president's address. 257 



changed hands at moderate prices, which were succeeded in from sixty 

 to ninety days by rates raising from $2.50 to $3.50 per barrel. 



Our exhibit at Omaha in September, while far below the stand- 

 ard we hope to attain in future years, was reported by the correspond- 

 ent of the Orange Judd Farmer as tlie best exhibit yet seen at any 

 state fair in the west. With an increasing membership and a widen- 

 ing number of exhibitors to draw from, we feel confident that our ex- 

 hibit iu 1896 will far surpass any yet made. 



Over the greater portion of the state we have suffered from a lack 

 of sufficient rainfall, compelling us to study more closely, year by 

 year, such preparations of the soil, and methods of obtaining and con- 

 serving moisture, as shall give success in our work. We have listened 

 this afternoon to practical men who demonstrated how cheaply and 

 effectively to secure the water needed, through ditches and by use of 

 windmills and reservoirs. Doubtless we are entering upon a large 

 and practical application of these methods. It is estimated by the 

 close of the current year more than one million acres in the state of 

 Nebraska will be under constructed lines of ditches. Many will make 

 use of windmills and reservoirs in securing needed moisture for or- 

 chards and gardens. So successfully have our American inventors 

 applied themselves to these problems that the expense of raising and 

 storing water has been very materially lessened. In the near future 

 it will be practicable, I believe, to secure and store by these methods 

 an abundance of water for orchards, gardens, and lawns. For many 

 years to come, no doubt, the majority of our orchardists will rely on 

 the cheaper and more convenient method of preparing the soil for stor- 

 ing moisture with the plow, and retaining it by use of the cultivator. 

 It is our privilege to listen this evening to those who will explain the 

 necessary process. 



Seasons like tiie last greatly emphasize the value of cold storage. 

 To place choice fruit in cold storage usually carries it forward to a 

 time when it realizes in market an advance of fifty to one hundred 

 per cent. In October good winter apples sold in the orchards at from 

 thirty-five to fifty cents per bushel, selling since December 15 at from 

 eighty cents to one dollar and twenty cents per bushel. One of our 

 Lincoln firms packed twenty-five thousand barrels. In our own expe- 

 rience we have found that closing the cellars during warm days and 

 opening them for ventilation on cold nights has enabled us to keep 



