88 Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



damage, mutilating the tree by knockingvthe bark from the 

 limbs and body of fruit trees ; for the orchards that were in the 

 path of those storms have presented a very pitiable condition, des- 

 titute of both fruit and leaf, and from a distance looked as if fire 

 had run through the trees. 



Then, again, many of our varieties were affected with a leaf 

 blight or mildew which affected the fruit, causing the fruit to be 

 knotty or scabby, and has caused some varieties to present a very 

 unsightly and sickly aj^pearauce during the summer, and I fear in 

 some instances has affected the fruit bud for the coming crop. This 

 leaf blight or scabbing of fruit was generally more fatal on our 

 bluff land, while the lower or damper soils were less affected both 

 in leaf and fruit, and these orchards have been the most profitable. 

 We find that our members in our Missouri Valley Horticultural 

 Society who have their orchards located on the river bottom or 

 damp soils, ai-e the members who carry off the bulk of our 

 premiums ; their fruit being the largest, smoothest and most per- 

 fect. This as a rule, has not been the case generally heretofore. 



This surely teaches us a lesson worthy of our consideration. 

 Is it unreasonable to suppose that those orchards located on our 

 rich, loamy soils, well drained, where the roots can dig deep into 

 the storehouse of nature, and find the ingredients necessary to 

 mature a crop of fruit, and at the same time lay up in fruit bud 

 and vitality necessary to develop) and mature the crop for the 

 coming year? Or would it be reasonable to suppose that the 

 orchards located on our bluff land, bearing a tremendous crop of 

 fruit, located where the moisture evaporates rapidly and the roots are 

 parched by the heated summer's sun ? The roots can not penetrate 

 the hard pernicious clay sub soil, and consequently are cut off' from 

 supplying the tree with the nourishment and vitality ; exhausted, 

 and with outstretched arms, the tree is crying, ''give, give." Could 

 such a tree be profitable, or even expected to be in a healthy condi- 

 tion ? Most certainly not. 



Hence my assertion, again that by our orchards not bearing a 

 crop of fruit this year it will save tens of thousands of trees from 

 ultimate death. Then surely it has been a blessing rather than a 

 calamity. 



Now Mr. Chairman, I only make mention of things as they 

 have come under my observation in my locality, no data being at 

 hand from other sources to enable me to compile a report giving 



