196 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



frozen. If you do that, they will stand several degrees more of cold, and 

 a week or two may make a vast difference with the results. Another 

 matter of which Mr. Post and some of the other gentlemen have spoken, 

 is the sowing of rye. I have seen very little good come from that. I do 

 not know but that is throwing a firebrand into some one's powder-keg, 

 but I do not believe in it. I have never seen good results from turning 

 under rye. 



Mr. Rice: But it will hold the snow and the surface water. 



Mr. Morrill : But I would as soon have any weed, as to let rye go to 

 seed. I am going to adopt a different plan, and that is to sow oats. 

 They, I know, will die out during the winter, but they will serve the 

 purpose of holding the leaves. As they die, they will hold the leaves, 

 and that blanket will not get away from you, and in the spring you will 

 not have to destroy the oats. I have a neighbor who is a very progres- 

 sive fellow, and he has done practically that for two or three years, and 

 I think he is ahead of me on that idea at least. I sow the oats the last 

 of August, so the first good rain will start them, 



Mr. E. W. Allis: One of our neighbors has been sowing oats with 

 crimson clover. Clover has ''had a black eye" in Michigan, but this plan 

 worked nicely and he raised a fine crop. This year, instead of putting 

 oats with it, he sowed it in his cornfield, and I presume he thinks he 

 will have a failure this year. 



Mr. A. G. Green: What sort of weeder do you use, Mr. Morrill? 



A. I have used another kind but shall get the Breed. 



Mr. Greening: The theory set forth by Mr. Willard is good, but I 

 believe it is better to let that wood remain until spring and then cut it 

 back. From the experience we have in cutting back young shoots in the 

 fall, we find they are usually frozen back, part of the way, in the spring, 

 even if the winter is mild. It is better, in my opinion, to let those shoots 

 remain. 



Mr. Willard: There is a question that has not been touched upon this 

 afternoon. In what I have learned here today, I have not heard the 

 canning industry mentioned, from which I am led to infer that not much 

 is being done about it. It seems to me that that is a great mistake, in 

 such a state as Michigan. It certainly is a very wonderful industry as 

 it is being developed in certain portions of the country, notably Cali- 

 fornia, Delaware, Maryland, and now, to quite an extent, in New York. 

 I know the impression prevails that New York is not much a peach- 

 growing region, as compared with Michigan, but at the same time peaches 

 are grown with a great deal more success now than for a great many 

 years, because people have been learning that they can grow the hardy 

 sorts. This canning industry is a great thing, and I am interested in 

 it, and have been led to investigate the subject and ascertain what varie- 

 ties of peach are most valuable for that prupose. Perhaps some of you 

 know more about it than I do, and yet I am going to throw out some 

 suggestions. I have learned by actual test, and by prices at which our 

 goods are sold, that our peaches can be sold in all the markets we can 

 reach at a much higher price than Delaware and Maryland and California 

 peaches. We have learned furthermore that the best of all peaches is 

 Hill's Chili. There is nothing to equal it. No matter how poor your 

 fruit is, or how fuzzy, it develops qualities in canning that are ahead of 

 all others. We have b^en experimenting on other varieties, and next to 



