WINTER MEETING. 223 



grower. In the South we have seen them planted along the roadside for miles, and 

 one orchard near Fort Valley, Georgia, has over 10,000 Keiffer trees. The tree is a 

 vigorous grower in all parts of our own State where we have observed it, and in 

 many localities the fruit attains a perfect russet color when matured on the tree, 

 mellowing to a rich golden afcer being gathered. Wherever the Ben Davis apple 

 can be relied on, we believe that the Keilfer can be profitably planted, and south of 

 the apple belt it finds a natural home. 



There are today probably more Keiffer pear-trees growing in Missouri tha'n 

 of all other varieties combined, and there is every reason to believe the extensive 

 planting of this variety will be profitably continued. A few years ago the Keiff"er 

 was unknown on the St. Louis market, but for the past four years, excepting this 

 year of total failure, 1893, we find them in their season taking the lead in every 

 respect among home-grown pear?, and equal for all practical purposes, so far as the 

 grower and consumer are concerned, to any on the market. Nurserymen have 

 confidence in its future, and one firm in this State growing at the present time 

 something over 100,000 pear-trees, over 50,000 are Keifftr, 25,000 Garber, and the 

 balance mostly Duchess, Seekel, Sheldon, Bartlett, Clapp'n, Flemish Beauty, etc. 



The Garber, outside of its growth and habit in the nursery and the orchard, 

 we have but little knowledge of in this section. We have never fruited it in quan- 

 tity, but we have the fullest confidence in its future ; it matures some earlier than 

 Keiffer, about the same size, and when mellow about the same color. The tiee is 

 a strong, upright grower, and to blight seems to be entirely unknown. Have 

 never seen a sign of blight on Gaiber in nursery or in orchard. Blocks of Keiff'er, 

 Oarber, LeConte and Idaho, grown in the nursery under the same conditions and 

 on the same kind of soil— all or nearly all the Idaho blighted, most all the LeConte 

 in the same condition, some slight loss on the Keiff'er from the same cause, but no 

 sign of blight whatever on the Garber. We confidently believe that the man who 

 pins his faith to Keiff'er and Garber and plants them will be abundantly rewarded. 



THE LECONTB FOR FRUIT AND AS A STOCK. 



When the LeConte was first being introduced, we planted a few trees in 

 orchard, but they lived only long enough to bear a few peare, and then the trees 

 <iied of blight. Disappointment has followed every effort under our observation 

 toward fruiting this variety profitably in Missouri. In the South, and in (ieorgia 

 particularly, groves, orchards and roadsides are planted with LeConte, and a large 

 grower near ThomasviUe told me that he could grow them profitably for less than 

 10 cents a bushel, which he thought was perhaps more than they should be worth. 

 They blight but little south of the apple belt, but here in Missouri they blight so 

 badly that we do not belive they could be profitably grown generally over the State, 

 even if the quality of the fruit would justify . 



For stocks, there was at one time a general eff"ort on the part of some nursery- 

 men in Georgia and Alabama to grow pear on LeConte stock, which were grown 

 from cuttings. We think that the eff"ort has been almost, if not entirely, aban- 

 doned. The stocks that we have seen and the trees grown on such stocks are so 

 poorly rooted that they do not suit planters, who demand an abundance of side 

 roots. Another serious objection to it of course is its liability to blight. The 

 average nurseryman at this time will use stocks strictly first-class, with well- 

 branched roots, grown from French and Japan seed, or seedlings imported direct 

 from France. We will venture the assertion that until the past year over nine- 

 tenths of the pear stocks used in this country were imported direct from France. 

 The Japan stocks, so-called, are grown from Japan seed, and are now being used 



