36 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ate in subject and excellent in rendition. Next came the subjoined paper 

 by Mr. Allen Crawford of Eaton Rapids, upon 



PRESENT STATE OF HORTICULTURE IN EATON COUNTY. 



A lack of time and experience for this kind of work, I fear, will render 

 what I have jotted down of little interest to so able a company of horti- 

 culturists as are with us here tonight; but as something must be said in 

 answer to the question, what is the present state of horticulture in Eaton 

 county, I will try to give such information as could be gleaned from the lead- 

 ing fruitgrowers and buyers. I have observed that it is a matter of general 

 belief with our citizens that Eaton county is an excellent county for pro- 

 duction of some kinds of fruit — apples, pears, plums, cherries, and some 

 of the small fruits. We are without proximity to any large body of water 

 to soften our climate, or any notable elevations in our land, that might 

 assist in securing exemption from frosts; still, somehow, this notion has 

 been impressed upon our minds. Perhaps it is only our selfish regard for 

 our home interests ; or possibly it may be the work of the buyers of our f ruit r 

 who, while patting us on our backs, are dosing us with this kind of "taffy" 

 to keep us from noticing the extra peck of apples they are piling upon the 

 barrels. 



But we believe we are justified in claiming for Eaton county, over its 

 adjoining counties, a superiority in at least the production of large quan- 

 tities of choice apples and the finest quality of maple sugar and syrup pro- 

 duced in the state. Residents of the county have taken samples of their 

 fruit to the annual state fair and been unusually successful in securing a 

 a large amount of the premium money. This year Messrs. Arthur Green 

 of Eaton Rapids and F. H. Parker of Hamlin township exhibited fruit at 

 the state fair and were paid §132.50 in premiums. Mr. Arthur Green 

 afterward took his collection to Grand Rapids and there secured §58 more;: 

 losing $30 from failure to comply with the rules for number of plates. 



Our citizens have viewed with pride the horticultural productions 

 exhibited at the fairs held this past season in the county. The interest in 

 fruitgrowing was brought to this county by those early pioneer men and 

 women coming here from their York state and New England homes, 

 along in the earlier years of the settlement of the county. It so hap- 

 pened that some of these men were well fitted by education and inclina- 

 tion to commence in the business of growing fruit trees. Several nurser- 

 ies were early started in the county, in which the selection and propaga- 

 tion of choice and profitable varieties of fruit had much influence in 

 placing us forward in fruit culture. The early settlers saw this land 

 covered with large and dense growths of timber, knowing that this heavy 

 production of timber indicated a soil, strong, deep and rich, they did not 

 hesitate to plant orchards as soon as suitable land could be cleared. The 

 planting and growing since of these fruit trees, in the soil and climate that 

 first gave them root and branch, we think was an important factor in their 

 future hardiness and fruitfulness. These first orchards wher° properly 

 cared for are still as fruitful and vigorous of growth as many set in later 

 years. 



Then, again, in those early days this timber was a sure windbreak; and 

 even now that remaining hinders the cold sweep of winter and the whip- 

 ping gusts of fall that rob our exposed trees of so much of their fruit. 

 Our strong soil is less influenced by the exhausting hot weather of 



