SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 43 



ciation in regard to this question. We have listened to 

 the paper of our friend, Dr. Twitchell, and the feeling in 

 Maine is as he represents it ; as I found when I was there 

 last fall they wished to get an act passed similar to the 

 Canadian Fruit Marks Act. The feeling in Massachusetts 

 is different; we don't think we want it; our conditions are 

 very different from those in Maine. The fruit of Maine, 

 or a large portion of it, is exported ; the fruit of Massa- 

 chusetts and Connecticut is used mostly at home. While 

 perhaps the Fruit Marks Act would help them in Maine in 

 the way of competing with the Canadian people, it will not 

 help us in Massachusetts. The grading of apples by the 

 Fruit Marks Act, even the No. 2 apples, the way apples were in 

 Maine, would have thrown out half of their apples. The fruit 

 Marks Act may be a good thing when we get to it, but we 

 have not got there yet. I think it would be much better 

 to educate our growers and grow better fruit and then they 

 will pack it better. I don't think a quarter or not over 

 half of the fruit would be salable as No. 1 fruit, and as 

 far as No. 2 fruit is concerned, when we take the Canadian 

 Act, it says, "it shall be medium in size, free from worms 

 and other defects that will decrease the quality of the 

 fruit." What is the No. 2 fruit? I have just been at 

 work on two carloads of No. 2 fruit and I have watched it 

 as it has gone through my hands to see wdiat proportion 

 would go as No. 2 fruit under this Frtiit Marks Act, and 

 I say that not one-tenth of it would pass as to size and 

 being free from worms. To go into the No. 2 class 80% 

 of it shall 1)e free from worms and of medium size. So, I 

 think as far as the Fruit Marks Act would apply to us in 

 grading our fruit, we don't want it. 



I don't think, so long as the consumers are not asking 

 it, we growers should bother ourselvees. If we cannot 

 put our No. 2 fruit on the market as we do now, I don't see 

 what we are going to do with it. I want to get all the 

 money I can out of my fruit, and I try to. I try to sell 

 all of my dropped fruit in the market for what I can get. 

 We must do this, as help is scarce and labor is high. 



