PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. IS 



1874. You will see by this that in 1875 it fcoiiched twenty degrees, and in 

 1885 twenty-five degrees below; and that twice it has touched fifteen, twice 

 gone to fourteen, and three times to thirteen below; while in the two win- 

 ters preceding this, two above was the lowest range. When it touched 

 twenty-five below (that is, in 1885), many young peach trees were killed, 

 while others were not, as shown by the exhibit I have made. Why this 

 was so, I can not tell. It is a subject worthy of the study of this society,. 

 to ascertain all of the conditions relating to these trees, and see if drain- 

 age, rich soil, improper covering of the ground with snow, especially 

 exposed or protected location — any or all of these — exerted any peculiar 

 effect that made them more susceptible to the cold. If so, what was 

 that influence? 



BAD PRACTICES ALL THROUGH. 



Another and serious trouble with our people here is, that they do not 

 dig out the borer as they should. Last fall I visited a number of orchards, 

 large and small, and in every instance I found the peach trees infested 

 with borers, and some of the trees nearly girdled by them. This cause 

 alone will destroy the trees in a few years. The fact is that, as a commu- 

 nity, we neglect our orchards to such a degree that the wonder is that we- 

 get so much and such fine fruit from them. 



Again, when we get the fruit, not more than two thirds of it is saved 

 from the orchards. The rest is eaten by stock, or frozen on the trees, or 

 left to rot on the ground. Of the two thirds saved and gathered from the 

 orchard, one half is lost by the poor care given it, or by the methods of 

 marketing. A very large proportion of the small lots of apples are mar- 

 keted in meal bags; and as the grocerymen refuse to buy them in that con- 

 dition, they are peddled about the city at so much per bag. 



THE MATTER RESTATED. 



In brief, what we need is: (1) thoroughly and deeply drained ground 

 for planting trees; (2) a proper selection of good, hardy varieties of mar- 

 ketable fruit; (3) these should be carefully set in well prepared soil and 

 intelligently cultivated; (4) study all the improved methods of combatting 

 the insect pests; (5) learn to pick the fruit carefully, selecting the best only 

 and putting it into neat packages in an attractive style, and then you will 

 not be obliged to drive about the streets seeking buyers, but buyers will 

 seek you. When these conditions are followed, there will be no reason 

 why we can not raise immense crops of apples, pears, plums, cherries, and 

 peaches, and all of the hardy small fruits. 



Now, a word more, about our outside market for perishable fruits. Our 

 climatic influences are such that our fruits ripen after the great rush of 

 other fruitgrowing sections has passed. We have at our door the finest 

 line of fast-sailing steamers in the freight business that can be found in 

 any part of the world. We can ship with equal facility to the centers of 

 population to the south of us, as to the great northwest that lies outside the 

 fruit-belt. This is the last point within the belt at which the lake Superior 

 steamers stop and there is no other stopping place within sixty miles of 

 us, so that we may virtually control this vast lake Superior market. With a 

 large crop of pears, plums, or peaches, load down the Duluth boats, when 

 they are passing up light, and have a good distributing agent at Duluth, so 



