Annual Meeting at St. Josejjh. 193 



A few peuc'li trees were occasionally seen in the fence corners, 

 composed of common seedlings, and considered very good for that 

 day. 



Pears, none. Plnms, ditto, except wild. Grapes, except in 

 the woods I only saw at Herman and St. Louis. Raspberries, none. 

 Strawberries were only seen in nature's fields, the prairies, very 

 abundant in some localities, as also the rattle snakes; these reptiles 

 seemed as fond of reveling in a strawberry patch as the boys and 

 girls. . So much for Missouri horticulture at the time referred to. 

 From a drop in the bucket it has increased to a fountain. 



Missouri stands to-day among the important fruit growing 

 states of the union. All the fruits adapted to your climate are pro- 

 duced in large quantities. Horticulture has become one of the 

 great industries of your great state. Your apples particularly now 

 have a national reputation, and I think deservedly so, as during 

 the past two years I had the pleasure of feasting my eyes on two 

 grand displays of Missouri apples, viz : at New Orleans and Kansas 

 City. May the good work go on. 



A. D. WEBB, 

 Bowling Green, Kentucky. 



REPORT ON FRUITS. 



L. A. Goodman, Sec. Mo. State Horticultural Society : 



It is with a great deal of Jiesitation that I undertake to write 

 a paper on horticulture, because I know that my knowledge is too 

 limited to make it what I would like for it to be. 



My laud is what is called timber land and is well elevated. 

 The soil is a heavy leaf-mould, underlain with a clay subsoil. In 

 1878 I commenced to clear the land which was to make my future 

 home, and in one year after the first trees were planted. This 

 year I had the pleasure to find the first specimens of fruit, and by 

 another year will have enough to supply my family. 



In procuring trees, I always went to some nursery and selected 

 my trees, and set them out at once. By doing that I always had 

 the satisfaction of knowing how long they had been out of ground. 

 My experience is that good one-year-old trees are the best to set 

 out. I have tried both fall and spring planting, but could never 

 see any difference, if the planting was well done. I am now en- 



