16 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1886. 



it was tlie practice to mow all that stood. In such cases of 

 course, no seed could mature ; and the root, not being perennial, 

 shortly died out. Years ago, the famous florists around Roch- 

 ester, N. Y., considered Cydonia Japonica but half-hardy. They 

 have grown wiser now, such men living to learn and profiting by 

 their advantages of observation. But, suppose some freshman, 

 of our own number, should find the trunk of a Cherry-tree riven 

 wide open by frost, after a night of intense severity ! Shall it 

 therefore be assumed that the Cherry is not hardy in this climate, 

 although yielding its grateful fruit since the first Mayflower blun- 

 dered upon onr coast ? Instances of Amaryllis longifoliutn^ and 

 Liliura Auratum, wintering out-doors, when accidentally over- 

 looked and deeply covered, have been brought to your notice 

 heretofore. It might be hazardous to assume the hardiness of 

 such bulbs except under similar favorable conditions whose ex- 

 istence pre-supposes too much leisure and trouble. Bnt wliy 

 should the Hyacinth and Tulip be almost unique in their endur- 

 ance ? May not careful tests establish the fact that we have 

 enfeebled plants, by molly-coddling, whose constitution only re- 

 quired that they should be let alone! 



And how much remains to be disclosed by the search for new 

 varieties and their thorough trial. For years the Catalpa bignon- 

 oides put forth its rank growth, to be completely winter-killed, 

 under this parallel of 42^. It was reserved for that eminent horti- 

 culturist, the late John A. Warder, to discover and proclaim the 

 tested merits of Catalpa speciosa. A most rapid growing tree of 

 widely-branching development, whose immense leaves and hand- 

 some panicles of floriage have come to supply one of the finest 

 and most unique ornaments to private or public grounds. Does 

 any one challenge its hardiness? For these ten years past speci- 

 mens by the hundred have been procured (througli the mail) of 

 Robert Douglas & Sons, and planted in the bleakest and coldest 

 portions of Elm Park, in this City. Tiie records will show how 

 keenly the winds have swept — how low the mercury has fallen, — 

 within that period. The extremities of a few twigs may have 

 been nipped occasionally, — but that has been the worst. What 

 is more to the purpose ; their tough wood (hois cf arc) withstood 

 the fearful Ice-storms of the last January and February un- 



