6L WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1872.^ 



comes very manifest that we shall soon have only ourselves lo l)lame if 

 we do not jti-oduce a croj) of Grapes as sm-ely as one of Strawberries. 



The (lisi)lay of Pears, although far inferior to the unparalleled exhi- 

 bition of that favorite fruit, in 1871, was yet of very decided and unex- 

 pected excellence. In the department of " Single Dishes " there was the 

 usual manifestation of eager interest, — the same keen competition as in 

 former years. It is believed that the time will soon come when the 

 present absurd classification must give place to a more rational mode of 

 determining the merits of specific varieties. You can ascertain which of 

 two plates of the Winter Nelis is the l)etter, by the scale, if in all other re- 

 spects they ^re equal. But, in weighing the merits of the '"Best Ten 

 Varieties," each ]ilate in that Ten must be compared with and })ronounced 

 sui)erior to each and every other plate of all the lots in the same class* 

 And, as individual tastes differ, in default of any standard of (quality fixed 

 by the Society, the members of the Connnittee become a law unto them- 

 selves, according to their private palate and parliality. The writer once 

 entered, to test this point, in Class u, the following: — Seckel, Winter 

 Nells and Josephine de Malines. He was beaten by a lot whereof the 

 Doyenne Boussock was a constituent. 



The argument for a retention of the system of division by classes or 

 collections, has been, that encouragement was therelty afforded to those 

 who had the enterprise to introduce new varieties. But a more effectual 

 and higher stimulus in that direction would be imparted by the specific 

 proposal of Premiums for any kind, novelty being considered alone, or 

 else when combined with superior qualities. Although hopeless of its 

 present adoption, your Secretary would yet urgently advise the abolition 

 of the existing system of classification, as meaningless and unprofitable; 

 and the substitution therefor of a direct com[)etition between the different 

 lots of the same variety. 



The unwonted profusion of Peaches was a marked and gratifying 

 feature of our Annual Autumnal Exhibition. There has been nothing to 

 compare with it since that period, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant > 

 when the Peach was as common as the Cherry, and both were as plenty 

 as of late either has been scarce. The abundance of this delicious fruit? 

 imported from lower latitudes, may possibly justify the neglect of its ex- 

 tended cultivation in our own grounds. But such is the superiority in 

 flavor, of any variety grown among us, that no one who has once appreci- 

 ated it will fail to make room for one or two trees of kinds that have ap- 

 proved themselves best suited to our climate and soil. 



The next Biennial Session of the American Pomological Society is to be 

 held in Boston, in the Autumn of the coming year. May it not be wel^ 

 for us so to time the period of our Annual Autumnal Exhibition that w^ 



