MICHIGAN FRUIT GROWERS. 



Fig. 1500. — President James B. Angell. 



Detroit, also promised a copy of his 

 address on " Object Lessons in City 

 Parks," so we omit our notes on these 

 valuable papers. 



ARE WINTER PEARS PROFITABLE 



was a question which was answered 

 doubtfully. Mr. Kellogg included 

 Kieffer in his list for profit. In December 

 last year he was offered 50c. a bushel for 

 them, but he held till January, when they 

 yellowed up beautifully and brought 

 $2 a bushel. Even its quality seems to 

 improve, if properly ripened, while for 

 canning it is as good as Bartlett. 



Mr. James B. Angell, President of 

 Michigan University, gave an interesting 

 address on Turkey, having himself 

 resided there three years, as U. S. 

 minister. 



That country is fossilized — it has not 

 changed for 500 years, and is a long 

 way behind us in horticulture, as well as 

 every other interest. Their apples, 

 peaches, plums and pears are far in- 



ferior, their cherries and apricots are 

 good, and the only fruit in which they 

 excel, and which they export in any 

 quantity are figs. But their methods of 

 cultivation are of the most primitive 

 character. Their plow merely scratches 

 the sunace of the ground. There is no 

 local mail in Constantinople, and no 

 public roads in the country, so that all 

 products have to be transported on the 

 backs of animals. Is it then any won- 

 der that there is no encouragement to 

 commercial horticulture. 



THINNING FRUITS 



was treated by Prof. S. A. Beach, of 

 Geneva. We must use every method he 

 said to secure high grade fruit. Thinning 

 was long practiced by the gardeners of 

 the nobility in England, but only recently 

 is being adopted in American commer- 

 cial orchards as a profitable investment. 



He had experimented with three 

 varieties of apples, and found in each 

 case an improvement in size and color. 

 The Greening had actually given him a 

 greater quantity of fruit than where it 

 had not been thinned, the Baldwin and 

 the Hubbardston gave 10 or 16 per 

 cent, more of 1st class fruit, but the 

 unthinned gave the greatest quantity, all 

 grades being counted. He had thinned 

 the apples to four inches apart. 



More decided results were obtained 

 in the case of peaches, which he had 

 thinned from four to six inches apart. 

 The thinned fruit weighed nine to the 

 pound, and the unthinned, twelve ; and 

 the trees themselves were less subject to 

 disease, hence the benefit was not 

 merely annual. In years of abundance, 

 thinning peaches would certainly pay, 

 even at a cost of from 5 to 10 cents per 

 tree. 



President Morrill had practised thin- 

 ning peaches on a large scale. He had 

 about 100 acres in peaches at Benton 



