ANNUAL MEETING AT NEVADA. 227 



eleven peck barrels, though they hold, when filled, i 50 pounds of Ben 

 Davis and 165 pounds of Winesap. 



Mr. Gilbert — I have sold hand-picked, carefully packed fruit for 

 $3.00 per barrel, when other fruit could be bought from $1.50 to $1.20. 



Mr. Evans — Honest fruit, honestly packed, in honest packages 

 with the grower's name upon it will sell. If a buyer finds that your 

 brand is good, he will look for it. It is like buying a pocket knife, you 

 would not buy a knife on which the maker would not put his name. 



Mr. Speer — I once bought a basket of peaches that were very 

 nice on top, but when I took off the first layer, I found that a large 

 part of the others were contemptible little apples. I put my name upon 

 every package I send out. 



Mr. Hohingcr — I am proud to know that I am in a crowd of hon- 

 est men. 



Mr. Evans — Excuse me, Major, we will congratulate you that you 

 have just got over the line. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Holsinger — When I pack fruit I am like your merchants here 

 in Nevada, I put the best in front. Somehow or other the big fruit gets 

 on top. 



Mr. Bell — I find that, as a dealer and shipper, I am a target for 

 both the producer and the consumer. The one thinks I cull too much 

 and the other thinks I don't cull enough. What am I to do .'' In Missouri 

 it is a matter of impossibility to send your barrels into the orchard and 

 let the producer fill them under the tree. Our friend, Mr. Henry, struck 

 the keynote when he said that honesty was the thing most needed in 

 packing and marketing our fruits. This thing of everybody packing 

 and shipping is what breaks down the market. I find, in Missouri, that 

 the only way I can handle fruit is to have it loaded into large wagons 

 and brought to my packing stations, where I pack it under my own su- 

 pervision, or that of some man that I can trust. The average fartiier 

 does not even know the different varieties, unless it is the Ben Davis ; 

 perhaps most of them know it. I have packed over 16,000 barrels this 

 season and I have only saved myself by seeing the apples and supervis- 

 ing the packing myself. In the present state of things it is impossible 

 to take the fruit just as the farmer picks it, unless the buyer has a great 

 deal of money to lose. Some of them put almost everything into the bar- 

 rel except the tree. We need honest packing to begin with, full measure 

 and to make two grades of our apples. When shipping long distances 

 you must have only the very best fruit, and you must certainly have 

 honest packing. 



