telegram received late in the day by
President Pope informed him that Mr..
Mattocks was unavoidably detained.
A very interesting paper was read by
Professor Cook, his subject being ''How
to Keep the Boys on the Farm Pro-
fessor Cook, in his able paper, urged up
on parents the good in impressing upon
the minds of their children the many
pleasures and advantages of rural life.
He recommended early giving the boys
piece of ground to cultivate, and finally
spoke of the opportunities for the fruit
grower as well as the general agricultur-
alist in Maine.