STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 65 



Last year demonstrated the value of the Act. It showed, 

 however, some of its weak points. During the preceding years 

 when the fruit was fairly good and market conditions favor- 

 able, everything worked smoothly and we had little cause for 

 complaint and. therefore, very few convictions. Last year 

 everything combined to make it a year of special temptation 

 to apple operators. The excitement for buying at the begin- 

 ning of the season induced a large number to offer high prices 

 for fruit of any kind. The reputed short crop induced buyers 

 to store everything that grew on an apple tree, except some of 

 the twigs. Before these apples were sold prices had fallen 

 until it was impossible, even had the fruit been all good, to 

 come out even. At least one-third of the fruit stored would 

 grade below No. 2, but the price paid for it was as high as was 

 later offered for No. I's. You can readily imagine then how 

 hard it was to resist the temptation of packing in a certain 

 quantity of these inferior apples and marking them No. i or 

 No. 2. 



We had during last season over two hundred convictions. 

 These convictions unfortunately did not have much effect on 

 last year's trade from the fact that many of them could not be 

 made until the season was pretty well or altogether over, but 

 they have had an evident bearing upon the apples of the present 

 sason, which are going forward now with a very small percent- 

 age, indeed, of fraudulently packed or marked apples. Unfor- 

 tunately, the weather conditions are such as to put the fruit 

 out of condition, but so far we have had no complaints from 

 Great Britain as to the marking and packing, in marked con- 

 trast to last year. 



I am thoroughly satisfied that the Act is doing splendid work. 

 Its effect is not confined to the apple operators. The farmer 

 who needs a little spur to induce him to take proper care of his 

 fruit is receiving it through the Inspection and Sale Act (the 

 Fruit Marks Act) indirectly. An apple operator comes to a 

 neglected orchard, passes it by or offers such an exceedingly 

 small figure for it that the farmer has to ask for a reason, and 

 it comes in this way : "You have so many scabby and wormy 

 apples that we could not grade more than 10% of your orchard 

 No. I and, therefore, your orchard is of no use to us. The 



