STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 4I 



taste of the grower. It is just like poultry, some people like the 

 Barred Plymouth Rock, some the White Wyandotte. These 

 ar^ questions I think that we should discuss more or less. 



Another point I wish to touch upon more or less is the judg- 

 ing of fruit in our local fairs, — county fairs and town fairs. 

 We look around in the State and see the different organizations, 

 the Dairymen's Association, the Poultrymen's Association, and 

 the different organizations. A few years ago in our Legislature 

 at Augusta they passed a law that the stock in our fairs should 

 be judged by a certain standard; and you go into our Poultry 

 Associations and they have a standard to go by. In my county, 

 Sagadahoc Agricultural and Horticultural Society, they have a 

 standard of their own, and one or two of the adjacent towns, they 

 have a standard of their own. Now when I go to a fair and 

 look at fruit, I like to see fruit from a well pruned tree, and 

 fruit with no scab on it, no worm holes in it, get the prize. 

 \Mien there is other fruit of equally the same size and perhaps 

 equally the same in color, but with one or two wormholes, I 

 don't like to see that get the prize. A short time ago in one of 

 our fairs, a line of Wealthies was run up and down where they 

 tiered the apples and the passers-by were looking around there 

 and two or three happened to stop just as I did, and they looked 

 up to the top row, and there was a plate of Alexanders with 

 first prize on it. We thought that must be a plate of Alexanders 

 with first prize. We took the card off of that first plate and 

 found it was marked first prize for the Wealthy — an Alexander 

 taking a Wealthy prize ! Now if I breed the Holstein cattle an^ 

 I go and compete against the Jersey man for beef, the Jersey 

 man don't stand any show at all for size in beef. If I go to these 

 fairs and compete a Wealthy apple against an Alexander apple, 

 I might as well stay at home. I don't learn anything. And so 

 I feel our Pomological Society should in some way mark out a 

 standard. 



This forenoon, in reply to the address of welcome, our Bro. 

 \Mieeler made the point that the Pomological Society was 

 endeavoring to make better citizens of our farmers. Now it is 

 sometimes the fact that the farmers do not care to market their 

 fruit the right way perhaps, and sometimes they don't care to 

 put it in the right package that will demand the most in the 

 market, and I think it is the duty of everv man, as a citizen of 



