122 State Horticultural Society. 



in rows running- north and south 32 feet, and east and west 16 feet. 

 When trees five or six years old, I girdle and summer prune the 

 middle trees, which causes them to form fruit buds, and in a fe\y 

 years exhaust themselves in heav}' bearing, and then be cut out to 

 give room for the standard trees 32 feet each way. Girdling means 

 simph' cutting out a strip of bark about one inch wide entirely 

 around the trunk, about one foot r-.bove the ground, cutting down 

 to the sap wood ; the wound soon heals over. Do not understand 

 that I recommend girdling ; only trees that we aim to be cut out in 

 a iew years. Girdling has to be done when the bark peals, as soon 

 as the leaves are full grown. Young trees do best when planted close, 

 but old trees need space. 



Varieties to be planted, as my paper is getting long, I will say 

 look and see what varieties do best on soil like vours. 



DISTRIBUTION OF APPLE CROP. 

 (J. S. At wood, Carrollton, Mo.) 



The greatest problem that faces the fruit grower of today Hes not 

 in the growing, but the final disposition of his crop. There was a time 

 when the buyer ranged the country in search of fruit and was glad to pay 

 well for it, while the grower stayed at home and commanded, or at least, 

 thought he commanded, his own price. But the last decade has ushered 

 in a new order of things for the fruit grower in Missouri and the mid- 

 -dle west. A large acreage has been planted and is now in bearing ; rapid 

 strides have been made in methods of cultivation, and the largely in- 

 creased output demands a revolution in the methods of disposal. These 

 facts are of especial inportance to the apple grower, and to him the 

 situation is one of more than ordinary gravity. Some seasons the apple 

 crop in the west is enormous and of good quality. Buyers take only the 

 •choicest orchards, prices are low, and then it is really a debatable ques- 

 tion whether the grower, although he has mastered the art of cultiva- I 

 tion and brought his fruit to perfection, will realize the cost of picking, 

 packing" and placing on the market. 



Such a condition of affairs should never exist, and the only preveni 

 tive lies in a proper distribution of the crop. With our modern facilities 

 for cold storage, which practically allows a solid year for disposing oi 

 the season's crop, there is absolutely no reason why every apple shoulc 

 not be sold and that, too, at a remunerative price. In this great land oi 

 ours the consumption of fruit has become universal, and with the apple 



