STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 125 



WHAT SHALL WE DO TO INCREASE THE PROFITS OF FRUIT 



CULTURE IX MAINE ? 



By Henry A. Sprague. 



I can think of only two ways to do this : First, to grow more or 

 l)etter fruit ; and, second, to get a better price for our fruit. 



To raise more and better fruit would not increase our profits, un- 

 less the increase be raised at a cost which will leave a margin for 

 profit ; but if we can secure a large increase both in the quantity and 

 <iuality of our fruit without any additional expense, an increase of 

 our profits will evidently follow. 



And this I think we can do, if we will. A large proportion of 

 our fruit is either destroyed or injured by insects. There probabl}' 

 are no insects in the world which are not preyed upon by bird, beast, 

 reptile or insect enemies ; and where human agenc}' has not inter- 

 fered to destroy the balance between the different classes, insect in- 

 juries are few. To take away the cause — or possibly to assist na- 

 ture, in some instances, to restore equilibrium — is all we can do, 

 and will in most cases be sufficient. What we farmers should do is 

 to come to the front, as our leaders in the grange tell us, and assert 

 our rights and demand greater protection for our purely insectivor- 

 ous birds and other animals. The grange has been successful in 

 some of its demands on the Legislature ; why should it not in this? 

 •In regard to the price of fruit, what can we do to make that any 

 •better? Nothing, unless the grange helps us, but through that we 

 should demand as much import duty on Canadian apples as the Ca- 

 nadian Government charges us, when our trees yield a better crop 

 ^han those of the Dominion. 



And now, perhaps a few notes on the progress of fruit culture in 

 this county will be of interest to some. All varieties of apples and 

 pears at present under cultivation wintered safely, and would have 

 produced a fair crop of apples but for the extreme dry season of 

 1886, which reduced the apples in size very much. A few pear 

 trees produced a little fruit, making it appear probable that when 

 full bearing age arrives pears may be a profitable crop in this county. 

 Four Shaffer rasj^berries, all I had of that variety, wintered perfectly 

 without protection, while two Nemaha growing beside them were 

 |)ractically destroyed. From my limited experience with the Shafl^er, 



