iSJ: STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



son. If it is desired to base the award in some measure upon the correctness 

 •or incorrectness of the exhibitor's own labeling it would be easy to indicate on 

 the entrv card such cases as the committee on nomenclature have corrected. 

 All of which is respectfully submitted. 



HENRY G. REYNOLDS, 



Chairman. 



REPORT ON CANNED AND PICKLED FRUITS, ETC. 



« 



To the Michigan State Pomological Society: 



When we take a survey of the infinite provisions of God (nature) for the 

 iiappiness, not to speak of the necessities of the human family, we can but 

 exclaim, how good, and how bountiful is our Divine Father. No finite being 

 could have devised or conjectured the variety of the good things that have 

 been provided for the comfort and happiness of the animal kingdom, and 

 surely not among the least of these blessings, but among the greatest, we must 

 record the endless variety of fruits. Indeed, had our Father had reference to 

 our necessities only, no other provision need have been made for sustenance 

 than the endless supply furnished ns of fruit. It has been said that man 

 should not live by "bread alone." But it could be said that man could live 

 on fruit alone. It embodies the properties in itself to support both animal and 

 intellectual life, but when given Avith the other liberal provisions for the suste- 

 nance of man, it does not lose its importance. It is nourishing, invigorating 

 and exhilarating. If the apple were really the forbidden thing, we could 

 almost fororive our first mother of her transo-ression, for which of us now 

 living would withhold our hands? I fear but few, if any. Its very appearance 

 inspires a disposition to embrace, but when once tasted its delightful flavor 

 and exhilarating properties would sweep away the last barrier and we too, I 

 fear, would violate the command, ''Thou shalt not eat of it." While we 

 denominate the apple King, there are so many honored members in the royal 

 cabinet, I will not name any but the head. No home is complete without a 

 variety of fruits attached. Husbands are made more generous, wives more 

 -cheerful, and children more happy. We are now wont to treat fruit as a luxury, 

 jbut could and should it not be made at least to approximate more nearly to a 

 standard article of food. Its evanescent nature should prompt us to the greater 

 .activity in its preservation. Truly, great advances have been made within the 

 Jast few years for its prepai'ation, but is there not very much that can yet bo 



• developed by science and industry looking to that end? Is it not possible to 

 ..preserve it in a normal state for an indefinite period of time? It would appear 

 from it-s importance that such a discovery should be looked for. While few or 



;none are found that oppose a public exhibition of fruit as a stimulus to its 

 ^culture, it is a lamentable fact that very many yet neglect this delightful 



• occupation. All love and admire fruit, but many are deprived of it by their 

 - own needless neglect. What can be done to inspire a greater and more gen- 

 eral growth of this most bountiful gift of nature? Would it not be wise for 



• our societies to put into the field traveling agents that would deliver in consec- 

 . utive towns, lectures on the subject, and tiiereby move the thoughtless and 



negligent to activity. It would involve increased expenditure, but would not 



the increased number that would attend our fairs so increase our receipts as to 



meet the outlav, and could not a more attractive mode of arrans-ins: fruits at 



»our exhibitions be devised? Could not the shelving be constructed in recesses. 



