THE ANNUAL MEETING. 239 



very much griitified to find upon the taljles so fine a display of winter fruits; 

 it is unexpected considering tiie unfortunate season for keeping apples. At 

 the same time wo regret exceedingly to find so many specimens containing 

 worms, or a. record of their transactions." 



CULTUKE OF TIIE QUINCE 



was next taken up, and Mr. Sherwood said he set 100 trees in 1873 and all 

 were now alive- lie put half on high ground and half on low land. Tiio for- 

 mer were most successful. The latter he took up last spring and set on higher 

 ground and they afterwards grew well. The soil of the successful trees was a 

 deep, rich, clay loam. He used salt to some extent about the trees; had 

 noticed a sort of twig blight, but it liad not been a serious detriment to growth. 



Mr. Merriman at first had lost quince trees by grubs, borers, or blight, but 

 latterly had been quite successful. The borers enter near the roots and work 

 upward and about the trees, and they need constant watching. The quince is 

 profitable, and. enough can be grown in Michigan to supply the whole country. 

 Ho allowed the trees to retain their natural habits of growth, wiiich vary 

 greatly. He and some others thought the blight spoken of to be the result of 

 a twig borer's work. President Lyon was of a contrary opinion. Kay's Mam- 

 moth was a sort Mr. Merriman recommended. 



AV. N. Cook said he had noticed in Monterey townshiji, Allegan county, 

 extra-fine quince trees, and thought it a good region for the cultivation of that 

 fruit. 



The topic put in the form of a query, 



ARE WE NOT LOWERING THE POMOLOGICAL STANDARD OF MERIT 

 BY TOO OFTEN APPLYING TIIE MARKET TEST? 



was next taken up, and President Lyon in opening the subject remarked : 



Up to a comparatively recent period, the process of selection under the test 

 of true pomological merit had been, for a period beyond which '' the memory of 

 man runneth not," applied to the bringing together of collections of varieties 

 of fruits, adapted to satisfy the demands of an educated and discriminating 

 taste ; and worthy to appear upon the tables of those who grow fruit for the 

 love of it; with such care only for the mere profitableness of the varieties, as 

 should render the producing of the needed supply reasonably certain — the 

 question of mere profitableness being a secondary one ; and the object being, 

 to provide the farmer and fruit-lover with an abundance of fruit adapted to 

 dessert uses, with a surplus for culinary purposes as well. 



This process of continued selection had sufliced to accumulate an immense 

 list of varieties, of more or less local value, from which very few localities 

 would find difficulty in chosing, for the supply of their wants, whether for the 

 table or the kitchen, while the high quality of many of them seldom failed to 

 so attract the palate that our people were coming to be more and more a nation 

 of fruit-lovers, much, as we fancy, to their benefit, so far as mere health is 

 considered, to say nothing of increased economy of living. 



Gradually, however, with the growth of our cities and villages, and the 

 development of manufacturers, a demand has arisen for fruit as a market 

 commodity, demanding its subjection to the stress of transportation. To sup- 

 ply this demand, extensive plantations have grown up, of sorts chosen with 



