140 State Horticultural Society. 



country and this work is growing and increasing in proportion as 

 rapidly as the other horticultural interests. Hundreds of thousands 

 up into millions of dollars of flowers and plants are sold each year, 

 and yet it has not reached its climax. Nearly every community has 

 its green houses and flower gardens and the cities are demanding as 

 one of their necessities, rather than luxuries, flowers every day. The 

 sales in our l;arge cities are something astonishing to those who have 

 not examined into it closely. Value $2,000,000. 



The truck gardens for vegetable growing are another strong 

 feature in the horticultural line. The truck business about and around 

 our larger towns and cities has grown to such proportions that hun- 

 dreds of thousands of people are daily employed in the work and their 

 products have become worth dollars beyond our belief. Many of the 

 smaller towns nearb)' the larger towns and cities have begun to 

 develop this same business in connection with fruit and flower grow- 

 ing and much money is made by the growers of these horticultural 

 products. Many of these smaller towns still offer to the truck growers 

 golden opportunities for this growing of vegetables, and shipping 

 them to our large cities more cheaply than persons can haul them 

 into market. Value $3,000,000. 



The nursery interests stand as the foundation stone of the fruit 

 interests, for without good reliable nurseries to grow our trees we 

 should never have our large commercial orchards. To these good re- 

 sponsible nursery men who sell trees upon honor, we owe the large 

 expansion in our fruit interests. Hundreds of the very best men of the 

 State have been making this a study for years and they have become 

 as expert in this line of work as have our fruit growers in their line. 



Nurseries are now scattered over the State so largely that no 

 man needs to go far or send far for his orchard trees. These nurseries 

 can supply every demand that our people can make upon them and 

 then have some to send to other states for planting. 



The State has within its borders a number of the very largest 

 nurseries, and trees are shipped to almost the ends of the earth. What 

 the value of these nurseries is or the capital employed, or the value 

 of stock sold, or the number of trees, plants and vines scattered over 

 this State every year no one can tell, but their value runs up into 

 millions of dollars and a fair estimate has been made of $4,000,000. It 

 is fortunate that all trees and plants do not live and bear, for if they 

 did the nursery men's business would soon be over. 



The last feature of this horticulture in Missouri, but by no means 

 the least, is the educational advantages which Missouri offers to the 



