In many sections of Iowa apples can be grown successfully and profitably In a large way, provided the Industry Is carefully studied and its problems are dealt with correctly.

To furnish a basis for study, to get at the difficulties of orcharding in the state, and to help growers meet them successfully an!l put the industry on a more permanent and profitable basis, the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, In the summers of 1911 and 1912, made a survey of the orchards of :Mills county. This county was chosen because It ranked first In apple production and in the percentage of tillable soil devoted to this crop, although Pottawattamie county had a larger total area of apple orchards. In the survey every phase of orchardlng was investigated and the results are reported In this bulletin, with suggestions for meeting the various problems that arise In the industry, and particularly for saving and restoring old orchards to profitable production.

Whlle this report Is made up of recommendations for the orchards of Mills county it will apply to orchards in all parts of tho:! state. Iowa's rank as a fruit producing state, and the Importance of the Missouri loess as an apple producing soil appear In these tables.