1864.] president's address. 81 



ADDRESS 



OF 



J. HENRY HILL, President, 



At the TiDenty-fifth Annual Exhibition, in Review of the Condition 

 of the Society. Delivered on Thursday Evening, September 22, 

 at 8 o'clock. 



Ladies and Gentlemen of the Worcester County Rortieultural Society : 



This is the hour set apart by the rules of the Annual Exhibition to hear the 

 reports of the several Committees, and to act upon them. 



It has been the custom of those who have preceded me, and it commends 

 itself as a very proper one, before receiving the reports, to briefly state the 

 financial condition of the Society, its operations for the past year, and its pros- 

 pects for the future. I crave your indulgence for a moment while I address 

 myself to such statement. 



The only change in the financial condition of the Society, appears from a 

 statement made by the Treasurer, to be a gratifying one, namely, the reduction 

 of the debt in the amount of six hundred dollars, leaving the present indebt- 

 edness of the Society only eight thousand one hundred dollars. The amount 

 of the rents becoming due on the first of October will be sufficient to pay the 

 taxes and all small claims, unless there may be a small balance due on the 

 expenses of this exhibition, and for which it may become necessary to make a 

 small temporary loan. It is hoped, however, that even this may be avoided. 



The favorable character of the past winter, followed by a spring of signal 

 promise, warranted fruit-growers in anticipating a display at the present time 

 exceeding anything we had before had. But the long-continued dry weather 

 of the summer checked their anticipations, and they looked forward to the exhi- 

 bition with quite as much of fear as of hope. We were all prepared for failure ; 

 but we are all happily disappointed. The result is more successful than the 

 most hopeful of us had dared to anticipate, and taking everything into account, 

 I have no hesitation in congratulating you upon the complete success of your 

 Twenty-fifth Annual Exhibition. The total number of entries does not vary 

 half a dozen from that of last year. And while there has been a considerable 



