26' STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



WORK AT THE SOUTH HAVEN SUB-STATION. 



BY EX-PREST. T. T. LYON OF SOUTH HAVEN. 



A large share of the planting at the fruit-testing station was done prior 

 to any purpose to make use of the place for experimental purposes. Had 

 this been the original purpose, and had such been approved at headquar- 

 ters, it would have been my purpose to thoroughly prepare the ground, in 

 advance of tree planting, by means of a system of tile drainage; and fur- 

 thermore, by a careful preparation and subsoiling of the ground as a 

 means of securing more equable results and rendering the comparisons 

 of varieties more reliable. Experiences during the excessively wet spring 

 of 1893, together with the unprecedented drouths of this year and 1894, 

 have strongly emphasized this conclusion. 



Cherries, especially those of the Duke and Mazzard classes, show unmis- 

 takably their special inability to withstand excessive moisture in the soil. 

 In sandy loam, upon a clay subsoil, these were very healthy and vigorous, 

 till the wet spring of 1893, which so injured them that for a time their pre- 

 mature death seemed probable, while pears and plums in adjacent rows 

 were apparently uninjured. This ground was thoroughly tile drained 

 during the ensuing fall, with the result that these diseased trees have 

 fully resumed their pristine health and vigor, notwithstanding the very 

 severe drouth of the two following years. 



Several varieties of the hardy north European cherries, received from 

 Prof. Budd of Iowa, so far appear hardy and vigorous. Nearly all of 

 them, however, appear to be tardy bearers and quite late in season. 



Twenty-seven varieties of the native plum of the west and northwest 

 have been planted at the station, to test their alleged ability to resist the 

 curculio, rot, and premature loss of foliage, with such other maladies as 

 frequently attack the varieties of domestica parentage. So far as liability 

 to attack by curculio is concerned, they are by no means exempt, although 

 the "Little Turk" evidently prefers the domesticas. It is, however, a not- 

 able fact that either there is an omission to deposit the egg, or that the 

 larva almost invariably fails to develop, since examination usually fails 

 to show that it leaves the crescent mark. There is apparently less ten- 

 dency to the rotting of the fruit and to premature loss of foliage. Still, 

 with thoroughness in the jarring process and a free use of spraying mate- 

 rial, these are now so fully under control that there need be no question 

 of our ability, eastward of lake Michigan, to abundantly supply our 

 needs without resort to a class of plums worthless as compared with our 

 old-time favorites of the domestica type. 



There are seventeen varieties of the Japanese type, and hybrids, upon 

 the grounds, several of which give evidence of wonderful productiveness, 

 though in ouality scarcely up to our standard. They are yet too recent 

 to have fully established a reputation, save perhaps for productiveness. 

 Their quality is confessedly deficient, as compared with the better class 

 of domestica varieties, while their very early blooming increases the dan- 

 ger of injury from late spring frosts. 



