MISSOURI 



1357 



' Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 



Missouri 



Missouri has more apple trees of bear- 

 ing age than any other state in the 

 Union. This is because the Ozarlc region, 

 in the southern part, seemed several 

 years ago to be especially adapted to 

 fruits, and was too rough for general 

 farming as carried on in the leveler sec- 

 tions around it. The apple tree grew 

 well, seemed well adapted and for a time 

 brought large profits to the producers. 

 The result was that thousands of acres 

 of apple trees were planted, some of 

 them without a knowledge of soil condi- 

 tions or of how to produce the best com- 

 mercial varieties. Some of the orchards 

 have therefore proved to be disappoint- 

 ing, not because of any natural insur- 

 mountable barriers, but because of a lack 

 of adaptation of varieties, and improper 

 methods of work. 



Missouri has an area of 69,415 square 

 miles. The Missouri river divides the 

 state into two parts, north and south, 

 flowing in an easterly direction, from its 

 junction with the Kansas river at Kan- 

 sas City, to its junction with the Mis- 

 sissippi river, 12 miles above St. Louis. 



The surface of the northern part of 

 the state is undulating, in some parts 

 broken and hilly, well watered, with 

 skirts of timber along the bluffs and 

 streams interspersed with fertile prairies, 

 the soil of which is for the most part al- 

 luvial, with a strong admixture of vege- 

 table matter. 



The southern portion is much more 

 uneven, containing a considerable per- 

 centage of high table lands, low lands 

 that in order to be brought under cul- 



tivation must be drained, and fertile 

 ridges and hills rising to the dignity of 

 mountains. These mountains extend into 

 Arkansas and Oklahoma and rise from 

 1,200 to 1,700 feet above the margins and 

 from 1,700 to 2,100 feet above the level 

 of the sea. The elevation gives a cooler 

 temperature than the same latitudes on 

 the lower lands, furnishes protection from 

 the cold winds from the north, and gives 

 air drainage which tends to protect the 

 buds from the early spring frosts to 

 which this region is somewhat subject. 



Missouri has a medium climate, favor- 

 able for the growing of apples, peaches, 

 pears, plums, cherries, apricots, prunes, 

 grapes, strawberries and other fruits com- 

 mon to a temperate climate. 



The soil of the Ozark region, where the 

 commercial apples are mostly grown, con- 

 tains a considerable amount of clay, 

 which is chiefly silica, aluminum, with 

 carbonates of lime, magnesium, gypsum 

 and iron. 



The Ozark region is geologically a re- 

 gion of decided uplift and forms a dome- 

 like elevation which is bowed up from the 

 Missouri river to the Red river in Ar- 

 kansas and from the Mississippi river to 

 Oklahoma. The red clays have a consid- 

 erable mixture of iron and these are con- 

 sidered best for general farming as well 

 as for fruits. In some places there is a 

 substratum of rock near the surface 

 which renders it impossible for the trees 

 to obtain sufficient nourishment, but this 

 is not against the region in general. It 

 only shows the importance of wisely se- 

 lecting a site for an orchard. 



The census of 1900 showed that Mis- 

 souri had 20.0040,399 bearing apple trees. 



