Sununer Meeting. 109 



we believe that the National Apple Growers' Congress recently organized 

 at St. Louis, was made necessary in the progress and development of 

 this great industry and will prove to be a very valuable institution to all 

 commercial orchard growers, especially so as to packing and handling' 

 our fruit. 



This being true, some one may ask, "Is there danger of commercial 

 apple orcharding being overdone ?" We do not think so, but as our 

 production increases our grading and packing must be better tO' insure 

 success. Pack only No. i stock, turning everything else to the evapo- 

 rator or other sources. Some one may say that too much fruit was 

 evaporated this year, as the price is very low, and if more had been 

 evaporated price would have been still lower. We do not believe this, 

 for it is our opinion that the low price for green apples this winter is 

 not due to quantity but to quality. We believe that if all the apples in 

 the country were No. i the market would be 50 cents to $1.00 per barrel 

 more than it is. We also believe that the low price of green fruit makes 

 the low price of dried fruit, consequently, if all poor stock had been 

 evaporated, since evaporated stock can be carried without much risk, 

 and goes into consumption much more readily when green fruit is high, 

 we would have realized much better returns than we will under present 

 conditions. 



In growing a commercial orchard the soil is the most important 

 factor. We believe this applies anywhere within the apple belt of the 

 United States. Fertility and moisture are indispensible in successful 

 apple growing. Deep clay soils, free from stone or gravel, without hard- 

 pan below, are best in our country. Select soil that will remain as near 

 an even temperature as possible, as to wet and dry, heat and cold. 



The selection of varieties to plant should always be governed by the 

 way the different varieties behave in different localities. The varieties 

 that we would plant in Missouri, as a rule, would not be adapted to your 

 state. Not being acquainted with those sorts that do best here we would 

 not assume to recommend. However, if the Duchess and Wealthy do 

 correspondingly as well here as they do in North Missouri and Iowa we 

 believe they could be as profitably grown in a conimercial way as Ben 

 Davis in Missouri. Select your varieties adapted to your locality, test- 

 ing new and untried sorts only in a limited way. What would be better 

 still, let all your experiments, as near as you can, be made at your horti- 

 cultural experiment station. This is what they are for, and if all our 

 state horticultural societies would discourage the planting of new and 

 untried sorts, unless they had been named by some pomological society 

 of the states or nation or state horticultural society and recommended as 

 worthy of trial, thousands of dollars would be saved to the planter, and 



