24 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1879 



" The Hornet is the grandest Raspberry we have ever grown, and we 

 " think in California it would surpass all varieties, where it would be entirely 

 "hardy. We pick these berries, with their stems like Strawberries, and 

 "they equal Strawberries for size, — that is, medium Strawberries. It is a 

 " strong grower and great bearer, continuing a long time in bearing. It 

 "is not hardy here, although, last Winter, strange as it may seem, the canes 

 " mostly were uninjured, although unprotected. Which we regard as a 

 "proof of Mr. Meehan's theory that the cause of Raspberry plants being 

 " winter-killed is owing to imperfectly ripened wood, caused by mildew or 



"rust. &c., &c., &c. 



(Signed) GRhMES & MEYER." 



Eulogistic notices of the Hornet continuing to attract his 

 attention, in later years, your Secretary, with whom the develop- 

 ment of the Riibus Idaeus was ever a passion, was led to procure 

 some of the genuine plants. Upon exhibiting their fruit, 

 however, for the first time, it was found to differ so decidedly, 

 in all respects, from that which was entered under the same 

 name, by Vice-President Hadwen, that a spurious sort was 

 evidently in the ma'rket. Mr. Hadwen had obtained his from 

 Mr. C. M. Hovey,* who admitted that he was somewhat skeptical 

 as to its genuineness. My own came from Mr. Meehan, who 

 answered an inquiry as to its purity and origin : — that he had 

 no reason to distrust it ; that he had procured his stock from 

 two Frenchmen in his neighborhood ; and that he had noticed 

 its resemblance to the Northumberland Fillbasket. In an issue 

 of the Gardeners Monthly, (which he has so long conducted 

 with signal success,) during the last Summer, he thus refers 

 to a plantation of this variety under his direct observation, in 

 Germantown : 



"The canes, with their foliage, were models of health and 

 " beauty, and were borne down, or would have been had they 

 "not been tied, by their weight of fruit, and such fruit ! Though 

 " Herstine, Philadelphia, and other well-known kinds were 

 "there and as well cared for, none of them had such large 

 " berries or would fill the bowl, as well as ' the bill,' as these. 

 " The berries were at least one-third larger than Herstine, &c., 

 " &c." He continues, enlarging upon their long continuance 



* A mistake : Mr. Hovey's skepticism is however, authentic. E. w. L. 



