'28 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Whatever method one may adopt, the fertility of the orchard must 

 be carefully maintained. All large yields come from an unusual amount 

 of nourishment. A free application of barn-yard manure should be 

 given annually, or at least biennially. This is a point of great conse- 

 quence. One-half of the mature orchards in the country are slowly 

 perishing from exhaustion of the soil. 



To prevent borers injuring trees, wash them in the after part of 

 May and June with soft soap, or diluted lye, and very little trouble will 

 arise from this source. 



Briefly, then, the chief essentials for a good commercial orchard 

 are, a suitable site, a proper selection of varieties, judicious pruning, 

 and careful defence against insect enemies. 



As this paper is, I fear, already too long, I shall close with a word 

 on profits. Does such an orchard pay H After a good many years' 

 experience, we unhesitatingly answer yes, comparatively much better 

 than grain or stock. There is more money in apples at fifteen cents 

 per bushel than in corn at thirty-five cents. An orchard will contain 

 fifty trees to the acre, and if in good condition, may be safely estimated 

 to produce for a great number of years, three barrels per tree (no 

 good orchardist should be content with less), and this at $1.25 per bar- 

 rel would be $187.50 per acre. This, however, presupposes first-class 

 management, and especially first class varieties. 



The apple crop, despite its drawbacks, and insect enemies, is one 

 of the surest that can be cultivated. In central north Missouri, with 

 fair culture, it will not fail once in ten years ; I have not known a season 

 in twenty years where I have not had a fair crop of apples. Nor need 

 there be any apprehension about the demand. The apple is no longer 

 merely a luxury, but of daily and ordinary diet. The apple crop of the 

 United States will soon surpass the potato crop in value, both for man 

 and beast. It has now become a matter of reckoning by farmers and 

 speculators, like the wheat or the corn crops of the land. Attention is 

 increasingly called to the cultivation of the apple for exportation. 

 Many thousands of barrels (400,000 in 1888) annually cross the Atlantic 

 to feed the eager multitudes of London, Liverpool and Glasgow ; and 

 the vast inflow of immigration, eager and hungry fruit consumers, mul- 

 tiplies faster on our west and south than we can increase our orchards. 

 There is therefore every inducement for men of enterprise, pluck and 

 grit, to give the subject of apple culture their earnest regard. 



This magnificent State is rapidly advancing in apple culture. In 

 even ten years from this time we may confidently expect to see it for- 

 ested with healthy, well-appointed orchards — horticulture studied as a 

 science — the State fostering it by its laws and funds — horticultural 



