82 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1864. 



decrease in the entries of Pears and Apples, owing to the absence of several 

 large and ordinarily regular contributors, in every other department the increase 

 is large — in the Vegetable department greater than ever before. I will not 

 trouble you with the actual figures, for you will receive them in another form. 



The appearance of the Fruit is not quite up to our highest standard — 

 there are not, perhaps, so many plates of very fine or remarkable Fruit, but in 

 regard to its average quality there seems to be but one opinion expressed •, and 

 that is, that it is fully equal to any other year, and that it very much exceeds 

 many. 



The weekly exhibitions of the Society have been kept up with varying suc- 

 cess during the year. The Association is greatly indebted to the constant and 

 untiring eflfbrts of the Secretary for sustaining and keeping up these weekly 

 reunions. He has devoted himself in season and out of season to the welfare 

 of the Society, and his efforts have not proved wholly unsuccessful. 



The utility of these frequent exhibitions is no longer a matter of doubt. 

 Their usefulness has become an established fact. In the free discussions which 

 they give rise to, in the comparison- of different experiences, touching the 

 selection, training and culture of the staple Fruits, they have proved no less 

 useful than in relation to the smaller Fruits which can never be found upon 

 your tables at your Annual Exhibitions, and for which these more frequent 

 meetings were designed. Of all the varieties of Pears and Apples which are 

 shown here at the Annual Exhibitions, very few are in a proper state to have 

 their excellencies tested. They can only be judged of by their external appear- 

 ance. But the most showy and attractive fruit in appearance often proves to 

 be the least desirable and valuable, and sometimes not worthy even of cultiva- 

 tion. But brought in, week by week, as they are at these little gatherings, as 

 they become ripe, they can be fully judged of in every respect, and approved 

 or condemned. A person can best judge for himself in this way, and when he 

 makes a selection of his trees he knows what he wants, and is not forced to 

 rely upon the judgment and taste of others. 



The same principle holds good in relation to the small Fruits. They are here 

 tested, at the only time they can be, and compared, one with another, together 

 with the different modes of treatment applied by different growers to render 

 their cultivation successful. And certainly no greater benefit can be conferred 

 upon the community than a practical knowledge how to bring these luxuries to 

 the table of any one who has any land at all. They are then luxuries in truth : 

 the charm which attaches to a plate of Raspberries, or Strawberries, or Cur- 

 rants, raised by your own care, upon your own ground, and gathered fresh for 

 use when wanted, must be experienced to be fully appreciated. It is then only 

 that you will realize the difference between these fruits of home growth and 

 culture, and those brought from other sections and sold in the market. 



These are a few of the many considerations which address themselves to us 

 as a reason why these exhibitions should continue to bo held. We should not 

 suffer them to flag, or our interest in them to be abated. If we compare the 

 entries for the two years past, I think it will be found that the present year's 



