308 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Chrysanthemums. All of these prizes brought competitors, and 

 all were awarded. However, we have not been idle, having made 

 nine different visits, and we trust that the statements of the 

 various persons whose places we visited, may prove interesting 

 and profitable, and worthy of your careful consideration. Our 

 first visit was to 



Oakmount, the Residence of Francis Brown Hayes, 

 Lexington. 



The Rhododendrons constituted the principal object of the visit. 

 The large tent, one hundred and seventy-five feet long by seventy- 

 five feet wide, under which so many splendid specimens were 

 growing, was a truly beautiful sight. It has been our privilege to 

 see and admire them many times ; but the conclusion of the Com- 

 mittee at this visit was, that the display had never looked better. 

 No amount of pains or money have been spared to make this 

 collection one of the very best in the country, and the generosity 

 of the proprietor in allowing the public freely to visit his grounds 

 is highly appreciated, as the large number of visitors constantly 

 coming and going gave most abundant evidence. 



No adequate idea of the great amount of labor that is required 

 to maintain such a display can be given in words, especially when 

 it is known that a large portion of them have to be removed every 

 season, and placed in a spacious pit, which has been constructed 

 for this purpose. This pit is one hundred and sixty feet long, 

 forty feet wide, six feet high at the front, and twelve feet at the 

 back. The roof is of matched boards, covered with tarred paper 

 and shingled. There are raised skylights in the roof, but in 

 winter the roof is covered with leaves. Air is given every fine 

 day, but the temperature is kept as near 38° as possible all 

 winter. 



In addition to the Rhododendrons there are Hollies, Hydran- 

 geas, Azaleas, Bay Trees, Araucarias, and many other half-hardy 

 plants stored in this pit. The value of a pit of this description 

 cannot be over-estimated, and when we consider its usefulness, 

 the wonder is, that there are not many more of them upon the 

 estates where such plants are used. 



We append a list of Rliododendrons which have been growing 

 at Oakmount successfully for fifteen years, and have proved per- 

 fectly hardy; a list of Half Hardy varieties, all of which have 



