294 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



was wreathed with evergreen, and bore the inscription, 

 " Twenty-Third Annual Exhibition of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society." Owing to a long and severe 

 drought, the display of flowers was meagre ; and, though 

 the pot plants were excellent, they were few in number. 

 The glory of the show was the fruit, more particularly 

 the pears, of which the crop, though not large, was in 

 quality, notwithstanding the drought, finer beyond com- 

 parison than in any previous year. Four prizes were 

 offered for the best collections of twelve varieties each ; 

 and, as the names of the varieties in the successful col- 

 lections have been preserved, we copy them for compari- 

 son with those of later date. The first prize was 

 awarded to Josiah Stickney, for Andrews, Bartlett, Belle 

 Lucrative, Beurre Diel, Colmar d'Aremberg, Dix, Du- 

 chesse d'Angouleme, Flemish Beauty, Louise Bonne of 

 Jersey, Napoleon, Thompson, and Vicar of Winkfield ; 

 the second prize to. Samuel Downer, jun., for Bartlett, 

 Beurre Diel, Chaumontel, Columbia, Duchesse d'Angou- 

 leme, Glout Morceau, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Napoleon, 

 Passe Colmar, Urbaniste, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, and 

 White Doyenne ; the third prize, to Marshall P. Wilder, 

 for Beurre d'Anjou, Beurre Diel, Columbia, Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme, Dunmore, Glout Morceau, Golden Beurre 

 of Bilboa, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Passe Colmar, 

 Urbaniste, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, and Vicar of 

 Winkfield ; the fourth prize, to H. Schimming, gardener 

 to John P. Gushing, for Beurre Diel, Catillac, Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre, Gansel's Bergamot, Glout 

 Morceau, Gray Doyenne, Louise Bonne of Jersey, 

 Seckel, St. Andre, White Doyenne, and Winter Nelis. 

 It will be perceived that less than half of these varieties 

 would now be thought worthy of a place in a prize col- 

 lection, and some have gone entirely out of cultivation. 



