THE CANKER-WORM. 223 



think these are the two reasons why our pear trees die out : 

 that Von Mom's method of raising enfeebles the stock, and that 

 cutting off the tap root shortens the life of the tree. 



Mr. Oliver. Do I understand you to recommend the raising 

 of apple trees rather than other fruit ? 



Mr. Ives. I say it is a better fruit for the farmer to raise ; it 

 is more profitable. 



Mr. Oliver. What shall the farmer do with the canker- 

 worm ? 



Mr. Ives. I think we shall get rid of the canker-worm. It 

 has been going from one place to another. Down here on the 

 Merrimack, I think, it is only on one side of the river. 



Mr. Oliver. Has the canker-worm got twenty miles from 

 the seacoast into the interior ? 



Mr. Ives. I cannot say ; I only know that it is in Michigan. 

 A former Secretary of the Michigan Society took out a tree- 

 protector, because he wanted to see if he could not find some 

 way to get rid of the canker-worm. 



Mr. Oliver. Are you sure ? 



Mr. Flint. There is no doubt that the canker-worm is more 

 than forty miles from the seacoast in this State. 



Mr. Ives. I was very glad to hear Mr. Clement speak of the 

 Early Sweet Bough. I consider that the best early sweet apple 

 we are cultivating. The number of synonyms that apple has 

 shows its value. After having had that apple in my grounds 

 for a number of years, and found it very fine indeed, I went 

 into New Hampshire, and a man told me he had a sweet apple 

 that surpassed everything. He described it as very large and 

 fine indeed. He called it the Washington Sweeting ; but when 

 I came to compare it with the Early Sweet Bough, I found it 

 the same. 



Mr. Dodge. I know of no tree that is so exempt from the 

 ravages of insects and the other drawbacks that attend the plum, 

 the cherry and the peach, as the pear-tree. It has a leaf that 

 hardly anything will take, except the web-worm, and that is 

 easily managed in the fall of the year. These drawbacks seem 

 to increase as the cultivation of trees extends. No doubt a 

 great many of these insects and diseases we have imported with 

 our trees ; but here we have them, and a great many men 

 feel disheartened, and are ready to sit down and fold their hands 



