PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 14T 



turn the hot surface down it will draw the water from below and bring the 

 cold earth to the surface, to come in contact with the warm air, it will 

 condense moisture the same as the ice pitcher, only on a gigantic scale, 

 and we can get rain, clouds or no clouds. 



KESULT or LACK OF CULTIVATION DURING DROUTH. 



I am satisfied beyond doubt that summer management has much to do 

 with the hardiness of our orchards and small fruits. Every season has its 

 drouth. In the spring, growth starts actively and continues so until the 

 ground becomes very dry, and then slacks up, and if the drouth is pro- 

 longed the wood begins to ripen and often the leaves fall. This is especi- 

 ally true of blackberries, raspberries, plums, and peaches. The fall rains 

 find them in this semi-dormant condition and stimulate a new growth, 

 and this second growth does not ripen before winter, hence even a moder- 

 ate degree of cold will often seriously injure them. This cultivation 

 should be pursued so as not to let growth stop during the dry time, but 

 should be discontinued so soon as rains come, and the growth will con- 

 tinue until it is stopped by frosts and the cool fall weather, when the wood 

 and buds will be fully ripened. 



There is no doubt that an abundance of humus in the soil aids greatly in 

 conserving moisture. The tubes do not form so readily and are more 

 easily broken up. I think this is frequently the cause of failure in the 

 use of chemical fertilizers. They do not have the desired mechanical 

 effects. 



Mr. W. W. Tracy of Detroit followed with an instructive brief address,, 

 of which the following is a synopsis, giving 



SOME POINTS IN CELERY CULTURE. 



It is late, we have listened to most admirably prepared papers which 

 are as concise and full of information as knowledge and care could make 

 them, so I hesitate to merely talk about celery-growing, for, not knowing 

 until this afternoon that anything of the kind was wanted, I have had lit- 

 tle time to consider what to say, much less to prepare a paper; but still I 

 am glad to talk to you, for I think that by the culture of no other vege- 

 table can Michigan farmers add so much to their tables at so little cost as 

 can be done by celery. I know that in every farm garden in Michigan 

 better celery can be grown than can generally be bought in the market. 

 How? By a full understanding of and careful attention to the character 

 and wants of the plant. 



Just before I left home I received a letter from a gentleman on Long 

 Island, where they grow flowering bulbs by the acre, and he said, in 

 answer to this inquiry, that there was nothing in the soil or climate that 

 gave them any advantage over Michigan; only, "these growers understood 

 the plants, and so could produce them better and cheaper." 



I spent some days investigating the reason for the wonderful success 

 and profit in onion-growing about Painesville, Ohio, and the outcome of 

 my observation was that the chief cause of success was, not the soil, but a 

 perfect knowledge of the character and wants of the plant; and the most 

 experienced growers there expressed the same opinion. Doubtless certain. 



