112 ^ STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



and solution is the query : " Have we any new light on pear-blight and 

 yellows?" This question is the all important one to the fruit growers of 

 western Michigan, and should you succeed in answering it satisfactorily you 

 will be entitled to the lasting gratitude of fruit growers and fruit consumers. 



I congratulate you, sir, on the excellent " bill of fare" provided by yourself 

 and your genial secretary for consideration during this session. And it is to be 

 hoped that the discussions growing out of the questions embodied in the pro- 

 gramme may prove effectual in stimulating the horticulturists of this State to 

 greater efforts. And now, sir, in behalf of the people of ^outh Haven and 

 Casco in general, and of the South Haven Pomological Society in particular, 

 I bid you a sincere and hearty welcome. 



President Lyon replied in a few well chosen remarks, calling attention es- 

 pecially to the efforts of the South Haven people in making the most com- 

 plete arrangements for the reception of the society, and suggesting many ways 

 in which organization assisted in building up the reputation of a fruit-growing 

 locality, and announcing as his view that as a society stepped out into the 

 open field of general horticulture it found scope for the best of work, a work 

 which had to do not only with successfully commercial operations, but with 

 the making of beautiful, happy homes, delightful streets, attractive school 

 yards, and nicely embellished church premises. 



IRRIGATION. 



The subject for the evening discussion was then announced from the chair 

 in the form of the following question : Can horticulturists do something to 

 counteract the effects of our severe droughts? There having been no one 

 appointed especially to open the subject, Mr. J. F. Taylor, of Saugatuck, was 

 called out. 



Mr. Taylor: I confess that I have given this subject very little attention. 

 Living, as I do, where the waves of Lake Michigan wash the land at my feet, 

 I have not found the effects of long drought so manifest as others have farther 

 from the shore. 



President Lyon : Have you any knowledge of the influence of salt in pre- 

 serving or increasing moisture? 



Mr. Taylor ; I have used salt quite a good deal for the past two seasons and 

 am very favorably impressed with its effects, but am very slow to crystallize a 

 judgment upon it by this short experience. I think we can come at accurate 

 knowledge of its value only after repeated experimenting. 



Prof. Beal: This subject comes to us with a good deal of meaning after the 

 prolonged drought of the past season. We see the necessity of doing some- 

 thing to help out nature in her need. We impose upon her a big burden in 

 the crops we start into rapid growth under a high system of cultivation, and 

 when the moisture is well nigh used up, and tlie mouths of the plants are 

 parched, what can we do to take the place of the rain which is beyond our 

 control? The following note from the experience of P. T. Quinn, of New 

 Jersey, has a suggestion in it : 



"Like every other grower of strawberries I have experimented with all the 

 leading varieties, and at present have settled down with the ' Charles Downing,' 

 which with me is the most profitable market variety yet tested, and succeeds 

 admirably with the system described. Last year, under very adverse circum- 

 stances, with a protracted drought more severe than any ever witnessed here, 

 with less than ten acres, the total yield of berries marketed was 85G bushels. 



