Bureau of Agbicultuee. 121 



The horticultural exhibit of the Kentucky State Fair 

 is undoubtedly one of the greatest factors in educating 

 the people of Kentucky, and other States as -well, to the 

 importance of orcharding as an industry. It emphasizes 

 the fact that this year Kentucky grew over twelve mil- 

 lion bushels of apples, an amount greater than the com- 

 bined production of the widely heralded States of Wash- 

 ington and Oregon. 



The purpose of the fruit exhibit at the State Fair is 

 two-fold. The first aim is to aid the fruit growers of the 

 State to produce better apples and to market them in a 

 way that will do credit to the State. Here the growers 

 see and learn what good fruits really are. Fruit from 

 every part of Kentucky was on exhibition and a great 

 deal of valuable information was picked up by the va- 

 rious exhibitors in discussing their methods of produc- 

 tion. Fruit from Eastern Kentucky competed with fruit 

 from Henderson and Paducah, and it is Mghly gratifying 

 to the officials in charge to know that the premiums for 

 the most part were well distributed. For a number of 

 years exhibitors from Henderson and Louisville captured 

 the lion's share of the premiums. Lately a change has 

 been noticed and every year the premiums are becoming 

 more widely distributed. This is due in a large measure 

 to the vigorous educational campaign conducted by the 

 institute forces of the State Department of Agriculture 

 and the Extension Division of the Kentucky State Uni- 

 versity. 



The second purpose of the horticultural exhibit is to 

 impress the public with the idea that Kentucky can pro- 

 duce as good apples as grow in any other section, and 

 for the most part better apples so far as flavor and keep- 

 ing quality are concerned. The fruit exhibit does much to 

 impress the general public that Kentucky can produce 

 choice fruit at five or ten cents less than the northwest, 

 and can market these at a saving of 30c to 35c per bushel. 



Apples by no means constitute the whole exhibit. 

 Splendid displays of peaches, especially from Jefferson 

 and Bullitt counties, always attract a great deal of atten- 

 tion. Although the grape display was small, the quality 

 was imusually good. The department owes a great deal 



