140 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



keep hands on. We believe in enforcement of law. When a 

 statute is made in these chambers and signed by the Governor 

 of Maine it .ought to become effective, and local officials, whether 

 in counties or cities or toWns, have no other duty than to see 

 that it is executed. It is the duty of the State of Maine to see 

 to it that the people who spend their money in the stores receive 

 full value. 



I welcome you in behalf of the city as Governor Haines has 

 welcomed you on the part of the state. This is a good begin- 

 ning and I hope it will enlarge and embrace the whole State of 

 Maine. 



J. A. Roberts. 



On behalf of the sealers gathered here I want to thank Mayor 

 Newbert for his earnest words. I think that Mr. Pennell has 

 in view, some time in the future, perhaps not this year, the 

 formation of an association of sealers in the state. One of the 

 difficulties at the present time in the forming of such an asso- 

 ciation lies in the fact that the sealers are changed at the annual 

 meeting of the towns and cities. The sealer of this year may 

 not be the sealer of another year. I think it would be very 

 interesting and desiirable to have it understood in your towns, 

 if possible, that the office of sealer should be continuous. It 

 does require some expert knowledge and the man who has fitted 

 himself for the work in a town should be continued in that work 

 from year to year. Then an association could be formed and 

 an annual meeting could be held, and this would be of great 

 benefit to the state. 



Mayor Newbert has referred to the great importance of this 

 work and I assure him that so far as this department is able 

 it will carry out the laws upon the statute books. 



There is another matter of a similar nature about which you 

 will allow me to speak at this time. You all understand the 

 law regarding pure food and drugs, the law regarding feeding 

 vSituffs, fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides. The enforcement 

 of that law has been transferred from the Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station at Orono to this department, and it means a good 

 deal. It is a big business, larger than many people have an 

 idea of, and it is along the same line of work as weights and 

 measures. We have a corps of inspectors out in the field and 



