VEGETABLES IN 1877. 433 



the annual exhibition there were twelve competitors, 

 Benjamin G. Smith taking the first prize here and 

 also at the weekly shows. Notwithstanding the ravages 

 of the potato beetle, the crop was abundant and of 

 excellent quality, and the show at the annual exhibition 

 was one of the best ever made in the hall. Tomatoes 

 of open culture were exhibited from the 21st of July to 

 the 10th of November, the display in the interval having 

 been varied in kind, profuse in quantity, and of excel- 

 lent quality. On the 25th of August John Cummings 

 presented eleven varieties ; and at the annual exhibition 

 there were seventy-three dishes of the finest specimens 

 ever seen on the tables. At this exhibition the show of 

 the different varieties of squashes was pronounced the 

 finest ever made. The displays of melons and egg plants 

 were remarkably fine. Forty-two dishes of onions of 

 different varieties were shown, and other roots were 

 abundant and excellent. The committee this year, in- 

 stead of placing each exhibiter's contribution by itself, 

 arranged the different classes of vegetables together, 

 not only lightening their own labors in awarding the 

 premiums, but making the whole exhibition much more 

 interesting and instructive than previous ones. 



The only visits reported by the Garden Committee 

 were to the estate of Francis B. Hayes at Lexington, 

 and to the Newton Cemetery. Mr. Hayes's estate was 

 entered for the Hunnewell Triennial Premium. It com- 

 prised nearly four hundred acres, watered from a reser- 

 voir excavated on the summit of a high hill near the 

 centre, and in fifteen years had been brought from a waste 

 pasture to a fertile and thrifty condition. The grounds 

 around the mansion were tastefully laid out, and judi- 

 ciously planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers. The 



