1876.] REPORT OP SECRETARY. 71 



" mation upon subjects counccted with that art which our society is 

 " organized to foster. These frequently recurring exhibitions have many 

 " recommendations which are obvious upon the shghtest reflection ; one 

 " of them only will be alluded to here, namely, that the Annual Exhibi- 

 " tion would naturally be compared, not with its fac simile of the previous 

 " year, but with the smaller and varied displays during the season." 



These opinions found acceptance, and for some years thereafter the 

 policy of the Society was in accordance with them The premiums were 

 augmented, as the means of the Society permitted, and suitable accom- 

 modations were provided for all who chose to exhibit, in this Hall of 

 Flora. Your Secretary does not propor^e to weary your patience by en- 

 laigiug upon this topic. His la^^t Annual Report dwelt at length upon 

 the advantages of the Weekly Exhibiti(ms. The positive loss enuring 

 to the Society, as a whole, and to its individual members, from the ex- 

 periment of their discontinuance, contirms his views. He does not be- 

 lieve that the Schedule of 1875 can be uialerially improved, except as the 

 increase of resources shall permit you to offer greater inducements to con- 

 tributors. And he w*»uld earnestly recommend the adoption of that 

 Schedule of Exhibitions and Premiums, for the Summer of 1S77, with only 

 the necessary change of dates. In this way you may revive the inter- 

 est of cultivators who have been alienated by a sudden, and, as they 

 think, causeless reversal of a time-honored and prosperous policy. Thus, 

 and thereby alone, can you regain the cooperation of ladies, whose zeal 

 and taste, in the i)ast, have contributed so essentially to your success. 

 The benefits of restoring and renewing the mutual intercourse between 

 Town and County, so hardly established and so easily broken, must be 

 plainly evident to all of you by wdiom they^were valued of yore, and to 

 whom their loss has been a source of constant regret during the past 

 year. 



The opportunity for the exhibition of new Fruits was not the least of 

 their recommendations. Several kinds, not alone of what are technically 

 known as "Small Fruits," but also of the larger and perhaps choicer gen- 

 era, could have been shown in their season. Your Secretary might have 

 learned that the Aquilegia Chrysantha, which he had purchased, was, in 

 fact, the Aquilegia Cerulea ; and Mr. Salisbury, to whom the latter spe- 

 cies was a novelty, would have so much sooner experienced the pleasure 

 of beholding a handsomer variety than the Chrysantha. If there is a 

 time for all things, what can there be better than the right time ? And 

 of the exact date, each person must be his own judge, carefully watching 

 development and realizing maturity, so that the obvious lesson to him- 

 self may be fraught with precious instruction to others. The true hor- 

 ticulturist seeks no concealment ; his ways, whether of tentation or 



