SUMMER MEETING, 18S2. 53 



E. J. Shirts, Shelby: I would set Green Gage for home use but Lombard 

 for market. In strawberries I should certainly prefer the variety you have done 

 me the honor of giving my name ; in apples, the lied Astrachan and Wag- 

 ener; in cherries, Early Richmond. One gentleman would plant the Brad- 

 shaw in preference to any other variety of ])lum, but feared that plum culture 

 would find a harsh enemy in the rot. 



Mr. McClatchie : I agree with the gentleman that we have much to fear 

 from this disease ; however, I do not believe it contagious. My experience is 

 that after trees have borne heavy crops they are more subject to it. I have 

 watched the matter some time now and have observed that young trees loaded 

 with fruit, standing close beside older ones upon which the fruit was rendered 

 worthless by rot, were not effected in the least degree. 



Evening Session. 



The question box commanded the attention of the convention for a little 

 time at the opening of the evening session. 



No. 1. To thin the crop on a peach tree, would it be advisable to cut back 

 the ends of the branches after the fruit has formed? 



Mr. J. J. Atherly, of South Haven, said that the only method of thinning 

 peaches by the best growers was to pluck the fruit as early as possible after it 

 was settled what the promise for a crop was. He thought the only difficulty 

 lay in getting growers to thin enough in a season of f ruitfulness. 



No. 2. Is there any strawberry that is enough earlier than the Wilson to 

 make it any object to raise on account of its earliness? 



W. A. Brown : Generally speaking, no ; for in all markets of any capacity 

 the berries from the south come in and compete with anything earlier than the 

 Wilson, and really there is no profitable berry much earlier than the Wilson. 

 This might be modified for some locality where an early variety does especially 

 well and no foreign berries are shipped in. 



No. 3. Is there any danger of having the soil for a peach orchard too 

 fertile? 



C. A. Sessions : I am satisfied that heavily manured land will render the 

 peach half hardy in our climate. 



Mr. Tracy : I do not believe earth can be made too rich for the peach if a 

 perfect fertilizer for the crop is employed. The trouble lies in getting in our 

 crude way the proper constituents in the manure for the purpose intended. 



Mr. McClatchie: Our severe winters must be looked after. There may be 

 a symmetrical growth of tree, a proper formation of fruit buds and all that, 

 and still under the stimulus of a very rich soil the growth will not be fitted for 

 winter before winter comes. 



W. A. Brown : Much depends upon the cliaracter of September. It is the 

 climate of that month that does more to make spongy growth than manures. 



The first essay of the evening was given by Mr. A. J. Garver, of Hart, on 



MARKETING FRUIT. 



In consenting to write an article for this meeting I did so feeling quite confi- 

 dent that I could handle fruit to much more advantage than I can this subject, 

 for I flatter myself on being able to plunge a good, spicy apple, or a rich, deli- 

 cious peach, into an "internal abyss" witli as much ease and in as short a 



