REPORT OF MEETINGS. 535 



brlug from 8 to 13 cents per pound, wliile the Concord rare!}' hrinsrs more tlian 6 cents, and 

 often less. My whole crop of grapes amounted to 5,000 pounds, for which I netted ^IGO 20 



J. A. CROSS. 

 From Grand Iluven Mr. H. S. Clubb reported tliat this had been the most 

 prodtictive season for peaches. Otlier fruits, except grapes, are less than an 

 average. Apples are not abundant, and what there are injured by the codlino- 

 moth. The fruit harvest, on the whole, has been profitable. ]\[ost were shipped 

 to Milwaukee. Grapes were crowded on the market and brought down the 

 price. 



Mr. Clubb next spoke of the yellows at St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, 

 stating that the spread of the disease had been checked by destroying trees 

 as soon as found to be affected. Notwithstanding the ravages of the disease, 

 very large shipments of peaches had taken place at St. Joseph and Benton 

 Harbor, the region, as a whole, being only partially affected. 



A discussion then sprung up on the freight question, during which President 

 Dyckman said that high rates could have been prevented by united action, had 

 it been known that there would be so large a crop. South Haven could unite 

 with Saugatuck and charter a steamer. Some such action will be taken next 

 year. 



Hon. T. E. Gidley read a paper describing Peach Plains as lying south and 

 east of the city of Grand Haven and adjoining the city limits, and two to four 

 miles from the lake shore. Some thirty families are now settled there, with 

 improvements generally of from ten to twenty acres, mostly set to the peach, 

 with a liberal sprinkling of pears, apples, cherries, and plums. Strawberries, 

 raspberries, and blackberries have been largely set, received proper attention, 

 and been found very remunerative. 



Mr. N. E. Smith reported from Ionia county that peaches are very fine when 

 well attended to. Our apples were a large crop. They continued dropping 

 until the first of August; after that time they ceased dropping. They are 

 mostly a light crop this year in Ionia county. We have a good crop of grapes. 

 They had escaped the frost up to the 12th inst. 



Mr. H. Dale Adams, from Kalamazoo county, reported as follows : In Kala- 

 mazoo our early tree fruits were very fine. Cherries were an excellent crop. 

 Cherries in our section seem better than in other parts of the State, such as 

 Dukes and Bigarreaus. We are very little troubled with the curculio. Plums 

 are very little grown. Although not a peach-growing county, Kalamazoo pro- 

 duced about enough this year for home consumption. The pear crop is made 

 something of a specialty in the vicinity of the village of Kalamazoo, and that 

 fruit is remarkably fine this year. Of grapes the Delaware and Concord are 

 the principal vines in cultivation ; lonas are raised some, and a new grape 

 known as the *' Kalamazoo," which, however, is not thought much of Apples 

 in cultivated orchards are generally fine. Orchards suffered severely from 

 drouth, and were injured by the codling moth. 



Henry Holt of Cascade, Kent county, said : The winter of 1872, nearly de- 

 stroyed our orchards of peaches, pears, and even apples were seriously injured. 

 On cutting off limbs I found them brown clear to the bark. So general 

 was the devastation that we feared our orchards were spoiled. But two 

 years' experience show that this wood did not decay, and new wood has been 

 formed, and we think the trees are not going to die. Some need shortening 

 in. Some varieties of apples stood the cold well, — Peck's Pleasant, Talman's 

 Sweeting, and some other varieties. We have a fair crop of apples this year. 



