220 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In reading past volumes of your excellent reports, kindly furnished 

 me by friend Holman, I find so far that your chief discussions have been 

 on varieties and markets; and as commercial fruit and tree growing has 

 been, and is to be for some time to come, your chief concern, will 

 you please put the question, what apple will supersede the Ben Davis as 

 -a commercial fruit? 



If 1 were there to speak to this question, I would remark, that 

 while the Ben Davis and Willow, as grown in your latitude, are not bad 

 to take in the several ways of culinary art, they must more and more 

 take a back seat in the top o' the market, or at least must be supple- 

 mented by something like the old Greening and Spitzenberg, for choice 

 eating and cooking. Will Grimes, Jonathan, Roman Stem, Rome 

 Beauty, or any of the newer apples come in here ? 



In fact, you need some addition to both lists, for the market de- 

 mands variety as well as quality. When the Concord is discarded 

 from the grape list for general culture, then will Ben Davis be dropped 

 from the commercial list for the Southwest. Both, or others of their 

 class, will always form the bulk of the fruit grown for the general market, 

 for they can be put on the market for less money. Everywhere the 

 very choicest fruits are correspondingly delicate, and most subject to 

 outside troubles in their growth. But as I have said, you should and 

 you can grow apples to compete in the northern markets with Michi- 

 gan, Ohio and New York. The rich and populous states and cities of 

 the Northwest will be ultimately your best market, and so you do 

 well to look diligently and perseveringly for better things in the apple 

 line. Where are they to come from ? 



YOUR OWN SEEDLINGS. 



While you may get some help from the north, the chances are one 

 hundr< d fold in favor of your own latitude, or south of you in the apple- 

 growing regions of Arkansas, or west in Kansas, for new varieties of 

 value to you. This is in harmony with known facts, and sustained by 

 reasons I cannot here bring up. 



I say west and not east, because the west has in its pomology the 

 best elements of all the east, from which to cross-breed and develop 

 the best, under western climative influences, and so the chances are so 

 much the better for local adaptation. 



Another great question with you, as everywhere now, is the grow- 

 ing ascendancy of insect and fungoid destroyers. 



The present year has been one of signal failure and disappointment 

 from these two causes over a large part of the old apple-growing dis- 

 tricts of our country. From the prospect of a large crop in early sum- 



