376 GENERAL HISTORY. 



Ramsdell, of Traverse City, fruited the Diana, Isabella, and Delaware, all 

 ripening perfectly. On a four years old Diana vine he had seventy-five full 

 bunches. He has, this fall (1867), planted one hundred Concords, one hun- 

 dred lonas, one hundred Delawares and fifty Isabellas. He experimented 

 with some of these last year and they made a growth of from four to eight 

 feet." 



In 1867 the Grand Traverse Union Agricultural Society was organized to 

 include Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanaw, Antrim, Charlevoix and Wexford 

 counties. 



In 1869 the report of this society says: "In fruits the display would have 

 done credit to any part of the country. Apples of all the popular winter 

 varieties, large and perfectly free from blemish, though of course not so ripe 

 as the same kinds grown farther south, but ripe enough to keep well and to 

 be of first-rate quality next spring, when the apples of more southern districts 

 will have lost flavor or commenced to decay. Handsome specimens of pears, 

 of the Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Diel, and other 

 varieties were shown. 



" In peaches the display was splendid. "We have never seen its equal in 

 the month of October. It seemed strange to see here Cooledge, Early Craw- 

 ford, and other kinds which we have been accustomed to find ripe in August. 

 They are, however, as all agree, two weeks later than usual. Still they were 

 not dry and mealy, but juicy and of good quality, though, like peaches in 

 some other sections, not quite as high flavored as in warmer and drier 

 seasons. 



" Plums of several varieties were exhibited. Specimens of a large reddish 

 purple variety, perhaps the Red Diaper or French Diapree Rouge, attracted 

 great attention. This species of fruit, thus far, flourishes remarkably in this 

 section. 



" Grapes were not numerous, but there were some good specimens. They 

 were all grown in the open air, with the exception of two or three kinds pro- 

 duced under glass, by Lieutenant-Governor Bates. Judge Ramsdell showed 

 the lona, Isabella, Adirondack, Delaware, and some of Rogers' Hybrids, 

 from his own grounds, well ripened and of good quality. 



'' There was a large show of vegetables, comprising almost every kind cul- 

 tivated in any part of the State. Cabbages of greater size than we had before 

 seen, this season, were brought out. Several heads from the farm of the Hon. 

 D. C. Leach, averaged thirty pounds each. We have never seen finer cauli- 

 flowers than were shown by Judge Ramsdell and one or two other exhibitors 

 whose names we did not learn. 



" The floral display was interesting from the great number of annuals in 

 fine bloom, indicating that no damaging frosts had yet occurred in the gar- 

 dens." 



In 1872 (Hort. Trans, p. 608) the late Geo. Parmelee says of this county: 

 ** Probably three-fourths of the acreage in orchards is in apples. Next in 

 order will come peaches, then pears, then cherries and plums, with a few 

 quinces and apricots. Perhaps there are as many acres of grapes as of plums 

 or cherries." 



On October 6th, 1873, the orchard committee of the State Pomological 

 Society, in visiting and examining the plantation of Judge Ramsdell, at Trav- 

 erse City, speak of its location as follows: ''The first thing on a bright 

 morning was to go up about three hundred and fifty or four hundred feet above 



