PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 6* 



in his elaborate work on fruit culture, devotes nearly three hundred pages 

 to the enumeration of the species and varieties of the apple alone; while 

 another writer selects from this exhaustless catalogue about eighty varie- 

 ties which he thinks may be grown to perfection in the state of Michigan. 

 In fact, the subject has already assumed such proportions that Warder 

 has published a large volume devoted to apple culture alone. And so, in 

 all large libraries, separate works may be found on the culture of the 

 orange, lemon, grape, peach, apricot, and other fruits. Annual conven- 

 tions are now held in most of the states, devoted to the subject of fruit 

 culture, and the fruit exhibits of our county, state, and world fairs has but 

 few rivals in magnificence and display. 



Of the commercial advantages of fruit culture, of the art and science of 

 cultivation, I have not the time to speak, but will take this opportunity to 

 refer briefly to certain ethical and intellectual considerations involved in 

 fruit culture. We have said that it was one of the most ennobling of 

 occupations. The conditions are most favorable to health. The character 

 of the soil and climate, which gives color, flavor, and richness to fruit, 

 gives strength to the arm that cultivates it, light to the eye, color to the 

 cheek, and health to the body. Few fruits, indeed, and none of the highest 

 order, come to perfection in malarial districts. The apple, the peach, the 

 cherry, and the strawberry, most delicious of fruits, are products of the 

 temperate zone, within which cultivation has achieved its greatest con- 

 quests, man his highest development. 



But physical health is not the only boon of fruit culture. Its oppor- 

 tunities for mental discipline and study are of the most interesting char- 

 acter. Here the biologist finds himself in the midst of phenomena which 

 embody the origin of all life; for animal life is nothing but an elaboration 

 of vegetable life. Here the geologist may learn the properties of strata 

 and of soil in the flower and chemical qualities of fruits. The reason why 

 the wine of the valley of the Druro, the prunes of Turkey, the coffee of 

 Java, and the apples of Michigan have a flavor so unique and so incom- 

 parable is to be found in the soil or beneath it. And then, in the art of bud- 

 ding and grafting, what unlimited scope for analysis and synthesis and 

 mechanical ingenuity ! It has been said that God made man in his own image. 

 I suppose this means that man is endowed potentially with divine power. 

 If man ever reflects the image of the creative First Cause, it is in the 

 wonderful triumphs of fruit culture. The power which transformed the 

 original crab apple into the luscious Baldwin or Northern Spy, is certainly 

 akin to that high prerogative which created the crab. 



The most valuable of northern fruits, perhaps, is the apple. It will 

 resist the changes of climate, endure neglect more patiently, and respond 

 to kind treatment more readily than any other fruit. Its juices form a 

 delicious and wholesome beverage; as a table decorative and dessert it 

 surpasses its tropical rivals, while in the dried state or in cellar storage it 

 supplies our wants for the entire year. Excellent bread has been made by 

 the French by a mixture of two thirds flour with one third apple, without 

 water. For cattle and hogs, sweet apples have long been held in high 

 demand. Think of pork, ham, and bacon fattened on sweet apples! If 

 anything could prevail against the conscience of a Jew, I think it would 

 be fruit-fattened ham and eggs. 



Again, fruit culture has an ethical bearing as to food. The dispositions 

 of men are affected by diet. This is seen in the study of the different 

 races. The Indian, living principally upon meat, is bloodthirsty and 



