16 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1895. 



muster in keenest rivalry among the most expert pomologists of 

 England and France for their points of conceded preeminence ; 

 subsequently attracting attention and constraining purchase by 

 our founders above-named, ever alert to secure any fruit worth 

 having. Order, not change ! is Heaven's first law. Because 

 only one or two of our members exhibit a fruit of manifest first 

 quality, shall we therefore reject or degrade it? Some one must 

 be first to introduce it. If others approve its quality, it may or 

 not be widely disseminated, which it certainly will not be, if the 

 Society remain blind to its merits, or precipitately discards it 

 after brief recognition. Quite a lifetime is needed to enable a 

 satisfactory test of the qualities of such enduring fruits as are 

 comprised in the genera — Apple, or Pear. A suitable decision 

 cannot be based upon individual craving for premium or gratuity, 

 but rather upon a continuous trial of flavor and texture in the 

 original package, or upon the approval that may be finally 

 awarded after the pie has been comfortably digested. It is a 

 rule of the common law — stare decisis! Shall it enure to the 

 advancement of Horticulture to build up, merely to tear down, a 

 house of cards ! Says a writer in the Gardener''s Qhronicle 

 (Eng.) : 



" It seems a pity that most of our best pears are fast going 

 out of cultivation, and this, on account of large, worthless varie- 

 ties taking their place. It is a pity that such delicious kinds, as 

 Seckel, Comte de Lamy, Ne Plus Meuris, Winter Nelis, Thomp- 

 son, Dana's Hovey, and others, that do not find favor with 

 judges on the exhibition table, do not receive more attention." 



Such, and so universally conceded, is the preeminence of 

 Seckel that we could not, if we would, ignore it, although con- 

 tenting ourselves with the trees that we already have. From 

 afar, — even from the remote orchards of Tremont Street, is 

 borne to us the acclaim of Dana's Hovey, "horns" of Boston, 

 " so thin and clear," transmitting its local repute, which judg- 

 ment, if we do not approve, we are given to understand, with a 

 certain condescension, derogates by so much from our common 

 sense and pomological knowledge and standing. Winter Nelis 

 has been mentioned elsewhere in the reports of your Secretary, 



