8 MASSACHUSETTS IIORTICDLTURAL SOCIETY. 



vegetable, will, by awakening a sharp competition, be much more 

 likely to bring out the best skill in gardening than the simple 

 "gratuity," however large. 



Fruits and vegetables have been objects of competition through 

 so man}' years that any improvement in them must be the result of 

 unusual skill. A former President publicly expressed the hope 

 that graj)cs in this country, cultivated under glass, might be brought 

 to equal the highest results of European culture. The general 

 opinion, as well as the judgment of the Committee, upon the un- 

 usual merit of some grapes shown at the Annual Exhibition fore- 

 shadows the realization of that wish. 



Our exhibitions have throughout the year attracted the attention 

 of the public to a greater degree than ever before — the total re- 

 ceipts therefrom reaching the very considerable sum of $3,540; 

 to this general success the Rose Show (owing to unfavorable 

 weather) makes the sole exception. Yet even then the Presi- 

 dent of the Societ}' compelled the reluctant elements to yield to 

 him his wonted prizes. The Annual Exhibition was one of the 

 most successful ever held by the Society, and perhaps the best. 

 The receipts of the Ciirvsanthemum Show — nearly equalling those 

 of the main exhibition of the year — are an evidence of the in- 

 creasing interest in this flower, possiblj' somewhat influenced by 

 fashion, but with a real foundation in the fact that its blooming 

 comes at the dullest season of the floral year. The generous prizes 

 offered for Bulbs at the Spring P^xhibition, brought out specimens 

 and collections of exceptional merit; the same wise liberality will, 

 undoubtedly, secure a success at least equal the coming spring. 



The almost priceless collections of plants which have made so 

 important a part of our displays in past seasons have been again 

 placed at the service of the Society and the public with the gener- 

 osity of former years. The Flower Committee express the belief 

 that the increased competition is a direct result of the larger prizes 

 of the past year; and, very properly as it seems to me, they urge 

 the importance of bestowing the great prizes upon specimen [jjants, 

 rather than upon miscellaneous collections of cut flowers. 



The Committee on Gardens, in addition tu the usual report u[)on 

 the condition of the various private gardens visited, have given 

 well-deserved and appreciative notice to two subjects of unusual 

 importance. The lirst of these is the movement for the establish- 

 ing of a Great Natural Park in the Middlesex Fells. Past eflforts 



