114 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



at home and abroad, and demand increasing faster than supply, who 

 will dare predict the possibilities that await the " king- of fruits f " 

 When we consider the small 



TERRITORY 



Adapted to profitable production compared with the large one to be sup- 

 plied, the fear of over-production vanishes into thin air. 



The " Dismal swamp " of Virginia, the " Tar " region of North 

 Carolina, the cotton fields of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mis- 

 sissippi, Louisiana and Texas; the everglades of Florida; the irrigat- 

 ing necessity of New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and 

 Nevada ; the mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming ; the exces- 

 sive cold of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin, 

 not to speak of the British Possessions and Alaska on the north, with 

 Mexico, Central America and the republics of South America, together 

 with the Antilles on the south, none of which are favorably adapted to 

 successful apple culture, the thought of over-production seems the 

 veriest chimera. 



THE EEAL APPLE-GROWING 



Eegion of the United States scarcely exceeds 600 miles in width, north 

 and south, and 1,500 miles from east to west, and is covered by New 

 York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, half 

 of Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri — the Ozark regions of the latter 

 two being the paradise of the world for apples. Is it possible for this 

 limited area to supply the ever increasing demand ? 



IMPROVEMENT. 



There are other possibilities for the apple. The improvement in 

 size, quality and beauty in the last 40 years has been great. Are these 

 perfect ? Shall our scientific fruit propagators stop and tell us the 

 acme of perfection has been attained ? Shall we never see any larger 

 than the 20-ounce or Gloria Mundi ? No others with the aroma of 

 Huntsman and W. W. Pear main ? Has perfection in flavor been at- 

 tained ? What may we expect from a scientific crossing of the choicest 

 varieties in the production of new and improved ones as much superior 

 to our best as these are to the best of half century ago. Are the pos- 

 sibilities in these directions exhausted ? Has the limit in size and per- 

 fection in color and quality been attained \ 



PRODUCTION. 



Who can estimate the possibilities of the Ozark region (yet in its 

 infancy in fruit- growing) in its capacity to produce apples i Car loads 



