Winter Meeting. 297 



sure that these statements are correct and they show that the climate 

 of southeast Missouri is peculiarly adapted to the apple and its longev- 

 ity; and the rainfall in southeastern Missouri is much greater than it is 

 in all western and southwestern Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, 

 etc. 



Upon turning to the map of the United States showing the 

 distribution of rainfall, we find that southeast Missouri has an annual 

 rainfall of -fO to 50 iuches, while all the western, northwestern and 

 southwestern part of the state has only 30 to 40 inches, showing ten 

 inches rainfall annually in our favor, while central Kansas, Nebraska, 

 and Oklalioma have only 20 inches. Then when we examine the phys- 

 ical map of Missouri we find that the highest land in our state is in 

 Wright county, where it reaches an elevation of 1,700 feet above the 

 level of the ocean and the next highest is in my own, St. Francois, and 

 Iron counties, where it is 1,600 feet, or only 100 feet lower than the 

 now noted fruit region of southwestern Missouri. This fact of our 

 great altitude connected with the high average rainfall, make our claim 

 doubly strong for southeast Missouri as a fruit section. 



The peculiar red soils of our section produces the finest apples in 

 the world, having an abundance of iron in it which gives the fruit that 

 high color and rich flavor that are not found in fruit grown in ony other 

 part of the state, or in any other state. 



Why fruit growing has not been more fully developed in southeast 

 Missouri can only be accounted for in any other way than that our part 

 of the state has been misrepresented as a swamp instead of as an ideal place 

 to have a home and plant an orcliard. As to varieties of apples, Ben 

 Davis, Wine Sap, Gano and all other leading varieties grow to perfec- 

 tion licre and we have kept Ben Davis in our own cellar till in June 

 wlioii our strawberries were nearly goue. 



Peaches do equally as well as apples and I am well acquainted with 

 two farms near that liave never failed to produce a few peaches annu- 

 ally. Even this year there were quite a number of peaches on these two 

 farms. 



I have never seen peaches at any fair that wei'e finer than we grow 

 here. All the leading varieties do well here, and the famous Elberta 



