276 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Keifer pear does well here. There is an orchard of Keifer 

 pear trees that have borne every year since they were old enough to 

 bear; the trees are thrifty and healthy, and have never shown the least 

 signs of blight. 



The Concord grape even this year, on vines thinned by trimmings 

 bore full of fine fruit. Peaches and Kichmond cherries do well here — 

 peaches about four out of five years. All kinds of small fruits do 

 well; all things considered, thi,8 is one of the best places for fruit in 

 the frait belt. Good fruit land, improved farms, can be bought from 

 $15 to $25 per acre, and a large amount of fruit is being planted, but 

 not near enough. Where there was one crate of small fruit shipped 

 from here five years ago there is now one hundred. 



Wm. H. Strong, 



Seligman, Mo. 



BUOHANAK COUNTY 



Is situated near the northwestern portion of the State, in the famous 

 Platte purchase. Its latitude is 39° 47' north. It is near the same 

 parallel of Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Denver and San Francisco. Its 

 west boundary is the Missouri river, and it contains 272,329 acres, or 

 about 400 square miles; is at an altitude of 1000 feet above the sea 

 and 600 feet above St. Louis. 



The land in the county away from the streams is generally an 

 undulating prairie, and has altogether a diversity of country seldom 

 seen in so small a space. At a varying distance from the larger streams 

 rise irregular lines of hills, sometimes heavily wooded previous to 

 clearing for cultivation, having between them bottom lands of surpass- 

 ing beauty and lertilty. There is less land unfitted for cultivation by 

 reason of sloughs and marshes than any of the counties of North 

 Missouri. 



The farms generally, except those near the city, are large, highly 

 improved and highly cultivated. All kinds of labor saving machines 

 are used on almost every farm in the county. The lands near the 

 city are generally used as fruit-farms and gardening. The farms thus 

 used range in size from 10 to 100 acres. 



The county is so well supplied with living streams of pure water, 

 and they are so well distributed over the county, that the people could 

 not possibly make an improvement upon the arrangement if they were 

 allowed the privilege and endowed with the power to a readjustment 

 of the system of rivers and creeks. / 



