FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
this will be fallowed by a talk from a 
man who is in favor of a standard. There 
should not be two successive talks for 
the bill followed by only one against it, 
and vice versa. Then when it becomes 
apparent to me, as your presiding officer, 
that a fair expression of opinion is had, 
we should be able to close the discussion 
and put the motion. 
Mr. Prouty: Please explain to me 
why this standard bill was not handed 
to the Committee on Legislation instead 
of being brought into the meeting to dis¬ 
cuss it. It puts us all at sea. I confess 
I do not know anything about it. 
Mr. Hume: Then it will be a good 
thing to say nothing, Mr. Prouty. But, 
seriously, answering your question, Mr. 
Prouty, I cannot tell you why it did not 
go to this committee. I have no control 
over the matters when they have once 
been passed upon by the Society or by a 
committee, and I cannot tell you why it 
was not handled that way. | 
You have heard the resolution to the 
effect that the Green Fruit Law stand 
as it now is on the statute books. The 
motion has been seconded, and it is now 
open for discussion, if you desire to dis¬ 
cuss it. 
Mr. Hume: You have heard the reso¬ 
lution as read. Those in favor signify 
by saying “aye;” opposed “no.” The 
motion is carried. 
Captain Rose: Mr. President, Ladies 
and Gentlemen of the Horticultural So¬ 
ciety: This matter has been thrashed 
out before this Association ever since I 
have been connected with it. Immature 
citrus fruit, or the shipment of it, has 
vexed the orange grower for that length 
73 
of time, and longer, particularly when 
the crop reached five million boxes, and 
was more difficult to dispose of than when 
we had only a few hundred thousand. 
The present bill which you have just 
endorsed was introduced by the orange 
growers; your State Legislators had 
nothing to do with it. It is not properly 
a subject for the Agricultural Depart¬ 
ment. It is no more the duty of your 
Agricultural Commissioner to enforce 
this Green Fruit Law than it is the duty 
of the Superintendent of Schools. It is 
a prohibitive law, to prohibit the ship¬ 
ment of immature citrus fruit and, like 
other prohibitive laws, such as the one 
in regard to intoxicants, it does not de¬ 
fine what an immature fruit is, any more 
than the prohibitive law in respect to in¬ 
toxicants fixes the percentage of alcohol. 
It is a matter of fact to be established 
by a jury whether a certain percentage 
of alcohol which would intoxicate Brown 
and would not intoxicate Jones, is an in¬ 
toxicant or not. 
Now, you want a standard established. 
You appoint a Commission consisting, I 
think, of capable men (barring myself) 
to report, and you adopt the standard. 
There was a great deal of criticism, 
probably just; it was said that the stand¬ 
ard was adopted by a certain clique. I 
think there was a very representative 
body of men at Gainesville, also recently 
at Tampa, and that the orange grower is 
fairly represented here. 
I had suggested in a communication 
what other men and I had considered a 
fair standard, using an acid test, which 
I believe is the only one that can be fair- 
