124 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Avould give a net jM'ofit of $1,000 per acre, after paying all the expense of 

 cultivation, picking and marketing. 



PLUMS AND CHERRIES 



Are cultivated on a small scale only, and principally by farmers for tlieir own 

 use. Tlie production of cherries is j)retty large, but I have no statistics ia 

 that line whatever. That the cultivation of both these fruits might be made 

 very profitable hero, admits of no possible doubt. Indee;l, now tliat the 

 curculio pests can be successfully combated, I believe, from the crops producd 

 upon isolated trees, that the cultivation of plums might be made highly 

 remunerative here. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



The cultivation of small fruits is beginning to attract considerable attention 

 here, and the business proves remunerative. I know of one strawberry field 

 less than four miles from this city, having an area of one and one-sixth acres, 

 which last summer produced 8,000 quarts of berries, at a total cash value of 

 more than >;000. Tlie sliipments from Clio, by express, were 150 bushels, 

 valued at upwards of §500. The acreage of strawberries is small, and the 

 total value of berries produced in the county for market will not exceed ^3,000. 

 Tiie cultivation of raspberries and blackberries is on an exceedingly small 

 scale, but it is growing, and is destined to become an important element in the 

 horticulture of the county. 



GRAPES. 



The cultivation of grapes is also getting to be a rather important local 

 industry. Tliere are about twelve vineyards in the county, ranging in area 

 from one acre up to ten acres, and the total acreage is about forty acres. 

 This estimate does not include the small gi'apcries to be found in great num- 

 bers in this city, in tiie villages, and on many farms through the county. 



The total yield of grapes in tlie vineyards proper for this year would prob- 

 ably aggregate seventy-five tons, valued at $50 per ton, a total of nearly §4,000. 

 Perhaps the amount grosvn in gardens for home us3 would bj half as much 

 more. During the present season, about 2,000 gallons of wine have been 

 made in the county, and producers tell me that there is more profit in produc- 

 ing giapes for wine than for market, when prices fall below §50 per ton. The 

 wines made from Genesee county grapes rank as high perhaps as any Michigan 

 wines, and the manufacture of that liquid is likely to become quite an impor- 

 tant element in the future horticultural history of the county. 1 doubt if 

 there is any part of the State better adapted to the growth of the hardier 

 varieties of grapes than Genesee county. 



SUGAR CANE. 



I have gathered some statistics on the subject of sugar cane culture, which 

 I will give in the closing paragraphs of this paper, as I do not deem tliat topic 

 beyond tlie proper province of my report. This is a comparatively new indus- 

 try here, but it will no doubt grow vastly beyond its present proportions in the 

 immediate future, as there can be no reasonable doubt of its profitableness. 

 The production the f)resent season has reached the large aggregate of nearly 

 10,000 gallons, wortii at wholesale, fifty cents per gallon, or §5,0 lO. The 

 yield in some instances is quite marvelous. For instance, Mr. Wesson pro- 



