42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



the present section 3 of the law in its present form provides 

 that the legal marks on barrels can be accompanied by certain 

 other marks, provided these marks are not inconsistent with or 

 more conspicuous than the marks required by law; this is 

 phrased as a permission, and the language of this section 

 should be changed so as to make it a prohibition. 



In the second place, the maximum penalty for second 

 offences should be increased from |100 to $200. There is no 

 minimum penalty, and the court may still impose as small a 

 fine as it desires. In case of flagrant and repeated violation 

 the present maximum fine of $100 is hardly large enough to act 

 as a deterrent, especially in the case of large buyers conducting 

 operations of considerable size. 



In the third place, two more sections should be added, — one 

 exempting from the law apples packed under the United States 

 law, and the other giving specific authority to the secretary of 

 the State Board of Agriculture to enforce the act and prosecute 

 violations of it. This authority may be implied from other 

 parts of the law, but it is very desirable that it should be 

 definitely stated. 



The Fairs. 



The greatly increased interest in the quantity and source of 

 our food supply was undoubtedly a factor in a splendid at- 

 tendance at most of our agricultural fairs. A number of fairs 

 enjoyed exceptional prosperity, notably the Northampton Fair, 

 which has just erected two new brick buildings, and the Green- 

 field Fair, which had the largest attendance in its history. 



Owing to the passage of the anti-aid amendment the reim- 

 bursement from the State which the fairs will receive in August, 

 1918, will be the last they can receive in this way. Your 

 secretary believes, however, that it would be a grave mistake 

 for the State to abandon the practice of offering prizes for 

 worthy displays of agricultural products, and believes that in 

 any reorganization that is effected provision should be made for 

 offering these prizes directly by the State instead of by the 

 society. While the anti-aid amendment forbids the payment of 

 any money to private organizations there is nothing in it to 

 prevent the State's offering prizes, as, for instance, for potatoes 

 at the Blandford Fair, the classes to be judged by judges ap- 



