OF 



J. HENRY HILL, President, 



At the Twenty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Society. Delivered 

 on Thursday Evening, September 20, at 8 o'clock. 



Ladies and Gentlemen of the Worcester County Horticultural Society : 



I fully recognize the danger I incur of being charged with repetition, yet I 

 cannot deny myself the pleasure of congratulating you upon the eminent success 

 of your present exhibition — a pleasure all the greater, in that the success comes 

 at a time when we have least expected it, and when its presence is all the more 

 grateful. The Society are under great obligations to those of our friends who 

 have labored so diligently, and contributed so generously to ensure that success. 



The month of May, with its buds and heavy bloom, seemed to warrant us in 

 expecting an abundant harvest for the autumn. But instead of the generous 

 fruition which we then so confidently looked to, we have but a limited amount 

 of fruit of any kind, while with some varieties, the crop has almost entirely 

 failed. Numerous theories as to the cause are put forward, and urged with 

 various degrees of confidence, but as yet none seem altogether satisfactory. 

 We have now the fact before us, and the subject is certainly worthy of our 

 patient investigation that we may, if possible, discover a remedy, and apply it in 

 the future. For this present, we certainly should be content, inasmuch as 

 Pomona has done all, and more than we had reason to expect, and Flora has 

 fairly out-done herself, gracefully coming to the rescue when her services were 

 most needed, and her presence most welcome. 



It will be seen by comparison, of the entries of this year, with those of 

 former exhibitions, that the contributions, while they have improved in the 

 apple department, slightly, from last year, have, in all other fruits, sadly fallen 

 off. And in passing along the tables, the commendable effort of the con- 

 tributors, to produce their best specimens, is plainly noticeable, while each 

 contributor is ready to excuse the absence of the usual excellence in his 

 collection. But each one seems to have done all he could, which is all we have 

 any right to expect. We can only hope that another year will be sufficiently 

 favorable for the growth of the various fruits, to restore us to our former 

 position. 



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