THIRTY-FOURTH FRUIT-GRO^VERS ^ CONVENTION. 



139 



fertilization of his orchard, but he said, ''We haven't the money.. 

 The lady for whom I work is a widow. She has lost her husband. 

 She doesn't know how to finance. She doesn't like to go to the bank 

 and borrow, lest not getting a crop she will lose her place." But I 

 said, ''My man, you can't get the crop without the food to grow it 

 upon." "We haven't got the mone};, and we want to get the money." 

 "Where are you going to get it?" "Out of the soil." "You can't. 

 Haven't you tried?" "Yes, I have." And I preached and I preached 

 as a Methodist evangelist preached, you know, in the old days back 

 there. "Get religion, man — get religion, agricultural religion." And 

 he got a little of it, and he went back to see the lady and I followed him, 

 and I drove it home with all the force of my soul, because I saw the 

 woman's salvation materially depended upon it, and her health of 

 mind and body, and it is our soul that depends upon it, and we must 

 see to it that if we have a message that we give it to them. And the 

 man was here yesterday, and "Oh," he said, "what a revelation." 

 And the woman said to me, "Mr. Mills, I have something to live for 

 now. I have got the books you told me to get. I have dug into them. 

 I have got them. I have got the message. I have got the gospel. I 

 am going to live it, and my orchard is living it, too. The relation of the 

 soil to the fruit. Keep the soil sweet and right, and it will work as you 

 can if you are sweet and right phj-sically. (Great applause.) 



(At this time an adjournment was taken until 1 :45 o'clock p. m.) 



AFTERNOON SESSION-THIRD DAY. 



Thursday, April -30, 1908. 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. As stated on the programme, Mr. Pease 

 will have charge of the meeting, and I am going to ask him to preside 

 this afternoon. 



CHAIRMAN PEASE. Our first paper is by Mr. C. E. Bemis, 

 "What is the True Value of a Certificate in Shipments of Nursery 

 Stock?" I am pleased to introduce to you Mr. Bemis, Horticultural 

 Commissioner of Los Angeles County. 



WHAT IS THE TRUE VALUE OF A CERTIFICATE IN SHIP- 

 MENTS OF NURSERY STOCK? 



By C. E. bemis, of Covina. 



I do not know whether those who assigned me this topic had in mind 

 the current value of such a certificate issued under present conditions^ 

 and according to the practices now in vogue in the various states of the- 

 Union, or, its true value, if the best methods and men were responsible- 

 for its issuance. 



