SUMMER MEETING. 29' 



Mr. Blake — I think very valuable lessons are to be got out of this 

 discussion. The successful horticulturist is not what troubles us, it is 

 the failure. I was in hopes that Mr, Gilbert would be here. He has 

 no hesitancy in tellino- of failure. Ttie trouble with horticulturists is 

 that they don't tell of failures. Their successes do not help us a bit. 

 It is their failures and how they overcame them that helps us. If they 

 would give us real benefit they should tell of their mistakes and fail- 

 ures. For one thing-, I will say thai I think Mr. Lamm made a mistake 

 in taking one of his best cultivated fields for his orchard. He said he 

 did that. Now, I believe, as a rule, that the best land for orchards is 

 not the richest land. It is poor land where orchards, as a rule, flourish 

 most. 



Mr. flobnett — I would like to go back a little bit if you will allow 

 me. I would say that while Mr Lamm has seemed to make a failure 

 of his orchard so far as making money is concerned, I, who have been 

 over the road only about half so long, would like to give a little of my 

 experience. I have spent six years on the road to making an orchard, 

 and have spent $40 an acre for it. But I have been offered enough 

 money to pay me $60 an acre profit on my orchard. If he wants to 

 sell his orchard — 



Mr. Lamm — I don't want to sell it. I don't have to depend on my 

 orchard. If a person had set his whole farm in orchard, he would 

 have the blues the way things look now. But we all have other things 

 we can rely on when our orchards fail to come up to our expectations. 

 Mr. Murray has his nursery. I have my Jersey cows. So we all have 

 something else and don't have to starve, even if our fruit crop is a 

 failure. 



Mr. Murray — I enjoyed Mr. Lamm's remarks. He brought out 

 some good points. I would not advise a man, unless he is very rich, 

 to wait ou his orchard for his support. I don't wait on anything. I go 

 ahead with my business and give it proper care. Don't think of the 

 idea of waiting six or seven years. If we look at it right, the time will 

 pass by very soon. In regard to the value of our orchard, we should 

 look at it as an investment. An orchard, even before it has borne 

 any fruit, is valuable. We must not be discouraged. It is really but 

 money put in the bank at interest, compound interest, and leaving it 

 there to our credit to be drawn ouf in a few years. I have had the 

 same experience Mr. Goodman spoke of. I have had failure, too. In 

 1875, if my property had been put up and sold, I would not have had 

 anything. In speaking of the dark side, I will say I came to Missouri 

 a few years ago with a few hundred dollars, a wife and two children, 

 and bought 80 acres of land. It was not the best land, but it was not 



