Orcharding on the Plains. 197 



Forestry and Legislative Aid had one great omission. I will add 

 the name of Robert Douglas, of Illinois. There is no' man who 

 has a wider reputation than he. No man has done more in this di- 

 rection. 



The Society adjourned at 12:20. 



Fourth Day — Friday. 



Afternoon Session. 



The Society re-convened at 2:30 o'clock. 



Secretary G. C. Brackett, of Kansas, read the following paper : 



ORCHARDIXG ON THE PLAINS. 



BY G. C. BRACKETT, OF KANSAS. 



The early efforts to push the industry of orcharding out onto prairie re- 

 gions was at an early day regarded as a doubtful and risky investment, and 

 bj' a very large portion of the public, among which were found many of the 

 prominent horticulturists, as an enterprise only to be followed with disaster 

 and failure, and when carried into a region which had for years been ac- 

 cepted by all as a barren waste, success was among the impossibilities. It 

 was only recently that we find scientists who had explored this region — in 

 their studios — uttering the following pronunciamento as a warning to the 

 adventuring pioneer with reference to its possibilities relating to its forestry 

 interests. 



" Trees can not be made under any circumstances to grow there, because 

 beyond the belt where trees grow naturally.'' 



This is precisely the opinion held in years past with reference to orchard- 

 ing throughout the extent of the great Mississippi valley, and especially of 

 the prairie States. Still later such were the conceptions of the possibilities 

 of regions lying west of the Missouri river, and extending into Kansas and 

 Nebraska, that even the success of agricultural pursuits was considered very 

 doubtful, and attendant with ruin and starvation to whomsoever should dare 

 to attempt their development on these Western plains. What is the present 

 status of these industries but a monument of refutation of the folly and fal- 

 lacy of such theoretical predictions, and which has equal force when consid- 

 ered in relation to horticulture in its various branches. 



The practical American does not readily yield to what some may class 

 among the impossibilities. He graciously accepts the situation and over- 

 comes the apparently impracticable by a substitute of practical means, and 

 thus wins success. 



