372 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



cabbages, turnips, beets, potatoes, etc. were seen in 

 fair condition, though the potatoes seemed more sappy, 

 and less desirable, than in England. Tomatoes were a 

 much more prominent feature. Melons, both water 

 and musk, were very fine. Heads of Indian corn, so 

 much eaten in the green state, formed an item in the 

 prize lists, and were very large and handsome. But 

 strangest of all to an English eye were the enormous 

 fruits of egg plants. 



The Garden Committee reported that the long con- 

 tinued drought had made all attempts at ornamental 

 horticulture of such doubtful or inferior success, that 

 few persons were anxious to exhibit their places, and 

 that consequently the only one visited was the estate 

 of Edward S. Rand, jun., known as " Glen Ridge," 

 in Dedham. This place, which was entered in 1868 

 for the Hunnewell Triennial Premium, was visited by 

 the committee in that and the two succeeding years, 

 the visit of 1870 being made in the first week in June, 

 before the drought commenced. The committee, after 

 speaking of the principles which should guide the 

 owner of such an estate in laying out and improving it, 

 and themselves in awarding the prizes offered, went 

 on to note the principal features of Mr. Rand's estate. 

 The first of these was the profusion and superb variety 

 of Rhododendrons, intermixed with Azaleas, Kalmias, 

 and Andromedas, most of which were in flower at the 

 time of the committee's visit. Next the committee 

 noticed the Agaves, Yuccas, etc., and other decorative 

 plants, and the foliage plants, such as Cannas, Ricinus. 

 Colocasias, Pelargoniums, Coleuses, and Aralias, forming 

 beds with borders of Alternanthera, Centaurea, and 

 Golden Pyrethrum. As a cultivator of bulbs, Mr. Rand 



