44 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Board of Agriculture. Thus as an offspring of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, the society was first organized, and to its fostering care 

 since, the society owes all the gratitude a child can bestow upon a 

 parent. Co-laborers in the great field of agriculture, they have 

 readily walked shoulder to shoulder, and the work of each has 

 been carried on with the most cordial good wishes of the other. 



EXHIBITIONS OF FKUIT AND FLOWERS. 



The first exhibition of the society was held the following Sep- 

 tember, in City Hall, Bangor. ,The Bangor Horticultural Society 

 gave the society a very cordial welcome, and the exhibition was 

 said to have been one of the best ever held in the State. Some 

 fifteen hundred dishes of fruits were show'n. The second annual 

 exhibition was held in City Hall, Portland, by invitation of the 

 Portland Horticultural Society. Among the pleasing features of 

 this exhibition were an address by the Hon. W. W. Thomas, Jr., 

 and a fruil supper under the auspices of the Portland Horticultural 

 Society. The next year the society joined with the Sta'e Agricul- 

 tural Society, and held an exhibition in City Hall, Portland. Two 

 years the S'^ciety held exhibitions with the Kennebec Agricultural 

 Society in Waterville. Another year in City Hall, Lewiston, and 

 since then in connection with the State Agricultural Society in 

 their exhibition hall in Lewiston. Of these exhibitions many 

 pleasant things were said by the newspapers of the state. It 

 may also be said of these exhibitions that it has been the object 

 of the officers to make them attractive to visitors, educational 

 to the students of pomology, and helpful to exhibitors. Objec- 

 tionable features have been rigidly excluded and the popularity 

 of the exhibitions has steadily increased. For several years the 

 society w^as obliged to scale down its premiums rather than bur- 

 den itself with debt, but in recent years all premiums have been 

 paid in full. 



It may be added here that many advantages have followed from 

 holding joint exhibitions, the mo^t important of these is the fact 

 that more people are in attendance than could be expected if we 

 held our exhibitions by ourselves. The fairs are popular and 

 thousands of people from all parts of the State are in attendance 

 daily. 



At the first exhibition of the society held in Bangor and at sev- 

 eral subsequent exhibitions there were addresses and discussions 



