2198 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



the attention of many prominent Missouri horticultur- 

 ists. In this connection should be mentioned the work 

 of Engelmann in the classification of the grape and 

 the work in grape-breeding by Judge Miller, Jacob 

 Rommel, Herman Jaeger and many others, including 

 the contributions of Dr. Stayman, whose initial work 

 began in Missouri. This state will be remembered as 

 the home of the Soulard crab, and seedlings of this 

 hjbrid are now being grown which promise to bring 

 its stock to an important place in our cultivated 

 varieties. 



While horticulture is already one of the leading 

 interests of Missouri, the possibilities of the state in 

 that direction have not yet been even approximated. 

 While many of our pioneer orchards were located on 

 soils and sites not well adapted to fruit, still only a small 

 proportion of the soil which has been proved beyond a 

 doubt to be splendidly adapted to profitable orcharding 

 and berry-growing has as yet been cultivated. In 

 recent years, however, steps in advance are rapidly 

 being taken. The best growers are planting varieties of 

 the finer types of dessert fruit, instead of clinging to the 

 commercial varieties of mediocre quality which first 

 made the state famous as an apple section. For the 

 most part, men who are making money out of their 

 orchards and fruit plantations today are those with 

 smaller areas well cared for and whose enterprise has 

 not come to notice outside the state. New varieties 

 better adapted to local conditions are being originated. 

 Our native fruits and nuts are receiving attention and 

 improved varieties of these are already the result. One 

 of the problems confronting the early orchardist was the 

 fact of our comparatively mild but changeable winters. 

 Northern varieties were often forced into early bloom 

 before danger of spring frosts was over. Varieties like 

 the Ingram apple mentioned above are now being 

 introduced which possess a more persistent rest period 

 and escape spring frosts. The horticulture of the state 

 is rapidly rounding into a stable condition and bids 

 fair to reach very important proportions. 



Public-service agencies for horticulture. 



The College of Agriculture was established in 1870, 

 as a department of the State University at Columbia. 

 Of the agricultural college staff five members devote 

 their time to giving instruction in horticulture. In 

 addition two or three special assistants, usually 

 advanced students, are employed during the summer to 

 conduct orchard demonstrations in spraying, pruning, 

 harvesting, packing, and so on, in the various fruit- 

 growing districts of the state. 



The Experiment Station is also located at Columbia 

 as a department of the State University. Four mem- 

 bers of its staff devote their tune to horticultural 

 Eroblems. Between forty-five and fifty horticultural 

 ulletins have been published, giving the results of 

 investigation work to date (1915). In addition a large 

 number of circulars and press bulletins have been sent 

 out. 



The Missouri Fruit Experiment Station is located at 

 Mountain Grove. It was established by legislative 

 enactment in 1899. The working staff consists of a 

 director and horticulturist, a pathologist and an ento- 

 mologist. This institution is rendering splendid service 

 to the horticultural interests of the state by conducting 

 demonstration work in spraying, pruning and other 

 phases of orchard-management in the fruit centers and 

 also through investigation work which is being done at 

 the station. 



The Missouri Botanical Garden, located in St. Louis 

 and richly endowed by the will of the late Henry Shaw, 

 maintains a school for training students in horticulture. 

 Five state normal schools, located at Cape Girardeau, 

 Kirksville, Maryville, Springfield and Warrensburg 

 respectively, give teachers courses in agriculture and 

 horticulture. Lincoln Institute, a state school for 



negroes, located at Jefferson City, gives instruction in 

 agriculture and horticulture. 



The State Department of Education and the public 

 schools early took a leading part in introducing the 

 study of agriculture and of horticulture. The teaching 

 of agriculture and horticulture is required in all the 

 rural schools of the state. Legislative enactment pro- 

 vides state aid for high-schools which maintain specified 

 equipment, grounds and courses of study in agriculture 

 and horticulture. At present (1915) there are about 

 450 high-schools in the state which are fulfilling this 

 requirement for state aid. 



The Missouri State Horticultural Society, estab- 

 lished in 1859, has held annual meetings for a period of 

 more than fifty years. Fruit exhibits as well as papers 

 and addresses by leading horticultural talent are a 

 feature of these meetings. 



The State Board of Horticulture was established by 

 the state legislature in 1907 to promote the interests 

 of fruit-growing in Missouri. In 1913 the Board pub- 

 lished a census of all the commercial orchards of the 

 state. 



Several of the above agencies conduct extension work 

 in horticulture. The Missouri Fruit Experiment Station 

 conducts practical demonstrations. The department 

 of horticulture at the State University gives extension 

 instruction in horticulture through extension short 

 courses. In cooperation with the county superintend- 

 ents of schools, the University conducts boys' and girls' 

 contests in such work as tomato-growing and potato- 

 growing. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census). 



The approximate land area in 1910 was 43,985,280 

 acres. The land in farms was 34,591,248 acres, or 78.6 

 per cent of the land area. Of the land in farms 24,581,- 

 186 acres were improved; 8,918,972 acres were in wood- 

 land; and 1,091,090 acres was other unimproved land in 

 farms. The total number of farms in 1910 was 277,244. 

 The average acreage a farm was 124.8. [The total area 

 of Missouri is 69,420 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops of Missouri are cereals, 

 hay and forage, with cotton and sugar crops secondary 

 in importance. The acreage of cereals was 10,423,745 

 in 1899 and 10,255,476 in 1909, when the value of the 

 products was $147,980,414, which was 67.1 per cent of 

 the total value of all crops. Hay and forage increased 

 in acreage from 3,481,506 in 1899 to 3,628,348 in 1909, 

 when the value of the products was $33,845,094. Cotton 

 increased in acreage from 45,596 in 1899 to 96,527 in 

 1909, an increase of 111.7 per cent, when the value of the 

 production was $3,978,295. Sugar crops increased in 

 acreage from 30,997 in 1899 to 45,268 in 1909, when the 

 production was valued at $1,039,168. The value of the 

 forest products of farms was $8,406,823 in 1909, aa 

 compared with $4,442,131, their value in 1899. 



Horticultural crops grown in Missouri are fruits and 

 nuts, small-fruits, vegetables including potatoes, and 

 flowers and plants and nursery products. The value of 

 the fruits and nuts produced in 1909 was $7,111,279, as 

 compared with $3,278,840 in 1899. The acreage of 

 small-fruits increased from 14,860 in 1899 to 17,009 

 in 1909, when the production was 23,696,221 quarts, 

 valued at $1,761,409. In 1909, the total acreage of 

 potatoes and other vegetables was 233,767 and their 

 value $13,305,829. Excluding potatoes and sweet 

 potatoes and yams, the acreage of vegetables was 

 129,570, and their value $8,268,281, the acreage and 

 value being an increase of 11.5 per cent and 49.1 per 

 cent, respectively, over the acreage and value in 1899. 

 The acreage devoted to flowers and plants and nursery 

 products decreased from 3,152 in 1899 to 2,842 in 1909, 

 when the value of the products was $1,183,297. 



The total production of orchard fruits in 1909 was 

 11,957,339 bushels, valued at $6,582,578. Apples 

 contributed about five-sixths of this production, and 



