Summer Meeting. 23 



that he will live happy and have plenty. The idea is to take care of 

 what you have. A pig will not pay unless it is taken care of. Orchards 

 must be taken care of." In view of the fact that Colonel Evans is 

 about 75 years old and has grown wealthy doing what he advises the 

 young man to do shows what his recommendations are worth. He says 

 Morgan county is as good for what he recommends as any place under 

 the sun. Colonel Evans, at the banquet Wednesday evening, said: "I 

 believe very much in the fruit industry of Missouri and its possibilities, 

 but in point of wealth production I confess that the Missouri hen leads 

 all other productions. She even leads the Missouri mule by two mil- 

 lion dollars a year. 



"I was not prepared to find such fine soil for fruit growing in Mor- 

 gan county. You have every condition in soil, climate, and location 

 for magnificent fruit farms. Your farmers and capitalists make a great 

 mistake in not improving such good conditions for orcharding. There 

 is good money in fruit growing if the orchard is properly cared for. 

 OriC good crop will pay the entire cost of producing the orchard, in- 

 cluding the cost of the land. I sold the crop from 100 acres of Ben 

 Davis trees, eight years old, for $10,000. That left me a good margin 

 over the entire cost of the orchard, including the land. So I would 

 have lost nothing if I had had but that one crop. But my trees were 

 well cared for and were just ready to go into business." 



Mr. C. H. Dutcher, First Vice-President State Horticultural 

 Society: "You have a vast acreage of good apple, peach and cherry 

 land near Versailles, well adapted to the raising of all small fruits. 

 Your soil conditions on the broad plateau south of Versailles, the free- 

 dom from hard-pan in the hills, the elevation and splendid air and water 

 drainage give unsurpassed facilities for successful orcharding. A fruit 

 ranch in these hills, if well managed, cannot fail to give good results." 



Mr. Gano, Second Vice-President of the State Horticultural ' Soci- 

 ety, said: "I have been unable to see anything of your fruit lands 

 except the district south of Versailles. You certainly have elegant 

 orchard soils there. This is my first visit to your county, but I have 

 seen several exhibits of your apples as shown by Mr. Bailey that as- 

 tonished me. I have been a fruit grower in Missouri for 35 years and 

 am well acquainted with the orchard industry of the State, but I was 

 amazed at the size and color of your Morgan county apples. The 

 young orchards south of town compare favorably with any in the State 

 and show clearly what wur soil will do under good management." 



IMr. George T. Tippin, a large fruit grower of Springfield, said : 

 "Yqu are exceedingly fortunate in your location. Your proximity to 



