28 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



If the Board of Curators will not give the Hort. department 

 something to work with, we cannot expect anything. Whenever we 

 can see $6000 or $8000 set aside out of the 833,000 for the horticul- 

 tural department, then we will see something done. 



As it is, nothing is being accomplished in the line of experiment 

 or instruction to our fruit growers. 



A drive was taken about the city of Columbia, and out to the 

 large orchard of D. A. Eobnett, where over '120 acres were planted to 

 the standard varieties of commercial apples. 



One of the most pleasing sights of the day was this beautiful 

 young orchard, four and five years old. 



One of these days friend Eobnett will have all he wants to attend 

 to in gathering his fruit. 



Jonathan, Winesap, Willow Twig, Ben Davis, Gano, are the varie- 

 ties mostly planted. 



SEEDLING STRAWBERRIES. 



Three years ago an experiment in the production of new varieties of the 

 strawberry was begun at the Missouri Experiment Station, by my predecessor, 

 Professor J. W. Clark. The seeds of selected fruits of Crescent. Warfield No 2, 

 Lady Rusli, Bubach No. 5 and Gandy were planted, and when I took charge of the 

 Horticultural department in January, 1892, a large number of the seedlings were 

 being grown in seed-boxes and in pots in the green-house, while a plantation of 

 about an acre had already been set with them. The experiment had proceeded so 

 far that it would have been inadvisable to have modified it, .hence an effort was 

 made to carry it to completion as originally outlined. The potted plants were set 

 in the garden, and the plantation already growing gave its first crop of fruit the 

 summer of '92 Specimens of some of these seedlings were exhibited at the meet- 

 ing of this Society at Chillicothe, in June of that year. A wide range, in size, 

 season, color, quantity and quality was observable in the fruits of seedlings of the 

 same variety, and this great diversity invited the closest study. All our improve- 

 ments in cultivated fruits are largely the results of selection, and this experiment 

 has been an excellent illustration of the tendency of seedlings to vary from the 

 parent type, and the importance of selection as an element in plant improvement. 



The best of all kinds were marktd, each of the plants was permitted to make 

 a few runners, and the plantation was given good culture for a second year's crop. 

 Last season the date of blooming, the character of the bloom and the fruiting sea- 

 son of all the plants were noted, and those which seemed equal to or better than 

 their parents were carefully marked. 



Your Society met at Columbia during the season, and your Chairman kindly 

 appointed a committee to examine the seedlings. The committee carefully ex- 

 amined the plantation and gave me the benefit of their judment in testing, espe- 

 cially such plants as I had previously selected as best. It is a pleasure to report to 

 you that the committee in the main corroborated the judgmeots already recorded, 

 my placing in the matter of quality being somewhat lower, as a rule, than theirs. 



After the fruiting season had passed, runners were allowed to grow, and 

 twelve plants from each selected specimen were potted. When these were well 

 sorted, they were set in a new plantation. Owing to the extraordinary drouth of 



