FRUIT committee's REPORT. * 43 



we can have this most healthful fruit in abundance, and that, too, of the very 

 best quality. 



A new question will soon arise with our fruit growers: What shall be done 

 with the surplus grapes? Shall we make them into wine, and supply the de- 

 mand that now exists and will increase for a pure article for medicinal and 

 other purposes ? 



APPLES. 



This crop has been nearly a failure in New England the past year, owing 

 to the ravages of that worst of enemies, the canker worm, that great nuisance 

 the caterpillar, and other causes. Not only have apple trees ceased to be a 

 source of profit, but are, from their unsightly appearance, cumberers of the 

 ground ; and the question is seriously considered, whether it is not better to 

 uproot them altogether, and set out pear trees, or use the ground to more profit. 

 We regard this as the most valuable of all the fruit crops, and feel that it is 

 one we cannot do without. Though apples may not be grown to a profit just 

 about Boston, still further back in the country, where land is not so valuable, 

 and where the canker worm is not found, they may be raised so as to pay 

 well ; especially if they are to bring such prices as they have sold for the 

 past autumn. One great trouble is that there are so many old apple and 

 black cherry trees about the walls and hedges, in the pastures and woods, 

 that are neglected, and on which millions of vermin are allowed to breed from 

 year to year, that it seems of little use for the careful orchardist in the neigh- 

 borhood to keep his trees clean and free from these nuisances. It would 

 seem as though the time had come for the General Court to enact some law 

 compelling every man either to cut down his trees, or take care of them, that 

 we may protect those who are disposed to do right in this matter. This is a 

 more important subject than we are aware of, unless we have examined the 

 statistics showing the value of the apple crop of the country. There are 

 thousands of worthless apple and other trees that would better be converted 

 into fuel than to stand where they do, to disfigure the landscape by their dis^ 

 gusting appearance when covered with vermin, and to prove a nuisance to the 

 whole neighborhood. 



The show of apples at the Society's Rooms has been small, being confined 

 to a few contributors. In some cases, the specimens were not good enough to 

 merit a prize, and they were accordingly passed. It is pleasant to know, that 

 while most of the orchards were sere and barren, one quite near Boston 

 yielded between two and three hundred bushels of Gravenstein apples, which 

 sold for a high price. These trees were protected from canker worms by a 

 box of wood with a gutter of oil or thin tar around the tree, so that it was im- 

 possible for the grubs to ascend. Nearly all the tree protectors that have 

 been offered to the public have proved partial or entire failures. The best 

 and cheapest protection, after all, is tarring the trees. In order to do this pro- 

 perly, and with safety to the tree, a wide strip of canvass or tarred paper 



