REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FRUITS. 211 



foothold. It seems especially desirable that at this time there 

 should be some state officer whose business should be to inspect 

 orchards and warn the o^^•ners of the presence of this pest; at the 

 same time giving to them the necessary information for holding the 

 scale in check. 



Practically all of these pests yield to effective spraying and in 

 most cases we accomplish a double purpose by spraying, in that 

 we destroy the insects and improve the quality and appearance of 

 our fruit. 



The renewed interest in fruit culture has shown itself in a number 

 of ways; the newspapers and magazines have devoted a good deal 

 of space in their columns to the subject; the public has been aroused 

 to a greater interest in fruit growing; but best of all there have been 

 planted in the past two years a number of large apple orchards of 

 from 25 to 100 acres, thus showing that some of our people still have 

 confidence in apple growing for iNIassachusetts and intend to apply 

 modern methods to its culture. Your chairman has visited two of 

 these orchards the past season and judging from the appearance 

 of the trees and general conditions the owners of the orchards will 

 certainly have a good income from the trees in the near future. 

 The varieties planted are Baldwin, Northern Spy, R. I. Greening, 

 Mcintosh, and Gravenstein. One objection to orcharding which 

 has been raised a great deal in the past is that it takes many years 

 to get a return from the land occupied by the trees. In both of the 

 orchards referred to this problem was being well solved by planting 

 crops, such as strawberries, melons, squash, etc. between the trees 

 thus getting a return from the soil while the trees are developing. 

 This method of cultivation accomplishes a double f)urpose, for not 

 only does the owner receive something for his labor while the trees 

 are maturing, but this thorough cultivation brings the tree into bear- 

 ing much quick^' than when they are planted in sod and allowed to 

 remain so. Where trees were formerly not exj)ected to bear under 

 ten to twelve years this cultivation reduces that period four or five 

 years. It seems to be the general opinion that after the trees have 

 been cultivated five or six years it is better to allow the grass to 

 grow around them as a harder wood growth is obtained and the 

 fruit is of much better color and will keep longer than when the 

 trees are cultivated for a longer period. This all goes to show that 



