PROCEEDINGS. 153 



Documents and Pamphlets were received from the Hon. R. C. Winthrop and J. M. Brown, 

 for which the thanks of the Society were voted. 



The following Reports of the Committees on Gardens, Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables, 

 were read and accepted : — 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GARDENS, AWARDING PREMIUMS 



FOR 1850. 



The Committee on Gardens, in submitting this their first Report, beg leave to state, that 

 their duties being entirely new, and without any rules for their government, they have not 

 been able to accomplish as much as they could have wished ; yet they fully believe a new 

 impetus has been given to more thorough and neat home cultivation, and that the objects of 

 the Society, in making the prizes, are being fully realized. The Committee would here 

 bear testimony to the general apparent improvement and neatness of nearly every place 

 visited, and also to the very cordial reception they everywhere met with, making duty 

 pleasant, and compensating for the tax upon their time. In making the awards, your 

 Committee have felt the difficulty of doing exact justice, but they have acted their best 

 judgment, and been unanimous in opinion. They have not felt it imperative to give all 

 the Prizes according to the schedule, and have in some instances substituted Gratuities, as 

 being better adapted to the particular case, and have endeavored to express briefly the 

 general or more prominent merits for which each Gratuity or Prize was made. In conclu» 

 sion, the Committee would respectfully recommend the adoption of the following Rules 

 and Regulations for the government of the Garden Committee, and which the experience 

 of the past season has clearly shown to be expedient and necessary. 



1. All applications for a visit must be made to the Chairman, on or before the 1st of 

 May, stating extent of grounds, number of fruit trees, whether offered for a prize, and such 

 a general outline as to give to the Committee some sort of idea of the premises. 



2. No fruit garden or grounds, of less than one acre, and this well stocked and under 

 fine cultivation, can occupy the time of the Committee. 



3. No Farm will be visited, unless there should be connected with it a fine fruit garden, 

 vegetable garden, flower gardtii, greenhouse, or graperies; in which case, these alone will 

 be examined. 



4. It shall be the duty of the Committee to select from the applications those which may 

 seem most deserving of notice, and to visit as many places, and as often, as they may deem 

 expedient and necessary. 



5. In making all examinations, the utmost regard must be paid to economy and general 

 thrift : in cases, however, of pleasure, landscape, or fancy grounds, more allowance must 

 be made for taste and design, and a gratuity or complimentary notice maybe made, at the 

 discretion of the Committee. 



6. No place will be visited officially, and in reference to an award, without a written 

 invitation. 



7. All visits must be conducted without previous notice ; and if made out of season, or 

 under unfavorable circumstances, due allowance will be made. 



8. No person shall be a competitor for the highest Prize, more than two years out of 

 seven. 



9. The Committee may, at their discretion, give Gratuities, or substitute Gratuities for 

 Prizes, in any way best to serve the objects of the Society, and meet special cases, (always, 

 of course, within the limits of the appropriation.) 



10. Competitors for the Prizes, shall furnish to the Committee, if required, a written 

 statement of their mode of cultivation, quantity and kind of manure applied, amount of 

 labor including their own, and other particulars called for, under the penalty of a forfeiture 

 of such Prize, if whhheld. 



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