FAEMEES' INSTITUTES. 81 



Thus every season has its fruits, 



From early spring till fall, 

 And even winter can't be said 



To have no fruit at all : 

 For if Ave only take the pains 



To dive beneath the snow, 

 We find, bright red and crisp and bright. 



The wintergreeu below. 



The }Yild Grape. — Speaking of tlie Frencli voyagers and their explorations 

 of the river Eaisin, Hon. Edwin Willets of Monroe says: ''At intervals the 

 wild, nnbroken forest came to the water's edge, and cast the shade of giant trees 

 into the river ; and everywhere, in the vrildwood and in the glade, on the river's 

 edge, and as far away under the over-arching trees as the eye could see was a 

 wealth of grape-vines. Even-where hung clusters of rich pui-j^le fruit ; every- 

 where, Vvith a vrild luxuriance that far surpassed the stories their fathers had told 

 of the vineyards of sunny France. Yfithiu the present century, from a point 

 near the foot of the street on which this building stands (hi Monroe) to where 

 the mill-dam has been placed, a man, now living, walked and climbed the v»'hole 

 distance, over 80 rods, on grape-vines, climbing from tree to tree without touch- 

 ing the ground. Xo wonder these warm-hearted, enthusiastic voyageurs, as they 

 paddled along up the river, cried out, ' Le raisin ! Le raisin ! ' (the grape ! the 

 grape !) and that they then named the beautiful river as they did, "La Riviere 

 au Eaisin."' The wild grapes, although now superseded by cultivated varieties, 

 as a general rule, are still highly prized, especially for v.'iue ; and in the season 

 of 1875 they were the only varieties in the Northwest that sufficiently matured 

 for that purpose. 



The Wild JVufs. — Of the nuts of Michigan all are good, but on account of 

 its extensive growth the Beechnut, perhaps the least prized, is, I think, on the 

 whole, the most valuable to the State. The year 1875, so disastrous for culti- 

 vated fruits, was remarkable for the quantity and superior quahty of its beech- 

 nuts. Farmers usually allow the hogs to harA'est this crop, and even for hog- 

 feed it is a profitable crop. 



In replanting trees for shade, wind-break, or ornament, if our valuable nut- 

 producing trees were selected, we should not have to regret the diminution in 

 the production of nuts, caused by the destruction of our forests for timber. 

 Butternut, walnut, and chestnut are as good for shade and ornament as maple, 

 or nearly so ; and the production of nuts, and their greater value for timber, 

 render them more desirable. 



The Berry Crop. — The natural production of berries in Michigan is, how- 

 ever, the principal feature of the subject of interest to farmers, as indicating, 

 with the utmost certainty, what may be relied upon~ as the fruit crop of Mich- 

 igan. For thousands of years, j)robably, this ten-itory has produced annually 

 its crop of berries, and in all that long period no reverse of season, no severe 

 winter or dry summer, has exterminated the cranberry, the huckleberry, the 

 raspberry, or the blackberry, establishing the fact beyond a question that our 

 soil and climate are peculiarly adapted to the production of this class of fruits. 

 And, amid all the reverses of fruit-growing incident to the introduction of 

 exotics, it will be found that the fruit-grower v/ho has follovred the teachings of 

 nature, and planted most largely of the berries, has succeeded best in establish- 

 ing fruit-growing on a permanent and reliable basis. Michigan is naturally a 

 beri-y-producing State^ and Avhile every 'effort to introduce exotic varieties may 



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