The Republican journal., 1910-11-24
A Six-Cent Apple.
And Why 1t Sold for That Price in New
England.


England.
From the New Bedford Standard
man IN this city wanted an apple to
eat. SO he went into a market and Sc
lected one which, attractive to the eve
suited his fancy. AS an aside, the fruit
proved to be as good as it looked. For
the apple, he paid the marketman six
cents. A high price as compared with
what apples used to sell for. We can
hear now, fguratively, the voices of sum
dry of our exchanges lifted up in horror
at this new evidence of the eXtortion of
the trusts, which by their infinite greed
devour the substance Of the people by
eXacting such an outrageous return for a
lone apple. Not long ago, several of
them printed, with sad and sarcastic com
ments, the story of a man who bought
barrel OF apples for matter of five or
six dollars, and who found when he took
OFT the barrel-head a card stating that
the grower Of the apples had received
seventy-tive centsfor this product. Here
the inlqulty of the trusts, and especially
Of the railroads, was at once assumed
to be proven beyond all question, though
the data was meagre and some obvious
aspects OF the matter were ignored.
Presumably this will be the case with
the story of the six-cent apple.
But the man who bought this apple
was not greatly complaining, even though
he agreed that the price seemed high.
He got an apple which suited him i'm
mensely, and so he made some inquiries
about it. This particular apple was one
of consignment. 1t had been raised
with care by an intelligent orchardist in
the State Of Washington-the quality of
the fruit was sufficient evidence of that.
1t had been carefully picked from the
tree, not shaken down, nor tossed into a
basket against other apples. Moreover,
it was selected apple-the character of
all the apples in the box showed that. 1t
had been wrapped in piece of paper.
All the apples in the box had been pack
ed, not dumped in. Then it was trans
ported across the continent, and the mar
ketman sold it for six cents to ready
customer, who, when he thought it over,
concluded that he gothis moneys worth.
Doubtless the grower of the apple got
comparatively small part Of the six cents,
but he got something, and the enthusiasm
of the ashingtonians for apple raising
warrants the belief that they find profit
themselves. Considering, too, what had
been put into that apple from first to
last, it is rash assumption that very
much of the six cents is stealing.
The incident warrants the reflection
that there must be a great waste of
opportunity when to region which all
pomologists agree is as we'll suited for
apple raising as any region in the world,
apples come from three thousand miles
away, and are sold at high prices with
ease. Why is not New England raising
its apples itself, in scientific and bust
nesslike way, picking them carefully
selecting them carefully, and packing
them carefully? The great Northwest is
doing this, and so far as can be judged
at this distance, with entirely satisfac-
tory financial results, though large
share of its market is many hundred
miles away. We hear something of
promising experiments in New England,
but they are comparatively few as COM
pared with what might be, and most
farmers, especially in this region, appear
to lack the initiative, or the enterprise,
or the perseverance or the willingness to
work. or the receptiveness to new ideas,
which are necessary to make apple grow
ing successful. There are in operation
at this moment Influences which seek to
| rouse New England to its opportunities
for fruit raising, and especially apple
raising. That they are doing good, we
have no question. Even so, the oppor-
tunity is not yet half appreciated.