THE ANNUAL MEETING. 115 



Mr. Beebe, of Sontli Haven, had noted heavier dews where salt had been 

 sown, and noted favorable results. 



A. C. Glidden, Paw Paw: Salt, if good for anything, should be evenly dis- 

 tributed over the whole ground. I have no faith in plaster as a conservator of 

 moisture, neither do I believe there is water enough in wells, nor power enough 

 in windmills to furnish very much irrigation practically. 



John Sailor, Saugatuck : I am very favorable to mulching as a means of 

 saving moisture for the use of trees. 



W. W. Tracy, Detroit : I have been doing a little figuring during this dis- 

 cussion, and find that it takes from two and one-half to three inches of water 

 to make a ton of dry product on an acre; that means one ton of hay requires 

 200 or 300 tons of water to pass through the vegetation in the growing of it. 

 It is practically impossible, it seems to me, to do very much toward supplying 

 this amount in time of need. Usually in surface irrigation there is a great 

 waste from evaporation before the water is used by the plants. I have experi- 

 mented a little by running water into tile that lay eighteen inches below the 

 surface and comparing with the same amount of water applied on the surface, 

 and found indefinitely better results from the former method. 



H. J. Linderman, South Haven : It looks to me rather impracticable to 

 irrigate, but we can plow in rye, and while we are carrying moisture into the 

 soil we are also enriching it. 



Prof. Beal explained that the elements in salt were contained in abundance 

 in most soils for purposes of plant growth, and that although very little was 

 known as to the action of salt, it was supposed by chemists that its value con- 

 sisted in its power to bring other elements into use for plant growth. 



Mr. Dyckman answered Mr. Tracy's objection to irrigation by saying, that 

 although the plants might take up this large amount of moisture, yet we need 

 to supply only what is lacking in a dry season, which is but a fraction of the 

 entire amount consumed. 



Some one inquired of Mr. Bixby if he had not injured trees by plowing in rye. 



M. H. Bixby, South Haven : I think my trees were injured by plowing in 

 rye in this way: Ground that was already rich was made better by plowing in 

 rye. The rich soil induced excessive growth, which was unfit to resist the 

 winter's cold. 



Mr. Glidden: I don't want you people to live under the delusion that rye 

 is a very good manure. 



Mr. Linderman: If Mr. Glidden will take a trip to my place, I can prove 

 to his satisfaction that rye is a good fertilizer. 



The discussion here closed, and President Lyon announced the following 



COMMITTEES : 



Fruits — E. H. Scott, Ann Arbor; G. H. La Fleur, Allegan; Eev. J. F. 

 Taylor, Saugatuck; E. M. Potter, Kalamazoo; A. 0. Glidden, Paw Paw. 



Floioers, Plants and Oryiamentatmi — Prof. W. J. Beal, Lansing; W. K. 

 Gibson, Jackson ; Rev. John Sailor, Saugatuck ; Wm. Rowe, Grand Eapids ; 

 Geo. Taylor, Kalamazoo. 



Vegetables — W. W. Tracy, Detroit; Prof. A. J. Cook, Lansing; R. T. 

 McNaughton, Jackson ; P. W. Johnson, Grand Rapids ; J. N. Stearns, Kal- 

 amazoo. 



Resolutioyis — C. D. Lawtou, Lawton ; C. A. Sessions, Sammons' Landing; 

 E. Le Valley, Ionia. 



The meeting then adjourned until Tuesday morning. 



