21 



before, and we are as much in the dark as to the. cause and 

 remedy as are others; but we trust, that, like former visita- 

 tions of this malady, it will prove only temporary. In some 

 instances the apple has been affected in the same manner. 



In closing this Report, I beg to state that the importance of 

 the fruit-crop of Massachusetts has not been fully appreci- 

 ated. Of the apple alone the returns of 1874 gave us 3,252,- 

 057 bushels, valued at 11,450,252 ; Worcester County having 

 produced in the same year 933,013 bushels, valued at $380,- 

 000. Similar results have been realized in other sections of 

 the State, not only with the apple, but with other fruits. 



When we reflect on what Massachusetts has done for the 

 cause of American pomology in the last half-century, I think 

 we should feel well satisfied. To Massachusetts the world is 

 indebted for many of its best fruits. There are the Baldwin 

 apple, the Roxbury Russet, the Williams and Hubbardston 

 Nonesuch apples, and the Clapp's Favorite, Dana's Hovey, 

 and other pears. Nor must it be forgotten that Massachu- 

 setts was the first to introduce "from Europe the Bartlett and 

 the Beurre d'Anjou pears, so popular throughout the whole 

 country. In her soil originated the Hovey's Seedling straw- 

 berry and the President Wilder. To these may be added 

 the Diana, Rogers, and other grapes, and last, but not least, 

 the Concord, which has overspread our hills and valleys from 

 one end of the continent to the other. Other states and 

 societies have done nobly ; but Massachusetts, as a pioneer in 

 the early history of our pomology, has wielded a strong in- 

 fluence. Strike out from our catalogues the fruits which 

 Massachusetts has introduced from Europe, root out from 

 our orchards, gardens, and vineyards the fine native fruits 

 which have originated in our cold and rough soil, and we 

 should require a long list of valuable kinds to fill their 

 place. Massachusetts has more good fruits stored up in the 

 laboratory of her resources. Her mission is not yet ended. 

 Let us help her to fulfil it. 



