ALLEGAN COUNTY POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 357 



Indian. "Hog and hominy" formed the tissue of men who could perpetrate 

 the crimes of Libby and Andersonville, whose purple stain time can not erase 

 from the page of our history. Let us look at it this other way, and say that 

 man ran wild as a savage ; that of necessity he is at first a hunter ; then a 

 herdsman; that deprived by circumstances of his natural diet, fruit, his 

 appetite becomes depraved and he craves alcoholic stimulants and tobacco for 

 a relish or to quiet a craving for something not within his reach. Occasion- 

 ally we see relics of barbarism in the persona of men otherwise civilized. 

 Offer them a fine peach or a bunch of grapes, they will look away and say in 

 a; kind of disgusted manner, "Thank ye, I have just taken a chaiu of 

 terhacker." 



But to return to our huuter transformed into a herder. The country rap- 

 idly fills with settlers. He can not occupy land enough to support a hundred 

 families. He finds in spite of himself that he must abandon his business or 

 raise less but better stock in a smaller compass. His ideas enlarge by con- 

 tact with his neighbors, and by the addition of grain and vegetables to his 

 diet. He joins the grange ; he is induced to cultivate fruits by a member of 

 a pomological society. His mind expands, his morals improve, he becomes 

 a teetotaler. His children eat fruit and so do not crave tobacco; he grows 

 more and more civilized ; he is converted to Christianity ; he joins the 

 church ; he finally becomes an accepted contributor to the Andover Keview. 

 AVhat a wonderous change! Fruit, the leading factor in civilizing and 

 Christianizing the world! How devoutly should we wish to support its cul- 

 vation and use. 



As a society for promoting its culture, how sincerely does Otsego grange 

 welcome you! The tendency of our time seems to be toward the division of 

 production, whether agricultural or manufacturing, into single lines. With- 

 in the memory of some of your members, everything that was needed in the 

 family, that possibly could be, was raised, prepared and manufactured on 

 the farm. Every family was a manufactory. This state of affairs necessarily 

 caused an immense amount of labor. Man worked, worked hard from sun 

 to sun, while woman's work was never done. The new condition of things 

 makes it possible for one to accomplish as much as ten did formerly, and 

 with comparatively little exercise of muscle. A hard day's work reaped an 

 acre of grain. Now an easy day's work puts ten in better condition than the 

 one. Ten yards of cloth are woven, ten pairs of socks knit, easier and 

 quicker than one was then. A farmer raised hogs, cattle, sheep and horses; 

 he kept bees, and made his own sugar; he grew wheat for himself and to 

 sell ; his wife made butter and cheese for sale and for home use; his only 

 vehicle was the farm wagon, and in it could be easily loaded all the tools and 

 implements deemed necessary to run an 80-acre farm. The virgin soil re- 

 sponded freely to his efforts at cultivation. His few trees comj^rising his 

 first orchard, surprised him by the loads of luscious apples, peaches, and all 

 other fruits of this latitude. Sheltered as they were by the surrounding 

 forests they thrived and produced abundantly with but little care where now 

 even the trees themselves would not live, to say nothing of bearing fruit. 



Now all is changed. The successful farmer, from this time on, will be a 

 specialist. The reasons for this are many and obvious to all careful observ- 

 ers. The changed condition of soil, climate, and markets, price of labor, etc., 

 make it necessary to use the most improved machinery and tools. To raise 

 half a dozen kinds of produce on an ordinary farm, and leave a net profit, one 



