1875.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. 61 



" meaningless (while they are even more cumbersome) as they have been 

 " found among the Fruits. Your Secretary has no hesitation tlierefore, in 

 " advising tliat all general collections, whether of Apples, Pears or Yeget- 

 " ables, be abolished. That the sum thereby saved be applied to the 

 " greater encouragement of the several species in the various Genera of 

 " Field and Garden products. That quality be our sole aim, at the expense 

 " of quantity or specific gravity — this latter with due deference to the 

 " Committee on Pears. That, for example, three mangolds be accepted as 

 '* evidence that a cartload just like them could have been piled up, to the 

 " annoyance of every one." 



The action of the Trustees was as decisive as it has ever been when 

 their judgment was convinced. Scarcely a class was retained in the 

 Schedule of Premiums for the year just closed ; and then onl}^ among 

 Plants and Vegetables, within which departments it is questionable if the 

 reform might not as well be made radical. What was the result ? At 

 the Annual Autumnal Exhibition there were the following entries : 



Apples: Contributors, 33 ; Plates, 165 ; Specimens, 1650. 



Pears : '• 71 " 356 " 4272. 



Vegetables : " 35 ; Articles, 321 ; 



in lots varying from the half-peck of Onions or Potatoes, to detachments 

 of the by no means infinitesimal Pumpkins or Squashes. Now, while 

 it must be admitted that our tables have been cumbered in former years 

 with a mass of articles as difficult to judge, or even examine, as it was 

 profitless to attempt either ; yet it cannot be disputed that our claim to 

 the achievement of superior excellence in 1875 is well founded. The 

 selection of Apples was limited by its being the off year, so-called, sup- 

 plying therefore a very limited crop from which to cull specimens.* Of 

 the quality of those which were exhibited, the Report of the able and 

 pains-taking Chairman may be trusted to speak with candor. The 

 Pear, as a whole, must be conceded to have surpassed any previous dis- 

 play within our Hall, as they certainly far exceeded expectations based 

 upon the ravages of Blight and the general complaint of harm fi'om nox- 

 ious insects. Of unblemished aspect and goodly form, their like, in 

 these respects, has doubtless been seen by us upon other occasions. But 

 in the matter of size, the specimens transcended all past experience 

 This was notably the case with the smaller varieties, as the Seckel and 

 St. Ghislain, which can perhaps afford to gain in bulk without losing 



*N0Tf.. -Onr worthy and observant associate, Mr. Newell WooJ of Millhnrv. mentions a rurions exam- 

 ple of good resulting from evil. An orchard from which the buds had been stripped by the Caiiker- 

 Worm, inls74, yielded a plentiful crop of excellent Apples in 1875. But shall we encourage the Oanker- 

 Worm, even to transpose the year of abundance ?— f.. w. i.. 



