148 PROCEEDINGS. 



ANNUAL EXHIBITION. 



The Twentysecond Annual Exhibition of the Society was held at Horticultural Hall, on 

 the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th of September, 1850. To accommodate the contributors at 

 this Exhibhion, it was found advisable to call in requisition the whole of the Society's 

 building. The Store occupied by Mr. Bowdhch, together with the Library Room, were 

 fitted up with tables, for the display of Fruits and Vegetables. The exhibition of Fruits far 

 excelled that of any previous year. 



One of the really useful parts of the machinery of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, is the labor the Fruit Committee have undertaken, of formally testing new 

 varieties of Fruits, either from imported trees, or from native seedlings ; and of carefully 

 comparing them with varieties already well known and in the hands of most cultivators. 



It is not too much to say, that the character and judgment of the members of this Com- 

 mittee stand so high as to give to the public every possible confidence in their decisions. 

 Cautious and discriminating, they seldom fail to detect imposition even under the most 

 high sounding names, while the true merit of a really excellent fruit cannot be hidden or 

 detracted from by the rival competitor. 



The minutes of this Committee, in full, as taken on the spot at the time, would in a few 

 years form a most interesting separate volume, particularly if furnished with a good index. 

 These decisions, when ripened by the experience of time, would be the strongest possible 

 attest of the superior value of native seedlings over imported fruits, if, as is most probable, 

 such be truly the case, and would completely test the value of the judgments that were 

 formed. 



In reference to the labors of this Committee for the few months they have been in 

 session, it is clear the members have gone through considerable labor, and that the prospect 

 before them is full of interest to the fruit grower. If the members of the Society continue 

 to proceed with as much truth and circumspecfion as hitherto, the nomination of this Com- 

 mittee will be one of their most important annual acts ; while the office itself must be 

 considered as fully equal in honor and interest to any held in the Society, without excep- 

 tion. 



In contemplating the work of this Committee, as part of the forward march with the age 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, it is hardly possible to foresee the amount oi 

 silent good it is working in the community, while the evil that can arise from it may be 

 lairly calculated at a cipher. 



The labors of the Committees on Flowers and Vegetables are scarcely less valuable, as 

 no sooner is the introduction in Europe of a new flower heard of, than it appears in our 

 exhibitions, while the astonishing improvement in the vegetables constantly exhibited on the 

 t. ables of the Society testify strongly to the value and importance of the work performed by 

 the Committee on Vegetables. 



The Committee have this year omitted publishing the very extensive list of names of 

 fruits at their Annual Exhibition, as on former occasions ; the value and interest thereof 

 not appearing to them adequate to the enormous expense, and have confined themselves, 

 therefore, to the new fruits exhibited by the following gentlemen, who handed in lists, in 

 addition to those of the preceding year. 



From the President of the Society, the following Pears, viz. : — Beurre Langlier, B. 

 Triguer, Bordenave, Bonne de Zees, Broom Park, Charlotte de Brower, Champagne, 

 Duchesse d' Orleans, Episcopal, Hobson, Hull. Oliver's Russet, Oswego Beurr6, Sabine 

 d'Hiver, St. Mesmire, Souverain d'Ete, Wilbur. 



From Joseph S. Cabot, Salem, Pears, viz. : — Bergamot Welbeck, Belle Excellente, 

 Beurre de Charneuses, B. Moir6, Caen de France, Colmar du Lot, Celestin, Craonaise, 

 Doyennd Boussock, Dumorfier, Ferdinand de Meister, Groom's Princess Royal, Josephine 



