WINTER MEETING, 1S77. 25 



yet holding a stock — mostly Baldwins and Northern Spys, and they report them 

 as perfect as avIich put \ip. 



Pears, iieachcs and plums have come to be considered as doubtful and un- 

 profitable. A few growers of my acfjuaintance are having fair success with 

 pears, and one, Mr. Peter Collar, of Palmyra township, i)lanted, last spring, 

 an orchard of 400 pears and 300 plums, sending east for his trees. Many of 

 the more cautious are looking with some dou1)t upon the venture. The severe 

 winters have destroyed the peach trees almost entirely, and after a hard and 

 determined effort on the part of many it is now considered a failure. 



My acquaintance brings to mind one man who has met with success of late iu 

 raising peaches in Lenawee county. Mr. Porter Beal, of Rollin township, has 

 an orclnird among the numerous little lakes of that part of the county, which 

 yields him a good crop of peaches and plums almost every year. 



Some of our orchardists ai'e becoming somewhat disturbed over the fact that 

 the canker worm has very quietly, though surely, gained a lodgment in our 

 county. It is in an orchard known as the "Bailey orchard," consisting of up- 

 wards of 3,000 trees. One of the great obstacles to the destruction of the insect is 

 that the trees are very thick, — standing only about twenty feet each way. Mr. 

 Bailoy says that he first discovered something the matter with his trees some five 

 or six years ago. He thinks it must have been brought there with scions that 

 were got somewhere in the State of New York. I have not yet seen the orch- 

 ard, but am told that it is nearly or quite ruined. The best I can say of it is, 

 that the Lenawee County Farmers' Club has taken hold of the matter and put 

 it into the hands of a committee of five, who have held one conference with 

 the owner, and have his agreement to cut away one-half of the trees as the 

 first move. It is to be hoped, — and I feel almost safe in saying, — that the Club 

 will not let go the matter till the pest is routed and destroyed. There are vari- 

 ous methods recommended, but all cost some money and a good deal of labor, 

 and the owner of the orchard no doubt feels that the burden is falling heavily 

 on him, and as the orchard is nearly or quite past help, it is feared he may 

 abandon it simply and let it go as it will, whiclr of course must prove very dis- 

 astrous to the community about him. How much cause for alarm there may 

 be among the pomologists of the county or to this society, which should have 

 an eye to the interests of the entire State, I cannot tell. It is at least one more 

 proof added to the truth of the old adage: "No excellence without labor;" for 

 earnest and continued labor must be expended if this new pest does not become, 

 like the codling moth, a common enemy in our State. 



Wednesday Morning. 



The first topic of the morning was discussed by Mr. H. Dale Adams, and 

 was entitled 



CRAB APPLES— HOVv^ TO GROW AND HOW TO USE THEM. 



He said crab apples were not appreciated as much as they ought to be for 

 use in the home, and the fact that the trees bearing this beautiful fruit are 

 perfectly hardy, and all the best sorts exceedingly productive, is a matter worth 

 considering in choice of fruit to be planted for the family. He believed in 

 growing them for canning, for pickling and preserving, and especially for the 



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