

a- 



1881.] TRANSACTIONS. V^^® 



What berries were shown, A. D., 1881, that surpassed, if tlT 

 equalled, those superb specimens of Inomphe de Gand wliich'" 

 our honored associate — the late Charles Richardson — first, and 

 so repeatedly, commended to your notice ? Of that foreign 

 variety which, in the Pomological Catalogue is so widely starred, 

 Mr. F. M. Hexamer said, at the recent Session of the American 

 Society, that " he considered it one of the finest shipping varie- 

 tiet of Strawberries in the world. He thought growers, in 

 selecting varieties of Strawberries to be shipped, should select 

 those of a firm texture," tfec, &c. Yet not a quart of the 

 Tinomphe was visible, this Summer, upon our tables. Take, as 

 another illustration, the Jucunda ! so prolific and thrifty along 

 Olean Street ; — yet which is but sparingly tested, elsewhere, in 

 the City. Can there be found — can one of you name ? a better 

 Strawberry ; — one of firmer texture, more shapely form, — one 

 cleaner or handsomer ? But you say that you cannot succeed 

 with it ! Have yon ever tried its cultivation in hills, — in suita- 

 ble soil — with proper care taken of the plantation ? If yes, — 

 and you then failed, you did right to search for something better 

 adapted to your peculiar, local conditions. 



I would be the last person to advocate, or use, a road because 

 of its ruts. It is the old road, — Via Appia, — well-built, — built 

 for all time, — over which I would have you travel oftener, 

 even tiiough you may occasionally profit by a short cut. It was 

 not bad counsel to be off with the old love before you are on 

 with the new. Those who grow Berries, or any other fruit — to 

 sell ; — find it imperative to try each and all the novelties that 

 are introduced. If a genuine prize is sometimes discovered ; 

 more often the stranger turns out to bo an old acquaintance, — 

 newly christened. But this Society does not consist solely of 

 those who grow fruit for the market. The majority cultivate a 

 rod or two for private consumption ; and lose nothing if they 

 fail to achieve, — because not tempting, — Fortune. For all 

 such — experiment is worse than idle : the tests were made long 

 since. They may amuse themselves in developing new kinds 

 from the seed : — possibly, like the tyro at gaming, profit by a 

 lucky chance. But it will be chance ! For who can enumerate 

 the myriad disappointments that have clouded the origin of the 



C. \ 



