244 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SO large a percentage of pear trees by freezing out and blight combined, as he- 

 docs of apples by freezing alone. It is his judgment that the State society 

 should encourage planting the Anjou largely, and discourage the phmting of 

 most other sorts, except for exhibition and experiment. There is no doubt 

 about it being ]irofitable to grow, but a pear tree should be frequently examined 

 from spring to fall for the tirst appearance of blight. If the disease is taken 

 in time, ic may be headed off. It can not be cured. "Whatever part of a tree 

 has been reached by it, is already dead, and should be cut off several inches 

 below where it appeared, and the balance of the tree may be saved. There is 

 no doubt in his mind about it being infectious. It goes from one tree to 

 another. The only safety is vigilance. Stamp it out when first it appears. 

 And even this vigilance is less trouble than that which is required to save the 

 plum crop from (he ravages of the curculio. In a word he can raise pears 

 (provided tlie right kinds are planted) more easily, surely, and at less expense- 

 than plums, and more quickly than apples. Ilis trees bear the second year 

 from planting. 



EARLY HORTICULTURAL HISTORY OF IONIA COUNTY. 



BY E. LE VALLEY. 



Having in view the importance of preserving the early history of fruit grow- 

 ing in Ionia county, I have gathered the following items: 



The first settlers in this county cut their way through ]0<^ miles of unbroken' 

 foresc in 1833, but with all their cares and labors they did not forget to bring 

 with them fruit, seeds, pits, cuttings, and small trees, and were soon blessed 

 with cultivated fruits. The first apple trees were planted in the fall of 1833^ 

 by Geo. AV. Case, Erastus Yeomans, Samuel Dexter, and Alfred Cornell, Avithin 

 the present city limits. Mr. Cornell also planted apple seeds, peach and plum 

 pits, for a nursery the same year. He sold liis first trees in 183G. The first 

 grafting in the county was done in the spring of 1839, in the Cornell nursery.. 

 A nursery was started in the township of Portland about the same time by 

 Willard Brooks and Mr. Hall. From this time on trees were planted by nearly 

 every new comer, and grafting soon followed the planting. Apple orchards 

 were set from 183G to 18o9 by Alonzo Sessions, John E. Morrison, \Vm. Bab- 

 cock, Levi Taylor, Mr. McKelv<'y, Porter Place, Mr. Chubb, Charles Gott, Mr. 

 Knox, Mr. Brooks, Mr. A. Newman, and many others. From 1839 a general 

 assortment of fruit was added to orchards. The first peach orchard i>lanted 

 was by the writer in the spring of 1839. Elder John Van VIeck, of Palo, 

 planted an orchard ol peaches about the same time, all seedling trees, the pits 

 being brought from Western New York. These trees bore fruit in 184:;J. In 

 1847 peaches were sent to Milwaukee. By grafting and budding the best 

 varieties were secured, and this, together with good care of the orchards, has 

 made Ionia county wliat it is to-day, one of the best Iruit counties in the State. 

 The grape, one of the best fruits we grow, was planted first in 1844. The 

 Isabella and Delaware varieties first, and a few years later the Concord was 

 introduced here by Mr. Geo. Ilosford, Irom Massachusetts; it is now the lead- 

 ing variety in tlie State. Allliough the grape is not a specialty in the county, 

 the fact that over lUO tons were grown in 1882 will give some idea of what we 

 are doing in fruit culture. 



