198 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT ON ORCHARDS. 



BY HENRY SrEER, BUTLER, 



lo the Officers and Members of the Missouri State Horticultural So- 

 ciety : 



As a member of your committee on orchards, I submit the following 

 report : The orchards of this part of the state are in a good healthy con- 

 dition, and have produced the past season a good crop of very fine 

 apples, and have gone into winter quarters in good condition for the 

 coming year. The interest in orchards, (thanks to our horticultural 

 societies) is on the increase, and more trees are being planted from year 

 to year, and many are learning the lesson that in order to have a suc- 

 cessful orchard, cultivation and care is necessary, A few commercial 

 orchards are being planted, but a great majority are family orchards for 

 home use, and these I am sorry to say, are the ones most seriously neg- 

 lected. Some experiments have been made in fighting the Codling moth 

 by spraying with arsenical compounds, which have been generally suc- 

 cessful, very materially reducing the ravages of this pest, and I hope at 

 no distant day we may be able to entirely overcome it. The price of 

 apples has not been very satisfactory, but orchards well cultivated and of 

 the proper varieties have paid their owners very well. The great trouble 

 in most instances has been unprofitable varieties. Our old friend, the 

 Ben Davis, still holds the lead in the minds of most growers, but I have 

 found the past two years in my own neighborhood, and within my own 

 knowledge, that the Willow Twig has been the most profitable apple of 

 all, and I believe it to be one of the very best and safest trees we have, 

 especially on rich heavy soil; but let each study well his own situation of 

 soil, and conditions, and plant accordingly, and intelligent planting and 

 culture will be amply rewarded. The pear this season has been un- 

 usually free from blight, but the crop was very light and very few are 

 being planted. 



The peach in this part of Missouri was a comjilete failure the past 

 season, but the trees made a good growth, and are in good condition for 

 a good crop next year. I have noticed the past season that a fungus 



