PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 103 



Slock comtiiji in in that manner is the ])njvision that the common carriers 

 must notify the State lioard of A^a-iculture, and the inspector can follow 

 up the stock as be sees fit, and I do not know of any way to get around 

 it. In passing a law there are some things especially that we have to 

 consider. One is the feasibility of the law, another is the possibility of 

 enacting that law; and this state, I think, so far as fruit interests are con- 

 cerned, is one of the most difficult states in which to do anything of that 

 kind, our interests in Michigan are so diversified. A\'hile we stand almost 

 at the head of the states as a fruitgrowing region, the fruit interests are 

 mostly on our western line of coast. Take three fourths of the whole 

 state of Michigan, and much the larger portion is not at all a fruitgrowing 

 country. A very large portion of the state has absolutely no fruit inter- 

 ests, knows nothing about it, cares nothing about it. The point as 

 brought up by Prof. Hedrick, regarding the control of yellows com- 

 missioners, towmship commissioners, and compelling townships to ap- 

 point them whether they wished to or not : When the spraying bill was 

 passed, the first draft provided that the township boards in the various 

 towmships in this state should appoint three persons, to be known as 

 commissioners and so on, and went on to define their duties, men in the 

 legislature set up the greatest howl you ever heard. I recollect par- 

 ticularly one man from Ogemaw. *'Why", he said, ''we have got insects 

 in our wild cherry trees in our forests, and under that bill the township 

 would have to employ these inspectors and pay them |3 per day to go 

 out and spray our forests". That w'as ridiculous, that was preposterous 

 — such a bill as that was. We have many townships where there are 

 quite large fruit interests, where they have not shown sufficient concern 

 in the business to demand appointment of commissioners; but I do be- 

 lieve it would be an absolute impossibility to put upon the statute books 

 anj' provision regarding every township in the state, obliging them to 

 appoint such commissioners, simply because the great majority of town- 

 ships in the state are not interested in fruitgrowing at all, and care noth- 

 ing about it. Then, as to requiring of the agents a license, the senate 

 changed that simply because they wanted to. T do not think they even 

 advanced a reason why they should do so, but they wanted to make some 

 change in the bill as it came from the house. It is a peculiarity, you 

 know, to put their mark upon it in some manner or other. The senators 

 looked the thing over, and they could not find any easier place to do it, 

 so they cut off that provision, and I think it should be put back. I know 

 of no reason in the world why this law should not be self-supporting and 

 self-sustaining. I understand, of course, that it is a new law, and, like all 

 new things, is imperfect; it takes time, more or less time. Take our 

 yellows law'. The first time that was put upon the statute books it was 

 very imperfect, much more so than it is now. That was the reason why 

 I asked the inspector wherein he found this law weak. The inspector 

 should make that a study, and all interested should make a study of the 

 workings of the law during the past season, and find wherein we can 

 remedy and strengthen it, and then do so at the next session. 



Mr. Morrill: Take Sec. 2, for instance. It reads very plainly to me: 

 'The owner of such nursery, trees, vines, shrubs, or plants" [that does 

 not mean that they shall be in the hands of the man who grew them] 

 "shall, within the time specified in such notice, take such steps for the 

 destruction of such insects or diseases as will exterminate the same, and 



