518 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



September — At the residence of W. K. Munson: "Grapes and grape products." 

 October — Sparta: " Culture of apples and pears;" " Horticulture in the schools." 

 November — Harmony Grange hall: " Experience of the season with varieties under 

 cultivation." 



December — Residence of Charles W. Garfield: "Our experimental stations;" "Specu- 

 lative horticulture." 



Owing to a continual downpour of rain on the fourth Tuesday in Feb- 

 ruary, only those members in the immediate neighborhood of the Paris 

 grange hall were able to be in attendance, and despite the fact that neither 

 president, vice-president, nor secretary was there, the plucky few very 

 ably discussed the topics, which were, " Varieties of fruits and vegetables 

 to plant," and " School gardens." The meeting was called to order by 

 Mrs. I. D. Davis, with Mr. E. H. Stiles acting as scribe. The following 

 day the great majority of the members were somewhat startled to find in 

 the published report that no officers were present save one member of the 

 executive board — a condition not without precedent, however, as the 

 minutes of the June meeting at Fuller's hall, in 1874, was the occasion of a 

 similar state of affairs. 



A table hard by the chairman was conspicuous for the many different 

 styles and sizes of squashes in such excellent condition that inquiry as to 

 who was responsible for the display brought Sluman S. Bailey to his feet T 

 who apologized for not bringing larger ones; but he left in a hurry and 

 came with his carriage. Mr. Bailey said the largest ones were the Pike's 

 Peak variety. It was an excellent keeper and as toothsome as the Hubbard. 

 The bugs did not like tobacco water, but it would not entirely keep them 

 away. Squashes would keep better if gathered early. A warm, dry air 

 was necessary to keep them thoroughly preserved from rot. 



In the discussion of desirable varieties of apple, the Baldwin seemed to 

 have secured an undue amount of praise. 



Paris green as an insecticide was considered better than London purple. 



After going through the list of desirable varieties of potato, the fol- 

 lowing were the chosen ones: Beauty of Hebron. White Elephant, 

 Empire State, and Early Ohio. 



The adornment of school grounds was still a perplexing question, so 

 likely are children to either destroy any attempt at adornment or to take 

 no interest. Mrs. Emmons thought that the best way to insure safety to 

 trees was to let the children plant them themselves, under able supervision. 



The following resolution was passed: "That the members of the Grand 

 River Valley Horticultural society, assembled at their February meeting, 

 extend their sympathies to all absent members for having missed a good 

 meeting." 



The March meeting was duly called to order on the fourth Tuesday, at 

 the City hall, by Vice-President Pearce. Mr. Garfield was in attend- 

 ance at a specially called meeting at Lansing, but returned at noon and 

 conducted the meeting in its afternoon session. The very important 

 topics, •' Insects and insecticides," and " Fungi and fungicides," drew out a 

 large gathering. Over one hundred were present when Mr. Garfield 

 tapped for order, who after getting a little insight into the work done in 

 the morning, called for local fruit prospects. The general testimony 

 showed that growers and carriers would have something out of the ordi- 

 nary run of things to handle the prospective fruit crop of 1891, especially 

 peaches. Mr. Garfield said the very latest estimate he could secure for 

 Allegan county alone was 1,000.000 bushels. 



