132 I in M0NTHL1 BULLETIN. 



with utmost care, the fruil picked with gloves, placed in the boxes as 

 carefully as it' they were eggs, were over one-half injured by over- 

 crowding, and both their appearance and their keeping qualities greatly 

 injured. 



Apples and pears should be packed tightly enough to keep them in 

 place. Pressure to secure this should be applied laterally by the oper- 

 ator when packing the fruit. The perpendicular pressure should be 

 applied to corrugated paper fillers placed on the top and bottom of the 

 box, and not directly to the fruit. This would do the work with the 



least possible loss. As in the case of grapes, it seems g 1 business to 



advocate the limiting by law of the number of pounds that shall be 

 I lacked in the box. 



We will neve]- secure the best of results from this or any other 

 standardization law until there is a change in our horticultural laws 

 which will give to some central authority complete control over the 

 inspect ion of fruit instead of the loose method in use at the present time, 

 which permits each county to establish its own standard. The laws 

 also should be so changed as to compel the supervisors of a county to 

 appoint county horticultural commissioners and inspectors when 

 required to do so by the resident taxpayers and horticulturists. 



When all is said and done the fact will still remain that true inspec- 

 tion must begin in the orchard. Trees must be properly pruned, ground 

 well cultivated, spraying done ;is En quently ;'s necessary, and in proper 

 season fruit carefully thinned and picked in suitable condition. This 

 will eliminate small, poor and defective fruit and make it possible to 

 place on each package an inspector's stamp that will mean something. 



THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE FRESH FRUIT STANDARDI- 

 ZATION LAW AS IT APPLIES TO GRAPES. 



By Fred P. Boullard, County Horticultural Commissioner. Fresno, Cal. 



Since the standardization law went into effect many problems have 

 arisen. The first problem that we met in our work was the problem 

 of getting capable men. It is vvy important to have capable men to 

 do the inspecting. If poor inspectors are employed much disagreement 

 and trouble will result, not only disagreement and trouble but possibly 

 through the mistakes of the inspectors the commissioner's influence is 

 weakened with the' people whom he serves. So immediately I devised a 

 plan of getting my men through examination. It made very little dif- 

 ference about the character of the examination, which was simply some- 

 thing to enable me to get an idea of the people who could be employed 

 in the field to carry on the work. 



The method I devised was an examination consisting of something 

 like twenty questions, in two different lists. One list was on the law 

 itself, and the other consisted of ten or twelve questions on fruits, dis- 

 eases, and pests in general. One member of the State Commission of 

 Horticulture was asked to examine the papers. I wished to allow the 

 fruit companies to get together and select a man of their ranks who 

 would pass on the examination papers, hut the appointment of the 

 examiners came too quickly. The method of conducting examination 

 and correcting papers was similar to the met hods used in civil service. 



