70 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Eeid: I have heard the growers at Paw Paw and Lawton declare 

 that two cents, with full crops, is a paying price. Of cdurse they would 

 like to get more. 



Mr. Morrill: Our people at Benton Harbor and St. Joseph claim 

 to me that they can make a fair profit at 11 to 12^ cents per ten-pound 

 basket, delivered on the street there, and that is not one cent per pound 

 for the grapes themselves. But they get a crop of anywhere from three 

 to six tons per acre, under good culture, and with a little knowledge 

 of the cost of pruning, staking, wiring, picking, and hauling, you can 

 very easily figure it out and see whether it will pay. The growers there 

 are, as a rule, quite large growers, and that makes a difference. As 

 to the best market varieties, Worden is fast superseding Concord on 

 the Chicago market. It is better in every way, though in long shipments 

 it shatters a little worse. It is not quite so tough and durable. Brighton, 

 while it will not produce with us to compare with either of several other 

 varieties, is, when it comes on the market, an excellent seller. Niagara 

 meets with a fair sale in limited quantities. No one should get the 

 impression that white grapes are going to take on the market in any 

 such quantities as blue grapes; there is a call for a certain amount 

 of red and white to mix with the others for table purposes, but for 

 culinary purposes, Worden, Catawba, or something of that class will 

 lead. 



Mr. W. D. Markham: I have been here thirty years and have set a 

 few grapes. When we commenced there was nothing known of any but 

 Concord and Delaware. We set them because they were the most com- 

 mon kinds, and I have had some good grapes and some not so good. 

 I have had some as fine Concords as I ever saw, but the trouble with us, 

 as with most everyone, was that we did not know how. I have improved 

 somewhat, but the fruit is inclined to be sour. I have conceived the 

 idea that Worden is so popular because it ripens early and is sweet. 

 If you get Concord ripe it is good enough. Salem mildews badly but is 

 fine if you can get it. I am somewhat encouraged that we can raise 

 good grapes here, but we must know how to trim, cultivate, and care for 

 them. 



Mr. Brassington: Mr. Markham, do you find Worden a tender grape? 



Mr. Markham: I have not had much experience in growing it. I 

 think if I were going to start in I would set Worden pretty liberally. 



Mr. Eice: It stands onr climate at Port Huron, and that is worse 

 than this. 



Mr. Burdick: I have found it a good, hardy grape; I do not think there 

 would be any danger in setting them here. 



Mr. Morrill: If I were to express an opinion, I would sa}' I believe 

 that the hills of this vicinity, judging from what I have seen in other 

 parts of the state, are ideal locations for grapes, from the fact that 

 there is good drainage, proper character of soil, and exposure to sunshine 

 and air. Everything seems perfect. But this is not the northern limit. 

 In Benzie county they grow fine grapes. 



Mr. Reid: Mr. Markham's reference to half-ripened grapes points to 

 a feature in the marketing of grapes that is becoming unbearable. They 

 are rushed into market as soon as they color but before they are ripe, 

 and this injures the public taste for grapes. People who buy a few 



