THE ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE. 211 



that new productions should be named b}- horticultural societies ; 

 people claim the same right to name a fruit as to name a child, 

 but if the suggestion could be adopted it would be of great benefit. 

 The reform in nomenclature originated in the right place, the 

 National Society, which will continue to revise the names of fruits. 



Mr. Wilder said that the American Pomological Societ}' claims 

 and exercises the right to change improper names. 



Rev. A. B. Muzzey said that from his long connection with our 

 Society, which probably began earlier than that of any other per- 

 son in the room except Mr. Wilder, he felt the deepest interest in 

 it. Fifty years ago he began to cultivate fruit, and attached what 

 many persons thought unnecessary importance to the correctness 

 of the names. Cultivators should consult and compare their fruits, 

 so as to be sure of their correct names. We might begin now and 

 here, by the appointment of a committee on this subject. Mr. 

 Muzzey spolvc of the influence of the ladies in the completion of 

 Bunker Hill Monument, which had remained a long time unfinished, 

 and a source of mortiflcatiou, until the ladies took hold of the work 

 in a manner that led Judge Story to say, "The monument is 

 built !" So here, in its lady members, this Society has the strong- 

 est part of humanity, and the time will come when the ladies will 

 not feel so diffident in speaking as they do now. 



Edward L. Beard thouglit it would be well for the Society to 

 consider the best method of extending the interest in horticulture 

 beyond the sphere in which its influence has thus far been exer- 

 cised, and to points where there is at present much ignorance of 

 horticulture and a great deficienc}' of horticultural taste. It would 

 be exceedingly desirable to organize some broader system of 

 encouraging, through local societies, a general improvement of 

 all the productions of the soil. By this means we might get 

 results which would be a great blessing to dwellers in our 

 smaller towns. The question is how best to encourage the 

 enterprise of local horticultural societies. The horticultural so- 

 cieties in Worcester, Springfield, Newton, and other places have 

 effected much good, and similar societies should be formed 

 wherever possible. The people who come to our exhibitions see 

 what are the best fruits and flowers, and admire them, but only a 

 few have knowledge of how they are produced ; and we are bound, 

 as the leading horticultural society of the countr}', to suppl}^ the 



