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AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
packages and firm fruit. I am sorry to say we are far behind in this matter. 
We have not learned that it is better to throw away inferior fruit than mix 
it with our best. 
Climatic Notes— Last winter was a severe one, our orchard interests suffered 
intensely. It had been so long since we suffered such a scourge that we had 
forgotten what to expect with a temperature of -30 and what to do after we 
had experienced it. A belt of country close to Lake Michigan in the south- 
west part of the State suffered it least and the eastern territory over on the 
Huron, St. Clair and Erie side was not treated so harshly as the interior and 
middle west. The reliefs of ground suffered with the valleys because of the 
bareness of the soil which led to serious root injury. It gave us a test of 
varieties which we have not had since the early ’70’s. We have had empha- 
sized to us that the body is the weakest part of a tree and that a little pro- 
tection to it is worth a great deal in such an emergency. We have learned, too, 
the wonderful recuperative power of trees in which a spark of life has been 
retained. Orchards that were pronounced* dead in early spring have come out 
with the loss of but few trees. We will try and remember that it pays to 
give injured trees every possible chance to recover, but that the wisest pro- 
cess is not severe pruning when the vitality is low. Shortening in injured 
branches is wise but wholesale elision of large limbs is tree murder. We have 
also learned the wisdom of not allowing trees to overbear, even though they 
exhibit great vitality. The great thing to conserve is tree vitality and vigor. 
A reasonable length of life accompanied by reasonable crops of fruit. 
Dangers and Needs— Carelessness in choice of orchard location is now inex- 
cusable. There is enough knowledge, if well disseminated, to prevent 
blunders in locating orchards. The beginner has the experience of the vet- 
eran to draw from and the profits are not so large as to enter it carelessly 
and unequipped with information. Tree planting without preparation of the 
land is also without excuse. On every farm to which an orchard is to be 
"added there is opportunity for choice of location and thorough preparation 
of the soil. The man who starves his trees or steals the nourishment that 
belongs to them with another crop is deceiving himself and plotting his own 
defeat. In the anxiety to get the quickest and largest money returns there 
is danger of neglecting the quality in fruits. The same soil will grow a Red 
Canada, a Jonathan, or a Wagener that develops a Sheep Nose, a Ben Davis 
or a Cabashea. We can afford to grow the best, if it is not done at too great 
expense, and this is a problem worth working out. A certain amount of 
, attention and work is required to obtain good results in orcharding, and the 
temptation is to undertake too much and neglect some details. We see these 
examples everywhere in our State. Then there is the temptation to spe- 
cialize on the fruit that pays best. Mixed husbandry in fruit growing is as 
important as in general farming, and the wise fruit grower not only prays 
for intelligence, but for a level head in time of success with any specialty. 
There is still room for more organizations. By means of these information 
becomes disseminated. One can trade on the ignorance of his fellows for a 
time, but in the long run it is safer to liavev our business associates as wise, 
as thoughtful and scientific as we are. We need more knowledge of fruits 
and fruit growing disseminated through our schools. It is more important 
for a country boy, or girl, to know how to graft, or strike a cutting, than to 
solve a problem in quadratics; and a well disciplined mind can be developed 
by aid of the science that underlies success in pomology, as surely as in the 
translation of Latin sentences. 
F 
