no AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Mr. Keyser: That is a very hard question to answer. I 

 should say, in a general way, yes, while, of course, no law 

 makes a man honest. You cannot force him to be honest. The 

 gentleman here yesterday, from Liverpool, told you that the 

 grade of fruit that was received last year was much better in 

 grading and packing than it had been for years, and was in 

 better demand, and would receive a slight advance in price. I 

 can only answer the question in a general way, yes, because I 

 think anything that has a tendency to raise the standard of any- 

 thing in the market and make it a standard will cause a better 

 price. 



Mr. : It seems to me that question was pretty 



well answered in the address given by Mr. Bassett this morn- 

 ing. I think there is not much chance for argument or discus- 

 sion on it. He said that first we must have a standard. And it 

 seems to me that if we pack our grades, as specified in this law, 

 we certainly will have a standard. When we have a standard 

 we have something definite, something that can be relied upon. 



Question : Who is going to determine what that standard is, 

 when nine-tenths of our apples are sold by the growers to be 

 packed by the buyers? 



Mr. Keyser: It is the duty of the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture to enforce the law. The law is about as broad as it can 

 be made and be fair to the grower and fair to the consumer at 

 the same time. What we were aiming at, largely, was the strictly 

 dishonest pack. That is w^hat we were after. And that there 

 was such a pack, no one denied — couldn't deny. Of course 

 the standard must vary in different sections, and vary from 

 year to year. The standard this year is not as high as it was 

 last year, even if they were packed according to the law. Noth- 

 ing to prevent it, unless one set of packers was doing all the 

 packing. It is a big thing if we can get at it now in a general 

 way, but the duty, of course, lays with the inspectors. 



Mr. Gardner: It seems to me that the ultimate standard 

 rests entirely with the court. 



Mr. Keyser: Well, finally, of course. 



Mr. Gardner: The temporary standard rests with the Com- 

 missioner. 



