The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1914-12-10
The New England Apple Bust
ness.

To tho Editor of The Boston Herald:
1fIwant to buy hrst class apple W
eat this year the price Will De D e."'''
In some places these apples are three
for 10 cents. That is the cheapest
have seen them. And still we are oelng
sold of the tremendous apple CROP u
+ho thousands of bushels that are rotting
IN the Ground, and of the despair OF NE"
England apple raisers. And II Is oil 'iu1'
The trouble with New England apple
raisers is that they do not know their
business In this flush year you cannot
NOW INV barrel of first class Bala"lns
49, ,ess than So, so, and | venture 10 say
+ha+ hv New Years the same apples VIII
bring SIS May be more. ', on that
Mben say FIRST class | mean that.
mean barrel that is first class On
.al nd inc the same all the way down;
t ~ has not small or spotted apple IN
Il or FIAT harbors at its core some disease
+bat will make it decay before any ohe
These first class apples that are oehg
sold for the prices name in my nrst pa,
rapraph are, of course not New Eng .hau .o'; ;s
armies say "of course, but there 10
no reason why they should not pe wv ra.
England apples except the ansoiut " a an
fusal of the New England FARMER W a." ~
ply scientific methods to the r"i''"
apples. el+1.m talking
about. If you go to the apple uas' Lii
of New England this is what YOU + W." ~
find: Mostly old trees IN sau s.a.e ST. ~
o,,t cav eioht to fifteen years ago, When
it began to be said that apples were d
road TO wealth. Whatever the age OF
the trees, no evidence of any care taken
of them. Full of suckers: Growing
their own wicked way. Soil untertlliz-
ed. Trees grass-b bound. Generally some
Other crop, like hay, Or even corn raiseu
on the same land. Trees unsprayeu' a.
cept by man who came afouhu III 'ue
spring and did it for SO much per- Limos 5
hanging SO full of apples that none OF
them can ever reach full size. twenty
Ave ner cent. of the crop of winter ap-
nles on the ground the last week OF sep
fember. And IN general wholesale lack
of system and spirit on the whole enter
prize. .ho
Yet it was New England that gave the ,s
name Of Baldwin" 'Hubbardston,
''Roxbury Russett," RHODE Island
Greening'' and others to the apple worio.
And for thirty years at least there nave
been men in New England-a few-who
knew their business and did IT: l nave
heard MIR. James Draper of Worcester
say 20 years ago that for 30 years he nao
not failed to have a good crop OF apples
and to get good price for all OF them.
And there is Scion Chase ana MS
-sssteers." down in Maine, and Chase
came pretty near writing seven ngures
il. his fortune, and it was made IN ap-
pies.
/ have been living for the past two or
fhraa vesrs in northern Ohio. There,
toe, Is years ago. was decadent apple
district A man named Farnsworth saw
the light and began setting out new
trees and taking care of old ones. Today
thew call him a rich man. But he owns
his own sprayer and his trees are spray
ed when they need it, in the nick OF time
and as often as they need it, not when the
travelling sprayer gets around TO come.
And his apples look just as we'll as any
western apple you ever saw and thev
taste quite bit better and he puts them
I'D in baskets with a little pink mosquito
lar over them and gets, or the stores
get for him, 81. SO for an ordinary mar
ket basket. And you will not ind a
small or an imperfect apple in any OF his
baskets
Now what l am trying to get at IS that
New England needs great awakening IN
this business of apple raising. NO won,
der the apples are rotting on the gsounu;
1t is good place for them to rot. Ia
rather have them rot there than have
them rot in my cellar! They deserve to
rot. They are not worth respect. Anc
we don't need so much campaign
to plant new trees as we need to take
care of what we have. Many man IN
the past Is years has set out 200 or 3Oo
or more young trees. And, having set
them out, he expects that the good
Lord and the trees will do the rest. AND
every such apple planter is menace 'c
the business.
On the whole, then, the apple business
in New England is prime iliustratlon
of the dunder-headedness of New Eng
land farmers. Instead of organizing
Apple Day and trying to get people u
buy this third or fourth rate product, II
would be good thing to take these men
that are to blame for the present state
of things in body, at public expense. 70
some place where they can see the tnihe
done ss it should be done and see II py
some means their eyes can not be open.
ed. The eastern apple market belongs Q!
right to eastern men and nothing but
stupidity has ever allowed it to get away
from them, and they can have it it they
will produce the goods
GEORGE E. MACILwAIN.