THE SUMMER MEETING. 



HELD TX THE CITY OF MUSKEGOX, JUNE 17, 18, AND 19. REPORT OF 

 THE DISCUSSIONS AND FULL TEXT OF PAPERS AND ADDRESSES. 



The strawberry meeting of the society was held in Rifenburg's hall, Mus- 

 kegon, commencing witli an evening session on Tuesday, the l?th of June. 

 The attendance from abroad was very satisfactory, there being about fifty dele- 

 gates from various parts of the State ; the local attendance, however, was very 

 meager, owing, it is said, to the fact that all the interested parties Avere in the 

 midst of their strawberry shipments, from which it was difficult to get away. 

 Mortimer Whitehead, corresponding secretary of the Cincinnati Horticultural 

 Society, was the only representative from outside the State. 



MUSKEGON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 



As prefatory to the account of discussions it seems appropriate to say a 

 few" words about Muskegon. Mr. J. P. Thompson, who, previous to the session 

 of the society, made a short tour of the place, says : 



Muskegon is a city of 12,000 inhabitants, located at the mouth of the Mus- 

 kegon river on Muskegon lake, or which is about the same thing, on Lake 

 Michigan, a city of modern saw mills, with the largest lumber manufacturing 

 interest and capital of any city in the state. Never having seen the place 

 before, we were astonished at the modesty of its inhabitants. Put Muskegon 

 anywhere else and its picturesque situation and novel surroundings, its beau- 

 tiful lake surrounded with puffing mills, its busy population and its gigantic 

 manufacturing interest, w^ould have been heralded the world over, but Mus- 

 kegon seems content with its lot, and does not seek a mere paper reputation. 

 A ride from the center of the city south around Muskegon lake to outlet to 

 lake Michigan, a distance of say seven miles, and again from the center of 

 the city north across the mouth of Muskegon river along the beach of Mus- 

 kegon lake to where Bear lake empties into the former, a distance of say 

 another seven miles, is one of the must enjoyable, the most varied and delight- 

 ful to be taken in the whole country. We should say that it was about 20 

 miles around ^luskegon lake, with a good level saw-dust road nearly the entire 

 distance and with a view and scenery at once interesting and attractive, so 

 that people from abroad need not want for points of interest, or for fresh air, 

 or for water and land views that can be found nowhere else in such amplitude 

 and striking originality. With a needed good hotel building, safe and spacious, 

 there should be many summer visitors. We have never seen in the state a 

 more magnificent harbor or a combination of commerce and manufactures 



