•WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



[1864. 



In 1861, one; in 18G2, nineteen; in 1863, forty-two. It is pertinent to note, 

 in this connection, that there was no exhibition in 1861, owing to the paralysis 

 of all business by the then recent outbreak of the war, and that the transfer of 

 the Library was not consummated until the last Thursday of February, A. D. 

 1862. 



At the first meeting of the Trustees in 1863, at the suggestion of Mr. William 

 T. Merrifield, it was determined to raise a fund by subscription for the purpose 

 of stimulating, through the offer of suitable premiums, competition in the 

 growth and display of summer Flowers and Fruits. Thanks to the zeal of 

 Messrs. Edward Earle and O. B. Hadwen, a liberal sum was obtained, of 

 which a portion has been expended as was designed, leaving a sufficient amount 

 for similar purposes during the present year. The success of the enterprise 

 was greater than could have been anticipated by the most sanguine. To illus- 

 trate this more perfectly, a summary is given of the entries for the years 1862 

 and 1863. severally, exclusive of those at the Annual Autumnal Exhibition : 



The net increase in the aggregate, it will be noticed, is not very large. Pre- 

 miums upon quality tend surely, if slowly, to a reduction of the quantity offered 

 for exhibition. But the true explanation — one which brings into clearer 

 relief the actual gain in 1863 — is to be found in the facts that the season was 

 not unusually favorable to the growth of the smaller fruits ; that it was not the 

 bearing year of the pomologist, notwithstanding which the entries of Apples 

 were more than doubled, although Pears for that and other causes suffered an 

 appreciable diminution; that viniculture yielded but doubtful returns; and 

 that whereas the floral aggregate for 1862, was made up of single blooms and 

 cuttings, in entries covering the whole year, the sum total for 1863, is com- 

 posed of immense exotic plants, of entire stands recorded for economy of time 

 as a unit, and of collections of Plants in pots, which also, for the same reason, 

 figure as single items in the enumeration. In 1862 not a Thursday occurred 

 from the date of the transfer of the Library until the Annual Autumnal Exhi- 

 bition that some display, more or less extensive, was not furnished by the 

 skillful florists of the city of Worcester. For some unknown cause these con- 

 tributions were withheld in 1863, until the 25th day of June, when premiums 

 were offered for the best collections of Roses. Thus, to be more explicit, 

 while in 1862, under the stimulus of novelty, there were three hundred and 

 ninety-six entries of Plants and Flowers throughout a period ranging from 

 February 26 to September 15 ; in 1863, during the twenty (20) hours from 



