SECRETARY'S REPORT. 85 



Bartlctt pears, gathered from a single tree, only two were fit to 

 eat, all the rest being perforated through and through by 

 worms. So great is the scarcity of fruit," he continues, " we 

 are obliged to send to France for specimens for our exhibitions, 

 and common apples have been here sold at the exorbitant price 

 of ninety-five francs per sack, or about six dollars per bushel." 

 In respect to the description and habits of insects, injurious 

 to vegetation, we refer to the new illustrated edition of Profes- 

 sor Harris on Entomology, now in course of publication by the 

 Commonwealth, and from whose researches the public have 

 already derived inestimable advantages. 



IX. — Profits of Fruit Culture. 



The question has often been agitated, Can fruits be grown in 

 Massachusetts at a profit ? Your committee answer in the 

 affirmative, premising that the conditions of success are high 

 and judicious cultivation. Our proximity to the markets of 

 large towns and cities, continually multiplying, will, in future 

 years, greatly increase the demand for fruits, especially for 

 those which cannot be brought from more remote places. 



The profits of this crop entitle it to the consideration of 

 legislators, as well as to our fellow-citizens. Any farmer will 

 be convinced of this who compares the value of his fruit with 

 other crops, and who considers how easily he might greatly 

 enhance that value. In confirmation of this opinion we subjoin 

 a few instances within our personal observation, of undoubted 

 authority. 



A farmer in Dorchester, Norfolk County, from thirteen acres 

 of land devoted to apples, pears, peaches and currants, receives 

 annually from $2,500 to -$3,500 for his crop. 



A fruit grower in Roxbury has about one acre devoted to 

 the pear. The oldest trees were planted eighteen years since, 

 but more than half of them within a few years. From two 

 trees, the Dix and Beurrd Diel, he has realized more than one 

 hundred dollars a year, and for the whole crop, over one thou- 

 sand dollars a year. 



Another fruit grower in the vicinity of Boston raises from 

 one acre and one-half of pear trees, $600 to $000 annually of 

 marketable fruit. 



