MICHIGAN 



product; this applies to Grand 

 Haven, Muskegon, Tecumseh, 

 Ypsilanti and Ionia. 



The lettuce industry, conducted 

 under glass, has reached an ex- 



'traordiuary development in the 

 vicinity of Grand Rapids, a vari- 

 ety having originated there ad- 

 mirably suited to the purpose, 

 and at this writing half a million 



| feet of glass are devoted to this 

 crop. Recently, the plaster caves 

 at Grand Rapids have been found 

 to be suited to the growth of 

 mushrooms, and this is a grow- 



; ing horticultural industry. The 



1 glass structures devoted to let- 



'tuce are used for the growth of 

 cucumbers, to supplement the 

 lettuce crop, thus rendering it 



possible to utilize the glass for 

 nine or ten months in the year. 

 Parsley has also become a re- 

 munerative crop under glass, and 

 the shipments to the large north- 

 ern cities are rapidly increasing. 

 The flower trade is confined al- 

 most entirely to glass structures, 

 and depends upon the wholesale 

 market to take care of the output. 

 Chicago seems to absorb every- 

 thing of this kind in the western 

 part of the state, while Detroit 

 draws its supplies from the south- 

 east portion. The carnation is 

 the leading flower for export, and 

 the soil of certain localities in 

 western Michigan seems espe- 

 cially adapted to securing per- 

 fection in the flowers. Roses and 

 violets in aggregate shipments 

 closely. 



The upper peninsula, as yet, is somewhat of an un- 

 known quantity in horticulture, and still there are indi- 

 cations that in some localities the hardier fruits may be 

 grown with the greatest success ; from the market point 

 of view, the small fruits, coming into the large centers 

 late in the season, bring a remunerative price and ex- 

 tend the season. It is predicted by thoughtful horticul- 

 turists that because of the rapidity of development and 

 marvelous growth in the short northern season, the 

 upper peninsula will evolve a remarkably remunerative 

 horticulture, peculiar to itself. The selection of varieties 

 of the more perishable fruits, like berries and peaches, 

 is modified largely by the fact that it is desirable to 

 avoid competition with the flood of fruits from the 

 South, so that the later ripening varieties are generally 

 most popular with the market growers. 



One of the important factors in fruit-growing along 

 the shore of Lake Michigan is the tremendous volume 

 of resort business. The whole shore, from St. Joseph 

 to Mackinac, is dotted with resorts, and this population 

 demands plenty of fruit of good quality, making the 

 home market of no mean proportions. Nature designed 

 Michigan for horticultural pursuits, and the progress of 

 population has brought the right spirit into the culture 

 of orchard and garden products. Everything indicates 

 a most promising future for Michigan horticulture. 



CHARLES W. GARFIELD. 



The soil and climate of Michigan are well adapted to 

 the production of high-grade seeds of many of our gar- 

 den vegetables, and large areas are devoted to their cul- 

 tivation. In 1899 a single firm of seedsmen had con- 

 tracts with over 1,400 Michigan farmers for growing 

 garden seeds of various kinds, and in 1900 contracts 

 have been let to grow within the state at least 15,000 

 acres of garden varieties of peas, 10,000 acres of garden 

 beans, 2,000 acres of sweet corn, ],000 of cucumbers, 

 1,000 of melons, 500 of tomatoes, and smaller areas of 

 onions, radishes, cabbage, etc., these crops being grown 

 for seed alone. The seedsman contracts with farmers 

 who are good cultivators and have good farms and build- 

 ings, to plant a certain area with choice selected seed fur- 



MICONIA 



1011 



1399. Michigan, showing horticultural areas. 



follow the carnation 



nished by the seedsman, who also does all necessary 

 expert work in the roguing and cleaning of the crop and 

 agrees to pay a specified price for all the seed produced. 

 The seeds produced hitherto have proved of such ex- 

 ceptionally good quality that most American seedsmen 

 are coming to depend largely upon this state for their 

 supply of many sorts, and there is a steadily growing 

 demand for Michigan seed for export, iff w. TRACY. 



MICONIA (D. Micon, Spanish botanist). Melasto- 

 m&cece. Cogniaux, the latest monographer (DC. Monogr. 

 Phaner. 7) admits 518 species to this genus, including 

 the plants known to the trade as Cyanophyllums. The 

 most popular of these greenhouse plants, Cyanophyllum 

 magnificum, is placed amongst the species which are 

 imperfectly known and is not described in the mono- 

 graph. It was first illustrated and described as long 

 ago as 1859. Miconia is a tropical American genus 

 of trees and shrubs, with large and showy opposite or 

 verticillate, strongly veined Ivs. Petals 4-8, rounded at 

 the apex, spreading or reflexed. Stamens variable in, 

 number and shape, but usually 8-16, the anthers poly- 

 morphous. Fr. a dry or leathery berry, 2-5-loculed, and 

 few- or many-seeded. Fls. relatively small, usually 

 corymbose or paniculate, white, rose, purple or yellow. 



The Miconias of gardeners are conservatory or warm- 

 house subjects, grown for their large and striking foli- 

 age. They belong to the old genus Cyanophyllum, in 

 which the anthers are subulate and incurved and with 

 a single pore, the fls. large and the calyx oblong or cam- 

 panulate and truncate or dentate. They propagate by 

 cuttings of the firm wood over bottom heat. The plants 

 should be screened from the direct glare of the sun, and 

 be given abundance of water. Use a fibrous soil. Cul- 

 ture similar to that of Medinilla. 



Since the plants are known to gardeners mostly for 

 their foliage, it is probable that some of the trade spe- 

 cies are referred to wrong genera. Flowers are not al- 

 ways known when the plants are named. Some of the 

 names have no standing in botanical literature. 



magnffica, Triana (CyanophyUum magnificum, 

 Groenl.). Fig. 1400. Reaching several feet in height as 

 grown under glass (probably a tree in its native place), 



