1894.] TRANSACTIONS. 33 



land, I reply to you Horticulturists of Worcester County ! de 

 tefahula narratur. Beware lest history repeat itself! You are 

 treading like paths in your Chrysanthemum Exhibitions, pulling 

 chestnuts from the fire for others, and burning your own fingers 

 in futile attempts to rival the ambitious displays by professional 

 Florists, whose trade it is to cater to each whim of fashionable 

 society, which dissipates its languid energies at shows of horse 

 or dog, and spares perchance a moment's thought to the gor- 

 geous, scentless marvel from far Cathay. As such shows cease to 

 be even a nine days' wonder, constituting but a passing fashion, 

 is not our longer participation in them, at a loss which we can 

 ill atford, the merest folly ! For culture of the Chrysanthemum, 

 unlike that of the Rose, is not and can never be engrafted upon 

 the common, everyday horticulture of Worcester County. For 

 the advancement of such horticulture — the promotion of the 

 growth by people generally, and not by a special, technical class, 

 of every desirable flower, fruit, or vegetable, was this Society 

 originally instituted. Only by keeping that purpose constantly 

 in mind can the Society be perpetuated with usefulness to the 

 community and credit to its members. 



All which is Respectfully Submitted 



[by] 



EDWARD WmSLOW LINCOLN, 



Secretary. 



Horticultural Hall, 



Worcester, Massachusetts, 



November 7, A. D. 1894. 



