MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 251 



in the heart of the most moral a desire to break the unwritten law of 

 " hands oflf." Poor old Tantalus! If you want to know how he felt, 

 just take a stroll, about noontime, through the pomological exhibit. 



There are apples as yellow as the fabled three which lost Atalanta 

 her famous race, and gave Ilippomenes a wife; apples that have been 

 kissed by the sun god into a pernifinent blush ; apples that are not as 

 green as they look ; streaked apples, mellow apples, hard apples, crab- 

 apples — all kinds of apples except apples of discord and Dead .Sea 

 apples. 



Nor are apples alone to be seen, although they form the most 

 prominent feature in this magnificent exhibit, for Gasconade county 

 alone sends 40 different varieties of grapes, and there are pears in 

 abundance, some vying in beauty with the California production, and 

 all of exquisite flavor. "There is an impression abroad," said the gen- 

 tlemanly secretary, " especially in the Eastern states, that ' old Mis- 

 souri ' can raise nothing but Jesse James gangs and border ruffians, 

 and even in our own cities it has grown to be a custom to send north 

 and east for winter apples. Now, we want the people to see just what 

 the State can do as a fruit State, hence this diplay from 20 different 

 counties. This is not a money-making scheme, and we have no object 

 but furthering the State interests as a fruit-growing center and rousing 

 the farmers themselves to an appreciation of the vast resources in their 

 possession. This exhibit, therefore, is gotten up by eight local county 

 societies, and the remaining 12 by private individuals and nurserymen." 



The eight societies, which have separate displays, ranging from 250 

 to 300 plates each, are respectively, Holt, Bates, Vernon, Jasper, Mont- 

 gomery, Mercer, Greene and Cooper, and the different pyramids of 

 fruit are beautiful in the extreme. Every day the plates are looked 

 over and the fruit renewed, so that they present a fresh appearance 

 constantly. 



The other counties, where the displays are those of individuals 

 and nurserymen, and vary from 30 to 150 plates, are Callaway, Gascon- 

 ade, Johnson, Barton, Clay, Platte, Howell, Adair, Wayne, Pettis, Buch- 

 anan, Franklin and St. Louis, three of which will send in their contri- 

 butions in a few days after their local fairs are over. A visitor from 

 the Cincinnati Exposition yesterday was heard to remark, that one 

 pyramid of the fruit in this vast exhibit was equal to the entire collec- 

 tion of the Cincinnati Exposition. The gentlemen in charge of this 

 display are very proud of it, and with every reason to be so, as it is the 

 largest ever made by the Society and beyond praise in itself, but is fine 

 enough to place the State in the front ranks of the fruit-growers. 



