Vol. VIII.— No. 44. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



347 



Proceedings of the Massachusetts, HoriicuUural So- 

 ciety — Continued. 



Philadelphia, March 2, 1830. 

 Sir — I luivu tlie i)leiisiii"e to send you a copy 

 of die N.ition.'il Cjiizette, coiitaininj,' a letter ail- 

 (licsseil to ilic lloiticiiltiirai Soi-icty of Pei iisylva- 

 nia, bv a patriotic lady of New Jersey, on llie de- 

 struction of frnit hy insects, and proposing a pre- 

 minin for tlie discovery of a method to arrest llie 

 great and increasinf; evil, A subscription, in aid 

 of the iireniiuui, will certainly be made in tins city 

 but I am not prepared tii stata tin; amount. In 

 tlie meantime I will tliank you to bring llie sub- 

 ject before the Massachusetts Uojticultural So- 

 ciety, and to favor the Pemisylvaiiia. Society with 

 their sentiments on it, as speedily as p(is?ible. 

 I am very respectfiillv, 



j.\i\ies"meask. 



Vice I'ns. Hort. Soc. Pa. 

 Jacob Bigki.ow, Es(). 



Cor. .s'tr. Ma'S. Ilorl. .s'^riW;/. 



To the Friends of Horticulture in the United Slates. 



A patriotic lady in New Jersey, to whom Hor- 

 ticulture is under great obligations, has addressed 

 the following letter to a member of the Horticul- 

 tural Society of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of 

 being laid before it, on the insects which destroy 

 the produce of some of our fruit trees, and pro- 

 poses a large premium for the discovery of a rem- 

 edy for this great and increasing evil. The So- 

 ciety, fully sensible of the important nature of the 

 letter, appointed a committee to report thereon ; 

 to corresi)ond with other Horticultural Societies on 

 the subject ; and to endeavor to procure all the 

 information in their power in relation to the means 

 of preserving fruits from the destroying enemy. 

 With the last view, the Committee have thought 

 proper to publish the letter, and will be plensed 

 to receive comnumications on its contents from 

 those who have it in their power to give useful 

 information, or to contribute to the fund propos- 

 ed to be raised, as a reward to the person who 

 may be so fortunate as to discover the wished for 

 means of saving to the country, the immense 

 quantity of line fruit, that is annually lost, by the 

 depredations of insects. 



As the writer of the letter wishes her name to 

 be concealed, it is withheld ; but it sliall be com- 

 municated to those who wish to undertake the 

 proposed task, and to avail themselves of the in- 

 formation respecting the nature and habits of the 

 insects, which the writer, by close attention and 

 long experience possesses. 



Communications may he addressed to David 

 LnjirfrcWi, Jr, Chesnut street. Corresponding Sec- 

 retary of the Pennsylv.'.nia Horticultural Society. 

 By order of the Committee, 



Philadelphia, March n. JAMES MEASE. 



(]J=Publishers of newspapers throughout the 

 United Stales, are requested to insert the above, 

 and the following letter. 



JA^UARY 19. 1830. 

 Dear Sir — It is about thirty years since I fust 

 became aware of the fact, that certain kinds of 

 fruit fell from the tree before they were ripe. 

 Since that perio<l, I have extended my observa- 

 tions, and I am quite convinced that although the 

 severity of the winter may, and does sometimes 

 injure the fruits, yet the chief cause of their fre- 

 quent failures is the injury done to them by in- 

 sects. 1 do not now allude to those which punc- 

 ture the bark, either on the limbs or near the 



! roots, nor In those which eat the leaves. They 

 1 are of very lillle iniixirtaiicc, mischievous as they 

 !are. It is of those wliicli iiitack the fruit itself 

 that 1 now speak, .•mil to wliii-h 1 wish to draw 

 your attention. Tiiere is scarcely a memlu'r of 

 your society that can iiu.igitie the extent of the 

 evil which these insects produce, lor the markets 

 are no criterion from which one might draw a 

 proper coindiision. If these iiisiiis (■ould be de- 

 stroyed, there is every probabiluy that ntnipe 

 fruit, and such as is of an inferior qualil\' would 

 be entirely baitislied from our cities, thereby ;.-reat- 

 ly lessening the bills of mortality. But for these 

 insects, cherries, nectarines, plums and apricots 

 could be sent to market for half a dollar a bushel, 

 and of these, none but the finest kinds woidd be 

 cultivated. As it is, these fruits are scarce and of 

 high price, and as the insects generally choose 

 the finest kinds for themselves, the markets are 

 crowded with that which is poor and unripe. 

 When we consider that fruit is no longer a luxury, 

 but a necessary article of life, and that the heat of 

 oursinnmers renders it particularly grateful to all 

 descriptions of persons, from infancy to old age, 

 we tiught to encourage every plan which has the 

 cultivation of good fruit fur its object. We must 

 not judge that the evil of which 1 complain is of 

 a local i;ature, because some fi'w cultivators who 

 live v\itliin the limits of a city, have been partially 

 exenqit from it. It is not from such small enclo- 

 sures that a city is to be sufiplied with fruit ; nor 

 is it to those who have hut few trees under their 

 care that we must look for sympathy or hope for 

 information. We must inquire of those who 

 have planted large orchards, and w!io have, year 

 after year, been careful to note the various acci- 

 (lents, diseases, and de(iredations which injure 

 trees, and cause their fruit to perish. For myself, 

 independently of several largo orchards of apple, 

 pear, and peach trees, I have upwards of twelve 

 hundred full bearing plum, nectarine, and apricot 

 trees, all of the rarest and most delicious kinds. 

