342 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the first to show the incorrectness of the opinion gen- 

 erally entertained, on the authority of Dr. Van Mons, 

 that this fruit deteriorated when raised from the seeds 

 of the best kinds, and that, improved varieties could 

 only be obtained by sowing the seeds of the wild pear 

 through successive generations. What has been said of 

 the pear is true in a less degree of other fruits ; though 

 the strawberry and the grape rivalled the pear, if, in- 

 deed, the grape did not surpass it, in the interest excited. 

 We have chronicled the exhibition and testing of a large 

 number of strawberries, especially of the European 

 kinds, of large size, which, it is to be regretted, have 

 proved too tender for our climate. We have noted the 

 commencement of the excitement in regard to native 

 grapes, and the advent of the Concord, the Allen's 

 Hybrid, and other improved varieties which were early 

 exhibited before the Society. Perhaps we cannot better 

 estimate the advance in this fruit than by imagining our 

 gardens and markets stripped of the Concord grape 

 alone ; but in 1845 there were not only no Concords, 

 but few grapes of any kind, except Isabellas. And not 

 only was the Society diligent in promoting the improve- 

 ment of fruit culture in Massachusetts, but by its share 

 in establishing the American Pomological Society, and 

 sustaining its meetings and exhibitions, two of which, 

 in 1854 and 1862, were held in Boston under the au- 

 spices of the Horticultural Society, it has been instru- 

 mental in the advancement of pomology throughout 

 the country. 



In the flower department we are impressed by the 

 same zeal in gathering and testing ever^ new thing 

 which we have witnessed in regard to fruit ; the rose 

 being here as striking an example as the pear among 



