62 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



REPORTS UPON THE STATUS OF MICHIGAN HORTICULTURE. 



Then followed a series of reports upon the present status and future 

 prospects of fruitgrowing in several of the prominent or promising pomo- 

 logical regions of the state. 



IN NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN. 



The season just past has been one of the most peculiar and trying ones 

 that Michigan fruitgrowers have ever experienced. Nature seemed to have 

 reversed the regular order of business to that extent that our most experi- 

 enced pomologists have been baffled and have involuntarily found them- 

 selves exclaiming, "What next?" The season has been very favorable to the 

 development of fungus growths, so much so that those heretofore hardly 

 noticeable have done incalculable damage. All kinds of fruits have been 

 affected, but the apple and plum have suffered most. 



Such seasons cause the intelligent, thoughtful fruitgrower to pause, look 

 about him, and see if he can see a why and a wherefore for all this. 



Now, it appears very plain to my mind that nature, in her efforts to 

 equalize (in other words to keep the supply and demand alike), summons 

 to her aid some of her silent forces, thereby checking the tendency to 

 over-production. We can see the wisdom of this course in causing us to 

 study more carefully the requirements necessary, and the adaptability of 

 different sections of our country to meet the wants of the people. 



If all sections of the country were alike adapted to the growth of the 

 tender fruits and vegetables, there would be alternations of feasts and 

 famines. 



When new insect pests or new fungus growths appear, seemingly to 

 harass and injure the fruitgrower, our scientific men very soon come to 

 their relief with an effective remedy, and nature must take a new tack. 



When the record of 1892 is written it will show a greater and more 

 marked deviation in nature, so far as the fruit interests are concerned, than 

 ever before in any single year. 



Now, we believe that this can in a great measure be avoided. By care- 

 fully looking over the statistics covering a period of say ten years, you will 

 see that certain sections have almost annually produced good crops of cer- 

 tain fruits and vegetables. This law of nature has been very strikingly 

 exemplified during the season just passed. The northern half of the lake 

 shore region of the lower peninsula has produced a full crop of perfect 

 apples, also of peaches, plums, and pears, wherever there were trees of 

 bearing age. 



The crops of the three last named fruits were very large in Oceana and 

 Mason counties, thus showing that that is a section naturally adapted to the 

 production of those fruits; and to such favored localities must we look for 

 our supply of fruits in such trying seasons. To the fruitgrowers of that 

 region the season of 1892 has been a very satisfactory one, and as lake 

 Michigan will undoubtedly continue to exert the same influence in the 

 future that she has in the past, we can see no cause for failure. 



It must be understood, however, that all the known insect pests and 

 fungus diseases are found there. So far as the insect pests are concerned, 

 the live, thorough, practical horticulturist has no fear. The attacks of 



