DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ALL ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own. — Johnson. 



VOL. II. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1850. 



NO. 19. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, Proprietoh. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Exhibitions of products of every kind, vegetable, 

 animal, or mechanical, afford instruction as well as 

 amusement to the beholder ; and information ob- 

 tained in this -way is important, and it could not be 

 communicated otherwise than through the medium 

 of the sight. The greatest pomologist would try in 

 vain to give a perfect idea of a fruit by description. 

 Yet, however important it may be to see fruit in 

 order to judge of its appearance, this mode of inves- 

 tigation gives but a small part of the information 

 dc-ired. 



The growth and bearing properties of the tree, its 

 hardiness against heat and cold ; the hardiness of the 

 fruit against blast, and various other adverse circum- 

 stances ; the quality of the fruit, the purposes to 

 which it is adapted, its time of use, &c., &c., are all 

 important; and many of these things cannot be 

 learned merely from an exhibition, and it is highly 

 desirable that there should be an improvement, by 

 which the general utility of our pomological exhibi- 

 tions may be extended. 



In an article in a late number of the Horticul- 

 turist, it is recommended to have a committee wlio 

 shall designate a dozen — more or less — in each class 

 of fruits, with the terms "good," "very good," 

 •'best; " a classification established by the Congress 

 of Fruit- Growers; having it understood that all 

 fruits not so marked were not proved to be good. 

 This plan would be a good one, jnovidcd the com- 

 mittee took the general character of the fruits, aud 

 the habits of the tree, into consideration, which would 

 be essential to correct information. 



Some fruits are remarkably fine and handsome; 

 but a skilful gardener, in a very favorable location, 

 would spend five dollars to raise a peck of the fruit, 

 and the farmer or mechanic, with common attention, 

 would be still more unsuccessful. If such beautiful 

 fruits were labelled " best," the inexperienced visitor 

 would be deceived. "We have frequently, at our 

 shows, fruits that are very imposing in tlieir appear- 

 ance, and they are often highly recommended bv 

 wiiters; \et such fine fruit can only be raised in a 

 warm loam, in a favorable location, in a long, warm 



season, and on well-managed dwarf trees. Let the 

 common cultivator go into the raising of such fruits, 

 and it will be poorer business than raising apples at 

 twenty cents a bushel. Yet people are constantly 

 led astray by specious shows, and the recommenda- 

 tions of amateurs, who with great zeal and attention, 

 and with large expenditure, cannot raise fruit enough 

 for their own use. 



One great improvement may be made in our fruit 

 shows, by having a competent committee to see that 

 every known fruit is marked correctly. This is 

 highlj' important. We have often seen fruits with 

 false marks in the shows of some of the most en- 

 lightened associations in the country, and such 

 marks have remained during the exhibition, deceiv- 

 ing many ; for most visitors rely on the intelligence 

 of such societies. 



It is boasted that at some of our exhibitions, some 

 persons have shown one or two hundred varieties 

 of pears ; but it is not added, though it might be of a 

 truth, that not more than one tenth part of them are 

 worth cultivating ; and some of them make a very 

 imposing appearance, and the inexj^erienced may be 

 seen taking note of them, evidently about to waste 

 his time and money in a fruitless attempt to cultivate 

 them for profit. 



If inferior fruits are shown, either to enable the 

 visitor to identify the various kinds, or in compli- 

 ment to the enterprise and zeal of the cultivator, 

 they should be marked as inferior, or not worth cul- 

 tivating, that the inexperienced may not be deceived 

 by specious appearances, in the very liall of an intel- 

 ligent society, and at the very exhibition designed 

 for information. 



If an arrangement could be made to dispose of fine 

 fruits, near the exhibitions, it would afford the in- 

 quiring mind great advantages in its investigations ; 

 and the person who shows a fine plate of fruit could 

 often furnish specimens for those who would try 

 them. In this way new fruits would be thoroughly 

 tested in (luality, and the producer could turn su- 

 perior kiiuls to good account, both for the public and 

 himself, if profit should be an object. Sometimc(« 

 splendid and beautiful new fruits are shown, aiul 

 almost every cultivator who sees thom ia anxious to 



