MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 415 



tainebleau, a grape in which I have failed as yet to find a fault 

 Other choice varieties are being added to this class, which will 

 make it the most desirable for easy cultivation. But what is 

 cultivation, our most important means of success ? Simply 

 furnishing the vine with an abundance of plant-food, the 

 prunings of the vine, fallen leaves, and plaster, frequently stir- 

 ring the soil so that heat and moisture can assist the roots in. 

 collecting food, also pruning and training the vine to the 

 light to enable it to digest and assimilate the sap to the pro- 

 duction of healthy foliage and choice ripe grapes. 



While we are exempt from late-spring and early-fall frosta 

 and mildew, we are some annoyed with insects, though lesa 

 than in other localities. The thripp, on some varieties, be- 

 comes quite numerous by fiill, if unmolested. A few applica- 

 tions of a weak solution of carbolic acid soon destroys them. 

 This is also destructive to the gall louse, which has made its 

 first appearance here this season. The steel-colored beetle, 

 which eats holes in the buds, and the brown spotted beetle, 

 which eats the leavss, are kept in check by the bluebird and 

 woodpecker. We have local benefits of the greatest impor- 

 tance. The cold of Avinter, nor heat of summer, never weak- 

 ens the vitality of the vine, nor kills the primary fruit buds, 

 though left exposed on the trellis, so that pruning can be done 

 during our leisure. Our open winters enable us to prepare and 

 set stakes, and in early spring to dig and set vines and tie the 

 canes in proper place, and, in our delightful summers, to cul- 

 tivate thoroughly ; and in our long, beautiful autumns, to 

 market our grapes, make wine, or raisins, to the best advantage. 



The foregoing facts demonstrate that that portion of Michi- 

 gan contiguous to South Haven, through its superior soil and 

 climatical influences, is equaled by no locality in the West or 

 Southwest as a fruit region ; if indeed, it can be excelled by 

 the pomonal valleys of California, herself. But, if the Pacific 

 slopes can raise some varieties of fruit that Western Michigan 

 cannot, yet fruit culture in that country is rendered unprofit- 

 able, to a very great extent, for want of a remunerative market. 



