FRUIT REPORTS. 
187 
lera, and we are expecting legislative action that will be of great value toi 
Michigan as a fruit growing State. 
Insects and Diseases — We believe that the visitations of injurious insects 
and diseases have been aggravated by the elision of forests. Cultivated or- 
chards have become a prey to the attack of insects and microbes that once 
confined their depredations to forest growth. Our State has been alert in com- 
batting these insidious enemies and has an officer whose whole duty it is to 
inspect orchards and vineyards and nursery stock, giving the danger alarm 
when needed and using severe measures for repression and suppression of 
these enemies to fruit culture. All of our organized work of this kind has an 
intimate connection with the Agricultural College thus rendering available 
the latest information developed by our scientific experts. 
Orchard Cultivation— We are making some progress in thorough cultivation. 
The most successful orchardists are the most thorough cultivators. There has 
ceased to be any interest in the counsel of men who advocate orchards in sod 
or utilizing the ground of bearing orchards for any other purpose than the 
development of the fruit crop. Our practice, however, is not as good as our 
knowledge, and “line upon line and precept upon precept” must be followed a 
long time before the farmer whose orchard is simply an auxiliary to the farm 
will recognize the vital importance of treating his trees as fairly as his corn 
and potatoes. The importance of discretion in cultivation is not so deeply 
clinched in our practice as it should be. Too many follow the general rule 
of stopping cultivation at some date rather than suiting the time to the needs 
or the dangers in the individual cases. This whole question is closely con- 
nected with that of 
Cover Crops— Our orchardists are awakening to the importance of having 
the ground covered when cultivation ceases and what crops to use for this 
purpose has been a matter of study. Crimson clover has been so variable in 
its growth that its employment is not general, although there are indications 
that we are developing a strain of seed that will stand our winter climatic 
conditions. Buckwheat is used somewhat by men who hate weeds and find 
in its use as a cleaning crop a satisfaction. There is a growing use of oats 
which seem to serve several purposes well. Oats check the growth of weeds, 
make an admirable winter mulch and do not obstruct the spring cultivation. 
Rye, which has been used a good deal here, has been more recently abandoned 
because of the difficulty of getting it under ground if the spring proves to be 
unusually dry. 
Market Questions — These questions are in the lead among our growers. 
The money side of pomology is the absorbing one, and next in importance to 
growing an attractive product for the consumer, is the question of reaching 
him quickly with a package that serves its purpose so as to commend it to the 
buyer. Hence it is that the style of package has become an absorbing matter 
and our manufacturers are changing their styles to suit the growers’ purposes. 
Bushels and half bushels are very popular for early apples, pears, peaches and 
even plums. There is a tendency for small fruits to work into a package of 
thirty-two boxes in two flat cases that are bound together, making a bushel 
package. Shallow boxes are preferred as showing the fruit to better advan- 
tage. There is a strong tendency also to differentiate and magnify the posi- 
tion of middlemen or handlers. This is a decided reaction. The grower finds 
that to do his work well he must not be hampered by the trials of marketing 
and offers inducements for the buyer to come to him and each morning take 
his product off his hands. This method emphasizes the importance of honest 
