396 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



could be seen in all their splendor. The delegates to 

 the Pomological Convention were furnished with free 

 tickets to the plant show, and the most experienced flor- 

 ists among them freely admitted that it surpassed any 

 . similar exhibition ever held in this country. 

 J The occupation of the Society's halls by the Pomologi- 

 ' cal Society's exhibition necessitated the postponement 

 of the annual show of fruits and vegetables to the 

 succeeding week. The upper hall was devoted to pears 

 and grapes, the arrangement being the same as for 

 the Pomological Society, except that three circular 

 tables were substituted for the great central table. The 

 lower hall was appropriated to the apples and vegeta- 

 bles. Some fears were entertained that it would be 

 impossible to fill so large a space without the assistance 

 of the florists ; but the result proved that such fears 

 were unfounded. The display of pears was acknowl- 

 edged by all who saw it to be the best, as well as the 

 most extensive, ever made by the Society. No less than 

 twelve collections of twenty varieties each were placed 

 upon the tables. That which took the first prize, 

 Hovey & Co.'s, was pre-eminently worthy of it ; and 

 the dish of Bartletts in this collection was of particu- 

 larly fine quality the best of the best. 



As the offer of prizes for collections of fruit was dis- 

 continued in 1876, and as this was the last year that 

 the names of varieties in prize collections were pre- 

 served, it will be of interest to record here the names 

 of those in the successful collections. Messrs. Hovey's 

 contained the Adams, Andrews, Bartlett, Belle Lucra- 

 tive, Beurre d'Anjou, B. Bosc, B. Hardy, B. Superfin, 

 Dana's Hovey, Doyenne du Cornice, Howell, Marie 

 Louise, Merriam, Moore's Pound, Onondaga, Paradis 



