1898.] ANNUAL REUNION. 1()5 



the English laborer and farmer. During the last live or six 

 centuries it was surprising to tind to what a narrow range of 

 vegetable food the diet of the English was confined in that 

 period. In the 14th century, wheat, rye, oats, and beans fur- 

 nished the material for the vegetable food of nearly all the 

 Englishmen. There were practically no garden vegetables and 

 few fruits. Come down to the beginning of the 18th century 

 and we tind no improvement in the monotony of such a diet 

 from one year's end to another. The English farmer of that 

 period was not progressive, and did not take kindly to the idea 

 of any new vegetables. He learned very slowly and unwillingly 

 from his ' more advanced Dutch neighbor. It was, I believe, 

 Lord Townsend, who, after his alienation from Walpole, retired 

 from the ministry and then set the fashion of Gentlemen farming 

 in England. He devoted himself to the introduction of new 

 vegetables, the improvement of the varieties already existing, 

 and to making converts to horticulture among his friends. In 

 a short time a great number of the English nobility and men of 

 wealth imitated his example and it became the rage in the latter 

 part of the 18th century. " It was to these men," said Rogers, 

 " men engaged in business and politics, who pursued agriculture 

 or horticulture as an avocation, that England owes at the present 

 time her prominence in the variety and excellency of her fruits 

 and vegetables. The diversity of the food of the people is a 

 very good indication of its civilization— some accounts say that 

 it was in a great measure the cause of their civilization. If this 

 be true, we can certainly affirm that the men who have been 

 moved by the spirit which animates this Society have played no 

 unimportant part in the progress of mankind. 



The Toastmaster. — The Fruit Growers Association of Mas- 

 sachusetts, a society organized in our hall some two or three 

 years since, is holding its annual session in our hall today. 

 Some of the members are present and among them its president, 

 who is one of the oldest members of our Society. I have the 

 pleasure of introducing Mr. George Cruikshanks. 



