ANNUAL WINTER MEETING AT WARRENSBURG. 169 



Our orchard vield this year was considerable, but not satisfactory. 

 Early, or at the usual season, our apple orchards gave us such show of 

 bloom as filled us with hope, only to be disappointed by a very cold 

 spell, with late frosts, that cut our crop to less than fifty per cent., 

 making it an oil' year. Peaches, we had none ; pears, but few. Price 

 of apples to shippers, forty to fifty cents at picking season. 



Our orchards are growing in number and size. Planting goes on 

 increasingly. 



As you have a paper, Mr. President, on pruning, I will not intrude 

 by anything on that part of our treatment, nor would I feel authorized 

 to say much of cultivation, but hope you will allow an expression of 

 my growing conviction that we must cultivate and must prune our or- 

 chards if we would have symmetry and growth of tree, and uniformity in 

 size and good quality in fruit. And for young orchards we think of no 

 better crop than potatoes or corn. Among orchardists there is a keen 

 inquiry for the coming apple, every year, however, planting more and 

 more of Ben Davis. 



Proposing not to bore you with length, I am. 



Respectfully, 



D. S. HOLMAN. 



REPORT ON ORCHARDS. 



BY CHAS. PATTERSON, KIRKSVILLE, MO. 



The past season has not been a profitable one for apple orchards 

 in this part of the State, as a general thing. In fact, it has come as 

 near to being a general failure as has ever been known here since we 

 have had bearing orchards. Instead ot making considerable shipments 

 as has been done in previous years, even from what we thought short 

 crops, there have been very few apples shipped this year, and they 

 might have been wanted before spring. Yet a few orchards bore fair 

 crops, and of different varieties, making it difficult to designate any for 



