6 PROCEEDINGS OF NINETEENTH FRUIT GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



development of a State organization combining all the fruit-growers will 

 be State inspection laws. These laws should embody every food product. 

 This subject was presented at the convention held at National City, 

 April, 1889. (See page 329 of that report.) There does not seem to be 

 a question as to the necessity of such a law, and while the fruit-growers 

 can formulate all its provisions, the enforcement can only be successfully 

 carried out by a legal officer clothed with State authority. Competent 

 and careful inspection will give confidence to the dealers in the purchase 

 of fruits, and will increase their value. It will stop the shipment of 

 worthless and unsound fruits, which depress the market value of good, 

 sound fruit. It will increase the consumption, for the reason that con- 

 sumers can rely on the quality of what they purchase. The State will 

 reap advantages far in excess of the cost of maintaining rigid and com- 

 petent inspection laws. I recommend the appointment of a committee 

 to draft such a law. 



Railroad Transportation. — This subject assumed a more important 

 phase in the discussions at our last convention than ever before. I 

 refer to the official report, pages 52 to 70, inclusive. The fact that the 

 railroad company had competent officials present, who calmly and 

 frankly discussed this subject with us, promises good for us, and I have 

 the hope that with our concentration we will get all the relief that we 

 can in justice expect or demand. I recommend the continuance of the 

 present committee. 



A Bureau of Information. — It is of the utmost importance that such 

 a bureau should be established, with a competent statistician and a 

 sufficient clerical force to gather information from every possible point 

 where our fruits can be sold at prices that would insure the realization 

 of fair returns. This will be an important feature in securing new mar- 

 kets, and a necessity when all shipments are under one direction. This 

 bureau of statistics could be established in the offices of the State Board 

 of Horticulture, thereby saving the expense of rent and many other 

 incidentals that would be necessary if in a separate building. The sum 

 of $6,000 each year would, in my opinion, be sufficient to maintain 

 such a bureau. The State would reap a hundredfold from the establish- 

 ment of such an office. 



All these questions, so far as treated, are a part and inseparable from 

 the subject of marketing fruits. I trust the suggestions will be favor- 

 ably considered by the convention. 



The Tramp Danger. — I call your attention to this growing evil, and to 

 the necessity of a plan or law to arrest it. It is daily becoming more 

 and more serious. The annoyance anol fear that the rural population 

 are subjected to, make life unpleasant, and are creating a feeling of dis- 

 content with their surroundings and lessening the courage and hope 

 that impel industrious people to be satisfied with their conditions. One 

 hundred years ago a woman could travel alone the length and breadth 

 of the settled country without fear of molestation; now there is scarcely 

 an isolated district where it is safe for her to go alone. It is a common 

 occurrence for men to be held up and robbed in every country place at 

 night time, where they encounter this class. Ten years ago this evil 

 would have been ten times more easily controlled than now. Ten years 

 hence the system will have assumed such a status that an outbreak, 



