CLINTON COUNTY. 311 



about two feet in diameter; its branches spread about sixty feet, and it is the largest or- 

 namental tree in the place. Centennial year, 1876, a park was planted on the school 

 grounds. No attention has since been paid to it and it did not succeed. 



Victor Township : Dr. Isaac T. Hollister set out the first valuable orchard in this town- 

 ship. Later Bertram Gifles and Chas. Weeks set out fine orchards ; Hon. J. C. Bronson 

 also set out an orchard of peaches, pears and apples. Dr. Hollister engaged to a small 

 extent in the nursery business, but no report has been obtained as to the success or even 

 the extent of it. The orchards mentioned above have produced some very fine crops; 

 that especially of Chas. Weeks and now owned by Chas. Deitrich, produced a crop in 

 1883 from eight acres which was sold for $800. In 1845 Deacon Henry Post set out a 

 row of maples in front of his house; they are thrifty and an ornament to the neighbor- 

 hood. School district^number one planted a grove of trees which has since given it the 

 name j3f the Grove school-house. Some attention has been paid in this neighborhood to 

 the cultivation of ornamental trees, as can be observed in driving through the town- 

 ship. 



tut. Johns : In 1865 an experienced and competent Irish gardener, named Trainor, 

 came from Ann Arbor, where he had been long employed in setting out and arranging 

 the places there, to arrange the new place of S. S. Walker. He gave such entire satis- 

 faction that he was engaged to arrange the grounds of E. M. Steel, and he was after- 

 wards employed by others in setting out and decorating the lawns and yards of new 

 places, which has made St. Johns celebrated for its nicely kept lawns and streets. In 

 1859 Wm. M. Snow set out some maples on Oakland st., in front of the property now 

 owned by A. H. Walker, which are now a great attraction to the street. 



Careful observers in at least some portions of the country have said that, as late as 

 1861, a number of large logs, whole and sound, were found lying in the forests, which 

 were undoubtedly whitewood, but it is not probable that there are any specimens of 

 this timber now growing in the forests in the county. On the borders of the Maple 

 river there are a few specimens of the red bud or Judas tree. This is known, in works 

 on Arboriculture, as the extreme limit of the growth of this tree. A few specimens of 

 the Kentucky coffee tree are found in different parts of the county. 



The late John Gilbert, of Ovid, took much interest in horticulture, and if he were now 

 living I am sure a very full report could be obtained. The horticultural department of 

 our county fairs is well and fairly represented with a few fine specimens and many va- 

 rieties and kinds of fruit. I can learn of no nursery enterprise that has been carried on 

 to any extent in this county. A number of smaU, very small nurseries have from time to 

 time been started, but the traveling agents from the larger nurseries in the eastern 

 Statesvery early supplied all demands and no special attention has been paid to that 

 line of business. Respectfully, 



SAMUEL MARKY. 



The present orchards contain most of the standard varieties of apples and 

 pears, with an abundance of plums and cherries. 



Ovid is noted, in this part of the State, for its large shipments of small 

 fruits. Peaches have generally failed, and the effort to grow them is mainly 

 abandoned. 



An evaporating establishment here produced one hundred thousand pounds 

 of dried apples in 1885, together with eight hundred casks of cider. 



In 1885 Paxton and Richmond, of St. Johns, handled ten thousand barrels 

 of apples, evaporated fifty-two thousand pounds of dried apples and manu- 

 factured seven car loads of cider. 



