493 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Passini^ south and west from Moberly you enter Howard. Tliis is 

 one of the Missouri river counties, and is mostly timbered land. 



Nothini^ that I could say, could add to the reputation of Howard, as 

 a fruit growing county; her admitted and recognized position, if not in 

 the lead, is. so near it, that no one would ever make a mistake in locating 

 here, if desirous of growing any of the fruits of this latitude. And 

 what may be said of Howard can also be said of Cooper, the county 

 lying next south and south of the Missouri river, and the same character 

 of soil and general conditions also exist in the Northeastern half of Pet- 

 tis county, lying to the south and west of Cooper. 



BOONVILLE, Mo. February 13, 1889. 



Mr. y. G. Kinder, Nevada, Mo.: 



Dear Sir: — I returned from myGtrip west and now will, in part, 

 answer you letter of Jan. 25th. 



In making out your report, especially for Cooper and Howard coun- 

 ties, you may truthfully say, that climate, location and soil, truly entitles 

 them to be the banner apple counties in the state. I get my infor- 

 mation from what I know from buying apples in the various parts of the 

 state, and I know if our farmers only would pay more attention to plant- 

 ing the right varieties of apples, and take care of the trees, that I would 

 rather have the gain off of the average acreage of apples in Cooper 

 county than any county I know of. From the map you will see how the 

 M. K. & T. comes through our county, and on account of the Missouri 

 Pacific from Tipton and from Lexington it gives us good shipping outlets, 

 especially as soon as the Missouri Pacific will be completed from here to 

 Jefferson City (main line of Missouri Pacific Railroad). 



You may say that one firm (myself) shipped from Boonville 

 last fall over 17,000 barrels of apples; and that we to-day have not one 

 acre where we should have too. Furthermore, land is cheap in Cooper 

 county as compared with other old settled counties, ranging all the way 

 from $10 to $50 per acre. 



We have plenty of good timber, only about half of the county being 

 prairie. P"urthermore, we have plenty of water, and all sorts of minerals, 

 coal, building stone, etc. One mine, four miles west of Boonville, has 



now a shaft into solid cannel coal of forty-five feet. Concerning Howard 

 county please write to R. T. Kingsbury, Estill, Mo. 



Yours truly, 



CHARLES C. BELL. 



