PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 51 



were in healthy condition, giving proof of proper care. Everywhere the 

 benefits of spraying were distinctly visible in perfectly healthy foliage and 

 fruit. • 



Leaving the station, the party were driven through the plantation of 

 Mr. J. N. Stearns, than which it would be hard to find, in Michigan or 

 any other state, one more perfect in all points. Peaches were scarce here, 

 too, but the pears and plums were the very picture of abundance. The 

 trees had been well watered, upon a plan afterward detailed by Mr. Steakns,. 

 at one of the sessions, and the beneficial effect of the irrigation was plainly 

 discernible. So loaded were the pear trees that much loss and injury 

 would have ensued had they been left to the chances of rain. The varie- 

 ties in bearing were Anjou, Louis Bonne, Bartlett, Angouleme, Clairgeau, 

 and perhaps others. Of plums there were at least Bradshaw, Lombard, 

 and McLaughlin, and of these the visitors were permitted to help them- 

 selves freely. As Mr. Stearns cultivates a full line of Michigan fruits, 

 and gives each and all the very best of care, the man who is seeking the 

 best knowledge obtainable of cultural methods could nowhere become bet- 

 ter informed. Mr. Stearns is one of the comparatively few men whose 

 practice is in all respects quite equal to his advice to others. This fact is 

 one of the secrets of his great success in both orchard and market. 



The other orchards seen in passing seemed all to be in good condition 

 of tilth, though the fruitage was light, so far as peaches were concerned, 

 while apples showed in most cases a third crop or less. Pears were every- 

 where abundant and remarkably free from scab, even Flemish Beauty 

 being in fine order in this respect. The same seems to be true through- 

 out the state, without regard to spraying. This is the more remarkable, 

 considering the prevalence of scab on the apple and the susceptibility of 

 Flemish Beauty to this disease. 



The first session was held in the fine oak grove on the north side of town, 

 but it was comparatively brief, the company not assembling till about 

 eleven o'clock. 



Adjournment was made for dinner, which was served in horticultural 

 hall, a large building erected by the local society, in the grove, and great 

 was the abundance and the toothsomeness of the repast. This charming 

 form of entertainment was repeated next day, there seeming to be no limit 

 to the supply of delicacies and none to the generosity of the hosts. 



After dinner, from two to three hundred people answered President 

 Morrill's call to order and listened to music by the ladies' band of South 

 Haven. It is a cornet band, composed almost entirely of ladies, who show 

 no little skill in their renditions of the usual style of brass band music. 

 The fruitgrowers had the pleasure of their entertaining efforts at several 



