THE HoRTieaLTfeiRAL EXHIBIT. 



fill ANY exhibits of great value and interest were to be seen 



/ 1 at the great Columbian Exposition which has just closed ; 



^ but it is safe to say that no one exhibit interested the 



people more than that of fruits, plants, and flowers to be found 



in the Horticultural building. 



To the horticulturist the exhibit was peculiarly interest- 

 ing, for it gave him the opportunity to study the effects of dif- 

 ferent soils and climate upon the well-known standard varieties 

 of fruits. For example, the Yellow Belleflower apple, grown 

 in the several states of New York, Minnesota, Arkansas, and 

 the irrigated valleys of Colorado and Oregon, were hardly 

 to be recognized as the same variety, except by the expert. 

 While there was such a great variation in the color, size, and 

 appearance of the fruit there were also as radical differences in 

 the taste, texture, and keeping qualities when grown in these 

 widely different localities of the country. It emphasizes most 

 strongly the fact that each state, and not alone each state, but 

 each locality, must determine for itself what varieties are 

 best adapted to its particular soil and climate. As demon- 

 strated at this exhibit there are certain varieties of fruit which 

 will succeed over a much wider range of territory than will 

 some other varieties which seem to require a certain kind of 

 soil in order to reach their greatest perfection. 



The hardy winter apple of the Northern States becomes a 

 summer or fall apple when grown in Arkansas, or even in 

 Southern Illinois; and although hardy in Minnesota, may be 

 subject to blight and early decay in a more southern latitude. 

 The exhibit of new varieties of fruit, and especially of apples, at 

 the Exposition may do much to secure, after necessary time 

 for testing has elapsed, many varieties heretofore unknown 

 that will be of great value. To those localities which have 

 now a few varieties only that do well, this fruit exhibit may 

 prove of great value in bringing to the notice of fruit growers 

 many new kinds which if placed in the experiment stations of 



