PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 15 



Mr. Lyon: The insect has a peculiar liking for low crotches, so it would 

 be well to keep crotches (if they are permitted) 1^ feet above the surface, 

 as the insect is not likely to search higher. 



Mr. Willard: I have seen tarred paper used, but damage came in 

 •some cases from not removing it in time, the bark under it becoming 

 tender and the tree winter-killing in some instances. 



Mr. A. M. Smith of St. Catherines, Ont. : We have had very little 

 trouble with borers since we began earthing up. 



Mr. I. H. BuTTERFiELD of Lapeer: Proximity to water here is 

 not an advantage, as the cold air of spring, blown over the water, is more 

 likely to do harm than the colder air of winter further inland. Therefore 

 -there is not much hope for peaches, but apples, pears, and plums do well. 

 Huron county is engaging somewhat in fruitgrowing, but there are very 

 few men who make it a business. It is mainly an accessory to general 

 farming and is neglected, and so failure often results. 



Mr. A. M. HoLLiSTER of Monroe: I have for fifty years sent much 

 nursery stock north of Saginaw, but th(3 trouble is, there as here, people 

 know more about pine trees than any other kind. They have just as good 

 conditions as have the growers of this region, with better soil. Mr. HoL- 

 LiSTER cited several examples of successful fruitgrowing in the region 

 referred to. ' 



Mr. Morrill, referring to Mr. Rice's remark about bad fences, said that 

 any township that pleases may vote to restrain stock and do away with 

 road fences entirely. It is so in Berrien county and the roads are kept 

 <}lear of brush and trash, and cultivation extends up to the line or beyond it. 



Continuing the session, President Lyon read the following paper upon 



THE TESTING AND INTRODUCTION OF NOVELTIES. 



Previous observation and experience have convinced me that in such 

 gatherings as ours, the interest is best aroused and maintained by such 

 concise announcement of facts or principles as shall effectually beget free 

 and general discussion. Assuming such to be the fact, I may perhaps be 

 excused for presenting my views of the subject assigned, briefly, leaving 

 its amplification to the chances of subsequent discussion. 



Ample experience has long since established the fact that, of the mass 

 of novelties originated or discovered, and offered the public as worthy of 

 trial, scarcely even one out of one hundred succeed under the crucial test 

 of general cultivation. 



Not merely a favorable opinion, by even an expert to whom specimens 

 may have been sent for an estimate of their value, nor yet a careful trial 

 by fruiting them under his own eye, can be deemed to have determined 

 the value of a novelty to the public at large. Nor yet will a more general 

 trial of a year or two in fruit suffice to determine the ultimate or perma- 



