70 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



shipped into the county by other nurseries, and many orchardists grow 

 all their own trees in the nursery. 



Thus we have big figures to show that a very large number of trees 

 have been planted in Howell county this year. Many of these have 

 doubtless escaped enumeration. In the new Koshkonong fruit district, 

 just over the line in Oregon county, there are 28,500 apple and 106,500 

 peach ; also 4000 pears on one farm, nearly all yet to come into bear- 

 ing. Adding these to the number of trees already given for Howell 

 county, we have 1,250,000 furit trees in this immediate fruit region. It 

 will be observed that the apple largely outnumber the peach ( except 

 on the Koshkonong district, where some immense peach plantings have 

 been made). This excess, not so marked in the young trees, is to be 

 accounted for partially by the fact that the old-time orchards are chiefly 

 apples, but mainly because the apple is almost universally regarded as 

 the future great staple product of the county and, even now, a low 

 estimate of this year's crop would reach enormous figures. The state- 

 ment is ventured without hesitation before this Society that nowhere 

 in the United States, or, probably in the world, do more favorable 

 conditions exist for apple growing than in Howell county, Missouri. 

 Further reference to the conditions does not come within the province 

 of this paper, but, in this connection, it should be mentioned that cer- 

 tain well known varieties have, under these favoring influences, 

 developed new and more valuable characteristics. For example, the 

 Wine Sap, while retaining its old-time good qualities, uniformly reaches 

 greater size here than in any other known locality. And, as mentioned 

 already, our old reliable and irrepressible friend. Ben Davis, is withal 

 a finer (or, must I say, nearer to a fine) apple here than, perhaps, any- 

 where else in all his broad domain. His supremacy on the southern 

 slope of the Ozarks is yet undisturbed and practically unchallenged. 

 The development of peach culture in Howell county has been remarka- 

 ble, beginning with the enormous plantings at Olden for several suc- 

 cessive years, followed as they were by highly satisfactory results, for 

 candor compels the assertain that for size, color, flavor and shipping 

 qualities, all combined, the Olden peaches, and later those from 

 Pomona and other Howell county fruit farms, have never yet been 

 equalled under the shinning sun, unless it be in our sister county, 

 Oregon. 



It is within the past three to five years, however, that the peach 

 planted area has increasd most rapidly, and our figures show that the 

 partial failure of the crop of 1893, and the total failure in 1894, have 

 not perceptibly shaken the belief of careful and experienced growers 

 of this most delicate, as well as delicious fruit, that its perils and 



