GENERAL HISTORY. 61 



On motion the treasurer was required to file his bond according to the pro- 

 visions of the constitution, with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved 

 by the president, for the sum of three thousand dollars. 



The secretary was voted a salary of $600 to be paid in monthly install- 

 ments. 



A motion by W. L. Webber proposed to transfer all life membership 

 moneys to the general fund to be used for the ordinary expenses of the 

 society. 



Action upon the motion was deferred till the next annual meeting, to be 

 then submitted to the decision of the society. 



Thereafter the board adjourned. 



In the spring of 1870 the then Governor, J. J. Bagley, issued a proclama- 

 tion designating a day to be devoted to the planting of trees by the people of 

 Michigan about their homes and also in streets ana public grounds, in com- 

 memoration of the one hundredth year of our national independence. In com- 

 pliance with such proclamation this was generally observed. iSimilar proc- 

 lamations have been issued by subsequent governors but with less notable 

 results. 



The year 1875 was not a favorable one for fruit in Michigan. Notwith- 

 standing this the State Pomological Society hesitated not to make the effort 

 to display a collection of long-keeping apples at the opening of the Cen- 

 tennial exposition on May 10th, 1876. How far the attempt proved success- 

 ful will be indicated by an extract from S. B. McCracken's "Michigan and 

 the Centennial:" 



''The event which first brought Michigan into prominence at the Cen- 

 tennial was the special exhibition of winter apples of the crop of 1875 in 

 May, 1876. With the exception of a few plates of fine apples exhibited by 

 the Iowa Horticultural Society, the display of Michigan was the only exhibi- 

 tion proving the keeping qualities of American apples." 



"The unpacking and exposure of several barrels of choice apples, over sir 

 months after they were gathered, in a State a thousand miles distant, diffus- 

 ing a delightful aroma through the hall and presenting such a variety of 

 forms and of color from a yellowish green to a deep cardinal, all bright and 

 crisp, attracted much attention and caused many inquiries as to the character 

 of the country where fruit with such remarkable keeping qualities could be 

 grown. The State Pomological Society was the principal exhibitor and 

 received the award." 



The judges, in their report to Director General A. T. Goshorn, say of 

 the Michigan exhibits : "Kemarkably well kept apples from the fruit houses 

 of N. Hellings & Brother, Battle Creek, Michigan, and a superior collection 

 from the Michigan State Pomological Society, embracing forty varieties of 

 kinds that have been kept in ordinary farm house cellars of some of the 

 members of the society. As the season is very late for good keeping apples, 

 the committee made notes of those varieties which seemed to them meri- 

 torious, taking as a standard of character the actual condition of each variety 

 with the best known specimens of its own kind, as well as of good quality." 

 " In the collection of the Michigan State Pomological Society, the finest 

 were the Roxbury Russet, Rock, Willow Twig, Smith's Cider, Rhode Island 

 Greening, Jonathan, Fallawater, Esopus Spitzenburg, both kinds of Newtown 

 Pippin, and Red Canada. The last seems remarkably fine for this part of the 

 country. Steele's Red Winter, as exhibited by Mr. John Waterman, of Ply- 



