WEST MICHIGAN FRUIT GROWERS' SOCIETY. 151 



some a week to two weeks later. They (the fruit) varied more in general 

 contour than any variety I had planted, s )me being very much elongated, 

 like Hill's Chili, and some very much compressed. Bat I got no freestone — 

 that I was looking for and am looking for yet. 



My next venture was with Crawford's Late pits. These were planted five 

 years ago the past spring and fruited the first, time the past season. About 

 one per cent were clingstone, and four trees bore oblong peaches like 

 Hill's Chili with the same narrow, pointed pit and solid, rich, yellow flesh. I 

 think these were fertilized with pollen from Hdl's Chili, as the trees from 

 which the pits were taken were partially surrounded by an orchard of that 

 variety. One only was a white peach, which proved to be of superior 

 quality. "With three exceptions, all ( and there were between five and six 

 hundred trees ) were true Crawford's Lite, so far as habits of tree and size 

 and general appearance of the fruit were concerned. 



Five years ago I first attempted artificial fertilization by using the pollen 

 of Hale on Crawford's Late blossoms. The result was a dozen trees, the 

 most of which bore the past summer. Two only showed their breeding and 

 bore white-fleshed peaches, the one the shape of Crawford's Early, with the 

 same swollen point, and the other very nearly round, a little compressed. 

 Both were as large as Crawford's Late, ripened a week before Crawford's, and 

 were very good in quality, losing the extreme acidity of the parent on one 

 side and the sometimes insipidity of the parent on the other. 



Of the Barnards, Hill's Chili, and Crawford's Late, no selection was made^ 

 but all dug and planted as they came up in the nursery rows. I sometimes; 

 think it would have been better to have done the same with the Crawford's^ 

 Early seedlings. The chances of getting something new would have been, 

 greater. One of the rejected seedlings was budded to Crawford's Late, 

 ■which, after bearing several seasons, wa? broken off. The sprouts which 

 came up were left to stand and bore fruit, ripenmg six to eight days sooner 

 than Crawford's Early and otherwise in every respect the rival of that famous^ 

 . variety. 



So far as these experiments go, I think I can safely say that pedigree does 

 favorably affect progress in securing better varieties. For who would think 

 for a moment that the same number of good peaches would have been pro- 

 duced had the pits been gathered from good, bad. and indifferent varieties? 



Of grapes, I first planted seeds of Concord and Delaware. There were 

 fifty of the Concords, none of which proved of any value. The Delawares 

 were so puny I never removed them from the nursery rows. The next 

 planted were seed of Salem and Goethe. The Goethe plants proved to be 

 weak and puny and so far have borne no fruit. The Salem were strong and 

 robust, almost to a plant, and commenced fruiting at from three to five years 

 old. Quite a per cent were fairly good grapes and some I thought very good. 

 Many were white, some red, and all intermediate shades of color up to black. 

 Some were quite early and some too late to ripen in this climate. But I did 

 not see my ideal grape among them — one with a vine vigorous, hardy, and 

 productive, berry as large as Wilder and as good as Duchess, with clusters 

 weighing one, two, or more pounds each. I may not produce such a grape^ 

 but some one wdl, I fully believe, and at no very distant day. I have a lot 

 of seedling Salems, Ives, Hartfords, and Marthas to plant out the coming 

 spring. Also seeds of Salem, Niagara, lona, Catawba, and Pocklington ; 

 seeds of Fay's and Cherry currants ; of Gregg and Cuthbert raspberries ; 



