40 GENERAL HISTORY. 



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Mr. Bidwell, as chairman of a committee, offered an elaborate report on 

 the ''Yellows/' the reading of which was objected to by residents of Berrien 

 county ; and, out of consideration for such objections, the report was referred 

 without having been read to a committee to report at the Battle Creek meet- 

 ing, of which committee Professor Kedzie was made chairman. The general 

 subject was discussed at considerable length by Mr. Bidwell and also by Mr. 

 Nowlen. who gave a brief history of its appearance at Benton Harbor some 

 seven years before. 



The society adjourned sine die at the close of the Thursday evening ses- 

 sion. 



The February meeting convened at Battle Creek on the 25th. President 

 Dyckman presided ; and, as Secretary J. P. Thompson was ill at Lansing, C. 

 J. Dietrich was chosen secretary j^ro tevi. 



Keports were almost universally discouraging so far as peaches were 

 concerned ; and even apples and pears were reported injured in some local- 

 ities. 



J. 0. Holmes, .of Detroit, read a carefully prepared paper covering the 

 early history of horticulture in Michigan, in which there is also some refer- 

 ence to the old apple and pear trees along Detroit river. 



Professor Cook followed with a lecture on birds and insects and their rela- 

 tion to fruit growing, which he illustrated with charts. 



T. T. Lyon, H. P. Hanford and J. Brown were of the opinion that the borer 

 only attacks apple trees when enfeebled or diseased by sunscald, generally on 

 the side most exposed to the heat of the sun. 



It seems probable that this difference arose from a misunderstanding, the 

 lecturer having in mind the round headed borer {Saperda Candida, Fahr.), 

 which is less common in most orchards, and which attacks the apple tree 

 with little regard to its condition; while the dissenters had in mind the far 

 more common flat headed borer {Chrysahothris femorata, Fahr.), which is 

 usually, if not invariably, found where the surface is exposed to the rays of 

 the sun during the hottest part of the day. 



On Wednesday afternoon the society's meteorologist, W. K. Kedzie, read 

 a paper which has already been referred to, respecting the polar wave of the 

 preceding December. He closed by presenting the request of the chief sig- 

 nal officer for suggestions and co-operation for the purpose of extending its 

 benefits to agriculturists by giving warnings of approaching storms, etc., and 

 at the suggestion of the Professor a C(jmmittee was appointed to prepare a 

 memorial to Congress in favor of an appropriation for such purpose. W. K. 

 Kedzie, T. T. Lyon and N. Chilson were appointed such committee, who 

 submitted a draft of such memorial, which was adopted. 



The report on "Yellows," which at the last meeting had been referred to a 

 committee unread, was now submitted by the chairman. Dr. K. C. Kedzie, 

 without recommendation; following it, however, with a statement of the 

 importance of the whole subject and with the recommendation that a com- 

 mittee, to include a chemist and a microscopist, be appointed to visit the 

 locality and make a thorough examination. 



J. C, Holmes submitted a paper containing so much as is known of the 

 Primate apple, the substance of which will appear in the history of Kala- 

 mazoo county. 



On motion of J. C. Holmes a committee was ordered in accordance with 

 the suggestion of Dr. Kedzie. The chair subsequently named J. C. Holmes, 



