REPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 533 



OSCEOLA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



REPORTED BY SECRETARY STODDARD. 

 OFFICERS FOR 1887. 



President — B. F. Gooch. 

 Secretary — W. L. Stoddard. 



We have nine members at present. Our summer meeting, held at the farm 

 of Mr. B. F. Gooch in Hersey township, was very poorly attended, although 

 those who were present seemed very much interested. Several were on the 

 program for speeches, papers, etc., but one or two were present. In someway 

 our people mix up the agricultural and horticultural societies and claim that 

 being members of one society make them members of both. Have taken 

 pains to make it generally understood that such is not the case, and our 

 people are commencing to act in favor of the horticultural society. 



The horticultural interests of our county are improving finely, but could be 

 made to advance much faster if the people would throw away the ida of rely- 

 ing on their own individual judgment and experience and be willing to accept 

 some of the advice of those men who have made horticulture a study for years, 

 or even meet together and exchange ideas. But I find quite a number still 

 paying fancy prices for fruit trees (genuine Russians, apples, cherries, pears, 

 plums and even grapes) just because the agent's catalogue shows them to be 

 fine, and of Russian stock. The apples that do best with us here are genuine 

 American sorts, such as the Baldwin, Oldenburg, Golden Russet (English), 

 Northern Spy, Fameuse (Canada), Mann, Fall Pippin, Talman Sweet, etc. 

 Cherries are almost a failure. Grapes do very well, Concord and Delaware 

 being in the majority, although the Isabella, Moore's Early, Niagara and other 

 varieties are receiving a trial. Plums and pears do quite well, but do not 

 gain the size they do in the southern part of the State. The same can be 

 said of winter apples. Raspberries and blackberries are in abundance in the 

 "woods, and are not much grown in gardens. Almost every kind of straw- 

 berries grow in abundance with us, the Wilson and Sharpless taking the 

 lead. Several new kinds are being experimented with. 



Our next meeting will be held at Evart, December 13, at which time the 

 experimental work with new fruits will be discussed. 



