54 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of the work has gone into other hands under circumstances which I deem 

 not courteous to myself as chairman, nor creditable to the commission. 



WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 



Mr. MoNiiOE has supplied boxes for several bearing peach trees, which 

 have been placed in my hands through the summer, and are now apparently 

 in good condition to go upon the Exposition grounds next spring. The same 

 is understood to be true of a collection of small fruit plants, cared for by 

 a gentleman at South Haven. How much, if anything, has been done in 

 this way, elsewhere, I have so far been unable to learn. 



I have learned of a collection of long- keeping apples by Mr. HouK of 

 Ludington, intended for the opening exhibition; but of its extent I am not 

 informed. In response to my inquiry the chairman of the committee on 

 long-keeping fruits writes that, having no assurance of remuneration for 

 either labor or expenditure, he has done nothing. 



WHAT MAY BE DONE NEXT SEASON. 



It is now quite too late to undertake an exhibit of fruit out of season; 

 but, considering the apparent danger of an inadequate exhibit from other 

 sources, it seems proper to consider the propriety of an effort, by the 

 society, to make a display of fruits, each in its season, as a means of sav- 

 ing its own reputation and, by possibility, that of the state. 



To enable us to act wisely in a matter involving so much of effort, care, 

 and responsibility, I take occassion to state that I was recently called to 

 Chicago, by Chief J. M. Samuels of the World's Fair department of horti- 

 culture, for the purpose of aiding to mature the rules and lists of that 

 department, which are now in a state of forwardness. 



While I was yet there, the committee on awards, who have the control 

 of these matters, announced the following: 



1. Awards are to be made by expert, single judges. 



2. The decisions of each judge must be approved by the group of judges. 



3. No comparisons of exhibts will be permitted, but each shall be judged strictly 

 upon its merits, and the conditions upon which the award is based must be clearly 

 stated. 



4. The award, in each case, is a bronze medal, accompanied by a certificate specifying 

 the grounds of the award. 



5. The medals will be furnished by the United States, and parties may have their 

 medals of gold or silver by paymg for the same. 



6. Judges will be compensated for their services and will be expected to devote their 

 entire time. 



7. In the case of the more perishable fruits, examinations will occur on Tuesday of 

 each week, though doubtless occasion may arise for examinations on other days. 



8. Provision will be made to insure correct nomenclature. 



9. New varieties will be judged under the rules of the American Pomological society, 

 which provide that, for a given locality, they must possess some valuable quality, or 

 combination of qualities, in a higher degree than any other known variety of the same 

 class and season. 



The table space assigned to Michigan is upon two tables, side by side, 

 away from the wall, at the south end of the southwest curtain. The total 

 length is seventy-five feet, tables each six and one half feet wide. 



This is for the summer display. Later, when the mass of long-keepers 

 comes in, the space can be expanded indefinitely. 



Upright cases may be built up from the centre of each table, for our 



