390 State Horticttlttiral Society. 



iiig under similar conditions? We venture, not one. We don't have to, 

 for we have a better country — one where the conditions are most favor- 

 able — one where we have cheap land that needs no irrigation and where 

 we have fine markets at our very door for a large amount of our peaches, 

 and railroads at our very orchards that give us quick transportation for 

 our surplus. With all of these advantages in our favor why should our 

 people be dependent upon the inferior fruit of the remote and irrigated 

 regions of the Great American desert for their supply? 



Growing fine peaches in Missouri is no longer an experiment. In 

 1870 we planted 500 trees in Northwest Missouri. The varieties were 

 Hale's Early, Troth's Early, Stump, George the Fourth, Crawford Late 

 and Early, Smock, Susquehana, Heath Cling and Late Delaware, in 

 addition to fifty seedlings. All were cultivated for three years in corn 

 and potatoes, after which they were cultivated thoroughly for fruit alone. 

 The Crawfords and Susquehanna proved to be very shy bearers, but the 

 fourth year from planting they netted $400. They continued to beai 

 three years out of five, and one year the three acres netted $900. The 

 Hale proved the hardiest and bore four crops in five years. The seed- 

 lings were the least profitable and were first to die. One remarkable 

 thing was that we had one crop after 21 degrees below zero. This state- 

 ment may be called n question by the Eastern growers, where the 

 peach buds are killed at 10 to 15 degrees below zero. It must be re- 

 membered that the amount of cold the buds can endure without kill- 

 ing depends upon the variety, location, soil, climate, care, cultivation, 

 condition of buds vdien the cold strikes them, duration of storm, etc. 



The varieties named have been superceded by newer introductions 

 and by varieties to meet the demand of the market, many of which are 

 very hardy and reliable. Those best and most profitable to plant will 

 depend upon the locality in which you live and the purpose for which you 

 design them. This is a matter of great importance and one that should 

 be studied closely. 



All the peaches we have grown in Holt county, Missouri, have 

 netted us $1.50 per bushel, and to show that we still have faith in the 

 business will say that we have in the last two years planted 6,000 trees 

 and will plant more. We know of men here and there in all the states 

 of the Mississippi Valley making good money growing peaches, and we 

 believe there is room for many more to engage in this pleasant and prof- 

 itable industry, not only for the purpose of supplying the home demand 

 with fresh fruit, but large quantities should be grown for canning and 

 evaporating, nor need the people of Missouri stop at this, but may with 

 courage and safety plant large commercial orchards and enter the mar- 

 kets of the world as a bold competitor.— Practical Fruit Grower. 



