6 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1895. 



late associate. Facile acquiescence in name or kind would never 

 suffice him, who insisted upon positive determination of class 

 and title in all that was brought before him. He may have been 

 somewhat set in his own opinions ; but few men are worth 

 much, whether for themselves or others, who are certain of 

 nothing. It may be said of Mr. Allen that he based his opin- 

 ions, when challenged, upon the most approved authority, and 

 that the occasions were rare indeed that he did not find ample 

 support in the pages of Downing or Thomas. He grew to be 

 an authority in our local pomology ; and now that he has gone, 

 it is fittino: that this slight tribute to the unwearied service that 

 he rendered so cheerfully, at our every beck and call, should be 

 awarded by one who was in a position to measure its character 

 and extent. His length of days was protracted far beyond the 

 limits of the psalmist ; and therein; as in the case of so many of 

 our prominent associates, if longevity be of itself desirable. 

 Horticulture may be claimed to have been vindicated in its 

 servants. 



By the death of John J. Thomas, February 22, A. 

 D. 1895, the number of Honorary Members of this Society is 

 reduced to four. It has ever been a wise practice, in our gov- 

 ernment, to be strictly guarded in the bestowal of official recog- 

 nition, and to make no award of substance or honor that could 

 not be amply justified by the manifest merit of its reci[)ient. 

 Whether as a practical pomologist, or as author of text-books 

 that have passed through countless editions as standard author- 

 ity in Horticultural science, Mr. Thomas was ever the peer of 

 Barry and the Downings, and survived them to take his proper 

 place, unchallenged, at the very head of the Pomologists of 

 America. He valued his connection with this Society as an 

 honor ; in his unaffected modesty regarding all as his equals 

 whom congenial tastes united in a common pursuit. It was 

 the privilege of your Secretary to hold constant correspondence 

 with Mr. Thomas, and it is but simple justice to acknowledge 

 the patient courtesy with which all letters of inquiry were inva- 

 riably considered and answered. Judge therefore of the shock 

 when, in reply to a question what was the actual estimate of a 



