68 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is now in the hands of the Conrath brothers of this place, who have ten 

 acres of it in cultivation. It is from three days to a week earlier than the 

 Gregg, and as it ripens its entire product within the space of a few days 

 this enables the crop to be nearly marketed before the heaviest pickings of 

 the Gregg come on. In size the Conrath nearly equals the Gregg; it is 

 not quite so firm, being rather more juicy, and it is also more acid; it is 

 much darker in color, being almost devoid of the white, mealy bloom so 

 characteristic of the Gregg. It appears to be a good yielder and is pro- 

 nounced by Professor Taft of the Agricultural college to be the best of 

 any of the early black-caps he has had on trial. 



Of blackberries the Snyder still takes the lead and no fault is found 

 with it. The Taylor, which has done well with some of our growers, is, 

 owing to its lateness, more likely to have its crop cut short by drought. 



Grapes are successfully grown except when injured by black-rot and 

 occasionally by frost. The moderate prices realized, however, and the prox- 

 imity of large grape-growing districts elsewhere, have prevented extensive 

 planting, so that almost none are produced for export, and the home mar- 

 ket is largely supplied toward the close of the season from outside sources. 

 The Concord is still the leading variety placed upon the market; though 

 the Worden is generally preferred by those who have it, while the Niagara 

 is becoming more popular every year. 



Of vegetable-growing less can be said for the vicinity of Ann Arbor 

 than fruitgrowing. The soil for the most ijart is somewhat unsuitable for 

 vegetables, and the special advantages in the way of fruitgrowing have 

 doubtless retained some in that industry who otherwise would have 

 engaged in vegetable gardening. As a result, the city of Ann Arbor has 

 never been fully supplied through .the season with vegetables grown 

 in its own immediate vicinity. Large quantities of vegetables are brought 

 in by wagon every year by the market gardeners of Ypsilanti, who have 

 the advantage of a better soil but who are not situated advantageously 

 for general fruitgrowing. Detroit and Toledo furnish our grocers not 

 only with early vegetables, but also frequently, in the hight of the season,, 

 with such common and easily grown products as squash, string beans, 

 cabbage, sweet corn, and melons. There are no hot-houses here for the 

 production of vegetables. It is a curious fact that the extensive importa- 

 tion of vegetables from other points, instead of awakening local growers to 

 the demands of the home market and leading to increased efforts to sup- 

 ply it, seems to have the opposite effect of discouraging production in the 

 face of outside supplies. As may be supposed, there is no canning nor 

 pickle factory here for the utilization of surplus vegetables, although a 

 flourishing pickle factory exists at Ypsilanti. 



To the generally favorable character of the soil about Ann Arbor for 

 the production of vegetables there are certain exceptions which deserve to 

 be noted. Among these is a tract of reclaimed marsh some four miles 

 south of the city which is owned and managed by Professor J. B. Steere 

 of our state university. Here various kinds of vegetables as well as farm 

 crops have been grown with marked success for a number of years. The 

 soil consists of pure muck several feet in depth, which has been drained 

 by open ditches, while recently irrigation has been provided for by some 

 twenty artesian wells sunk at convenient points upon the farm. The lead- 

 ing crops the present season consisted of onions, potatoes, cauliflower, 

 carrots, hay, Indian corn, and celery, all of which grew well and formed a 

 marked contrast to the stunted and parched condition of many of the 



