VALLEY HOUTICULTUKAL SOCIKTY. 337 



the wei*>;ht of a twelve-year-old child will Ix' horiu^ up by one with- 

 out subuiertj^int^ it. The cut-flower (lesi<;^ns received much more 

 attention and praise from the crowd than the live ])lants. hut to me 

 were no where near so attractive. Thf vast nuuihcr and variety (»f 

 desi<<ns were bewildering; some of them simply wonderful on account 

 of the jtatient labor reijuired and ingenuity dis])layed in tluur con- 

 struction, but it does not seem to me desirable to encourage the de- 

 voting of so much time and talent to the construction of artistic 

 designs out of material so perishable. 



On the lower floor of the hall were dis])layed the fruits of the 

 American Pomological Society. One exhibitor, Mr. E. Sotterthwait, 

 filled three tables, showing two hundred varieties of ])ears, besides 

 large collections of peaches, apples, grapes, and other fruits. Many 

 other notably large collections were shown, in fact, the entire floor 

 of this immense hall was crowded with tables all full of fruits. On 

 one table were thirty varieties of i)lums, and on another forty-five 

 varieties of grapes. Wilder medals were awarded to Mr. Sotter- 

 thwait for peafdies, to the IMinnesota State Horticultural Society for 

 apjdes, to Col. Wilder for pears, and to J. H. liickctts for seedling 

 grapes. On the last day of the session the American Pomological 

 Society visited the city buildings, the Academy of Fine Arts, Girard 

 College, and the Park in the afternoon, and in the evening attended 

 a reception given by the Pennsylvania Society at the rooms of the 

 Union League. This Society is to hold its next session in 1885 in 

 Michigan, and T ho))e we can all attend. 



MaJiy of you attended the annual meeting of our State Society 

 recently held in Bloomington, and will soon have the printed trans- 

 actions containing a complete report of the three days* session. Our 

 Society is to have fifteen volumes of these transactions, wliicli will 

 give every one a chance to read tiiem. and of course it would be 

 superfluous for me to attempt any review of this meeting. 



I have had for years a sort of undefined im])ression or belief 

 that btcal societies like this home Society of ours, were doing more 

 for the actual advancement of horticulture than the great societies 

 I have been talking al)out, but my life as a practical horticulturist 

 has been too busy — the struggle for survival too hard — for me to 

 be able to speml much time or money in attending meetings away 

 from home, but the aid of ijoys at home, and the greater pros])erity 

 of our business for a few years past, have given me the long-wished- 

 for opportunity to attend the meetings, ami my vague im])ressions 

 have become strong convictions. It is true, our reports have not the 

 }U'estige of the noted and bonorecl names attached to theirs, <»ur arti- 

 cles have not the elaborate finisb and i-legant diction of experienced 

 and ready writei-s, but literature is not horticulture, and in these 

 local societies, where friends and neighltors meet together in a social 

 way and talk over the practical work and aid eaidi other by imparting 

 information of all the little things ac(piired, more good is, and can 

 • be, accomplished, than in the great talking societies. 



20 



