22 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE. FARM 
doubt it? Their tastes have a wider range than ours. Wax- 
wings like cedar berries, and crows eat freely the fruit of 
poison ivy. The close-growing habit of wild bush fruits 
gives congenial shelter and nesting sites, also, to many of 
the smaller birds. 
From all the foregoing it should appear that a little study 
of the natural history of the wild fruits in any locality will 
reveal much concerning the origin and the environing condi- 
tions of one of our valuable resources. 
Study 2. Edible Wild Fruits 
Program—tThe first part of this 
study is a comparative examination 
of the wild fruits of the farm. The 
fruits are to be sought in nature, cx- 
amined carefully one at a time, and 
their characters are to be written in 
the columns of a table prepared with 
headings as indicated in pp. 20 and 
¢ 21. The fruits named in the first 
Fic. 6. The larvae of three column are those commonly found 
common fruit insects: (a) the 
plum-curculio; (b) the codling about Ithaca, N. Y., in autumn. 
moth; (c) the cherry fruit-fly. 
Earlier in the season, or in another 
region, the list would be very different. 
The second part of this study is a comparison of individuals 
of one kind of wild fruit, such as hawthorns, wild grape, orany 
other that is abundant, with a view to discovering natural 
varieties. Half a dozen or more selected trees, bearing 
number-labels, 1, 2, 3, etc., should have their fruits carefully 
compared as to (1) quality of flesh (as tested by palatability 
at this date); (2) proportion of edible pulp (as compared 
with seeds, skin and other waste); (3) earliness; (4) size and 
form; (5) productiveness; (6) immunity from fungus and 
insects, as evidenced by the cleanness of the fruit inside and 
