TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. 107 



THE EMPIKE STATE'S COMPLIMENTS TO THE WOLVEEINE. 



Mr. S. D. WiLLARD of Geneva, N. Y., highly complimented the society 

 as " the leading organization of fruitgrowers in the west." Once when he 

 was about to start to one of these meetings, President Barry said to him, 

 " Can't you induce some of those Michigan fruitgrowers, who know so 

 much more than we do, to come down here and teach us something?" He 

 spoke warmly of Michigan as a state, and said she ought to be, if she is 

 not, the best state in the Union for the fruitgrower. The great lake is close 

 by for protection, and the prairie states, which can not raise fruit, are at 

 her doors for fruit consumption, and their demand for fruit must greatly 

 increase. He gave examples of great success in other localities, and said 

 they were only proof of what may be done on an extensive scale in Michi- 

 gan. A taste for the growing of fruit, however, is necessary to success in 

 it. He spoke of the elevating tendencies of horticulture, and heartily 

 commended the remarks of President Angell about educating boys and 

 girls at school in the elementary principles of the art. 



OHIO AND ONTARIO FELICITATE. 



Mr. W. W. Farnsworth of Ohio, secretary of the Ohio State society, 

 expressed his gratification with the meeting, and wished for more of mutual 

 acquaintance among the horticulturists of the various states. 



Mr. A. M. Smith of St. Catherines, Ont, told of the pleasure the meet- 

 ing had afforded him, and extended greeting from the Ontario Fruit- 

 growers' association. He had always received profit and knowledge from 

 visits to the Michigan fruitgrowers, and hoped for more of it in the future, 

 both for himself and his fellows. He had expected Michigan to defeat 

 Canada at Chicago, but felt encouraged to believe it would not be so unless 

 there should be a very material change. 



FUTURE OF TRUCK-FARMING IN MICHIGAN. 



The secretary read the following paper from Mr. Gteg. W. Lonsbury of 

 Allegan, upon "The future of truck farming in Michigan." 



There is a belt of land bordering on lake Michigan, known as the fruit- 

 belt. Not a county in Michigan, bordering on the lake, but has more or 

 less of this soil, and it will be hard to find its equal in this broad world, in 

 supplying the varied wants of man, or giving better returns for his labor. 

 Lying as it does at the very door of Chicago, just across the lake, connected 

 by both steamer and rail, giving an outlet for both summer and winter 

 traflfic, the future possibilities of this section can hardly be estimated, 

 especially as to truck farming. Land is comparatively cheap. Large tracts 

 lying along Black river, in Allegan county, are still unimproved, and they 

 have been recently drained. Their soil is of deep muck, and of a superior 



