44 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Oq Report of Secretary — D. S. Holman, 



Dan Carpenter, 

 Z. S. Ragan. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ORCHARDS. 



BY D. S. HOLMAN, SPRINGFIELD. 



Springfield, Mo., June, 8, 1885. 



Missouri Hortieultural Society : 



As a member of your Committee on Orchards, I am told that each 

 member is desired to report from his part of the State, I would then in 

 a few words report the orchards in my locality in Southwest Missouri, 



In our report last year our orchards were reported in bad shape 

 from effects of severe winter of 1880 And while we cannot now report 

 exactly as we would have it, we are glad to tell you they are better. We 

 find that where fruit trees are so damaged by severe or untimely frosty 

 it cannot be readily determined how extensive the sad work has been. 

 In this case it is now five years, and every year some trees have died 

 from the effects of that cold November frost. About all of such are 

 out and new ones have their places. 



The last winter was considered severe, but did not do much dam- 

 age to our orchards that is perceptable. 



The present jear's growth of wood now being made and the health- 

 ful appearance of foliage are alike satisfactory. 



The prospect for a crop of fruit is not so satisfactory. Our trees 

 ripened up early last fall a full crop of fruit buds — the peach buds and 

 more tender varieties of all the fruits were killed during the severity 

 of winter. The apples, pears and all hardy kinds of fruit buds came 

 through and gave a very fine show of bloom, which to some is a satis- 

 factory 'guarantee of full crop, but we have now learned that profuse and 

 beautiful flowers are not ripe fruit. At the base of these plump and other- 

 wise perfect fruit buds there was left sufficient cause for disappointment 

 of our hopes, such always causing the fruit to drop badly even though 

 profusely set. In addition to this, after a grand show of bloom by 



