}56 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MISSOURI A GREAT FRUIT STATE 



Missouri a c^rcat Iriiit state ? Missouri makes a c^reat show of fruit 

 such as has never before been equaled ? That cannot be. I know 

 Missouri is a great state, and ranks among the first in the production 

 of corn, wheat, oats, hay, mules, horses, hogs, cattle and sheep ; but for 

 fruits we must go to Pomona's realm among the orange groves of Cali- 

 fornia and Florida ; the peach orchards of Delaware and Michigan, and 

 the apple orchards of New York, and the region around the great lakes. 

 Doubtless Missouri grows considerable fruit for home consumption, but 

 it cannot be expected that the state can produce fruit sufficient in quan- 

 tity, or good enough in quality to compete with the products of locali- 

 ties more favored in soil and climate for fruit-growing. The foregoing 

 expresses very nearly the opinion held by the general public regarding 

 Missouri as a horticultural state. Those who have studied the natural 

 advantages and resources of the state know that altogether too low an 

 estimate is put on them in this particular as well as in others. They 

 know that in no like area on the continent is there more fertile soil, or 

 that which, from its diversified character, is adapted to a wider range of 

 products than in Missouri. They know too, and the fact should be 

 patent to anyone who will glance at a United States map, that Mis- 

 souri's geographical location is such as to give her an unequaled climate. 

 Far enough south to escape the effects of the northern blizzards, her 

 northern line marks in that direction the limit of successful apple cul- 

 ' ture. Her southern counties do not extend into the region of too great 

 and enervating heat, and between her southern line and the Ozark 

 mountains is the future great peach country of the world. On the hill- 

 side and mountain crest of Southeast Missouri, on the rich prairies of 

 Southwest Missouri, which extend to and across the northern part of the 

 state ; along the 400 miles of Missis'^ippi river shore on the eastern 

 line of the state, and the 400 miles of Missouri river that flows along 

 the northwestern line and through the center of the state ; upon almost 

 every one of the 69,000 square miles of Missouri land, fruit can be 

 grown in profusion and of a quality unsurpassed. 



It has been a long struggle to make these facts known, not only to 

 home-seekeis from other States, but even to our own people, to con- 



