The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-01-21
COMMERCIAL ASPECT IMPORTANT.

COMMERCIAL ASPECT IMPORTANT.
at is possible the time has come
when farmers know better how to pro-
duce fruit than how to sell it. The
commercial side of fruit culture is,
therefore, of considerable Importance.
Up to few years ago, the production
of fruit on commercial basis in New
England had not been seriously thought
of. Farmers were satisfied with what
ever trees they had in their orchards
and did not strive much to improve
them.
"Our farmers have an uneXcelled OPP
portunity to produce fruits and vege-
tables for local markets at profitable
prices. BY using care III the crops
planted, it is possible to drive wagon
IL market two or three times week
the year round, and earn a steady in
come of from 81, 900 to So, 600 year
from many farms not supposed to be
worth $4,000. There are few farmers
who are doing this. 1t means steady,
careful work from one years end to the
other Men who think all they need to
do is to scratch the ground little and
make a pretence of cuitivating crops,
and then sit back and say farming does
| not pay, can never make a success of
this business.
WILL HAVE To COOPERATE.
cone reason why farmers have not
| co-operated in the past has been be
! cause they have been independent of
| each other. They were able to get along
alone, no matter what the others did,
and so they refused to combine their
| interests. This is not the case in other
| lines of business. Competition has got
| so keen that for their own protection
! men have been forced to combine. The
time is coming when farmers will have
to do the same. In my opinion it will
take the form of combine of the in
tertsts of several farms. Each farmer
will stay on his own farm as a sort of
business manager, while all Will co
| operate i'll the sale Of their produce
As | have already stated, there is a
splendid opening for the sale of apples
to large western cities This can be
done if our farmers will cooperate, but
not otherwise.
Facilities for keeping apples in cold
! storage are becoming necessity in
commercial fruit growing. Small grow
ers cannot afford to maintain cold stOr-
age houses. Growers will have to COM
| bine in establishing cold storage plants.
Their apples should be put in storage
the very moment they are picked.
''ln the past many of our growers
have been too careless in the handling
of our fruit / know good men in Con-
necticut whose fruit when shipped to
market has not been as good in the
middle of the package as at the end
Such packages do not pay. Fruit re-
| quires to be carefully graded. When
selling small quantities, it is well to
wrap each apple in paper. This is an
awful nuisance, of course, but produc-
ers should remember that 1t is the fel-
low who buys the apples who pays tor
the labor and paper. They are simply
advancing the money to him and should
see that they make good profit on the
| transaction.
PROPER PACKAGE is IMPORTANT.
''The proper package for the ship
ment of fruit is a most important
point. 1t will pay to have all our fruit
go direct to the market in a package
that can be taken by the consumer
without breaking the quantity. Grape
growers are the only ones who have at
tended to this point so far. Shipping
apples in barrels is very destructive to
consumption. Many people who are
anxious to buy apples i'll small quanti-
ties will not do SO when they have to
either take a whole barrel or have the
apples from barrel put up in an in
convenient package The family pack
age is the one that is going to be the
most profitable in the future.
"The time is coming, in fact it is here
now, when farmers will have to do
more advertising. When farmers will
combine in producing few well known
varieties of fruit, in seeing that their
products are properly graded and done
| up in uniform packages, and can ar
range to have them delivered at the
doors of the consumers in the city, it
| will pay them handsomely to advertise
their ability to sell their goods direct
| from the orchard to the consumer All
| this, of course, means high grade fruit,
| high grade packages and high grade
men. A long step toward the advent
| of this branch of fruit culture will have
been taken when the parcels post is in
| troduced We should work for it." ZAP
plause.)
QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED.
Mr.. Black: 81 understand Mr.. Hale
to say that fruit growers in Oregon
keep their apple trees covered continu-
ally with spray. Does he recommend
our New England farmers doing the
| same?"
Mr. Hale: eff the Oregon people
make it pay cannot see why we can
not do so in New England"
Mr. Black: ''The trouble here in New
England is that owing to the moisture
we are unable to get bright color on
our apples. They have a cloudy ap-
pearance."
Mr.. Powell: ''This cloudy appear
ance is a result of the humid atmos-