50 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in the hands of the six departments above named. The expenditure of the 

 $2,000 per year in the north, with the advice of the director of the station, 

 was to be made by Dr. Kedzie and myself. 



LOCALITY OF THE JACK-PINE LANDS. 



So far as we have gone the stations of the north have dealt only with jack- 

 pine lands, and only with these for one short summer. Besides, no experi- 

 ments in fruits have yet been attempted. So you will see that at this time I 

 must content myself in giving mere opinions in regard to the horticultural 

 possibilities of the north, aside from hints picked up from some early set- 

 tlers, from reading, and from observations made on frequent visits covering 

 a large extent of territory. 



These jack-pine plains are in irregular spots in Iosco, Osceola, Crawford, 

 Kalkaska, Newaygo, and other counties. At Grayling, in Crawford county, 

 the Michigan Central railroad company gave us a deed of eighty acres of new 

 land near the village. We have also rented eight acres more of older land. 

 Dr. Kedzie is testing by the acre at this place numerous grasses and forage 

 plants, using to some extent as fertilizers, plaster, marl and salt. The soil 

 is pure sand containing but little vegetable matter, and most of that is not 

 in a very finely pulverized condition. Occasionally there is some gravel. Such 

 a soil is "leechy," and crops soon suffer after rain ceases. Much of the land 

 is quite subject to spring frosts. The seasons are very short, the winters 

 severe, though in nn st instances a continued layer of snow from late autumn 

 till spring helj)s preserve the small trees and shrubbery from harm. 



NATURE AND EXTENT OF EXPERIMENTS. 



I shall now glean many items from my forthcoming report of the experi- 

 ment station, now in the hands of the State printer. 



In my part of the experimenting on the northern sands of Michigan I started 

 with the attempt to answer two questions: 



1. To find one or more grasses or other forage plants that shall be better 

 adapted to the soil and climate than any heretofore in general use in such 

 places. 



2. To test many kinds of forest trees to learn which are best fitted to plant 

 for timber on the sandy plains. 



An effort to answer either one of these two leading questions very natur- 

 ally suggests several other questions, such as the proper modes of seeding, 

 planting, and cultivation, whether one kind only of either grass or tree should 

 be allowed to occupy the ground at the same time, whether several grasses or 

 other forage plants shall be sown together, and whether several kinds of trees 

 shall be set together. 



Again, for grass or tree, will it be most profitable in the end to thoroughly 

 prepare the ground before planting, to make a slight and cheap preparation, 

 or simply sow and plant in open places, without cutting any tree or shrub or 

 plowing or harrowing the land? 



The grass plats are each one rod square, and occupy about two acres of 

 the "did" land which was rented. Most of the species of forage plants which 

 I desired to try have not been tested to any extent in this country. xMany of 

 them have not found their way into cultivation, at least only sparingly in 



