48. Worcester county soRTlctJLTtjRAL society. [18?8. 



gist ; electing in preference a system of largess to her unsalaried Com- 

 missions. It cannot be that a competent man is wanting ; — since the 

 Federal Government found one, at the instant, to investigate and re- 

 port upon the Entomology of the Western Plains. Verily, " a prophet 

 "is not without honor, save in his own country:" else, numbering 

 Morse and Packard among her sons, our conceited and often pragmatic 

 Commonwealth could easily find a suitable place wherein to put the 

 right man. 



" There is no royal road to learning," and there would appear to be 

 no immunity from the primeval curse. Even the Horticulturists of 

 California are beginning to realize that the earth will not forever yield 

 spontaneously ; and that the foes to be encountered in its cultivation, 

 will not always confine themselves to the shores of the Atlantic. Says 

 a writer, by the far Pacific : — " It cannot be denied that this is an off 

 "year in fruit in California. We have been so long and so constantly 

 " in the enjoyment of good, almost perfect fruit in this state, that we 

 " are loth to admit that there can possibly be a change — even a tem- 

 " poiary one. Our apples have been growing wormy for a number of 

 " years, and so have our pears ; but this year the pest has gained 

 " a stronger hold on those fruits than ever before. It has come upon 

 " us out of all proportion ; and, instead of taking a few of our apples 

 "and pears, the worms have taken the many this year and left the few 

 " to come to perfection. We trust and hope that it may be owing to 

 " the season, and that such wide-spread destruction will prove only 

 "temporary."' The apostle tells us that "faith is the substance of 

 " things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Call it faith or 

 fiat, whichsoever you prefer, but, all the same, in California or Massa- 

 chusetts, man finds himself powerless to contend, unaided, with the 

 myriads of his Insect-Foes, 



Does anything remain unsaid of the losses to the Pomologist from 

 the depredations of Birds ? Who among you is not personally cog- 

 nizant of them.^ Whether it be the early Peas of Paul Whitin ; the 

 Strawberries and Grapes of Henry Phelps and Frank Kinney; or the 

 Raspberries and Pears of your Secretary and others, the beak of the 

 TuRuus migratorius is ever open, omnipresent, — omnivorous. Nor is 

 this a local, individual prejudice. Professor Beal, of the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, states that "One Sunday, at Adrian, Michigan, 

 " in about eight hours, the robins took five hundred pounds of grapes." 

 He says that " H. D. Adams, of Kalamazoo County, raises about one 



