Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1907 — IN THE OZARKS. [ARTICLE]

IN THE OZARKS.

The growing of Applet le Now a Very Important Induatry. The growing of apples in the Ozarks has within comparatively recent years become a very important Industry, and in that region are to be found some of the largest apple orchards of the country, in some Instances covering from 500 to 1,000 acres. As a rule, however, the orchards are much smaller, ranging from 40 to 100 acres. Principal Commercial Varictiea. The principal commercial varieties grown, as given by the bureau of plant Industry, are Ben Davis, Gano, Jonathan and Winesap, the Ben Davis and Gano varieties predominating. Trees are generally planted a£out thirty feet apart and come Into* bearing early, usually iff* from six to eight years. Growth Is fairly vigorous, but trees do not as a rule reach large size, in part due to their early bearing. Many orchards have not had adequate cultivation, but have been permitted to grow up in shrubs, weeds and briers. The effect of this neglect was generally apparent during 1906, the crops In neglected orchards being very light or there being no crop, whereas In well cared for orchards the yield has Invariably been good. Diseases and Insects. As a rule sufficient attention has not been given to the control of diseases and insects, and under such conditions these have become quite abundant and destructive. While numerous orchardIsts have supplied themselves with spraying outfits and have sprayed their trees, many very soon abandoned the practice, not having secured satisfactory results. The principal difficulty appears to have been lack of Information concerning the troubles to be controlled and failure to comprehend what constitutes thorough spraying.