JMassachusetts Horticultural Society. 189 



fruits, in the very nature of the case, can receive that attention 

 which they deniand. A single year's experience is nothing; a 

 trial in one soil alone is next to useless; a starveling growth in a 

 green-house, or a too rapid endeavor at acclimation, are not fair 

 tests. When the Arracacha, (^rracdcia esculenta,) from South 

 America, was introduced to notice a few years ago, it shared, for 

 aught we know, the same fate to which the O'xalis crenata seems 

 to be inclined. Had the now gorgeous dahlia, on its first intro- 

 duction, been denied the almost innumerable trials for improve- 

 ment, and rejected as a flaunting rose or nankin, or purple-flow- 

 ering gigantic weed, our parterres and borders would have been 

 destitute of their greatest autumnal attractions. Whatever may 

 produce for us a new and valuable root or esculent, is surely as 

 worthy of deep and mature consideration and patient attention; 

 and while Pomona is lavishing her golden treasures in the halls 

 of the institution, the no less necessary and far more indispensa- 

 ble products, which we receive more directly from the earth, 

 should hold an honorable place on its tables, and receive a kindred 

 attention; and in no more certain way could this be effected than 

 by the primary labors of the ex])erimental garden. 



Go with me, kind reader! to the Society's exhibition, some 

 sunny day of June, and cast your eyes around the indescribably 

 beautiful display of that single favorite flower, the rose, there 

 blushing and breathing, in unrivalled elegance, under a thousand 

 wonderful varieties. Pyramids of roses^ from the delicate Scotch, 

 or twining Ayrshire, with their fine pure white, purple, or golden 

 petals, to the monstrous hundred leaved, or compact double 

 Chinese hybrid varieties, — from the sweet scented eglantine, 

 gathered in the next pasture, to the fine white, or yellow tea plant 

 of Chhia; kinds, too, bearing the well known names of distin- 

 guished florists, as Boursalt and Noisette, rise from the tables, or 

 grace the walls. The skill of the florist and the amateur are 

 called into action and combination. A splendid amaryllis, or a 

 iong fringed crinum from some conservatory, may perchance be 

 discovered among this group; perchance a gorgeous bouquet or 

 two of other productions of flowery June. Or wait, reader! 

 till the cooler months of September and October, nay, even 

 until the first steps of November remind us of winter's approach, 

 and then, when roses and lilies have long faded, other and rival floral 

 gems in the many dyed dahlia occupy the flower stands. Beside 

 the three great epochs in the florist's year, the tulip, the rose, and 

 the dahlia seasons, you will find all the new and rare produc- 

 tions of the garden which taste and a laudable zeal could com- 

 mand. This weekly display, so generously opened to the public 

 every Saturday morning, gives you a fair estimate of the floral 

 department of the Society. Nor is its generosity unrewarded; 

 the crowded halls, filled with the fashion, beauty and science of 



