228 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



But when his orchards were encroached upon by home-seekers^ 

 and finally rendered useless, Mr. Goodman, who was a native of the 

 fruit-growing districts of Michigan, began to interest himself in fruit 

 farming farther away from the city, and eight years ago he and several 

 other gentlemen organized the Olden Fruit Farm Company, and acquired 

 tiile to 1000 acres of land in Howell county. Mo. On that farm the 

 company, of which Mr. Goodman is secretary, now has 100,000 fruit 

 trees ; 600 acres of the land is devoted to apples, 300 acres to peaches- 

 and 100 acres to pears, plums and cherries and miscellaneous fruits. 



Mr. Goodman, who still retains his Westport homestead, sur- 

 rounded by ample lawns, is secretary also of the Missouri State Horti- 

 cultural Society, and has, through his experiments in fruit growing, 

 developed his knowledge of it to a science. 



Yesterday a Journal reporter sought and obtained an interview 

 with him relative to the causes and extent of the fruit crop failure of 

 1892. Mr. Goodman said : " I don't remember such a complete and 

 general failure of the fruit crop for thirty years. We have what is 

 sometimes called our off years, but these are not generally so compre- 

 hensive in the area covered, and they are attributable to two principal 

 causes combined. One is a lack of attention to the fruit orchards in 

 allowing them to over-produce one year to the extent that the trees are 

 exhausted and lack of vitality to perfect the crop the next year. 



"The other reason is one less within the power of man to provide 

 against. It is the effects of climate. To this latter cause is attribut- 

 able the fruit crop failure of this present year, in the main. Last spring^ 

 the fruit-trees blossomed very fully, and all over the country gave 

 promise of a splendid crop, but at the critical period, when the orchards 

 were in full bloom, came the cold northwest winds and a period of 

 incessant rains. The copious fall of rain washed the pollen off the 

 blooms to such an extent that many of the varieties failed to fertilize 

 or to set any apples. Other varieties that opened at a time when the 

 weather conditions were slightly more favorable did set fruit slightly, 

 but the fruit fell off. 



" It takes pollen to fertilize the blossom of the fruit tree, and with- 

 out it, or when it is removed, the blossom is sterile. The fruit that 

 dropped off prematurely did so because the fruit trees had been so 

 chilled and exhausted by the cold, wet weather that they could not 

 recover in time to furnish sufficient nourishment for the increasing 

 demands of the growing fruit. A fruit tree suffers from having the 

 ground continually cold and damp around its roots, just as a man will 

 suffer when he remains for a protracted period with wet aud cold feet. 

 He sustains a shock, if nothing else, that takes time for his system to 



