Introducer, Patron and Friend of the

Apple Package and Grade Bill

Member of Congress-Tenth District of New York
A Progressive in Politics and a Friend of Progress

ARE YOU USING THE BILL?

No. 7

Plain Truths From A Large Grower

Excerpts from the Address of Hon. S. L. Lupton, Winchester, Vai

MAKE THE SULZER BILL ALIVE.

I have wondered if we have labored to bring about legislation tha we do not need. Quite a number have told me since I have been here that they had no special interest in the APPLE BILL, because their name on the barrel was better than the United States standard brand; that they di not care to use this, because their particular emblem and their name was a good deal better in trade than to have the stamp of the United States Standard. Gentlemen, I don't agree with you in this. It is my contentim that within five years you will not be able to sell your apples even wiff your brand on it, unless you do put on it, in addition, the United States stamp. That United States stamp simply means a guarantee that the apples conform with the standard. You can make them better if you wish i and your name will be worth just what it is now. You must have, int addition to that, the government guaranty.

Now, I expect to use that brand a year in advance of the time that it goes into effect by law, and I should very strongly urge you gentlemen to do the same thing this year, so as to get the people ready for the United States stamp.

CONTRACT UNDER THE BILL.

I believe this Association should get up a blank form of contract with your Association name in one corner and the firm name in the other. That contract should be made to contain the conditions laid down in the Sulzer Bill, and those contracts should be furnished members of your Association for this year's business. Your members should go into the orchards this year with this form of contract and I believe that, if only a part of them would adopt that official form of contract, it would not be very long before a large number of apple dealers would join your Association for the very purpose of getting the benefit of that contract. It will come to that in the end.

I suggest that you give this matter your consideration and also prepare a form for a stencil, showing the proper brand. You can do it this year without incurring any penalty, because the law does not go into effect until next July. You will get all the advantages of starting in time. You have a whole year now to perfect your plans and start your apple growers to pack in accordance with the bill; and I think by the time the law does go into effect you will be in shape to really begin operations under the bill in a scientific way.

EDUCATION.

Now as to some particular suggestion as to what you gentlemen can do I see very little that the consumer can do at this time. There has got to be a campaign of education. A great many know that an apple is an apple, and that is all. Now you can all engage in a campaign of education among consumers and finally educate them up to the point where they know what they want. You can also take the groceryman. And I would suggest that you begin here and now a close co-operation with every kindred organization. Take the Western Fruit Jobbers' Association, the National League, the Retail Grocers' Association, the State Horticultural Societies, and organize a campaign of education aimed at the grocer, so that he will demand United States Standard pack.

EVILS OF THE OLD WAY.

I would say that in my opinion the mere fact of calling one apple a No. 1 and another a No. 2 has worked a great hardship upon the apple dealer and the apple industry. Now this is what happens in the orchard, as all of you know. We run the apples over a table and the No. 1's go into one barrel and the No. 2's into another. The No. 1's are supposed to be free from worms, scab, scale and other defects. Then there is another barrel called the No. 2. This also is supposed to have nothing in it but sound fruit, of the same grade as the No. 1, but a little smaller in size. The mere fact of calling it a No. 2 induces the men who sort to put apples into that barrel which ought never to go in. They put wormy apples in the No. 2's and say "O, that's all right, that apple has only a sting or is a little scaly." The effect is all the time to lower the grade of the No. 2 apple.

Now the Sulzer Bill has not a No. 2 apple in it. There is but one grade. Bear that in mind. The only difference is in the size. Any apple buyer who goes into an orchard this fall and undertakes to buy No. 1 and No. 2 apples will deserve all he gets, because he ought not to buy anything but the No. 1 Apples. Under this bill you can buy apples down to two inches and from two and a half inches up, and that is more than enough lee-way for any person. The old idea of No. 1's and No. 2's should be done away with. The terms mean nothing.

THE DEALER'S RESPONSIBILITY.

Perhaps I am trying to talk in an educational manner to gentlemen who are graduates in the apple business, but the fact is that the grower is not so much to blame for a bad pack as the dealer. All the dealers do not belong to the International Apple Shippers' Association, so if I tell you that the dealer is responsible for more bad packing than the grower, that does not necessarily mean any member of this Association is included, because there are thousands of apple dealers in the country and not all

Plain Truths From A Large Grower

Excerpts from the Address of Hon. S. L. Lupton, Winchester, Va

MAKE THE SULZER BILL ALIVE.

I have wondered if we have labored to bring about legislation th we do not need. Quite a number have told me since I have been here the they had no special interest in the APPLE BILL, because their name the barrel was better than the United States standard brand; that they di not care to use this, because their particular emblem and their name was good deal better in trade than to have the stamp of the United State, Standard. Gentlemen, I don't agree with you in this. It is my contenti. that within five years you will not be able to sell your apples even will your brand on it, unless you do put on it, in addition, the United State stamp. That United States stamp simply means a guarantee that the apples conform with the standard. You can make them better if you wish and your name will be worth just what it is now. You must have, i addition to that, the government guaranty.

Now, I expect to use that brand a year in advance of the time that goes into effect by law, and I should very strongly urge you gentlemen t do the same thing this year, so as to get the people ready for the Unite States stamp.

CONTRACT UNDER THE BILL.

I believe this Association should get up a blank form of contract with your Association name in one corner and the firm name in the other. That contract should be made to contain the conditions laid down in the Sulze Bill, and those contracts should be furnished members of your Association for this year's business. Your members should go into the orchards this year with this form of contract and I believe that, if only a part of them would adopt that official form of contract, it would not be very long before a large number of apple dealers would join your Association for the very purpose of getting the benefit of that contract. It will come to that in the end.

I suggest that you give this matter your consideration and also pare a form for a stencil, showing the proper brand. You can do it this year without incurring any penalty, because the law does not go into effect until next July. You will get all the advantages of starting in time. You have a whole year now to perfect your plans and start your apple growers to pack in accordance with the bill; and I think by the time the law does go into effect you will be in shape to really begin operations under the bill in a scientific way.