Slimmer Meeting. 93 



'& 



bers of the Society began experimenting along this line and reporting 

 their results at the meetings. Early copies of the reports of this body 

 show that for a series of years attention was fastened largely upon the 

 question of adopting low heads and a dense branching system for their 

 fruit trees. As a result a new system of shaping the tree, better adapted 

 to our conditions has been developed. In the eastern states, with a 

 maritime chmate, trees were given high heads, so the ground under 

 the trees would warm up and so grasses, or other crops could be har- 

 vested under their branches ; the trees were given open tops, and were 

 freely pruned, so as to admit sunlight and air to ripen and to color up 

 the fruit. As opposed to this we have gradually adopted in the west^ 

 where our sunlight is intense, low heads, to shade the trunk of the tree 

 and the ground under it ; we have adopted a straight, central trunk, with 

 dense lateral limbs as a protection to- the tree and its fruit. Earlier 

 fruiting and closer planting have been adopted as better suited to our 

 conditions. 



A quarter of a century ago the officers of the Society began plant- 

 ing what rriight be called the pioneer, large commercial apple orchard 

 of the State. It contained i,6oo acres and was for years the largest 

 orchard in Missouri. The experience of putting this enterprise on a 

 paying, commercial basis did much toward developing the present methods 

 of commercial fruit growing in Missouri. 



Reference to the reports of the Society shows that only a com- 

 paratively short time ago the members began to agitate the question of 

 better cultivation of fruit trees. Up to that time it was quite common 

 for fruit trees to receive no cultivation at all, but to leave the orchard 

 in sod and perhaps pasture it with domestic animals. Today nearly 

 all the leading orchards of the State receive good cultivation. In many 

 cases the orchard receives as good tillage as does the garden. 



The old custom of planting promiscuous varieties has given place 

 to the planting of a few commercial sorts. This has enabled the grower 

 to harvest and market to better advantage and restricts his varieties to 

 those that are the most profitable. In picking, packing, handling and 

 marketing great advancement has been made in recent years. 



A short time ago Missouri ranked far down the list among the 

 fruit growing states. The last census, however, showed that there were 

 over twenty millions of apple trees growing in Missouri orchards, or 

 one-third as many again as in any other state. Since the apple com- 

 prises over 80 per cent, of the fruit grown in the United States it will 

 be seen that this State is now in the front rank as a fruit growing 

 State. The same census report shows that ^Missouri has more than 

 doubled the area of its apple and peach orchards in the past ten years,. 



