132 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The red and the white elms are plentiful and grow rapidly. 



Soft maple and the willows are very plenty on the bottoms, and' 

 scattering hard maples are found among the hills. 



The lindeu is natural to our soil. 



Box elder, mulberry, Kentucky coffee tree, hackberry, sycamore, 

 wild cherry, honey locust, black and white hickories, ash and buckeye. 

 Among the smaller trees or shrubs are iron wood, paw paw, red bud, 

 black haw, red haw, sumac, three varieties, wahoo, white thorn, prickly 

 ash, elder, dogwood, hazel, ivy, grape vines in variety, etc., etc. 



THE WINTER OF 1884-5 



Was a very cold one and the hardest on fruit trees of any ever known 

 here for half a century. Following that came the great drouth of 

 1885-86 and '87. Each season was drier than the one that preceded it,. 

 and only very severe winters came after each summer of drouth. 

 Very old apple orchards were fearfully injured, and bearing peach or- 

 chards were mostly nearly wiped out. Berry patches were but little 

 hurt by the winters, but in both '86 and '87 the raspberries were in- 

 ferior and the blackberries dried on the bushes. Such a series of bad 

 years had never been since the country was settled fifty years ago, nor 

 any such single year as either one of the last two years of the drouth;, 

 nor is it at all likely that such another time will visit our region inside 

 the next century. 



As to the profitableness of apple growing here, allow me to refer 

 you to the annual reports of our State Horticultural society made during 

 the last few years, and more particularly to that for the year 1888, p. 216* 

 There you will find facts, figures, names and dates, localities, varieties 

 and style of handling. I have not been able to learn from the old set- 

 tlers that there was ever a total failure of apples. Many years the 

 crop has been very heavy ; most years a full crop ; and only one year 

 has it been estimated as low as one-fourth of a fall crop. The average 

 price of winter apples has been about the same as that of wheat. The 

 results of apple raising here for a generation and a half have given the 

 people confidence in the business, and apple trees are being planted on 

 a large scale. One hundred thousand acres of Holt county should be 

 used for apple orchards. 



PEACHES 



Were very profitable on the average from the time the first trees bore 

 until and including the year 1882. Since then, killing of the blossom 

 buds by winter extremes has taken place five 3 ears of the eight, and 

 the trees were badly injured by three of the winters. Few persons are 

 now planting many peach trees; though people still keep planting 



