42 STATE HOETICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



Provided, That in case any other size shall be used, the capacity of the barrel shall be 

 plainly marked on the head thereof in bushels or pecks and fractions thereof, dry 

 measure, in letters and figures of not less than three-quarters of an inch in length. 



Skc. 2. All boxes, baskets, cases, and crates used by fruit growers and fruit dealers 

 for packing fruit for sale within this State, or for sliipment out of the State, shall 

 have tlie capacity of the same plainly and conspicuously marked or branded on the 

 end or sides (other than the cover) in quarts or fractions thereof, dry measure. The 

 figures and letters shall not be less than three-quarters of an inch in length. Provided, 

 That in case of grapes or other fruits usually sold by weight, the packages may be 

 plainly marked or branded with the capacilj^ in pounds avoirdupois and fractions 

 thereof, computing fifty cubic inches, inside measurement, to be equal to one pound. 



Sec. 3. All crates and cases when used by fruit growers or fruit dealers to inclose 

 smaller packages of fruit for sale or shipment, such as pint or quart boxes or baskets, 

 shall have plainly and conspicuouslj^ marked or branded on the end of each case or 

 crate the number of smaller packages within such case or crate, and the quantity 

 they contain separately or in the aggregate, in pints or quarts and fractions thereof, 

 dry measure, the figures and letters of such marking to be not less than three-quarters 

 of an inch in length. 



Sec. 4. Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of 

 a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than 

 five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail 

 not to exceed thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. 



Mr. Comings : I am in most liearty sympathy with our Secretary iu his 

 attempt to get a law that would be a start for us, and am sorry our discussion 

 of this matter had not begun earlier that we might have been more united in 

 our efforts. But we may by another term of the legislature have something 

 matured that will harmonize all elements. I just wish to call the attention of 

 the convention to the array of baskets here before us. Mr. Morton has 

 samples of the old bushel, three peck, lialf bushel and peck baskets, and I have 

 secured a line of the present baskets manufactured, which runs from a peck 

 down to a quart and short quart, and no man, except he be an expert, can take 

 one of them and tell its capacity from its appearance. I believe in legislation 

 but think we should act discreetly and in unison with other States. 



The paper read by Mr. W. A. Brown was really a majority report of a com- 

 mittee appointed by the Berrien County Horticultural Society. Mr. Robert 

 0. Thayer, of Benton Harbor, presented a minority report, in the form of a 

 paper, entitled 



HONESTY IN HORTICULTURE. 



The writer of the paper to which your attention is now invited has not 

 waited until to-day to leai'u that a "minority report" is not usually given 

 that attention and consideration which is accorded to its older and more 

 favored brother, but whatever he may lose in popularity is amply compensated 

 for, in the sweet satisfaction of being on the other side, or, as some would put 

 it, on the contrary side. i 



At one of the meetings of our county society held in this place some time 

 ago, when the subject of fruit packages was touched upon, our respected friend 

 and neighbor, Thresher, told us he clearly remembered this same subject was 

 discussed here at least sixteen years ago. Sixteen long years ! and the great 

 problem still remains unsolved ! Men have grown gray-headed, bald-headed, 

 and I don't know but some of us have grown pig-headed, in that time; boys 

 have grown to be men, and girls have grown — why, girls have been born and 

 grown up to womanhood, and some of tiie smartest of them have "got mar- 

 ried," and to this day no living man can tell the head diameter or the bung 

 diameter of an apple barrel until he takes a ruie and measures the particular 



