PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 81 



Mr. Morrill: Just after Early Crawford. In regard to hardiness, that 

 is a very impoitaiit point. A ycai- a^o last winter we had weather IS"' 

 below zero, and our buds were not sprung; they were in normal condition 

 all the way tlirough, and I thought it was an excellent time to find out the 

 comparal^ive hardiness of buds. I went through and cut buds of all varie- 

 ties in my oichard. Of my Crawfoids, some GO or 05 per cent, were killed 

 at that temperature, but Lhe three varieties that I supposed would show 

 the greatest hardiness were Crosby, Lewis, and Fitzgerald, standing 

 almost in adjoining rows; there were just two rows between Fitzgerald 

 and Lewis, and Crosby joined on the otlier side. I cut two hundred buds 

 of each, selecting at random over a dozen trees, and counted. On Crosby 

 I found 27 dead buds in 200; on Lewis I found 14, while on Fitzgerald were 

 but three. I thought it was a remarkable showing. Last winter we had 

 a different condition of aflairs. Along in January we had warm weather 

 that sprung the buds until my neighbors said that in their orchards there 

 were buds that developed to a considerable extent. We had a tempera- 

 ture of 12° below zero in February, and it killed off nearly ever^^thing we 

 had. Further north, where it was not so warm in January, they fared 

 better, and I think was not so cold in February. Lewis, Gold Drop, and 

 Fitzgerald w^ere the only things that bore for me this year. Fitzgerald 

 did not come as well through that test as Lewis, but Crosby was killed. 

 It did not show more than occasionally a specimen, and Lewis stood the 

 test the best of anything that I ever saw. Now, there are two conditions 

 under which judgment should be placed, and either condition might 

 change the verdict; but those are things w^e have to consider, one of the 

 iittle details of which I spoke. 



Q : You raise Chillis, don't you ? 



Mr. Morrill: I have Chillis; yes, sir; I had Chillis this year, a few, but 

 not nearly so many as I had of Lewis right adjoining. 



Q: Lewis stood the test best? 



Mr. Morrill : Yes, But take it in this latitude, no orchard is complete 

 without Chilli, and a pretty good proportion of it. 



Mr. Croy : Is it not a fact that those Chillis are about the best market 

 peach w^e have? 



Mr. Morrill : For you, yes, sir; for us they are good when they are good, 

 and when they are not they are no good; but thej^ are more reliable at 

 Grand Rapids and north than they are south of Grand Rapids, is my 

 experience and observation — much more. 



Mr. Hale, what have vou learned in Shelbv or in Oceana countv in 1897? 



' *' " *' 



Mr. Hale: My experience has been similar to that of those about me in 

 different ])laees. Of course, our crop was nothing like what it was esti- 

 mated or reported to be. Oceana was reported to have quite a fair crop, and 

 nearly a full crop in the fore part of the season, but it dwindled down to 

 a very small one indeed. It was reported once to be about a third of a crop 

 of peaches this year. We did have a good fair crop of buds in the begin- 

 ning of the year, but curl-leaf affected us, and so far as the varieties that 

 best stood the test are concerned, Lewis and Chilli were fair crops; very 

 little of Elberta; Barnard was just a fair crop; Snow's Orange was fair, 

 and small fruit — an abundance of it. and very little money. 



Mr. Morrill: A gentleman from Oceana told me that he would not be 

 surprised if the majority of Elberta peach trees set in Oceana county 

 would be taken out. Do you believe it? 

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