298 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



two hundred feet long by one hundred feet wide, and 

 was pitched in the Public Garden, then a much less at- 

 tractive place than now, and was fitted up with six rows 

 of tables, measuring in all more than one thousand feet in 

 length. The two tables against the sides were devoted to 

 flowers and vegetables, and the other four to fruit. In 

 the centre was a stage filled with beautiful plants. The 

 sides of the pavilion were covered with evergreen trees, 

 and the poles supporting the centre were wreathed with 

 evergreens and flowers. The entrance was through an 

 arch decorated in the same way. The crop of apples 

 and pears was most abundant this year ; and the display 

 of these fruits, especially the pears, was magnificent. 

 Peaches, plums, and -grapes were not so abundant, 

 partly owing to the late season of the exhibition, when 

 many of these fruits were past. The prizes for apples 

 and pears in 1845, 1846, and 1847, were for the largest 

 numbers of varieties, and the best grown ; but for the 

 next four years they were offered for the best collections 

 of twelve varieties. This year, however, there being 

 ample room for the display of large collections, prizes 

 were offered both for the largest collections and for 

 twelve select varieties, with the result that the total 

 number of dishes placed upon the tables exceeded three 

 thousand and four hundred, amounting to more than a 

 hundred bushels, about two-thirds of which were pears. 

 Marshall P. Wilder exhibited two hundred and sixty 

 varieties of pears; Hovey & Co., two hundred and fifty 

 pears, besides apples, grapes, figs, etc. ; and Benjamin V. 

 French, one hundred and sixty pears, and one hundred 

 and eighty apples. 



The display of plants was not very large ; but many 

 of the specimens were very beautiful, the most promi- 



