MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 83 



A STATE TEST GARDEN. 



A PAPER READ BY A. T. LINDERMAN, SECRETARY, AT THE DECEMBER 



MEETING. 



Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Society : 



Whether or not it is practicable or possible to establish a 

 Test Garden in connection with the Michigan State Pomolog- 

 ical Society, for the purpose of assisting it to furnish to its 

 members more reliable and authentic information than could 

 otherwise be easily obtained, is a question which, to say the 

 least, has two sides; and to impartially present these two sides 

 to your notice is my object, resting assured that the intelli- 

 gence of those present to-day, as well as those absent, into 

 whose hands this little waif may fall, will furnish the correct 

 answer. 



THE BENEFITS. 



The benefits of a Test Garden are many; in fact, so 

 numerous that to attempt a notice of but a small portion 

 is consistent with your time or my space. The first thing to 

 be considered when a person has decided to plaut fruit of any 

 kind for sale, is, what variety pays the most money, and to the 

 intelligent fruit-grower this is a matter of no little import- 

 ance, for right well he knows that it costs just as much land, 

 labor, and money to grow a second, third, or fourth grade fruit, 

 as it does to grow a first grade ; and an error committed in 

 planting other than the best kinds is a mistake that can never 

 be repaired, and one that costs him a loss every year of the 

 difference between the grade he plants and the best. 



