REPORT 



COMMITTEE ON GARDENS, 



FOR THE YEA.B 1894. 



By JOHN G. BARKER, Chairman. 



The past season has not given us the scope of observation that 

 we had hoped would be furnished. The reason for this faihire 

 you may be quite as able to conjecture as your Committee. 

 Undoubtedly the extremely dry weather had something to do with 

 it. There are few who care to invite the Committee to inspect 

 their grounds, unless they are fairly presentable, and when we 

 consider that the growing season of 1893 was quite dry, and that 

 of 1894 was much more so, it will be seen at once, that these two 

 successive extremely dry seasons had a very serious effect on 

 many places, especially on the lawns. We all realize how much 

 good grass adds to the beauty of an}" place, and makes even the 

 smallest dooryard attractive. The long-continued drought, so 

 general all over the country, made work very hard, and it is 

 almost a wonder that, when the fall rains did come, vegetation was 

 so quickly restored, and so little was lost. Doubtless the greatest 

 loss was among newly-planted trees and shrubs, where water 

 could not be readily obtained to supply them with sufficient 

 moisture to sustain the life remaining in them. For many j'ears 

 nothing like the past season's dry weather has been experienced ; 

 and we sincerely hope we may not soon have another like it. 



The Schedule of Prizes has not proved attractive, notwithstand- 

 ing it has been rearranged nearly every season, and in such a way 

 that we had hoped the prizes would bring a reasonable competi- 

 tion. But we did not succeed, excepting with the class for 



