22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891. 



valuable consideration by way of lure ? Is there any such thing 

 as a pure love of Horticulture, because of the intrinsic charm to 

 be discerned in beauty, fragrance, or savor ! Or ar^ we simply 

 tempted to earn so many dollars for a display of this or that 

 standard fruit, which we never originated or set out ; or of those 

 more recent varieties, for scions of which we were importunate 

 beggars, although they were for sale at the Nurseries at a nom- 

 inal price. 



For, or against Annual, Monthly, or Weekly, Exhibitions, 

 the argument is ample whether in favor or dispraise. But mere 

 frequency, it should be noted, is rather a theory than a condi- 

 tion. Often may be a good way ; but just often enough is far 

 better. If we appoint an Exhibition upon a fixed date, and hold 

 it inflexibly, it may turn out well enough. But, if your Roses 

 are yet in bud, your Strawberries not ripe, — what then? The 

 grower upon a sunny exposure, with a sandy, warm subsoil, — 

 how shall justice hold her scales in equipoise between Birch or 

 Olean Streets ; Hope Avenue and the declivity easterly of 

 Bloomingdale ? Horticultural Exhibitions will languish and die, 

 where favoritism is manifest, or reasonably suspected. They 

 can only thrive under rigid subjection to the laws of the Medes 

 and Persians — which altereth not. In whatsoever we determine, 

 the element of uncertainty will intrude itself to thrust aside our 

 best laid plans. An Exhibition of Roses and Strawberries is 

 appointed for the 24th or 25th of June : upon a computation of 

 averages, long since found to be a most suitable date. But a 

 cold Spring, immoderate rains, or a week of such suns as just 

 parched our early October, — whereafter the clamor is loud and 

 discordant : Anticipate ! Postpone ! And whichsoever course 

 you elect, to the derangement of your Schedule, you will wish 

 that you had chosen the other. As the necessities, or even ex- 

 igencies of everybody cannot be accommodated, what remains but 

 to ascertain and adhere to a definite fixed rule from which noth- 

 ing shall cause the Society to deviate or flinch ? 



It is the opinion of your Secretary, based upon life-long ex- 

 perience, that an Exhibition of Roses, Strawberries, &c., some- 

 where about the last week of June, is as early as any Exhibition 



