Leading Apple Regions of the United States 55 



two counties, Benton and Washington, situated in the ex- 

 treme northwestern part of the state. Madison, Boone, 

 Carroll and Crawford counties in Arkansas are of much 

 less importance. Bentonville and Eogers in Benton 

 County, and Springdale and Lincoln in Washington 

 County are important apple centers in Arkansas. 



In Missouri the commercial apple plantings of the 

 Ozarks continue from the extreme southwestern part of 

 the state, along the Frisco Railway to the northeast as 

 far as Crawford County. Lawrence, Greene, followed by 

 Xewton, Barry, Webster and Howell, are the most impor- 

 tant Missouri counties in the Ozark region. Marionville 

 in Lawrence County is the center of the best orchard sec- 

 tion in southern Missouri. Orchards in the vicinity of 

 this town illustrate the possibilities to be attained in the 

 Ozark region. 



Probably no other commercial apple district in the 

 United States has suffered such a loss in trees as has 

 the Ozark since 1910. Conservative estimates place the 

 loss at more than 50 per cent, much of which has been 

 due to blister-canker. With such conditions prevailing, 

 one is not surprised in finding two very divergent types 

 of orchards. There are the old, neglected dying orchards 

 which have received practically no care while in some 

 com in unities a revival of interest has brought many or- 

 chards into a high state of cultivation and profitable bear- 

 ing. In such counties as Texas in the extreme southern 

 part of Missouri are orchards which look almost like virgin 

 forests, branches interlock, trees are unsprayed, unpruned 

 and uncared for. The price of the land is established by 

 its value for general crops, less the cost of removing the 

 neglected trees. 



