258 State Horticultural Society. 



We have a very lively society there at our place. Most of the mem- 

 bers here have taken credit for meeting once a month ; we generally 

 meet two or three times every month, and we have a very lively time, 

 and I don't know that it is of any great benefit to our society. It is 

 largely in quarreling. I believe when I go back home I will advise that 

 we have something to eat for our society. I would judge from the 

 reports of these other gentlemen that it keeps them in good humor; I 

 think we need a change of some kind ; I don't know what it is. 



Mr. Nelson, Laclede County. — Laclede county doesn't grow anything 

 but apples and peaches. We packed about twenty-five thousand bar- 

 rels in our county. Our peach crop was very fine. We organized a 

 local society two weeks ago and we expect to work from now on. 



Mr. Schnell of Howard County. — I am sorry to say we have no 

 horticultural society. While I don't want to say we were in the center 

 of the drouth district, I believe we had a Jittle special district. We had 

 practically no rains during the summer. We had a little better than a 

 half crop of strawberries ; comparing it with 1897 we had about one- 

 sixth of a crop. In places the apples were good, but the Canker Worm 

 is getting a firm hold in Howard county, and the people have done very 

 little there. 



The peach crop \vas excellent. We had fine peaches and got good 

 prices for them. They were sold at home and the nearby towns. 



Raspberries we got a few pickings at the start, and the latter part 

 of the crop all dried up. Blackberries were well cultivated, but outside 

 of the Early Harvest we didn't get anything. The Early Harvest fur- 

 nished a fair picking, and the prospect for strawberries for another year 

 is doubtful. With the very best of weather we can't expect over one- 

 fourth of a crop. There are few plants; the plants made a very few 

 runners. 



Mr. Butterfield of St. Francois County. — We have a local society 

 there. We had a fair crop of strawberries and sold them at good prices, 

 and got from $1.50 to $2 a crate, and we had a partial crop of raspberries 

 and some blackberries. We had a full crop of grapes. We realized from 

 four to five cents a pound for our grapes, and they averaged about ten 

 pounds to the vine — on two-year-old vines. .We had a good peach crop, 

 but, of course, nearly all through that section they are growing the seed- 

 lings altogether. Apples, I am sorry to say, that nearly all of the orchards 

 are ruined by the Canker Worm. Our crop was a failure. You can see 

 some samples there on the table; of course, I brought the best. I sup- 

 posed that we were in the center of the great drouth district, but I don't 

 know whether we were or not. We had a rain on the 17th day of April, 



