180 GENERAL HISTORY. 



His remarks were confined to commercial apple culture. His leading- 

 points were " a judicious selection of varieties," "good cultivation." "pro- 

 tection from insects," ''careful selection of the fruit," and "honesty and 

 neatness in handling and packing." 



niE PLEASANT ART OF GRAFTING 



was the title of a paper read by Charles S. Crandall, of Agricultural Col- 

 lege, which considered, quite exhaustively, the necessities and objects of 

 grafting, the circumstances under which it becomes practicable, the history 

 of the art, and something of the methods usually practised. 



The Wednesday afternoon session was opened by the reading of a paper 

 from Clarence M. Weed, of Illinois, entitled: " What Illinois has done for 

 Entomology." Speaking of the enactment of a law on March 9th, 1867, 

 providing for the appointment of a State entomologist, and the successive 

 appointments < f Benjamin Dane Walsh, Wm. LeBaron, Cyrus Thomas and 

 S. A. Forbes, the present incumbent. The essayist also gave short notices 

 of some of the valuable results consequent upon the labors of such appoin- 

 tees. 



Geo. R. Knapp, associate editor of the American Garden, furnished a 

 paper which was read to open the discussion of 



HOW TO TEACH HOETICULTURE, 



setting forth the fact that the knowledge of horticulture derived from text 

 books must necessarily be rendered jjractical and effeciive by observation and 

 application in the field. 



Messrs. Gibson, Bailey and Ragan argued that something of the princi- 

 ples and practice of horticulture should be taught to children before they go 

 to the Agricultural College, and that the work should commence in our com- 

 mon schools. 



Secretary Garfield said the society had tried to get the State superintend- 

 ent of public instiuction to have some requirement of horticultural knowl- 

 edge made of teachers, but with no effect. 



The subject was continued by Professor Daniels, ex-superintendent of 

 Grand Rapids public schools, who read a paper, prepared by Miss Lilly Jones, 

 of Grand Ripids, upon " Horticultural Instruction in Kindergartens." 



It would be interesting to be able to quote freely from this valuable paper, 

 if only to illustrate how the idea of personal ownership may be made to 

 encourage and beget habits of care, thought and observation, but space forbids. 



Professor \\\ H. Ragan, of Indiana, secretary of the American Horticult- 

 ural Society, addressed the audience upon 



THE PROGRESS OF COLD WAVES. 



By means of a series of charts he illustrated the line of progress of the cold 

 wave of January which reached to Florida and froze the oranges upon the 

 trees, then returned uorth by way of the Atlantic coast, and passed off 

 through the valley of Hie St. Lawrence. He showed clearly the wonderful 

 influence of the great lakes upon the climate of Michigan, by the lines of low 

 temperature which curved around our peninsula leaving us exempt from 



