MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 419 



exhibits would also have been greatly increased, as to my knowledge many 

 fruit growers w^ere kept from exhibiting by the lack of color in their fruit. 



There were not far from 5,000 plates of fruit upon the tables, nearly all 

 of which was very creditable and especially so considering the season. The 

 county exhibits as usual attracted much attention, particularly that from 

 Oceana county. Every one was also surprised at the showing made by the 

 northern counties, especially Cheboygan, Alcona, Clare, Roscommon and Craw- 

 ford. Fine exhibits were also made by Eaton, Kent, Van Buren, Macomb, 

 Washtenaw, Oakland and Sanilac, Although not competing in the county 

 collections, E. B. Payne, of Kalamazoo county , exhibited some superior peaches, 

 while very fine plums were shown by O. W. Braman, of Grand Rapids. The 

 exhibit of grapes made by W. K. Munson, of Grand Rapids, also attracted 

 much attention, as well for the taste with which it was arranged as for the- 

 superior quality of the fruit. There were also exhibits of fruit from Lena- 

 wee and Hillsdale counties. 



The exhibit of plants and flowers was not what it should have been, but 

 the effects of showing plants in a tent the previous year were so disastrous 

 that little or no attempt was made to prepare an exhibit until it was too late 

 to make a good showing. S. Taplin showed some large palms and also a 

 number of beds filled for the most part with hardy foliage plants. Breit- 

 meyer, Bogula and Gowanloch supplied most of the other plants. Taplin 

 and Mrs. Schroeter exhibited designs and cut flowers. There was also a 

 good showing of flowers by amateurs. 



The exhibit of canned and preserved fruit, jellies and wines was fully 

 twice as large as last year, and showed an improvement in the style of jars 

 and glasses, as well as in freedom from coloring matters and adulterants. 



The exhibit from the Agricultural College was also given space in the 

 Horticultural building. This consisted of 500 plates of fruit shown by the 

 Experiment Station, samples of grasses and forage plants, a collection of 

 some sixty varieties of corn, models of barn frames, corn racks and seed test- 

 ers, samples of the work in sewing and dress-making done by the young 

 women, and photographs and charts showing the equipment and work of 

 the college. 



The demonstrations of spraying and fruit packing carried on each day 

 drew a crowd +o the east end of the building. The work was designed to 

 show the methods of preparing the various insecticides and fungicides, 

 including Bordeaux mixture, and the sulphur and lime for the San Jose scale, 

 as well as the various types of spraying outfits. The fruit packing demon- 

 stration included an exhibit of various kinds of fruit packages, as well as a 

 fruit grader in operation, and the method of grading and sorting fruit of 

 various kinds was shown. After serving its purpose for the demonstration, 

 the fruit was sold and thus served to lessen the pilfering from the tables. 



The new Horticulture building seems admirably adapted to the purpose, 

 but it should have a little more interior decoration, and office should be 

 partitioned off in the north-east corner, and twelve more tables like those 

 used this year should be added in order to provide for a possible increase 

 in the extent of the exhibit next year. In fact they could have been used 

 to good advantage this year as most of the exhibits had to be crowded to- 

 gether from lack of room. 



From the fact that an exhibit of greenhouse plants serves better than 

 anything eles to decorate the interior of the building, and because it not only 

 seriously injures the plants to have them exposed to the dry air and dust 

 for two weeks, but it is an expensive operation to haul them to the fair 



