MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 285 



Such was the condition of the early settlers of that region, up to 

 the time when the Civil war, with its devastating power, checked all 

 social progress, and swept away every institution that had contributed 

 to the advancement of the people in this "Border state." 



What has been the record since then it is not within the scope of 

 this paper to relate ; but we cannot turn from a topic of such vital im- 

 portance to all without reaching forward to scan the horizon for the 

 sighs by which the coming day may be forecast. What will be the 

 future of this commonwealth, which, for the last two decades, has been 

 rapidly growing in the admiration and respect of all her sister states ? 

 With the enumeration of her coal and iron, and lead and zinc, her fertile 

 soil and her magnificent springs, her natural and artificial avenues of 

 communication and commerce, and an atmosphere that has made the 

 region of the Ozarks the synonym of vigor, we find all the requirements 

 for the development of a commanding people — such, physically, as was 

 found in the Osage Indians, than whom no more perfect men have 

 existed on the continent. 



With the addition to our native population of successive waves of 

 immigration from north and south, east and west, we find a mingling of 

 such elements of strength as must produce a unique people, broadly 

 American in character, and endowed with every advantage that our 

 new world civilization can bestow. 



With an array of natural advantages possessed by no other state 

 in the Union, and with an impetus toward progress which is aug- 

 mented with every decade of history, is it too much to expect that the 

 light now rising shall, when its zenith is reached, shine upon the state 

 once known as "Poor Old Missouri" as the brightest spot in all this 

 western world ? 



Note. — The writer ia particularly indebted to the rare works of Schoolcraft 

 and Featherstonhaugh, and to Mr. Henry Cobb's "Notes on the History of Lead 

 Mining in Missouri." 



Notes and Reflections. 



By Judge Miller. 



The year 1894 is near its end, and it may be well to look back and 

 see what we have done in the horticultural line in the way of improve- 

 ments, successes and failures. The short fruit crop in this vicinity pre- 

 vented experiments in the way of spraying against insects and rust on 

 the fruit trees. 



There were so few apples last season that we thought the codling 

 moth might have been deprived of a breeding place, and the fruit this 

 season might be sound, but it was not so. The few apples we had were 



