30 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



cherries and apples. The new plantations of currants, gooseberries and 

 raspberries, made in 1900 and 1901, are looking very well, and a good crop 

 of fruit will be secured from the raspberries. 



The weather during the early part of this year was quite favorable 

 for garden operations and the students were able to get the crops in in a 

 very satisfactory manner, but the weather was so cold and wet during 

 May and June that in many cases the growth was quite slow. Very little 

 damage from the frosts was apparent. 



INSTITUTES AND SOCIETIES. 



During the month of December, the writer attended three one-day 

 institutes in Antrim county at Central Lake, Alden and Elinira. Prof. 

 Hedrick was at a one-day meeting at Lowell, Kent county, and Mr. Dean 

 attended a two-day meeting at Clare, Clare county. 



At the meetings of the State Horticultural Society at Monroe, Fenn- 

 ville, Frankfort and Pontiac, Prof. Hedrick, Mr. Gunson and the writer 

 have been in attendance and presented papers. Some ten of the senior 

 class were at the Monroe meeting and in short talks gave the results of 

 some of the investigations they had been making during the year. 

 While at Monroe they visited the nurseries of Greening Bros, and I. E. 

 Ilgenfritz Sons, and thus gained some insight into nursery practice on a 

 large scale. 



GROUNDS. 



The weather during the past year has been unusually favorable for the 

 lawns, shrubbery and flower beds, as, except for a few weeks during 

 August, the rainfall has been ample to prevent any check to their growth, 

 and the grass, which in many places where the soil is light, was nearly 

 killed out by the dry summers from 1890 to 1897, has thickened up and 

 formed a very good sod. During the winter, some 200 loads of manure were 

 hauled from Lansing, to be used upon the lawns where most needed as soon 

 as composted. The shrubbery planted in the borders during the last three 

 years has made a satisfactory growth and serves to embellish the lawns. 



During the fall and spring considerable additions were made to the 

 shrubbery and the plantings of herbaceous perennials, and in several 

 instances the beds that had previously been used for annuals were filled 

 with perennials. 



The oversight of the landscape work on the capitol grounds was con- 

 tinued. In the fall, several thousand tulips and hyacinths were planted 

 for spring flowering, and gave good results, nearly every bulb growing, 

 and the tulips gave large flowers, true to name. This spring a large num- 

 ber of shrubbery beds were laid out on the north, west and south sides of 

 the building. About a thousand hardy shrubs were used for these beds and 

 some four thousand bedding plants for those made last year and for filling 

 in among the shrubs. 



