STATK POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 69 



packer who is responsible, not to the owners of the fruit, but 

 to the Union. And if the owner objects to the way things are 

 carried on, his redress is through the Union. We all know 

 what this type of marketing has done for them. The Rural 

 New Yorker recently contained a statement from Steinhardt & 

 Kelley, from which I quote the following: 



"Our contract with the Hood River Apple Cirowers' Union, as rep- 

 resented by their board of directors, is certainly a very stringent one, 

 they guaranteeing us a perfect pack and also guaranteeing that every 

 apple in every box is absolutely perfect. We have handled several 

 hundred thousand boxes, and never have we found ourselves in condi- 

 tion to make a single complaint against their pack. It is as near per- 

 fect as human ingenuity and honesty of endeavor can make it ; in fact, 

 we shall be glad to have you drop into our place of business at any time 

 and take a box of fruit from the heap, and you will find that every 

 box is practically identical, and that every apple is absolutely perfect, 

 whether you open the top, bottom or side of any package. This is 

 more than we have been able to say for any other large pack of fruit 

 that we have ever contracted for." 



In order that the packing may be satisfactory, the Union is 

 very careful who does it. No one is allowed to pack who does 

 not have a license from the Union, and only those who have 

 proved that they are capable will be granted such a license. In 

 order to keep up the supply of good packers, they conduct each 

 fall, at the beginning of the packing season, a "packing school," 

 where every one may get two weeks of practice under expert 

 supervision for $15. At the end of that time, any one of 

 ordinary ability should be reasonably expert. If the "graduate" 

 from this school packs for members of the Union during the 

 whole season, he gets a refund of his $15 at the end of the 

 season. Isn't this packing school something which we ought to 

 take up, whether we adopt the box or continue to pack our 

 apples in barrels? 



I should like to continue this discussion of general impres- 

 sions, because there are several other matters which interest 

 me greatly, but I must pass on to the second section of my 

 subject, viz., a comparison of New England and the Pacific 

 Cor St. 



Some three years ago, at the request of Mr. J. Lewis Ells- 

 worth, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture of Massa- 

 chusetts, r wrote a bulletin which was called "Western Metho'Is 

 in New England Orchards," giving my notions as to the reasons 



