FRUIT EXHIBIT. 



I HE exhibit of Illinois fruits at the World's Columbian Ex- 

 ^ position in Horticultural Hall was made under the direc- 

 tion of the members of the Executive Board of the State Hor- 

 ticultural Society, the expense being paid from an appropriation 

 made by the Legislature, which became available on the first 

 day of May, 1893. 



Previous to that date the State Horticultural Society had 

 decided to make an exhibit of fruits, if possible to secure 

 funds; and to that end had, during the previous fall, gathered 

 from all sections of the State, about a hundred barrels of the 

 leading varieties of apples, placing them in cold storage, with 

 which to make a beginning. 



On the first of May the Illinois tables were covered with a 

 very creditable display of apples, consisting of 800 plates, 

 which was renewed from time to time as required, and extended 

 as the crop of 1893 developed and ripened. 



Although the bloom on Illinois orchards gave promise of 

 an abundant yield during April and May of 1893, a few weeks 

 sufficed to show that the crop of apples was to be almost a 

 complete failure throughout the State, and though here and 

 there a few exceptions may exist, the failure was the most dis- 

 astrous ever known. Cherries and plums, to a large extent, 

 met the same fate, but a moderate crop of peaches, a few pears, 

 and a fair yield of grapes remained to cheer the grower. 



During the season of small fruits the tables bore ample 

 evidences of the superiority of Illinois sc*il for their production, 

 and there was also a creditable showing of cherries and plums. 



The king of fruit, however, is the apple, and in spite of 

 the general failure in Illinois no other state was able to excel, 

 or even equal, the exhibit which the Illinois tables daily pre- 

 sented to the visitor during the first four months of the Fair. 

 Shipments were received every day fresh from the orchards 

 and vineyards to make good the loss by decay. 



We believe that every citizen of the State feels a pride in 



