240 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



should be constructed in this manner. The ice floor must of course be above 

 the storage and be so constructed as to afford an opportunity for the cold air 

 to reach the storage, that is, it must be open with troughs to catch the drip 

 from the melting ice. 



I have never known of a house where the ice was in any way protected ex- 

 cept by the building itself. 



In such a house the temperature should remain at about 35 degrees. 



They are frecpiently used in our large markets for storing foreign fruits, and 

 for this purpose they are very successful. There are several such houses in or 

 near this city and in them have been stored to some extent, nearly all kinds of 

 our native fruit with variable success. 



Our more perishable fruits with their soft, pulpy flesh and tender skin, must 

 be in perfect condition to be kept any length of time. It must be ripe but not 

 over ripe. 



Green fruit, or that which has in any way become bruised or broken, soon 

 moulds, and in over ripe fruit the process of decay has already begun, and 

 cannot be arrested. 



We have found cold storage very useful for covering fruits and fresh vegeta- 

 bles, or for keeping over night or from Saturday's picking for Monday's mar- 

 ket; but as for storing perishable fruits for any length of time I do not think 

 it practicable except for special purposes, such as exhibition and for the pur- 

 pose of storing grapes designed for winter use. 



For apples I much prefer a cold air house. It is cheaper, dryer, and 

 subject to much better ventilation, and will keep apples as long as it is desir- 

 able to do so. 



The closing exercise of the forenoon was an exhaustive paper by Dr. C. E. 

 Davison, of Wayland, on " The Eelation of Foods to Intellectual Develop- 

 ment," giving a thorough research into the properties of various foods and 

 their effects upon the mental traits ofraces of men, advocating greater con- 

 sumption of fruits and dilating upon their beneficial cmalities. 



Thursday Afternoon Session. 

 COMMITTEE REPORTS. 



The committee to whom was referred the various recommendations in the 

 President's Annual Message made the following report: 

 To the State Horticultural Society: 



Your committee recommends that a committee of three be appointed by the chair to 

 take into consideration all matters concerning horticultural legislation, as proposed by 

 the society. 



It also recommends that this committee shall especially consider the advisability of 

 exempting timber belts from taxation ; shall endeavor to secure the collecting of horti- 

 cultural statistics by the Secretary of State, and shall recommend legislation to check 

 the ravages of the codling moth, canker worm, curculio, currant worm, and other 

 insects particularly injurious to horticultural interests. 



Your committee further recommends that the society renew its efforts towards the 

 ornamentation of school grounds It recommends the holding of the next summer 

 meeting in the Northern Peninsula, providing the funds of the society will permit. 



It recommends that the matter of bringing influence to bear towards securing the 



