SECRETARY'S REPORT. 31 



cheap, practical aad direct method of adding to our fund of knowl- 

 edge, which, fortunately, is through the medium of the agricultural 

 press. 



Dr. Weston presented the following paper relating to the do- 

 ings of 



The Bangor Horticultural Society. 

 By Dr. J. C. Weston, Secretary. 



The Bangor Horticultural Society is the oldest in the State. It 

 was incorporated in 1849, and has therefore been in existence 

 fourteen years. It has conferred a great benefit on all the sur- 

 rounding country. By its exhibitions and awards of premiums, it 

 has excited competition and stimulated the people to cultivate the 

 very best varieties of pears, plums, apples, grapes, &c. It has de- 

 veloped a taste and rivalry in the cultivation of ornamental trees 

 and shrubs and all the products of the best furnished gardens. 

 Under its auspices every desirable new fruit, flower, and vegeta- 

 ble of native origin have early been introduced to the knowledge 

 of the community. 



It has had meetings for the discussion of such practical subjects 

 as manures, draining, grafting, the best varieties of fruits and veg- 

 etables and the best method of cultivating them. It has also had 

 valuable practical lectures. 



A few years ago but one glass structure existed in the city for 

 the cultivation of foreign grapes, built by Frederic Ilobbs, Esq., 

 the first President of the society. The beautiful clusters raised by 

 his skillful cultivation and management appeared on the tables at 

 our exhibitions to feast and delight the eyes of all beholders. The 

 example was contagious. What had been done by one, others 

 thought they might accomplish, and gradually twenty-siven other 

 graperies sprung into existence, yielding thousands of pounds of 

 delicious grapes, and adding thousands of dollars to the value of 

 real-estate. 



By the influence of this society, Bangor, like Damascus, has be- 

 come a city of gardens, many of which are laid out in tasteful, pic- 

 turesque forms, and make many a home beautiful and attractive, 

 so that emigration has no charms for the occupants. They are 

 firmly rooted to home soil and pay cheerfully the taxes to support 

 a government which has given for a few years $150 annually to 

 promote Horticulture, while they have invested thousands for the 

 same purpose. 



