REPORTS FROM DIRECTORS OF FRUIT DISTRICTS. 



REPORT FROM DISTRICT NO. 2 



G. A. Marshall, Director 



Mr. President and members of the Horticultural Society, Ladies and 

 Gentlemen: In giving report of District No. 2, which consists of the 

 following counties, Cass, Sarpy, Douglas, Washington, Burt, Dodge and 

 Saunders, I wish to say that the past season has been one of extremes, 

 both as to heat and cold, wet and dry. The warm March and fore part 

 of April brought the trees in bloom early, then the noted cold wave that 

 followed, did its destructive work and came the nearest putting us out of 

 the fruit business that we have ever been before since our country has 

 been old enough to produce fruit. Apples and plums suffered the most. 

 The estimated results of the damage is about as follows: 



Apples 10 per cent of crop, plums less than 5 per cent of crop, 

 cherries 25 per cent of crop. Peaches 10 per cent of crop, grapes 50 per 

 cent of crop, blackberries 50 per cent of crop, raspberries 30 per cent of 

 crop, strawberries 60 per cent of crop, currants and gooseberries 15 to 

 20 per cent of crop. 



We had the wettest weather in June we ever experienced, yet the 

 blackberries and cron crop was cut a little short by dry weather in July. 



The old maxim, "One extreme calls for another," was surely true in 

 the past season. The cherry, plum, peach and apple foliage was in 

 pretty good condition this fall, and the fruit buds seemed to be well 

 developed and went into the winter in apparently good condition. Also, 

 the raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. The grapes were more 

 varied, however. Some vineyards are all 0. K., while others are in a 

 somewhat weakened condition, caused by extreme wet and from fungus 

 development. I believe the recommended list of fruits, especially apples 

 for the various fruit districts is scmewhat misleading. For instance, 

 in District Xo. 2, we recommend fourteen varieties of summer apples and 

 place them on an equality, while we know that some are more valuable 

 than others. The Autumn list contains twelve varieties while we can 

 recommend all these as hardy and worth planting, yet we know that 

 the same is true of these also. For instance, we called the Plum Cider 

 as valuable as the Wealthy, etc. Were I to plant an orchard of 100 trees 

 in this district I would prefer the list made up about as follows: 



2 Yellow Transparent, 3 Duchess, 2 Chenango Strawberry, 5 Grimes 

 Golden, 5 Wealthy, 5 Utter, 2 Maiden's Blush, 2 Ramsdell Sweet, 5 Jona- 

 than, 15 Windsor, 20 Ben Davis or Gano, 5 Wine Sap, 10 North Western 

 Greening, 10 Salome and 5 Janet and for crabs I would place 2 Whitney,. 

 1 Forence and 1 Hyslop. 



