■286 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



persuade them that the regulation is a wise one. Our object is, not to compete 

 with the fruit dealer in quantity, but to exhibit and encourage the highest 

 development of the best article. The uniform testimony of every successful 

 orchardist is that they first planted too many varieties for profit, and that the 

 number of varieties whicli it pays to include in a market orchard is, in any 

 given locality, very small. It is the province of our society to discourage the 

 planting of the less profitable sorts and in this way to encourage the substitution 

 of the better kinds. 



It is true, we wish to see in our exhibitions specimens of as many varieties of 

 fruit as possible, that we may learn to know and distinguish one from the other ; 

 but the proper place for this display is in the competition of single plates, wliere 

 specimens of the same tiling grown under varying circumstances and from 

 various localities nnxy be seen and compared; but I think tiiat the principle 

 should be established that when the Society grants a premium upon a collection, 

 whether from county, town, or individual, or of wliatever fruit, it should 

 embrace only such varieties as the society can endorse as of the very first rank 

 for profitable and worthy culture. An incidental and secondary advantage of 

 this would be a great improvement in the appearance of our exhibitions, as 

 admitting of uniform and classified arrangement. 



I think all will agree with me in this who remember the neat and liandsomc 

 appearance of the seventeen competing town and county collections of apples 

 ■ill the late fair. This would have been still further enhanced had we been able 

 to put over each collection the name of the town or county from which it came, 

 but this could only have been done by knowing in advance what labels to 

 prepare, whereas for most of the collections there was no announcement 

 previous to the first day of the fair. AVould it be impracticable to require 

 intending exhibitors to make their intentions known and to specify the space 

 needed in each class a week or two in advance of the fair? 



If this were possible it would be very desirable, as it would enable those in 

 charge to prepare perfectly for all that was to come, so that there should be no 

 crowding, no confusion, no disappointment. 



It would be especially desirable in arranging the space for the competition of 

 i:)latc3, as by this means the labels could all be placed in advance exactly right 

 and with no waste of room, so that as cacli article arrived and was opened it 

 oould be put at once in its right place and need no subsequent moving or 

 re-arranging. In this connection I wish to speak of the value and importance 

 of a ])lain and conii)lcte series of labels. Tiiosc provided last September we 

 owe to the forethought of our Secretary, and I hope that another season will 

 see the same system carried through every class, and even to every plate. In 

 this way only does our display become intelligible to the general public. 

 AVithout it we sjicak in an unknown tongue and tliercfore not to edification. 



Another matter to which I would call attention is the prime necessity of a 

 good light for our displays. At the late fair its absence was very much felt, as 

 the building assigned to us could hardly have been less suited to its purjiose, 

 and the kind offices of the Acrricultural Societv in decorating the hall for ns in 

 advance proved hardly an advantage as the heavy green boughs, though very 

 beautiful in themselves, absorbed a great deal of wiiat scanty light there was. 

 For a hall built of rough timbers, a better plan, I think, though a somewhat 

 expensive one, would be to hang Avails and ceiling with cheap white cotton, or 

 otIuT white goods if cheaper, upon which the lightest possible design in sprays 



