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he packs and ships under the association label. It is possi- 

 ble a simple system of inspection would be desirable. 



The name of every member must go on the package, and 

 inside must be the guarantee of the association, with the in- 

 struction to the consumer that if anything is wrong, the sec- 

 retary of the Association should be informed thereof. Then 

 the Association can hold the individual grower responsible. 

 If it is possible to enforce the Lafean or Porter bill, or any 

 other similar measure, in a given state, then it ought to be 

 possible for a selected few of the most enterprising growers 

 in the state to enforce standards, as they agree to. In other 

 words, the whole is greater than any of its parts, and if state 

 or nation-wide legislation will work, a small part, or such an 

 association as I mention, ought to have clear sailing. 



In the event of such an association it will put a premium 

 on honesty, you secure a gilt-edged product and establish the 

 desirable high reputation for fruit; and, best of all, you are 

 educating your people to the wisdom of grading, packing, 

 and marking fruit carefully and systematically. The favora- 

 ble results following this work would spread out like the 

 concentric ripple from a pebble dropped in a pool of water. 

 The leaven of education would work day and night for 365 

 days of the year. 



And then, in due time, if you please, you would be ready 

 for your state and national measures which are now being 

 proposed. On the other hand, this very association work is 

 so far superior to the legislative proposition that I am in- 

 clined to think you would not care to take your chance with 

 what lawmakers would give you. 



If the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association does 

 not care to thus advance the interests of horticulture, then 

 ten, twenty or thirty, or even more, of the interested growers 

 in the state can form a separate association with a suitable 

 name, like the Bay State Apple Growers' League; they can 

 design and adopt a catchy and attractive label and proceed 

 to develop a reputation for apples sold under the league 

 name. 



What I suggest does not mean the expenditure of thou- 

 sands of dollars in order that a start may be secured. Once 

 a careful system of inspection is worked out, the cost will be 

 nominal. Only those members should be taken in at the 

 start who are well known for their integrity, and who are 

 willing to sign over some of their individuality to the asso- 



