FRUITS AND FLOWERS, 1839. 249 



report as " very imposing, and highly creditable to the 

 contributors. The most ardent and sanguine votaries of 

 Pomona who witnessed the exhibitions in former years 

 could hardly have anticipated such desirable results in 

 so short a period of time as has elapsed since the forma- 

 tion of the Society. Among the great variety of fruits, 

 particularly of plums, were specimens remarkable for 

 their size and great beauty." A week later a fine speci- 

 men of Strelitzia augusta was presented from the con- 

 servatory of Thomas H. Perkins. The committee were 

 much gratified with a sight of this splendid flower, the 

 first specimen exhibited at the Society's rooms, and 

 probably the first seen in the United States. October 5, 

 William E. Carter of the Botanic Garden presented 

 fruit of Eugenia Malaccensis, or rose apple, which was 

 pronounced most delicious, partaking of the fragrance 

 of the rose with the sweetness of the peach. October 

 12, John Lowell exhibited beautiful flowers of the 

 Gloriosa superba, which had never bloomed before in 

 this country. October 26, Orange quinces, weighing 

 eighteen and twenty ounces each, were presented by 

 James Morey of Nantucket. 



The Fruit Committee, in connection with the report 

 of the exhibition of October 19, said, 



" It will no doubt be gratifying to the friends of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society to know that this is the only institution 

 in America or Europe which has established a weekly exhibition 

 of fruits and flowers, a custom so conducive to improvement, that 

 we are surprised it has not been more generally adopted. One of 

 its most important advantages is the opportunity thus afforded to 

 the amateur of comparing in a vast variety of instances fruits of 

 the same species under different degrees of cultivation ; some 

 raised in exposed situations, with no more care than every farmer 

 can bestow upon his apple orchards, and others whose growth has 



