192 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of a certain department of the work, he is sure to take care of it and 

 make it pay. 



In our commercial orchards and in our new varieties, we find the 

 promise of our profession. If we can induce our members to plant 

 good, large commercial orchards, of 40, 60 or 100 acres, of a few varie- 

 ties, take care of them, and not starve the trees by growing crops con- 

 tinually on the ground, my word for it, when he gets a crop of fruit by 

 the thousands of bushels, he will find buyers plenty to buy them and 

 money plenty to reward him. 



In Missouri we are no whit behind others in the development of 

 new varieties among all these fruits. Strawberries, we have a number 

 from our old friend Sam'l Miller, of Bluffton; raspberries and black- 

 berries from a number of our members, until now we have certain va- 

 rieties which are planted exclusively, such, for instance, as the Hop- 

 kins, by the 10 or 20 acres, and they are the ruoit profitable of any 

 other variety. Not long since I found on one of the southern farms a 

 blackberry vine without a thorn : suppose it should turn out to be as 

 good as Snyder, what a boon we should have. 



In grapes we have hundreds of new varieties, and it not be long 

 ere we can grow grapes like the grapes of Kelly Island. We have 

 the names of Geo. Hussman, Jacob Rommel, H. Yeager, I. Busch, G. 

 E. Meissner, who are using or have been using every effort to reach 

 the end in view. 



Among the apples we have hundreds of earnest investigators who 

 have and are now bringing forth the old and the new varieties into such 

 notice as to attract attention. The Gano, Shackleford, Babbitt, Clay- 

 ton, York Imperial, Howell, Holman and a number of new seedlings are 

 being found all over the Ozark region, until we hope some day to show 

 you an apple as large as Rome Beauty, as handsome as Lawver, as good 

 as Jonathan, as hardy as Romanite and as productive and early a bearer 

 as Ben Davis. 



Lastly, what will our future be ? An era of specialties. Each one 

 of our affairs are becoming so important, and each one takes so much 

 special work that, you cannot find the man who will or can do all them 

 successfully. 



In studying our insect life, we want an entomologist who can 

 devote his entire time and energy to this special work. Why, there are 

 whole nations of insect people among our insects whom we do not even 

 know; we have whole tribes and states of them who are our friends, 

 and whole armies of them who will fight our foes if we but will marshal 

 their forces and show them the enemy. He is the best general who 

 can and will use all his reserve force when needed. Let us then use 

 these insect mites to help fight our battles. 



