42 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



your own market. Blackberries are the easiest grown and the easiest 

 picked of any of the berries and the demand for them Is growing every 

 year, and I expect to see the blackberry acreage quadrupled in the near 

 future. Pears are also in great demand and there are a few localities 

 in which blight does but little damage. And in one of these favored sec- 

 tions I had rather own a pear orchard than either an apple or peach 

 orchard. There are thousands of dollars spent for fruit every year that 

 should come to this section of Nbraska. And the fruits that can 

 be depended upon for better than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per acre 

 are Strawberries, and Blackberries. 



Question: Mr. Christy, what do you consider the best variety of pear 

 for southeast Nebraska? 



Mr. Christy: For a good commercial variety I think the Kieffer is 

 probably the best. This ground around here, though, is too rich for grow- 

 ing good pears. Further southeast of Falls City where the ground is rich, 

 — black soil with some sand on top, is better. Most of this ground right 

 around here is too rich though. 



Question: Is there any particular way of taking care of pears to 

 make them bear? 



Mr. Christy. No, I think not. This idea of driving nails into trees, 

 wrapping wire around them, etc., I do not think much of. The best way 

 is to give them good care and cultivation and let them follow out the laws 

 of nature. You cannot change the laws of nature in this way. 



The President: I am sorry to have to announce that Mr. Harrison, 

 of York, who was to have the next paper on our program, is not here with 

 us, and for that reason we will have to pass on to the next subject, which 

 is "Fifty Years in Nebraska," by ]\Ir. W. G. Swan, of University Place. 



Fifty Tears iu ]Vebrjiska. 



W. G. Swan, University Place. 



Mr. President and members of the horticultural society. — In Novem- 

 ber 1858, taking Horace Greely's advice I came west to grow up with the 

 country. The Hannibal and St. Joe road was built to within three miles 

 of St. Joe. We had a through ticket, but prefered to Walk instead of wait- 

 inf for them to finish the road. We took a stage for Rocknort, Mo., at 

 ten cents per mile and rode down the hills. We carried fence rails to 

 pry the coach out of the mud in the ravines. Then we would walk up 

 hill and ride down hill. We arrived at Rockport one or two days late. 

 From Rockport we walked to Brownsville, eight miles, and were as far 

 west as we cared to go. 



Spt'^ Brownsville fifty years ago was the third city in the territory, doing 

 '^^Imii immense business and drawing trade from southeastern Nebraska and 

 northwestern Kansas for over 100 miles. But voting bonds were their 

 undoing and today she retains her former greatness in name only. 



