3i» 



Packing and Grading for Market. [July, 



brought to bear on the discharge of the duties which he had 

 undertaken on their behalf. 



The Congress was opened on May ist by His Excellency 

 Don Rafael Gasset, the Minister in charge of the Spanish 

 Department of Agriculture, and was favoured by an address 

 by M. Meline,* a former President of the Council and 

 Minister of Agriculture in France. M. Meline, after referring 

 to the progress of agriculture during the past quarter of a 

 century, dealt with the problem of rural depopulation, with 

 which his name is chiefly associated, and also with the 

 shortage of agricultural labour which is noticeable in many 

 parts of Continental Europe. 



After the opening meeting, the work of the Congress was 

 distributed among eight sections, each of which dealt with 

 a different group of subjects, classified as follows: — (i) 

 Economics, which included rural depopulation, agricultural 

 education, co-operation and credit; (2) Statistics; (3) Surveys; 

 (4) Forestry ; (5) Viticulture ; (6) Fruit culture, including the 

 cultivation of the orange, lemon and olive, and also diseases 

 of fruit trees; (7) Breeding of live stock; and (8) Manures. 



On May 7th the Congress was brought to a close by a 

 meeting at which His Majesty the King of Spain was present. 

 After the presentation of reports on the resolutions of the 

 Sections, and other business, His Majesty was pleased to 

 express, in moving terms, his recognition of the labours of 

 the Congress. 



One of the subjects discussed at the Annual Conference of 

 the National Federated Associations of Fruiterers and 

 Florists, held at Manchester on May 

 Packing and Grading 16th, 191 1, was the packing and grading 

 for Market. of fruit, and the following recommenda- 



tions were made with regard to the 

 packing of apples and broccoli : — 



Apples. 



Packing. — Apples should not be purchased except packed 

 in \ cwt. boxes of the same type as those used in California, 

 with the name and address of the sender, the net weight of 



* M. Meline himself was unable to be present owing to illness, and the addres 

 was read by M. Henri Sagnier. 



