1867.] 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



'delight. Its re-appearance will serve to verifj' tlie wisdom of those who have 

 been accustomed to plant a few trees of this fruit every year, in the faith that 

 the failure in the crop was but a temporary one. And this practice of frequent 

 planting and its promised good results furnishes a lesson that horticulturists 

 will do well to heed. 



Other fruits have not, perhaps, quite come up, in some respects, to the 

 standard of former years. Indeed, one might almost imagine a sort of con- 

 ventional courtesy established among the different fruits. They very rarely all 

 come up to the same degree of excellence, or abound in equal profusion, at one 

 and the same time. If the Apple promises a larger display than usual, the 

 Pear seems instinctively to retire, partially, for the time, and to leave the field 

 comparatively free, declining to offer any obstacle to the success of the Apple 

 by way of competition. If the Peach exhibits any signs of renewing its strength, 

 or of resuming its old position among its kindred fruits, others of its class 

 gracefully yield their claims, for the nonce, and allow her to become the centre 

 of attraction. 



But, as a whole, the Society and its friends have reasonable cause to look 

 upon the present Exhibition as a success. 



The few past years have been trying ones to those engaged in the culture of 

 fruits, whether as amateurs, or for the market. A great many obstacles have 

 arisen for them to encounter, and a great many foes, scarcely known before, 

 have intruded themselves upon the cultivator, and baffled, to a greater or less 

 extent, his efforts. They have come in almost every form, and under almost 

 every guise. If he stop the ravages of one enemy and plume himself upon his 

 victory, it is only oftentimes to find another of a different, and, perhaps, more 

 formidable character in another direction. His life thus becomes one of con- 

 stant vigilance and unwearied perseverance. If he would have abundant crops 

 he must not count upon a life of indolent ease, or an entire freedom from care. 

 If in the spring he finds his trees free from the canker-worm and the caterpillar, 

 he need not at once jump at the conclusion that his crop is secure. A great 

 many other contingencies may intervene to frustrate his hopes. Perhaps those 

 whom he has heretofore regarded as his best friends, and whom he has petted 

 and cherished with the most tender care, will this year declare themselves his 

 enemies, and plunder him of his choicest fruits. 



The music and the warble of the spring birds have furnished the theme for 

 many a rhapsody. The lover and the poet, from time immemorial, have 

 gone " clean mad " over the sentiment which the feathered songsters have 

 given birth to; and one who manifests indifference or insensibility upon 

 that subject is set down as devoid of sentiment, or even the commonest traits 

 of human feeling and human emotion. But this, like every other malady of 

 the kind has, in some sort, its cure ; and like every other pleasure, our spring 

 music has its cost, and sometimes pretty heavy at that. Now, if any of you 

 doubt this, turn horticulturist, and you will soon be brought to reason. By the 

 time these charming thieves have robbed you for two or three years of your 

 entire crop of Strawberries, of Raspberries, of Peas, of early Pears and 



