1010 



MICHELIA 



MICHELIA (P. A. Micheli, 1679-1737, Italian botanist). 

 Magnoliacece. Twelve to 17 species of temperate and 

 tropical trees, mostly natives of mts. of India, 2 of which 

 are cult, in our southern states for their handsome mag- 

 nolia-like foliage and retd or pale yellow, fragrant fls. 

 Fls. mostly axillary, solitary; sepals and petals similar, 

 9-15 or more, in 3 or more series; stamens as in Mag- 

 nolia; carpels in a loose spike; stigma decurvent: ovules 

 2 or more : fr. a long, loose or crowded spike of leathery 

 carpels, which split down the back : seeds like Magnolia. 



A. Fls. pale yellow. 



Champaca, Linn. A tall tree native of the Himalayas : 

 Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, tapering to a long point, 8-10 in. 

 long, 2%-4 in. broad, shining above, pale and glabrous or 

 puberulous beneath ; petiole 1% in. long: fls. 2 in. across; 

 sepals oblong, acute; petals linear: fr. 3-4 in. long. 



AA. Flowers red. 



fusc&ta, Blume. Lvs. elliptic-lanceolate: none of the 

 sepals or petals linear. China. B.M. 1008 (Magnolia 

 fuscata). M. B. COULSTON. 



Michelia fuscata is one of the most popular garden 

 shrubs in the southern states. It is known as the Brown- 

 flowered or Banana shrub; also Magnolia fuscata. It 

 is shrubby in habit, attains a height of 10 to 15 ft. and is 

 perfectly hardy in the middle and lower South. The 



tomentum. The fls. are 1-1% in. across, brownish yellow, 

 edged with light carmine, exhaling a strong banana fra- 

 grance. The flowering period extends from the end of 

 April until June. Prop, by seeds as stated for Magnolia 

 grandiflora, but as seed is somewhat scarce, the better 

 method is from ripened wood cuttings, under glass and 

 with bottom heat. The cuttings should have 1 or 2 Ivs. 

 left, and be cut before very cold weather. It is a very 

 desirable conservatory shrub in northern sections. 



P. J. BERCKMANS. 



MICHIGAN HORTICULTURE. Fig. 1399. The loca- 

 tion of the lower peninsula of Michigan is a most fortu- 

 nate one for the pursuit of horticulture. Flanked on 

 either side by a great body of water, the climate is modi- 

 tied materially both summer and winter, thus affecting 

 the kind and quality of products that can be successfully 

 grown. Peaches are regularly ripened on a parallel 

 that forms the northern boundary of Vermont ; even 

 figs have been ripened in the open air in the south- 

 western corner of the state. This modification of cli- 

 mate affects not only temperature, but humidity ; and on 

 the side of prevailing winds during the heated season 

 there is greater immunity from drought as a result of 

 the moisture-laden atmosphere. 



Michigan is covered with drift, and the soil in the 

 western portion is, in considerable measure, open and 

 porous in character, but having as a constituent proper- 

 ties admirably suited to the growth of trees. The kind 

 of timber growing naturally upon the soil of western 

 Michigan has deceived many people with regard to the 

 character of the soil. Elsewhere heavy timber has usu- 

 ally grown on clay loam, but some of our light, sandy 

 soils were covered originally by a heavy growth of beech, 

 maple and basswood. This peculiar adaptation of west- 

 ern Michigan to the growth of timber trees has been 

 a strong factor in favor of orcharding, and some of 

 the finest orchards are upon the lighter lands. 



There was a wide range of wild fruits indigenous to 

 Michigan, and the early seeds of apples and pears 

 brought by the French missionaries produced trees of 

 wonderful vigor and fruitfulness. Many of these trees 

 are still standing in the vicinity of the old missionary 

 stations. For a good many years after the early settle- 

 ments in the state, fruit and garden products were 

 raised simply as an accompaniment of the farm home or 

 the town garden. Market horticulture has followed the 

 rapid growth of cities and the development of modern 

 methods of transportation. 



