FINE FKUITS EXHIBITED. 223 



on Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and the Synonymes of 

 Fruits, be specially charged to examine the various prod- 

 ucts within their several departments, and to furnish 

 reports thereon for publication in the New England 

 Farmer. The report of the exhibition on June 5 is the 

 first which bears the authority of the committees. Fuller 

 and more specific rules for the action of the committees 

 were adopted on the 12th of June and the 2d of Octo- 

 ber. 



June 19, David Haggerston exhibited Keens's Seed- 

 ling strawberries, the largest of which was five and a 

 half inches in circumference, and a quart averaged over 

 four inches. These received the prize for the best 

 strawberries ; and an additional premium was awarded 

 for the introduction of the variety. At one of the 

 weekly shows one hundred different varieties of the car- 

 nation were exhibited. Dr. S. A. Shurtleff presented 

 fine gooseberries from a bush which bore a bushel 

 of fruit, in his garden near Pemberton Hill. Several 

 fine specimens of English varieties were shown, the 

 premium being awarded to Nathaniel Seaver, for the 

 Jolly Angler, the largest of which measured four and a 

 quarter inches in circumference. The improved Ameri- 

 can varieties were not known until about fifteen years 

 later. 



At this time the apricot and nectarine were much 

 more frequently shown than at the present day. We 

 have the record of the exhibition of many fine apricots, 

 mostly Moorparks. Some premium specimens of this 

 variety from E. Phinney on the 27th of July, measured 

 six inches in circumference. A month later, Charles 

 Stearns of Springfield sent plums equally large. Sam- 

 uel R. Johnson of Chaiiestown exhibited Washington 



