10 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1895. 



it is an act of simple justice to award the meed of 

 praise that is plainly due to Mr. Arba Pierce, whose rare taste 

 and tireless industry have placed this Society and the whole 

 community under a weight of obligation for an entire genera- 

 tion past. No obstacle has proved insurmountable in his per- 

 sistent efforts to collect specimens of almost our entire local 

 flora in their season. The ambitious women who aim to de- 

 scribe "Some New Eno^land Flowers," signalizing their learn- 

 ing and taste by omission of Lythrum Salicaria, Sabbatia 

 Chloroides, etc., can set no stint for Mr. Pierce. Perchance 

 the water in the swamps wherein he wades is too deep, swamps 

 in which the bicycle finds no pathway, — the bloomer no bot- 

 tom. To him, at least, fortunately for the repute of our So- 

 ciety, the Flora of New England can never be complete so long 

 as its fairest specimens are left to bloom unseen. There have 

 been — and they might be found among our judges, to whom the 

 Wild-Flower is but a weed, to be left in the fields, unnoticed. 

 Yet, whence do you derive the brilliance and profusion of 

 floriage that is so charming in Conservatory or Green-House ! 

 What was their origin ? From what source do you trace their 

 evolution? In the light of past experience, shall we call or con- 

 sider anything despicable, simply because we have been too con- 

 ceited or lazy to attempt its improvement? 



Few, even of our oldest members, can recall our ex- 

 hibitions, of a generation since, so clearly as to take 

 precise measure of the contrast between them and those 

 which we are latterly holding. It was always our aim 

 to stimulate the higher culture, and to promote the practice 

 of Horticulture by offering substantial rewards for pre- 

 eminence in the actual growth of every fruit of the soil. Grant 

 that the attendance was seldom commensurate with the merit of 

 the display ! The Exhibition was a free-will offering ; the whole 

 community might be onlookers, did they choose ; and, at any 

 rate, the tables were set as of old, when it became the fashion, 

 if not an imperative necessity, to scour the highways, compell- 

 ing the very hoodlum and tramp to come in. Now, the display 

 of Flowers, wild or cultivated, forced, or left to grow at their 



