PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 151 



things?" "No," says he, and, placing his hand upon my shoulder, 

 "Let's go ahead." Full of life, energy, absorbed right there among 

 the flowers and the roses, he was right in his element and his old self 

 again. But I soon saw that he was getting weary and I led him to a 

 seat on the porch, and he soon lapsed into a kind of a half dreamy 

 melancholy that was such a pain to us. That was the last effort Alex- 

 ander Craw made to do something with his own hands, and I leave it 

 to you, just an outline as I have tried to paint it, and I thank you 

 for vour attention. (Applause.) 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. I think all will recognize how fitting 

 this little tribute to our beloved friend. Away back before any of us, 

 almost, began attending conventions, you will see the name of Alex- 

 ander Craw in the published reports, always to some effect, always to 

 some benefit for the people of the State, always hopeful for good, and 

 there those records stand for years and years, and now it is certainly 

 befitting for us to make a record of the words of his brother-in-law at 

 this time. We thank Mr. Femmons for this tribute. Mr. Rixford 

 wishes to make an announcement. 



MR. RIXFORD. Last spring, in distributing the caprifigs from 

 Loomis, Wells, Fargo & Co. refused to give us the fruit rate. The 

 agent there ruled that as these figs were shipped principally on account 

 of the value of the bugs they were not entitled to the fruit rate. I 

 said. "Are they not fruit V "Well, yes." But, at any rate, they 

 <-harged to the central part of the San Joaquin Valley, where most of 

 the figs were shipped, from 70 to 75 cents a box. Taking up the matter 

 recently with the head men in San Francisco, I have finally got them 

 to agree to give us the fruit rate, so that the express charges will be 

 only about one half what they were last season. I thought I had better 

 announce it, because some of you may want those figs. 



MR. BRIGGS. I would like to know if I would be out of order in 

 the introduction of a resolution to be incorporated in the report of the 

 Committee on Resolutions. 



MR. KELLOGG. Mr. Briggs was ' requested by the committee to 

 formulate a resolution. It was suggested that he read it to the con- 

 vention and make his own comments on it. 



Mr. Briggs read the following resolution: 



Recognizing the great importance of the fruit interest in the development and 

 continual growth of the State, and believing that any material change in present 

 methods for curing and preparing dried fruit for distribution, and further believing 

 in the harmlessness of sulphur as heretofore and now employed in the process of 

 drying fruit, the State Fruit Growers' Convention here assembled in the city of 

 Wa tsonville — 



Resolved. That we commend the action of our late President. Theodore Roosevelt, 

 in taking from the hands of the Department of Agriculture the matter of investi- 

 gating and determining the wholesomeness of fruit cured by the use of sulphur and 

 of placing the whole matter in the hands of the Referee Board, created by him for 

 determination : and 



Resolved. That by these resolutions we express our appreciation of the efforts of 

 Mr. James Wilson, the Secretary of Agriculture, in our behalf, and commend his 

 intelligent consideration of the fruit industry of California : and 



Resolved, That we have faith in the wisdom and integrity of the Referee Board, 

 and are satisfied its findings will be fair and right and founded on scientific knowl- 

 edge and efficient investigation and experiment : and 



Resolved, That the attitude of Dr. H. W. Wiley, Chief of the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry, in what is known as the sulphur question is in our judgment unwarranted and 

 not consistent with the position he holds as a federal officer, and that we hereby 

 record our disapproval of his course. 



On motion of Mr. Judd, duly seconded, the resolution was adopted. 



