WEST MICHIGAN FRUIT GROWERS' SOCIETY. 155 



of fruit grown in this State, and its great value should enter into the statis- 

 tical reports as showing the resources of Michigan. The apple is king of 

 fruits, as a general fruit for all sections. It enters into more kinds of food, 

 in one way and another, for home use, than any other fruit grown. If you 

 go south, among the oranges, lemons, bananas, and other tropical fruit, you 

 will find that the people there would give more for such a collection of 

 apples as we have here on exhibition than for all the tropical fruit they grow. 



W. A. Brown: I shall not advise farmers to attempt the growing of berries 

 and small fruits for market. Leave that to small farmers who make a busi- 

 ness of growing for market. But every farmer should provide his family with 

 berries for table use. This will not require much labor or expense. 



W. A. Smith : Farmers should grow all the fruit necessary for home use, 

 such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, berries and grapes. These should be 

 grown in abundance and used freely. Cultivate a taste for fruit — it will pre- 

 serve health and save doctors' bills. 



A. G. Glidden: Some people claim they have no time to care for small 

 fruits; they let the grass and weeds grow among the berries and other fruits. 



If these same men would plant only one-half the amount and take proper 

 care of that, they would derive not only pleasure but profit; good, fresh, ripe 

 fruit saves a great amount of work in the house. 



Thursday Evening Session. 



The session of Thursday evening was begun by the reading of the follow- 

 ing paper, by A. H. Smith, of Paw Paw, on 



SURFACE IRRIGATION FOR FRUIT TREES. 



Under ordinary circumstances the roots of a tree extend in a circle whose 

 radius is equal to its height. This is proved in a dry season, like the past, 

 by the absence of all vegetation within this circle. The tree, having prior 

 possession of the ground, absorbs what moisture there is and other vegetation 

 makes a sickly growth. 



Those who contemplate surface irrigation of fruit trees should procure a 

 rain-guage and keep a correct record of rainfall during the growing months 

 of the year, or from April 1 to October 1. From records made at Lansing, 

 during a period of ten years, we find the average rainfall per month during 

 the growing season to be 3.40 inches. Taking out two extremely wet seasons — 

 1880 and '83 — and the average for the remaining eight years is only 2.77 

 inches per month. Even this is probably in excess of the requirements of 

 the tree, for during the hard showers, as soon as the ground is saturated, the 

 water runs off and its benefits are lost. Probably two inches per month 

 would be a safe basis to work from. This would amount to 393 gallons for 

 each tree whose roots extend in a radius of ten feet. This would be about 

 eight oil or naphtha barrels full of water. Nature usually supplies this amount, 

 and in some instances more than five times as much water has fallen from 

 the clouds m a single month, or at the rate of forty barrels per tree. Is it 

 any wonder that the fruit rots under such conditions? Taking two inches 