 The climate is favorable to their growth and fruit- 

 fulnes.s, and my abilities and inclinations are ade- 

 quate to their care, and to effect the object I had 

 in view when I planted them ; — this object was 

 profit. Year after year, as these fine healthy 

 trees begun to show fruit, did 1 anticipate the re- 

 ward of my labors, hoping that when in full bear- 

 ing the quantity of fruit woulil be so great, as to 

 insure me at least a certain portion of it. 



This last summer, in June, (although the 

 frost had entirely cut off my peaches,) there was 

 every prospect of each plum, nectarine and apricot 

 tree bearing at least one bushel of fruit. Vou 

 will judge of my disappointment, when I tell you 

 that from these twelve hundred trees I did not 

 gather so much as a single plum! — the insects de- 

 stroyed them all. Besides this loss, the apples, 

 quinces, cherries and pears were so knotty from 

 the punctures of the same insects, that they were 

 unfit to eat. When wo think of the loss to a city 

 of twelve hundred bushels of such fine fruit, and 

 from one farm only, we may imagine what it 

 must lose when, but for these insects, twelve tiiou- 

 sand bushels might be taken to market. 



As it is, very few persons cultivate any other 

 fruits than apples and [)eaches ; and these often 

 suffer very materially, in certain seasotis, from this 

 very cause. In fact, so numerous have insects 

 become, that two thirds of the apples have been 

 injured by them during the last summer, and j 

 many hundred bushels of peaches have been ren- 

 dered unsaleable in consequence of the gummy 

 exudations which disfigured them. 



I have been for years em|)loyed, expensively, in 

 attempts to destroy these insects, but have not 

 yel been able to lessen their numbers. I have 

 tried all manner of washes and fumigations, and 

 have covered the orchards with as much of lime 

 and ashes as the roots of the trees would bear; 

 iiml what seemed to promise most snccc^ss, I have 

 eau.sed every particle of liuit to be picked up as 

 SI on as it fell. 



'I'hus disappointed, and believing that a rem- 

 edy must exist somewhere, fiir these insects are 

 neither poisonous nor invisible, I Iiav; thought 

 it best to apiily to the different Horticultural So- 

 cieties for tiid ; and as you was kind enough 

 to interest yourself in my representations, and 

 promised lo Ining the subject before the Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Pennsylvania, I have made 

 the first direct applicaiion to you, trusting that 

 you will not only bring the matter properly before 

 your own society, hut that you will suggest the 

 propriety of issuing circulars to all other Horticul- 

 tural Societies in the United States. 



The plan which I would propose, is [o offer a 

 premium for the destruction of these insects, and 

 of such magnitude as to draw the attention of men 

 of science to the trial. I think that a sum of two 

 thousand dollars would not be too great when 

 we consider that two years of experienced labor 

 imist be devoted to the investigation. 



As to the mode of raising this sunt, if nothing 

 better is suggested to you, I would propose that it 

 sh'iuld be done by subscription. I woidd en- 

 gage to obtain three hundred ilollars myself — 

 asking no more than one dollar from each sub- 

 scriber. 



As two years would ela|ise before the experi- 

 ment couhi 1 e considered as fully tested, there can 

 he no doubt, but that doidilo the amount of the 

 sum I pro[)ose, could be obtained. The surplus 

 of which after the premium has been paid, might 

 he held by your society as premiums for the de- 

 struction of those other insects and vermin which 

 destroy our grains and injure our vegetables. 



To assist any one who is willing to make the 

 trial, 1 am willing to give all the information I 

 possess. And as by a laborious and long continu- 

 ed investigation, I have completely identified these 

 insects, and know their habits, I can much facili- 

 tate the experimenls of those wUo strive for the 

 premium. 



Although the name of the author of this inter- 

 esting ciimmunii ation is withheld,, there cannot 

 remain n doubt as to the identity of the distin- 

 guished lady, who, by precejn and exatn|'le, has 

 so conspicuously evinced her zealous disposition, 

 to encourage and advance improvements in field 

 and garden tillage. 



New Jersey may claim the honor of possessing 

 this emineu; patron and cultivator of the science, 

 and arts of rural economy, but we are all proud 

 to acknowledge our obligations, and to do homage 

 to that enlightened and beneficent matron whose 

 eidarged and liberal views, embrace the great in- 

 terests of the farmers and horticulturists through- 

 out the republic. While in cliaracter, deportment, 

 and intellectual attainments, she is an ornament to 

 her sex, she independently performs the mascu- 

 line duties of proprietor and director of a large 

 and well managed estate. The widowed mother, 

 may well emulate her virtues, industry and ente"- 

 I>rise, and many a father receive in6W'**tioD 

 her commendable example. 



