1873.] 



REPORT OF SECRETARY AND LIBRARIAN. 



63 



The customar}' tabular statement of Entries for the past official year, 

 not otherwise and elsewhere detailed ; including also the three preceding 

 years during which our Annual Autumnal Exhibitions were held 

 in Mechanics Hall ; is herewith submitted : 



Apples 



Grapes, &c., &c. . 

 Pears 



Plants, Flowers. &o 

 Vegetables 



1872. 



1873. 



Con- 



64 

 35 

 70 

 56 

 17 



1201 



401 



1971 



2455 



1758 



Con- 

 tributors 



-I- 



38 

 35 

 81 

 51 



27 



242 I 7786 232 



Articles. 



784 



998 



2733 



3075 



1319 



8909 



It will not escape jaiur attention that while there has been steady, pro- 

 gressive augmentation in the number of articles displayed upon our Ta- 

 bles, from year to year, there was no corresponding increase in the num- 

 ber of contributors. The great interest aroused among Amateur Florists, 

 during the summer is plainly manifested in another way. Pears betray 

 their abundance and, as almost the sole exception, the fact that new gar- 

 dens are yielding their first fruits from their pet tree or their select col- 

 lection. Yet the language of a former President of the Society,* in an Ad- 

 dress delivered to the Members not less than fourteen years ago, is so 

 apt to the present situation and applies so forcibly to the needs of the 

 hour, that it may well be repeated : 



"One feature of the Exhibition must strike every visitor. And, although 

 'it may be somewhat flattering to our local pride, no one can regard it 

 otherwise than as unfavorable to the interest of the Society, and the cause 

 of Pomology in our County. In reading the accounts of some of the 

 Town Exhibitions, we see that fifty and more varieties of Apjjles are 

 frequently shown by a single individual, a number equal to that exhibi- 

 ted by our most extensive Orchardists. This Society should offer i:)remi- 

 ums sufficient to induce cultivators in ever}- part of the County to bring 

 their choicest Fruit here. The labor of collecting specimens from large 

 orchards, the expense attending its conveyance, and the additional fact 

 that most of this fruit is given to the Society and sold for its benefit, of- 

 ten realizing an amount greater than the premiums bestowed upon it, are 

 I'easons why sjjecial encouragement should be given to this, our most 

 valuable Fruit. The Pears, like the fast horses in this Agricultural So- 

 ciety, will take care of themselves. I recommend to the Trustees to con- 

 sider whether it is not for the interest of the Society that, in addition to 

 the premiums for Apples now offered, premiums liberal in amount and 



*iIon. D. Wiildu LiiR-oln. 



