The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1905-08-24
THE DARBY
FRUIT FARM.
Bates County Enterprise Little
Know Of Even BY Her
Own Citizens.
One Of the Largest and Best
Kept Fruit Farms in Mis-
souri-440 Acres
22,70O Trees.

Bates county has not been regard
ed as specially a fruit g. elton, though
it is a fact, but little known, that she
has one Of the largest fruit farms In
the whole state.
The Darby Fruit Farm, adjoining
Amoret on the south, has 22,700
apple tress, OF all varieties, covering
440 acres, 8 acres OF peach trees, from
which q good crop was gathered this
fall and 5 acres OF vineyard, which
yielded about 4 900 pounds ofgrapes
this season. This farm contains S37
acres, 100 In tame grass the balance
in grain.
This fruit farm was estab lished by
a company with a large capital about
ten years ago. The management
was not satisfactory for many years,
the stockholders became dissatisfied,
and last fall C. o. Beard, one OF the
principal promoters OF the enterprise
and Philadelphian with his sister,
Mrs. Shakespear, obtained all the
stock. R c. Tune, an experienced
orchard man, OF Northwest Arkan.
sas, was communicated with and in
duced to accept the SUPPLEMENTARY.
He took active charge the 9Th day OF
November, 1904, and has made q
wonderful improvement. He imme-
distely put au army OF men to work
trimming the trees, breaking out the
timothy sod and planting stock peas
and clover, fixed up the fences and re-
paired and painted old buildings and
built new ones. In nine months time
a wonderful change has been effected,
and Dr. Written, OF the experimental
station at Columbia, who visited the
farm three weeks ago, after investi.
eating the management and careful.
~ examining the trees for borers, in |
sects, ETC., pronounces 1t one Of the |
beet kept and finest fruit |
iarmsin the state and said he had no |
suggestions to make as to the man.
agement or treatment OF trees. DR.. |
further said the Bates coun.
ty soil is we'll adapted to fruit cul.
ture.
Two power sprinklers, one run with |
gasoline and the other with com
pressed air, are kept at work. Super
intendent Tune says they have a |
of IS acres day, and they |
have gone completely over the or
chard six times during this season. |
He says he keeps twenty men con-
stantly employed, and his pay roll |
will average one hundred and fifty |
dollars a week. There are twelve
varieties OF apple trees, and Mr. |
Tune says that while this year'scrop
will be light, that the orchard Is be.
Ing brought to q condition to insure
q big crop next season. A reasonably
good crop would bring the owner
$780, and q big crop $4,000. He
said he would plant additional apple
trees this fall to bring the number up
to 25, 900, and the orchard will be
kept at that number.
There are now 7 good houses on
the place. Mr.. Beard built q hand |
some two story, nine room residence
this spring, had 1t piped for water,
with two bath rooms, hot and cold
water, inside closets and a splendid
sewer system, composed OF three
septic tanks, emptying into each
other, the last one arranged with an
syphon, which discharged
the contents over the fields through
tiling. The water and sewer system
alone cost $500. Mr.. Beard
and his sister spent two months on
the farm this summer and expect to
spend part ui each year there.