The apple-growing region covers the southern part, 

 extending northward and covering what is known as the 

 "Thumb" (south of Saginaw bay) , reaching as far north 

 on the Huron shore as the Straits of Mackinac, and 

 on the western, with a somewhat wider belt, to and in- 

 cluding the Grand Traverse region. This same area 



MICHIGAN 



is well adapted to the growth of the pear, cherry, and 

 most of the small fruits. Peach-growing for profit is 

 followed in a rather narrow belt along the west shore of 

 Michigan, technically denominated the "peach belt, "and 

 upon reliefs of ground over a much wider area, extend- 

 ing even twenty to forty miles toward the interior from 

 Lake Michigan; the northern terminus of this belt is 

 Grand Traverse bay. At the date of this writing ( 1900) 

 the most promising apple region lies in the middle-west- 

 ern part of the lower peninsula. The aggregate acreage 

 devoted to apple-growing in the 39 apple counties is 

 202,587; and the acreage of peaches in the 12 counties 

 in which this fruit is grown commercially is 39,051. 



In the evolution of commercial horticulture in Michi- 

 gan, specialties have been developed and we find the 

 peach a leading product wherever it can be successfully 

 grown. To illustrate the rapid increase of peach-grow- 

 ing in the state, it is enough to say that the average 

 number of trees planted in the state annually, between 

 1890 and 1900, was 750,000. The shipments from the 

 western part of the state are uniformly large, and the 

 aggregates are often, in productive years, enormous. 

 The color of the fruit is not as high as we find it 

 southern latitudes, but the quality is superior. Fi 

 the lake ports a large proportion of the peach crop 

 shipped to Milwaukee and Chicago for distribution, 

 from the interior places of shipment, peaches are dis 

 tributed in every direction by rail. The development 

 the small fruit interest for market has been in the region 

 of large cities and lake ports. From the cities at the 

 mouth of the St. Joseph river, in the height of the small 

 fruit season, it is not rare to have the shipments aggre- 

 gate 20,000 bushels a day. The grape industry is widely 

 scattered over the southern half of the lower peninsula. 

 The country bordering on Lake Erie, from the character 

 of the soil, has produced the finest quality of fruit. In 

 recent years a great impetus has been given to this in- 

 dustry in the vicinity of Lawton, Van Buren county, 

 from which point hundreds of carloads are shipped 

 annually. Plums are grown over a large portion of the 

 southern peninsula, and to some extent, in the northern 

 peninsula, but the fruit reaches its greatest perfection 

 in Oceana and Mason counties. 



The wide range of horticultural products grown in 

 this state, and the wonderful development of certain 

 specialties, in localities suited to them, have been due to 

 the admirable method of disseminating exact and valu- 

 able information upon horticultural subjects in every 

 corner of the state. This has been accomplished by or- 1 

 ganization. The state horticultural society, with its 

 numerous branches; the organizations devoted to com- 

 mercial horticulture; granges, farmers''clubs and insti- 

 tutes, touching in their work, according to locality, the 

 various branches of horticulture, have all been valuable 

 means for disseminating information. The Fruit Cata- 

 logue of the Michigan Horticultural Society has been a 

 text-book for every planter; this, in recent years, has 

 been supplemented by admirable bulletins from the hor- 

 ticultural branch of the state experiment station; and 

 the men who have entered horticulture as a profession, 

 becoming leaders, have been singularly public-spirited 

 and well equipped. Michigan fruit-growers have never 

 been guilty of neglecting to exhibit their products in at- 

 tractive ways at county, state, national, and even inter- 

 national expositions, thus creating a demand for in- 

 formation which could be readily supplied in the form 

 of bulletins, reports, circulars, etc., by their progres- 

 sive organizations. 



Certain crops that were in early days considered to be 

 simply garden products have developed to such an ex- 

 tent that now they are field crops; this is notably true 

 of celery, chicory, mint, potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, 

 cucumbers and melons. The quick and satisfactory 

 communication from the lake ports with the large cities 

 of Illinois and Wisconsin has stimulated the culture of 

 the muskmelon and tomato to such an extent that they 

 are not now reckoned as garden crops. Kalamazoo 

 celery is shipped over a large area of the civilized world. 

 The soil seems admirably adapted to the production of 

 a high grade of product, and the method of growing and 

 handling has reached far toward perfection. It is true, 

 also, that other points in the state are developing as 

 celery centers, and giving their names to the exported 



