PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS 9 CONVENTION. 49 



that any commissioner in California who has been conscientious in his 

 work can pass these examinations as they have been given. I believe 

 that every commissioner should take them ; that every inspector should 

 take them; and that representative growers, who have the interest of 

 their counties at heart, should also take them. They should take the 

 examination to see that it is practical, and that the men who pass that 

 examination are qualified to hold the office. The inspectors should take 

 the examination to prove to the commissioners who are going to appoint 

 them that that they have been keeping pace with the times and that 

 they are qualified, for it is on the inspectors of the county that the 

 bulk pf the commission work falls. 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. It has been intimated that' the fruit 

 growers of California do not understand the county horticultural law. 

 That is a mistake in some cases. In one particular case in which I 

 was officially concerned, after the State had spent $500 or $600 in 

 suppressing a very bad pest in a certain orchard, a pest that scared 

 the citrus growers all over the State nearly into spasms, and the bill 

 had been presented to this man for the work done in suppressing the 

 insect pest, he must have read the horticultural county commissioner 

 law, for he discovered that in that particular county there was no 

 horticultural law. He could buy out every man in this house, I don't 

 care how wealthy you are, and yet he refused to pay that bill. If we 

 had had the officials in that particular county which we will have under 

 the new law, this man would have paid the bill, and we must get com- 

 missioners that will do thorough work. Mr. Bremner was telling about 

 its being necessary to be thorough. You must know a bug when you 

 see it. Now. we have Mr. Rodgers of Watsonville, who will take charge 

 of the program for a few moments, and I hope you will support Mr. 

 Rodgers and help him out in his part of this evening's entertainment. 

 (Applause.) 



MR. RODGERS. Mr. Jeffrey, Ladies and Gentlemen: In picking 

 up the program the other day I was surprised to find my name appear- 

 ing therein under this head of "Discussion of Topics of Interest to 

 Horticultural Commissioners." A few times in years past I have 

 received a letter from our State Commissioner asking that I contribute 

 something toward the program and hoping that I would not refuse, as 

 they were having difficulty in securing sufficient topics. But not so 

 with Commissioner Jeffrey. The methods employed by him remind 

 me of the methods pursued by an electric lineman. A short time ago 

 I had occasion to stretch some electric wires at my place and called in 

 the services of a lineman, and after getting the wires over the pulley, 

 lie pulled for a time without succeeding in getting them tight suffi- 

 ciently to suit him and called on me and we both pulled, and with our 

 combined strength we still were not able to get the wires sufficiently 

 tight. He said, ' ' Well, now I will have to go and get my come-along. ' ' 

 That aroused my curiosity and I waited patiently until he could secure 

 his come-along. In due time he produced it, and it was a little device 

 which he could attach to any sized wire, and by the use of a pulley he 

 pulled the wire until it would vibrate like a fiddle string. Now, I think 

 our Commissioner, when he wishes to make out a program, sits in his 



4 — FGC 



