238 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



in the market. The King apple is losing its reputation, proving in many 

 cases coarse-grained, easily bruised, and not a good keeper. There has been an 

 extensive demand for the Wine apple, principally on account of its rich appear- 

 ance and great size. This apple seems to endure the rough and tumble of 

 cartage and shipping well, and to open well at the journey's end. Some bar- 

 rels of this variety contained by actual count but 90 apples. We lack a ready 

 market for autumn apples, and hundreds of bushels have rotted upon the soil. 



Our orchards are too plentifully supplied with early fall and summer varie- 

 ties, unless the future will open a more reliable market. Some idea of the 

 extent of the apple crop may be gathered from the fact that nearly 15,000 bar- 

 rels have been shipped from the depot at Eomeo, and thousands of barrels still 

 remain in the cellars of producers. 



We claim to rank with the first as to the quality of our fruit. The average 

 price at time of picking was $1 per barrel, the buyers to furnish and pack 

 the barrels and the seller to pick the fruit and deliver at station. Peaches 

 have been an entire failure. I remember having seen only one bearing tree, a 

 poor sickly attempt, the fruit unworthy the name. The same may be said of 

 plums, cherries, and in most places, of grapes and pears. Strawberries set 

 bountifully, but the extreme drought of summer shortened the crop. In the 

 way of raspberries and blackberries we have in years past depended upon the 

 pine woods north of us. This supply is for the present cut ofi" by the extensive 

 fires of 1871. The improved varieties have succeeded well. My Kittatinnys 

 and Wilsons bore the largest and finest fruit I ever saw. Our experience has 

 proved these points in regard to apples, viz.: 1. A well drained clay soil pro- 

 duces our best keepers ; a sandy soil, the fairest and most highly colored fruit. 

 2. A cool wet cellar keeps the fruit through the winter in better condition. I 

 heartily congratulate you on the success of your society, and wish for it 

 an increase of usefulness in the future. 



Very truly yours, 



Eomeo, Mich. JOHN" E. DAY. 



The statement concerning the nature of Mr. Day's cellar was the subject of 

 much controversy. It was thought that a dry cellar was preferrable to a wet 

 cellar for keeping fruit. The Wine apple referred to by Mr. Day was identi- 

 fied as the Twenty Ounce, or Cayuga Eed Streak, a valuable apple in nearly 

 all sections of the State. 



MEMORIAL. 



A very elaborate and ably prepared memorial to the Legislature praying for 

 the appointment of a State Entomologist, was read by Prof. A. J. Oook. This 

 memorial was presented to the House of Representatives by Hon. Henry A. 

 Shaw, of Eaton county. 



Adjourned. 



EVENING SESSION. 



On Tuesday evening Eepresentative Hall was well filled with an audience 

 composed of gentlemen connected with the executive, legislative, and other 

 departments of the State government, together with many ladies and gentle- 



men of Lansing. 



