REPORTS OF COUNTY SOCIETIES. 351 



miurns for first and second best of each kind. Our apple crop was 

 short, as I stated to you some time ago, 33 per cent of a crop, the price 

 being good, 35 to 50c a bushel for good shipping kinds. There has 

 been, according to the estimate of a careful shipper who is in a posi- 

 tion to know, close to 8,000 barrels, maybe more, shipped out of the 

 county — money received $10,000 — from the several railroad stations. 

 The strawberry crop was the largest and best in quality of any pre- 

 vious year. The strawberry is grown by many families, and for market, 

 from 1 to 10-acre patches. 



The raspberry and blackberry is now grown by nearly every fam- 

 ily in the county, and much of it for market. I forgot to say how 

 many crates of berries were shipped from here, yet I am not in a posi- 

 tion to say actually. I got a man to make a report who is in a position 

 to know. He says 2,200 crates. The average price received was $2.95. 

 The peaches were good and plenty of them where there were trees. 

 The plums were nearly all wormy. Each year there is a gain in plant- 

 ing fruit trees and berries. 



Our present officers are M. L. Bonham, President; E. Green, vice- 

 President; J. M. Pretzinger, Secretary; H. T. Bevis, Treasurer. Our 

 membership is forty, including some that have not been to our meet- 

 ings this year or paid up their dues. Our regular monthly meetingp 

 are always held the last Saturday of each month. The essays read at 

 the different meetings, or part of them, were on " Stone Fruit," " Home 

 Attractions," " What Kind of Apple for Profit," "Apple Tree Borers," 

 "How to Protect Stone Fruit from Curculio," "On Baspberries," "On 

 Flowers," " Home Decoration," "Attractions for the Society," etc. 



Yours respectfully, 



J. M. Pretzinger, Secretary. 



GASCONADE COUNTY. 



Gasconade City, Mo., Nov. 29, 1889. 

 L. A. Goodman, Secretary, Westport, Mo.: 



Sir — I herewith submit the following report for Gasconade county 

 in regard to fruit-growing: 



SMALL FRUITS. 



To my knowledge there are no small fruits grown for marketing 

 purposes in this county. A great many farmers in our county do not 

 grow enough for the use of their families. However, there is no doubt 



