GENERAL HISTORY. 145 



5. Every possible convenience should be given committees for rapid and systematic 

 work, and the securing of a tasty exhibit, with these conveniences, is a problem well 

 worth the study of fair managers. 



6. Exhibitors should have made such a study of the premium list as to know exactly 

 their places of entry and procedure before they reach the ground. 



7. All unworthy varieties should be rejected unless they are shown for the purpose of 

 educating people as to wliat they do not want, which fact should be made conspicuous 

 to observers and committees. 



8. Committees cannot afford to make awards without placing upon record the argu- 

 ment which led to their decision, the same to be printed with the list of awards. 



9. A place in the hall should be devoted to those seeking names of fruits, where all 

 such can be placed under proper supervision, and the committee on nomenclature give 

 the desired information on cards made for this especial purpose. 



10. More attention should be given to the securing of exhibits by amateur growers of 

 plants and flowers. 



At sessions of the executive board held at Kalamazoo during the continu- 

 ance of the State fair at that place, the society's rules were so amended as to 

 prohibit the sale and delivery of articles in the hall during the fair, on pen- 

 alty of the forfeiture of all premiums. 



T. T. Lyon was nominated to the Michigan Commission in charge of the 

 proposed State exhibit at the New Orleans Exposition, as a suitable person 

 to have charge of the horticultural department of such exhibit. 



The contemplated tri- State meeting of horticultural societies having been 

 abandoned, Ann Arbor was fixed upon as the place for the next annual 

 meeting. 



In a "Brief of Michigan Horticulture," compiled by Secretary Garfield, 

 and published in the transactions of the society for 1884, he stares: "From 

 quite accurate data, I have estimated the sales of apples from Michigan the 

 past season at five million bushels, at prices ranging from one to two dollars 

 per barrel. The area in fruit cannot be less than three hundred thousand 

 acres, and the planting, especially in peaches and small fruits, is rapidly in- 

 creasing this area." 



On the second day of October, 1884, T T. Lyon engaged with Commis- 

 sioner G. Chase Godwin to make the effort to collect fruits for a State exhibit 

 at the New Orleans Exposition, although conscious that the most favorable 

 time to do so was already past ; but the instruction being to await the receipt 

 of railroad passes for the purpose^ the work was not actually commenced 

 until the tenth of that month. 



The plan proposed was to secure the collection through the auxiliary socie- 

 ties and individuals who might be interested in the matter, allowing the fruit 

 to be entered in the name of the exhibitor, if desired, while the whole ap- 

 peared as the exhibit of the State, although not entered for premium as such. 



All fruits were directed to be forwarded to Grand Rapids, as a convenient 

 point from which to forward them to their final destination. 



It was soon discovered that the failure to provide for the selection of speci- 

 mens at the time of gathering would greatly interfere with the character of 

 the collections to be made, since the crop was nearly all gathered, and few 

 persons would consent to overhaul their fruit already in barrels or cellars for 

 the purpose of making selections. 



The fifteenth annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society convened at 



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