398 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. f 



the largest and one of the best ever made by the 

 Society. The most prominent feature was the fine 

 collections of potatoes. That from Albert Bresee of 

 Hubbardton, Vt., the originator of the Early Rose, was 

 of unusual excellence, and received the highest prize. 

 N. W. Hardy of Nelson, N.H., also exhibited a very 

 fine collection, among which were several seedlings 

 said to possess unusual merit. 



The Garden Committee this year made the report 

 of their third visit to the estate of William Gray, jun. 

 This comprised about twenty acres, greatly diversified 

 and naturally hard to subdue, and had been reclaimed, 

 improved, and made attractive, mainly within the three 

 years preceding the first visit of the committee. On the 

 left of the approach was a green carpet of grass extend- 

 ing up to an irregular edging of wild trees and shrubs, 

 and a few conglomerate rocks ; while on the right the 

 smooth, undulating lawn swept out, dipping to the west, 

 until it plunged into a deep ravine, with rugged rocks, 

 dense thickets, and huge forest trees, thus combining the 

 picturesque and the beautiful. The mansion house was 

 centrally placed, and beyond it, to the south, were the 

 garden and greenhouses. The committee noticed with 

 commendation the luxuriant cannas, and the flowers 

 massed in beds of various forms cut in the grass, and 

 filled with tall growing tropical plants ; while others 

 were brilliant with flowering or variegated leaved plants 

 of humbler growth. Many rare plants were scattered 

 singly on the lawn, including Alsophila australis, Dick- 

 sonia antarctica, Musa ensete, Pandanus utilis, Aralia 

 Sieboldii, A. canescens, Arundo donax var., Ficus elas- 

 tica, Cordyline indivisa, Araucaria imbricata, A. excelsa, 

 agaves, palms, vuccas, hollies, etc. But the grandest 



