324 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in all nearly two thousand dishes of apples, pears, plums, 

 peaches, and grapes, containing upwards of twenty thou- 

 sand specimens. The pears were truly remarkable. A 

 silver cup of the value of twenty-five dollars was offered 

 by H. B. Stanwood & Co. as a prize for the best twelve 

 specimens of the Bartlett pear ; and for this prize there 

 were fifty-five competitors, Alexander Dickinson being 

 successful. The twelve specimens presented by him 

 weighed eight and one-half pounds. Marshall P. 

 Wilder and Hovey & Co. each exhibited three hundred 

 varieties of pears, a larger number than has been 

 shown at any exhibition of the Society since. 



The display of vegetables was magnificent, the varie- 

 ties being many, and the specimens grown in perfection. 

 The Porno Lesteriano, or Perfected tomato, was shown, 

 of handsome appearance, and very solid. 



For the first time, fixed prizes had been offered for 

 pot plants and cut flowers at each weekly exhibition ; so 

 that the hall always presented an appearance creditable 

 alike to the Society and the exhibitors. In their review 

 of the season the Flower Committee mentioned a great 

 number of new and rare plants exhibited at the weekly 

 and annual exhibitions. Among those most prominent 

 were the Caladium Chantini and Gymnogramme chry- 

 sophylla of William T. Merrifield ; Thyrsacanthus ruti- 

 lans, Maranta regalis, and a variety of Begonias from 

 Evers & Comley; Statice Holfordi, and Lilium Browni, 

 from Hovey & Co. ; Dianthus Heddewigi, from Martin 

 Trautman ; and Peristeria elata, from William Wheel- 

 wright. The cut flowers were unusually fine. The 

 dahlia, which had been so popular, seemed to be going 

 slowly out of favor. 



Among the varieties mentioned for the first time by 



