PRESENT POMOLOGICAL STATUS OF THE OZARK REGION. 21 



of the orchards are within a radius of not over 5 miles from some 

 shipping point. There are very few commercial orchards which are 

 not within 10 miles of a railroad station, hut large areas hi this region 

 are doubtless as well adapted to fruit growing as the sections which 

 have been developed, except that at the present time they are prac- 

 tically inaccessible on account of their distance from railroad facilities. 

 A number of new railroad lines and branches have been constructed 

 within the past few years, thus bringing within the range of possible 

 development for fruit-growing purposes large areas which were 

 previously too remote from railroads to permit of this. 



Many of the town and county roads over which it is necessary to 

 haul the fruit, hi order to reach a railroad point, leave very much to be 

 desired from the standpoint of good roads. On account of the rugged 

 character of much of this region and the abundance of chert and 

 other rocks, the road- are often very rough. In a great many places 

 they are badly washed and gullied. It should be stated, however, 

 that hi and near the towns, as well as in some of the more important 

 rural sections, the roads are, as a rule, fairly good. The crossroads 

 and other less important ones are naturally in worse condition than 

 the average highway that connects points between which there is 

 much travel, but it i> also true that much of the fruit must pass over 

 secondary roads. 



The "road factor'" has a very close and intimate relation to the 

 success of the fruit interests of any region. Its importance is often 

 largely overlooked. 



PRESENT POMOLOGICAL STATUS OF THE OZARK REGION. 



An extended account of the fruit-growing interests as they now 

 exist hi this region is not called for in the present connection, though 

 a few general observations will be of interest to the reader. They will 

 also be of as-istance to him as he considers the discussion of varieties 

 which occurs on subsequent pages. 



The present extent of the apple and peach interests is indicated 

 under "Introduction.*' Numerous relatively small orchards have 

 existed hi practically all sections of this region for many year-, but 

 the extensive commercial development which has occurred during 

 the past 20 or 25 years is generally considered to have had its 

 beginning, at least in southern Missouri, with the planting of the 

 orchards on the Olden Fruit Farm (now the Olden Fruit Co.) at 

 Olden, Mo. In 1885, following the building of the Kansas City. 

 Fort Scott & Memphis branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- 

 road (now operated as a part of the Frisco System), the late Col. 

 J. C. Evans, as the leading spirit of the enterprise', associated with 

 others, made the first plantings on the Olden Fruit Farm, which has 



275 



