168 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ties, and so it will be in the fiitnre ; and we shall retain only such 

 as, by their excellence and adaptation to our situation and wants, 

 are worthy of extensive cultivation. Like the Baldwin apple, the 

 Bai'tlett pear, the Concord grape, and other renowned fruits, let 

 such varieties be dedicated to perpetual remembrance by appro- 

 priate names, so that we may hand down to future generations a 

 system of nomenclature, pure and plain in its diction, pertinent 

 and proper in its application, and wliich shall be an example, not 

 only for fruits, but for other products of the earth. 



Let us have no more Generals, Colonels, or Captains attached to 

 the names of our fruits ; let us have no more Presidents, Governors, 

 or titled dignitaries; no more Monarchs, Kings, or Princes ; no 

 more Mammoths or Tom Thumbs ; no more Nonsuches, Seek-no- 

 furthers, Ne Plus Ultras, Hog-pens, Sheep-noses, Big Bobs, Iron 

 Clads, Legal Tenders, Sucker States, or Stump-the- Worlds. Let 

 us have no long, unpronounceable, irrelevant, high-flown, bombas- 

 tic names to our fruits, and, if possible, let us dispense with the 

 now confused terms of Pearmain, Pippin, Belle, Beurre, Calebasse, 

 Doyenne, Seedling, Beauty, Favorite, and other like useless or im- 

 proper titles to our fruits. Tlie cases are ver}' few where a single 

 word will not form a better name for a fruit than two or more. 

 Thus shall we establish a standard worthy of imitation by other 

 nations, and I suggest that we ask the cooperation of all pomolog- 

 ical and horticultural societies in this and foreign countries, in 

 carrying out this important reform. These are the suggestions 

 w^hich I have before made, and which have been extensively adopted 

 by the pomological world, and I see no reason for retracting any- 

 thing I have said on this subject. This reform cannot be accom- 

 plished at once ; but it has the merit of putting a stop to the im- 

 proper dedication of some of the most beautiful works of nature 

 with improper, ostentatious, irrelevant, and useless terms. 



In my address to the American Pomological Society I have 

 spoken of the importance of the establishment of short, plain, and 

 proper rules to govern the nomenclature and description of our 

 fruits, and our duty in regard to it ; and I desire once more to 

 urge upon this Society the importance of aiding in this good work. 

 The American Pomological Society has taken up the work in 

 earnest, and soon, in conjunction with this and other societies, we 

 shall have a reform wortliy of its position, age, and character. 

 I see no reason win- the principle should not be carried further 

 than has yet been done in the Catalogue of the Pomological 



