162 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and harvesting the fruit, etc. All this must be done over and over again, and 

 careful observation in each performance, together with getting down one's 

 observations in a note book kept for tlie purpose, will enable a man to do his 

 work each time better than before. Now, let him make the practice of observ- 

 ing well a habit, and a part of his regular duties, and the raising of good crops 

 of fruit becomes with him less a chance and more a certainty, and he goes about 

 his business with the feeling that a certain course of action will, as he knows 

 from his previous observation, produce certain results in all cases, other condi- 

 tions being the same; as, for instance, that to remove one of two apples grow- 

 ing on the same spur will cause the remaining one to grow larger than if both 

 are left. 



If those present, then, have exercised their power of observation, I think 

 their thought on the subject will lead them to concur with me in saying, that 

 the carryitig out of a habit of observation in their business will prove of prac- 

 tical assistance to them and all fruit growers. 



VIEWS OF MR. LILLY, OF ALLEGAJh". 



Mr. L. A. Lilley, of Allegan, said : In looking back at the improvements 

 that have been made in this countrv since its settlement, and at the means that 

 have been employed in their accomplishment, it will readily be seen that obser- 

 vation and experiment are very important features to be considered. In obser- 

 vation we notice facts as they occur in nature, while in experiment we add to 

 observation, control of the circumstances which produce the fact. Hence 

 these sciences which depend on observation alone are at a great disadvantage. 

 Besides those that can use experiment, for they may have to wait years for an 

 observation, while an experiment may be made in a day. 



In looking over the different pursuits that men follow, we see that the most 

 successful are the best observers. The skillful hunter depends on his acute 

 sight to direct him to his prey. The enterprising merchant must ever be on 

 the lookout to see the changes in the signs of the times which will affect his 

 business. The successful farmer regards the demands of the market, the 

 Avants of his soil, and directs his course accordingly. Is it reasonable to sup- 

 pose that a man can succeed as a fruit-grower without good habits of observa- 

 tion any better than in other lines of business? 



The student of nature finds that there is a constant warfare going on. All 

 plants and animals have their enemies, and if the weaker are not protected 

 against the stronger, they are destroyed. The farmer finds that all the crops 

 lie raises are in danger from some enemy, and they must be protected in some 

 way if he expects to succeed. So also the fruit-grower finds that there is not 

 a fruit of any kind but what needs his fostering protection ; and this great 

 question of protection must stand first in our minds, and first in the discus- 

 sions of our societies; and as observation is the great source through which we 

 obtain our facts to form our conclusions, it is of great importance that our 

 habits should bo correct ones. 



To see the difference between a man with correct habits of observation and 

 one without we have only to look at their orchards. Tiio one has a healthy 

 and thrifty appearance, while of the other we would say that the man iiad made 

 Borne mistakes in its management. Tiie first man when he sees that some- 

 thing is the matter with a tree or plant, begins to examine it closely ; if it is a 

 peach tree and the leaves begin to look yellow, he does not at once pronounce 

 it the yellows, cut it down and burn it up, but he examines it from the leaf to the 



