520 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The fruits exhibited at the fair are understood to have come mainly from 

 the extreme southern portions of the State, and consisted largely of southern 

 and eastern varieties, although there were a few Russian varieties shown, of 

 which a notable collection was one of thirty-eight varieties from A. G. Tuttle, 

 of Baraboo, Wisconsin. 



The evening of the 7th found us on board a train passing rapidly through 

 the beautiful farming region of eastern Iowa, on our way homeward, where 

 we arrived on the evening of the following day. 



After passing JSTew Buffilo and coining within the State of Michigan, 

 though not yet fairly within what is recognized as the ''Fruit Belt," we saw 

 more fruit within the first ten miles than we had observed during the past 

 month in traveling through the four prairie States — Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Iowa and Illinois — although within the last our opportunities for observation 

 had been quite limited. 



On the ensuing Monday morning, after three days at home, we started to 

 attend the meeting of the American Pomological Society, to occur at Boston, 

 Ma'js. , on the following Wednesday. 



The death of the late honored president of this society, since the occur- 

 rence of its last biennial session, in our State, rendered the meeting one of 

 unusual interest and importance. In addition to this, the resignation of all 

 official connection with the society by Patrick Barry, its first vice president, 

 and the person generally proposed for president; and also by his son, W. 0. 

 Barry, the chairman of the Committee on Revision of the Catalogue ; both 

 of whom declined on account of feeble health, antl the urgent claims of busi- 

 ness, greatly increased the gravity of the occasion. The difficulty was far- 

 ther increased by the inability of Secretary Garfield to attend on account of 

 his health, and the pressure of other imperative duties. 



The problem was, however, solved by the election of Prosper J. Berckmans, 

 of Georgia, to the presidency, the re-election of Secretary Garfield and of 

 Treasurer Benjamin G. Smith, of Boston, while your speaker was promoted 

 to the honorary position of first vice president. The next biennial session was 

 voted to occur in Florida, in February, 1889. The proceedings of the several 

 sessions have been so generally published that they need not be given here. 



The society adjourned late on F'riday night, aad Saturday morning found 

 us on the B iston & Lowell (alias Canada Pacific) train, threading the mount- 

 ain regions amid the now (for the time) abandoned summer resorts, occur- 

 ring among the rock bound lakes of New Hampshire and Vermont. Reach- 

 ing Newport, at the head of Lake Memphremagog, and just within the limits 

 of Vermont, a call was made upon Dr. T. il. Haskins who volunteers to 

 locate this region within what is designated as the "cold north." Newport, 

 with its forty miles of lake scenery, accommodates summer resorters, with 

 ample hotels, as also with steamers, boats and facilities for fishing and hunt- 

 ing. 



A short walk brought us to the doctor's farm and orchards, which are 

 carefully kept; and which contain not commercial varieties only, but, in 

 addition, a good many trial kinds, among which are many of the supposed 

 hardy Russians. From these he hopes to gather something capable of with- 

 standing the trying winters of this vicinity, where we understand him to say 

 the climate is more severe than in the neighboring valley of Lake Cham- 

 plain. During the night before our arrival a frost had occurred, severe 

 enough to seriously injure tender vegetation. 



Leaving Newport early on Monday (Sept. 19th) a few hours ride and a 



