FRUIT AND FLOWERS. 421 



would express our surprise and pleasure at the display made on 

 this occasion. It affords to our minds ample proof that the 

 efforts made have been rewarded with good success, and offers 

 sufficient encouragement to stimulate us and others to perse- 

 vere in the pleasing and useful task. One hundred plates and 

 baskets of fruit graced the tables of the exhibition, from thirty- 

 six contributors. 



Of pears, there was a good display, both in number and qual- 

 ity. Twenty-two varieties were shown. 



James Thompson exhibited ten varieties, which your commit- 

 tee considered the best collection. Mr. Thompson's specimens 

 were are follows : Flemish Beauty, Beurre Diel, Beurre d'Arem- 

 berg, Duchesse d'Orleans, Seckel, White Doyenne, Soldat 

 Laboureur, Osband's Summer, Bon Chretien Fondante, Louise 

 Bonne de Jersey. 



Edward W. Gardner exhibited five varieties — White Doyenne, 

 Jalousie de Fontenay Vendee, Colmar d'Aremberg, Duchesse 

 d' Orleans, and Vicar of Winkfield. 



Of grapes there was a good display, althougli not so rich as it 

 might have been had the vines on the Island been fully repre- 

 sented. We hope more attention will be given to the cultiva- 

 tion of this wholesome fruit, of which Professor Salisbury says, 

 " the free use of ripe grapes (and apples) not only prevents 

 disease, but their regulated enjoyment helps to remove that 

 which already exists. They are superior to the potato in the 

 principles that go to increase the muscle and the brain of man." 



Of quinces the collection was good. Of apples but few were 

 exhibited. Edward W. Gardner offered specimens of Rhode 

 Island greenings, that were very large and handsome. 



The committee noticed among the fruit some dishes of straw- 

 berry tomatoes, and a jar of pickled strawberry tomatoes, exhib- 

 ited by Mrs. E. P. Fearing. Tlie fruit of the hickory tree — 

 shellbark nuts — was exhibited by Z. Coffin Macy, three kinds, 

 from trees on his farm. The show of peaches was small. 



The culture of fruit commends itself to all of us as a matter 

 of taste, and as a means of obtaining what may be considered a 

 luxury as well as an article of diet conducive to health. As a 

 matter of taste, a fruit tree, with its foliage, blossoms and hang- 

 ing frnit, in their successive seasons, is an ornament wherever 

 seen, and may certainly be called " a thing of beauty." As au 



