THE FEUIT MAEKS ACT 



WHAT THE ACT MEANS AND HOW IT OPERATES 



A LETTER FROM 



MR. ALEXANDER McNEILL 



DOMINION FRUIT INSPECTOR 



AFTER the parliament of Canada 

 passed the Fruit Marks Act in 

 1901, the Minister of Agriculture 

 directed that every opportunity should be 

 afforded the fruit growers and packers of 

 the Dominion to meet its requirements and 

 to fulfil their obligations to the public, and 

 for one year the work of the department in 

 this respect was informational and educa- 

 tional. This year some amendments were 

 made to the Act as originally passed, and 

 to-day the Act, in all its provisions, is "as 

 plain as a pikestaflf," and every clause of it 

 so simple that " he who runs may read." 

 No farmer, or fruit grower, or packer who 

 is honest in his endeavors and straightfor- 

 ward in his trading need fear any of its 

 clauses. The Act is being enforced, and 

 the inspectors appointed to execute its re- 

 quirements have been instructed to do 

 their duty. They are the servants of the 

 crown, Parliament has definitely pro- 

 nounced its judgment upon the false and 

 fraudulent packing and marking of fruit 

 consignments, and men have been selected 

 to carry out the regulations placed on the 

 statute book for the purpose of protecting 

 honest traders from unprincipled dealers, 

 and of preserving inviolate the fair com- 

 mercial fame of Canada from unscrupulous 

 packers. In other words, the Act will 

 ensure to the public of the Dominion and 

 to commission agents and the public gen- 

 erally in Great Britain and elsewhere, that 

 the fruit is correctly marked and honestly 

 packed. 



The principal sections of the Act are : 

 Section 4. Every person who, by him- 



self or throu^ the agency of another per- 

 son, packs fruit in a closed package, in- 

 tended for sale, shall cause the package to 

 be marked in a plain and indelible man- 

 ner, before it is taken from the premises 

 where it is packed — 



(a) With the initials of his Christian 

 name, and his full surname and address ; 



(b) With the name of the variety or 

 varieties; and 



(c) With a designation of the grade of 

 fruit, which shall include one of the follow- 

 ing six marks : For fruit of the first 

 quality. No. i, or XXX; for fruit of the 

 second quality, No. 2, or XX ; and for fruit 

 of the third quality, No. 3, or X ; but the 

 said mark may be accompanied by any 

 other designation of grade, provided that 

 designation is not inconsistent with, or 

 marked more conspicuously than, the one 

 of the said six marks which is used on the 

 said package. 



Section 5. No person shall sell, or oflfer, 

 expose or have in his possession for sale, 

 any fruit packed in a closed package and 

 intended for sale, unless such package is 

 marked as required by the next preceding 

 section. 



Section 6. No person shall sell, or 

 ofifer, expose or have in his possession for 

 sale any fruit packed in a closed package, 

 upon which package is marked any desig- 

 nation which represents such fruit as of 

 No. I, or XXX, finest, best or extra good 

 quality, unless such fruit consist of well- 

 grown specimens of one variety, sound, of 

 nearly uniform size, of good color for the 

 variety, of normal shape, and not less than 



