CHAPTER 82
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
RELATING TO MARKETING OF PEACHES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other association to buy, sell, ship, or transport, or consign, for human consumption any peaches in closed or open containers, or in bulk, unless said peaches are mature, and that mature in the case of peaches shall mean that the peach has reached the growth which will insure a proper completion of the ripening process as defined in the "U. S. Standards for Peaches" and as interpreted by the Federal-State Inspection Service.
Section 2. Every closed package containing peaches sold, offered or exposed for sale, or transported for sale by any person, firm, corporation, partnership, shall bear conspicuously upon the outside, thereof, in plain letters and figures, not less than one-half inch high, the following:
(a) Variety
(b) Name and Address of owner
Section 3. Size Requirements:--The marking, to indicate size, is optional but where so marked the peaches contained in such packages shall conform to the minimum or minimum and maximum sizes as indicated by such marking. Minimum size refers to "diameter" which means the shortest distance measured through the center of the peach at right angles to a line running from the stems to the blossom end. A tolerance of 10%, by count, shall be allowed for undersized peaches.
Section 4. The official grades and sizes for peaches shall be the same as those promulgated from time to time by the United States Department of Agriculture. These grades are voluntary and their use is optional, but where used on peaches packed or sold in
Delaware, the fruit shall be graded and packed to conform to all minimum requirements of these grades with reference to condition, quality, size, face, and pack. Each container shall be plainly marked in letters not less than one-half inch high, as follows:
(a) Variety
(b) Name and address of owner
(c) Grade
(d) Minimum size
If the true name of the variety is not known, to the packer or the person by whom the package is packed, then such package shall be marked "Variety Unknown."
Section 5. The State Board of Agriculture, through its Bureau of Markets and the duly authorized agents of said State Board of Agriculture, is hereby authorized, empowered, and directed to enforce the provisions of this Act, and to define, promulgate, and enforce such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary to secure uniformity in the enforcement of this Act and the proper marking of closed containers for peaches and shall not be in conflict with any of the provisions of this Act.
Section 6. All enforcing officers under the provisions of this Act shall have the power and right to enter any place, vehicle or conveyance within the State, where any peaches are stored, packed, delivered for shipment, loaded, shipped, being transported, offered or exposed for sale, or sold and to inspect any or all such peaches found in such places, vehicles, or conveyances, and to take for the purpose of inspection, by a licensed Inspector of the United States Department of Agriculture, such representative samples of the peaches as may be necessary to determine whether or not this Act has been violated.
Section 7. Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other association which violates any of the provisions of this Act, or wilfully interferes with the State Board of Agriculture, or its duly authorized agents in the performance, on account of the execution of its or their duties, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof before any Justice of the Peace or other enforcing agency of the County wherein such violation occurs, be fined a sum not less than Ten Dollars 010.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars 0100.00), for every such violation.
Any person who shall obstruct or in any way interfere with the State Board of Agriculture or any of its agents in the Execution of any of the duties of the said State Board of Agriculture under this Act, shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of this Act.
It shall be the duty of the State Board of Agriculture to see that the provisions of this Act are enforced.
Section 8. No person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other association shall be prosecuted under the provisions of this Act where it can be established that the peaches offered or exposed for sale or presented for shipment have passed inspection within this State by a licensed inspector of the United States Department of Agriculture and found to be graded, packed, and marked in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Certificates of Inspection issued under said Act shall be accepted as prime facie evidence in any State or United States Court.
Section 9. The term "closed container", as used in this Act shall mean any box, barrel, basket, crate, hamper, bag or other package made or covered with burlap, tarlatan, slats or other material, the entire contents of which cannot be readily, properly, and thoroughly inspected when such package is closed.
conflict with any Federal Law, the validity of the remainder of this Act and the application thereof to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 11. This Act shall take effect June 1, 1939. Approved May 15, 1939.