THE MAY MEETING. 271 



He said that he believed in cutting back trees injured from frost, but thought 

 this should have been done a long time ago, before the sap had started to flow, 

 as when the sap has once been up into the injured part and returned to the 

 lower portion of the tree, the health of the whole stock is materially diminished 

 by the poisonous influence of the diseased sap. He said that the ends of some 

 grape vines protected by snow were healthy aud vigorous, while the main stock 

 alone was entirely devoid of a vestige of vitality. The same was true of some 

 peach and pear trees. There seemed to be sufficient life to swell the buds ; still 

 the tree, as a whole, was dead. 



Mr. Steele, of Grattan, reported that the fruit in that fine fruit township 

 promised very well. Apples were good, and there would be peaches, grapes, and 

 cherries. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF PROTECTIOK AND SHELTER. 



J. P. Thompson then referred to the influence of forests on climate, and to 

 their destruction, and proposed these questions: Are our winters lengthen- 

 ing? Are drouths more common and severe? Is our rain-fall decreasing? 

 He declared that drouth and cold are the two evils with which we are threat- 

 ened. Humboldt said that men in every climate, by felling the trees that cover 

 the sides and tops of mountains, prepare at once two calamities for future gen- 

 erations, — the want of fuel and the scarcity of water. We need protection, not 

 only for our fruit, but for our wheat; not only for winter cold, but also from 

 the summer heat. We need shelter for our flocks and herds, our dwellings and 

 farm buildings. Protection and shelter were the lessons taught by the past 

 winter. He also mentioned the increasing value of timber, and urged the 

 importance of this grave question. 



THE LOWELL NURSERY ALL RIGHT. 



Mr. Husted, of Lowell, presented a Daphne Mezereum in fall bloom; also 

 apple trees from the nursery rows alive to the very tips, and a fine lot of cherry 

 buds. His fruit prediction for his locality was, apples, medium to full crop; 

 pears, two-thirds to medium crop; cherries, three-quarters crop; grapes. Con- 

 cord, Delaware, and Ives, a full crop ; peaches, none; plums, one-fourth crop. 

 His grapes had produced three successive full crops. He declared that the 

 grape in Michigan was a success, and he believed that it would i)roduce larger 

 average crops than any other fruit. Plum trees which had borne two successive 

 crops were most injured. He felt a pride in contemplating the present position 

 of the State as a fruit-producer. The prospect was most encouraging. 



Mr. C. J. Dietrich showed, by a letter from St. Joseph, Missouri, that their 

 hopes of a fruit crop there were entirely blasted. 



Committees were appointed on fruit and fruit buds. A recess of 15 minutes 

 was announced. 



Hon. S. L. Fuller, Treasurer, called on gentlemen to join the Society. The 

 response included all that were not members heretofore. 



REPORT ON THE APPLES ON EXHIBITION. 



Mr. C. W. Garfield submitted the following report from the committee on 

 apples : 



Your committee found a table well laden with fresh apples in variety, and 

 would fain go into ecstasies over the exhibition, describing in glowing terms 

 the beauty in appearance and delicacy in quality of the different kinds presented 

 to us to report upon, but we teel it far more important that we give to you a 



