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cannot be marked as number 2. The important feature of 

 the proposed Maine bill is Sec. 6, which says: "All apples 

 grown in the state and offered for sale or shipment outside 

 of the State of Maine in closed packeges not conforming to 

 the foregoing conditions as to variety, size, or other condi- 

 tions, shall be marked 'unclassified.' " 



The standard barrel in the proposed Maine law is the 

 same as in the Lafean and Porter measures. Smaller bar- 

 rels may be used by growers, but they must be marked ac- 

 cordingly. R. L. Cummings of West Paris, Me., who is an 

 enthusiast for the proposed law, says that at a meeting held 

 a short time ago more than 300 of the fruit growers of the 

 state indorsed the proposed bill, either in person or by rep- 

 resentatives. 



New Hampshire has not taken much interest in legis- 

 lation along this line. A few tried to push it through in 

 Vermont last winter, but the effort failed, largely througli 

 the inability of the growers to decide among themselves 

 what they wanted. Connecticut does not appear to be es- 

 pecially interested, and what Massachusetts will do remains 

 to be seen. 



However radically people may dift'er in their opinions 

 on the subject, almost all agree on the importance and even 

 necessity of honest packing and grading of our fruit. The 

 trouble comes in agreeing upon a method by which the de- 

 sirable condition shall be obtained. Some say by the big 

 stick of law, others say by the uplifting force of education. 

 Other conditions being equal, education is by far the prefer- 

 able course. Human nature is so constituted that a man 

 can be led much farther than he can be driven, and the re- 

 sults accomplished are likely to be more lasting. As I in- 

 terpret the intention of the reform, the desire is to gain the 

 aid of apple growers and appeal to their sense of justice and 

 cooperation in the matter of handling fruit to the end that 

 our (emphasis on the "our" if you please) fruit may be of 

 the highest quality and in greatest demand. 



This, of course, means advanced prices to growers. I 

 fail to see how coercion will stimulate such conditions. True, 

 there are some who can be handled only by knock-down and 

 drag-out methods, but think what a small percentage they 

 constitute of our great body of farmers who sell fruit. Still 

 further, they as a rule are the smaller and less important 

 growers whose influence one way or the other is limited. 



