PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 177 



His trees were iu a fair way to be destroyed (those of his neighbors were 

 destroyed), but the advice received from the college enabled him to save 

 his orchard, and last year alone the product of that was $1,000, whereas 

 his neighbors' trees had been entirely destroyed, and he was the only one 

 who sold apples in that section. 



Mr. Morrill: It seems to me that it is beyond question, and there 

 seems to be only one view of it here tonight, that the experiment station 

 is of much more value than it costs; but, of course, it can not be of any 

 value to the man who does not avail himself of it. The conditions demand 

 a higher education among farmers and fruitgrowers, to make them suc- 

 cessful. I do not mean a literary education, but a technical education, 

 and the experiment station is a helper. Experiments, as a rule, can 

 only be made (or, at least, the results be observed) once per year, and one 

 year does not furnish sufficient evidence upon which to base a con- 

 clusion, because conditions may alter the results of a year's w'ork. The 

 experiment stations take care of all these matters and furnish reports of 

 the results of their work, gratis, to all who will receive them. Those who 

 do not need it, -who do not care for it, will of course receive no benefit. 

 Those who do, will get a great deal of help. I was one of the poor 

 unfortunates who started in the business and did not know anything 

 about it. Many people know all about it. They do not have to listen to 

 bulletins. I am sure, however, that there is little doubt about the value 

 of the experiment stations, though it is only a few years since opinion 

 was much divided as to whether they were of value at all. At the 

 same time, when we look back, we see that many of these things which 

 we call modern practices, as, for instance, the practice of spraying, were 

 developed in the experiment station of Michigan; and if its advice had 

 been carefully followed there would have been few mistakes. There have 

 been some, but they have come through ignorance or carelessness; but 

 the careful man, who has taken his lessons from the careful experiments 

 of the station, has usually come out all right. 



3Ir. Thomas Wilde: I was a little dissatisfied with the progress of our 

 Michigan experiment station, so I sent to Washington and other places, 

 for their bulletins. I got them all together and studied them carefully, 

 and I found that the Michigan station was far ahead. It had made more 

 progress than any of them. When Prof. Bailey w^as here he told me that 

 arsenic w^ould not kill curculio. I suggested that he go home and try it. 

 He afterward acknowledged that they died. He killed some wath arsenic. 

 Our experiment station told us, I think it was Prof. Beal, that crimson 

 clover was not a success. I can not see that there is anything the 

 matter with it, when it is sowed at the right time. I asked Prof. Taft 

 about it the other day, and he said it died in April, usually. Now^, I had 

 an excellent crop. So, sometimes, the experiment station will make 

 experiments and not succeed, and vet, in some other part of the state, 

 the same thing will be a success. They set us to thinking, though, and 

 I think we farmers all ought to help them. 



What fruits, if any, are being planted in excess? 



Mr. Graham: I believe that all fruits are being planted in excess, with- 

 'out any exception, unless perhaps it is apples. There are thousands of 

 trees being planted in locations where they will never give satisfactory 

 23 



