546 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. II. 0. Ilanford of Indiana advocated thinning and shortening in of the 

 peach, and thought it would always pay. In answer to a question, Mr. Monroe 

 said he cultivated his thinned fruit under, but would not recommend it. 



Prof. Cook thought this thinning of fruit merited full discussion, as a means 

 of destroying insects. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Mr. Thompson referred to the cold winter of 1872-7.3, which was expected 

 to destroy all the fruit and many other crops. Yet the products of 1873 were 

 among the most satisfactory ever turned out in Michigan, and the fruit and 

 vegetable crops yielded nearly $4,000,000. He predicted that the crops of 1875 

 "would prove eminently satisfactory, and further demonstrate that even severely 

 cold weather did not at all necessarily destroy or even damage the fruit and 

 other crops. 



Mr. Thompson stated the number of acres of land in this State now devoted 

 to fruit raising to be 241,048 acres, valued at $25,000,000. 



Mr. Le Valley, of Ionia county, said that his county possessed about 200,000 

 acres of good orchard land, and was a fine fruit-producing section. 



MERITS OF DIFFERENT APPLES. 



Mr. E. Buell, of Kalamazoo, said he preferred the Eed Canada to all other 

 varieties of apple grown in Michigan. Mr. Hanford, of Indiana, favored the 

 Northern Spy. Mr. Johnson, of Lansing, said he had a number of Northern 

 Spys in his orchard, and he found them the most reliably-producing of the 

 trees in his possession. Mr. Buell did not question the merits of the Northern 

 Spy apple, but he could not raise the fruit, though they had as good soil in 

 Kalamazoo county as anywhere else, in his opinion, for raising apples. Mr. 

 Claflin, of Mason, thought there was no difficulty in handling the Northern 

 Spy in his section. The trees are good wood, and he found that at four years 

 old they were good bearers. He knew of many most successful Northern Spy 

 orchards, and they always produced large and fine crops, realizing handsome 

 prices. 



The society was then entertained by reports of the value of fruit and fruit 

 lands in the various parts of the State. Numerous letters were read on the 

 same subject. The conclusion was reached that the value of the fruit lands of 

 this State was about $100 per acre. 



TUESDAY EVENING SESSION. 



The evening meeting was held in Representative Hall, J. Webster Childs in 

 the chair. The exercises were opened by a piece of music given by the Phil- 

 harmonic society of Lansing. 



Prof. Cook was then introduced, and spoke on "Economic Entomology." 

 But a few years ago the idea of the practicability of science was ridiculed : 

 now the reverse is true. The benefit of science is now recognized in its truly 

 Christian element of working for the good of mankind, and the laboring man 

 no longer ignores its teachings. Among the first laborers in this field was Dr. 

 Harris of Massachusetts, and his book on insects injurious to vegetation should 



