STATE POMOLOfllCAL SOCIETY. 119 



and thinks it is all right, but before those barrels go onto a steamer, 

 the}' are regularly marked with stencil plate. I have recently talked 

 with two parties that happened around when their apples were being 

 marked, and it read something like this, the No. 1 B's were marked 

 Fancy Maine Baldwins, the No. 2 B's were No. 1 Extra Maine 

 Baldwins, and one of them (who has sold 200 barrels this year) said 

 that he should be a little diflident about standing before the consumer 

 and acknowledge that he was the producer of that barrel of No. 1 

 Extra Maine Baldwins. 



Then again, the shipper is in a hurry to buy so as to get all he 

 wants, and the farmer is anxious to have them packed at once so as 

 to avoid loss by shrinkage, and a large quantity is barrelled up 

 before they are wanted to ship, and we personally know of lots that 

 were bought before the crop was all gathered, to be packed at once 

 and they had not all been shipped, February 1st. Another lot that 

 was packed early was partly re- packed, the balance just opened and 

 the decayed ones that were in sight picked out, the head replaced, 

 and sent to market in that condition. What shape must those 

 apples be in after their transportation to a foreign market when they 

 reach the consumer? One of the obstacles to a reformation in this 

 business is that the producer appears to lose nothing at the time ; 

 in fact, be feels that he is the gainer in two respects, the packer takes 

 all his apples and takes them at once. If there is a loss it appears 

 to fall on the buyer, but if he makes but a small margin on each 

 barrel by handling large quantities he makes money out of his win- 

 ter's work. The loss to the producer comes in later. The Maine 

 apple does not stand quite as high in the market as those from some 

 other localities, notably Canada ; the buyer cannot pa}' quite as high 

 a price next year, but he will buy and pack the same as the year 

 previous, giving satisfaction to the farmer as before. It should be 

 our aim to change all this. We produce or could produce as fine 

 apples as are grown in any part of the world, and what we desire 

 is to have some system by which our fruit may be packed uniformly 

 and marked honestly, so that when a barrel of apples is ready for 

 market the producer could stand before the consumer and acknowl- 

 edge without a blush that he raised, packed and marked those apples. 

 When we have accomplished these results the price will improve 

 from year to year over other stock that is sent under present con- 

 ditions, and in order to achieve this we must have organized effort, 

 have an inspector to look after and instruct the farmer in a uniform 



