190 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FOURTH SESSION. 



Thursday, January 19th, 9:00 a. m. 



The President: The first subject on our program this 

 morning is "Progress of Fruit Culture in Kearney County," by 

 Mr. D. C. Bliss of Minden. This should have been given yester- 

 day afternoon, but we over ran our time, so we will hear Mr. 

 Bliss now. 



PROGRESS OF FRUIT CULTURE IN 

 KEARNEY COUNTY. 



BY D. C. BLISS, MINDEN. 



Mr. President, andlYiends of Horticulture: I believe this is the 

 :first opportunity that has ever presented itself to me to be with 

 the horticulturists of Nebraska. For that reason it gives me 

 considerable embarrassment to appear before you. In addition 

 to that, I realize there is another cause for embarrassment, 

 which is the fact that horticulturists, their wives and families 

 are considered rather superior in intelligence to the general 

 classes of people we come across. 



Kearney county, lying about 185 miles west of Lincoln, em- 

 bracing Range 13, 14, 15 and 16 West, the northern limit extend- 

 ing to the Platte river, and the southern boundary within 

 twenty miles of the Republican river, consisting mostly of a 

 level table land, with a rich deep soil, is preeminently an agri- 

 cultural district. 



Agriculture and horticulture are so nearly allied that they 

 should go hand in hand, that where aU kinds of produce are 

 successfully grown from year to year, more attention should be 

 given to the growing of fruit and other trees. 



All kinds of produce, wheat, corn and oats, have but once in 

 twenty years proved a failure. 



The year 1894, not only in Kearney county, but largely through 

 the state owing to the extreme drouth, was generally known as 



