THE SEPTEMBER PEACH FESTIVAL. 299 



the dinner hour. The evening of Thursday would be occupied in a general 

 discussion of the best mode of cultivation. 



On Friday reports of committees would be received, and other business that 

 might come up for discussion or disposition be acted upon. 



Mr. Shirts, of Shelby, Oceana county, being called for, gave a brief statement 

 of the fruit culture and prospects of his region, nine miles inland from Lake 

 Michigan, and showed some fine specimens of Hale's early peach, some plums 

 of good size and quality, and stated that apples and pears did well there. They 

 are not yet troubled with fruit vermin, the codling moth and other pests not 

 having yet made their appearance. This point was some 125 miles north of 

 South Haven. 



Judge Ramsdell, of Grand Traverse, followed. He held up a fine large peach, 

 of the Hale's early variety as an evidence of what that region, — a hundred miles 

 further north than Shelby, the residence of the last speaker — could do in peach 

 raising. Grapes were an excellent crop this year, considering the youth of the 

 vineyards, and he had kept till June, perfectly fresh, in a cellar dug in a side- 

 hill, the Delaware, which is the best for that region. He raised this year, from 

 one and a half acres of four years' old vines, at least 10,000 pounds. The Wag-^ 

 ener apple was kept safely till June and the Greenings till May. The apple 

 crop was good, and peaches grown on ridges were mostly unhurt and bear well, 

 while trees on lower situations were killed. Snow falls early, and the ground 

 never freezes beneath it. Grape vines are thoroughly protected by placing 

 them below the snow line, never on the ground, as they would perish with the- 

 moisture. 



A. J. Pierce, of South Haven, explained the nature and cultivation of the 

 ice-plant, which is so unique and yet so easily grown from the seed as to cause- 

 wonderment at its variety. He also favored the meeting with a list of the 

 vegetables and plants he had on exhibition. 



Mr. W. H. Gregory, of Pine Grove, not unknown to fame as a plant grower, 

 set forth the maxims that if put in practice will make successful fruit cul- 

 turists. But there are many drawbacks and many enemies to contest against. 

 In his locality the peach tree was killed by last winter's cold; the apple crop 

 was fearfully cut down by the codling moth, notwithstanding the war they 

 had waged against it, but the pear has done well beyond expectation. It is the 

 staple this year in his vicinity, and of all varieties he had found the Louis 

 Bonne de Jersey the most profitable for market. Referring to the ravages of 

 the codling moth, he says the only way to abate the evil was the concerted 

 action on the part of all fruit-growers, to hunt and destroy it. Wrap the motb 

 trap, whether it be the cloth, the wood strip, or the paper, as shown by the 

 secretary here, about the tree, and carefully destroy all moths found under it, 

 and the work will be done. But a delay of a day or two, or even a few hours, 

 permits, in some instances, the insect to change its form and proceed on its 

 work of destruction. The apple must be preserved, for while the peach, pear, 

 plum, grape, etc., are somewhat of a luxury, and within the reach of compara- 

 tively few, the apple is the fruit of the milhon. As to this exhibition, he said 

 he had brought a small collection, recognizing the fact that everyone ought to 

 do something in this way to show fully the capabilities of the State and of 

 every section of it. " Every little makes a muckle " was a Scotch saying, which 

 if acted upon by all who come here would make a display which even this grand 

 hall could not contain. 



