STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 319 



best price we could get. Thus ray brother and I started out on 

 our first business trip outside of our native village. We had 

 but fairly commenced trying to sell, when I saw the governor of 

 the state in conversation with a few gentlemen; I knew him by 

 sight, having seen him at my father's house though he did not 

 recognize me; I stepped up to him and asked if he did not wish 

 to buy some nice pears. It was during the great national contest 

 between the Whigs and Democrats. The governor looked down 

 upon me with a pleasant smile and replied, "Well, my boy, I 

 don't know but I will take a bushel, provided you are a good 

 Whig." I replied at once, " Of course I am a Whig, my father 

 is a Whig, and my grandfather is a Whig; and we are all Henry 

 Clay Whigs at that," which of course meant that we belonged to 

 the most radical wing of the Whig party. The gentlemen pres- 

 ent laughed and one of them said, "Well, governor I think 

 the boy has got you." The governor took out one dollar and 

 fifty cents, the price of two bushels, and directed me to take them 

 to his house, at the same time tilling me where he lived. Of 

 course we used this as a lever to sell the balance of the load 

 which we soon disposed of, and returned home in high glee and 

 gave father about twenty dollars as the net result of our trip, 

 and for some days after I was the hero of the neighborhood. 

 No more pears for the hogs, or at least not for four-legged ones, 

 they must be restricted for plainer diet, and pears be kept for 

 governors and their constituents. 



There were several varieties grown, some very good, and others 

 worth very little. The Yirgalien stood first in quality, and I 

 doubt if in this respect it has ever been surpassed. 



CONCLUDING COMMENTS. 



Gentlemen, I have occupied more of your time then I intended 

 and will bring these remarks to a close. It will readily be seen 

 that the increase in the consumption of fruits, after allowing 

 for the great increase of population, is very large; fifty years ago, 

 as a rule, only those who grew fruit used it in large quansties, 

 and their supply was mostly limited to apples, pears and peaches, 

 and these not nearly equal in quality to those grown at the pres- 

 ent time. We sometimes hear the "good old times " spoken of as 

 preferable to the present, but for my own experience and obser- 

 vation, combined with the best information I have been able to 

 obtain, I believe this is a much better country to live in than it 



