516 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



bot of Missouri, B. F. Nourse of Florida, and 

 Joshua Pierce of District of Columbia. 



Col. Little reported as follows : — 



for President, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder ; for 

 Vice Presidents, Caleb Cope of Pennsjdvania, A. 

 n. Ernst of Ohio, S. L. Goodale of Maine, Col. 

 B Hodge of New York, Lawrence Young of Ken- 

 tucky, II. F. French of New Hampshire, Freder- 

 ick Ilolbrook of Vermont, Samuel Walker of 

 Massachusetts, Stephen H. Smith of Rhode Island, 

 Dr. A. S. Munson of Connecticut, Thomas Han- 

 cock of New Jorso}'^, E. Tatnall, Jr., of Delaware, 

 William C. Wilson of Marj-liind, Yardley Pierce 

 of Virginia, Joshua Pierce of District of Colum- 

 bia, Joshua Lindley of North Carolina, Robert 

 Chisholm of South Carolina, Richard Peters of 

 Georgia, C. A. Peabody of Alabama, B. F. Nourse 

 of Florida, Thomas Afflick of Mississippi, Henry 

 E. Lawrence of Louisiana, Rev. C. H. Byington 

 of Arkansas, Thomas Allen of Missouri, James 

 Grant of Iowa, N. P. Talmadge of Wisconsin, W. 

 D. Halay of Illinois, Henry L. Ellsworth of Indi- 

 ana, D. W. Yandall of Tennessee, Dr. Henry 

 Gibbons of California, Edward Hunter of Utah, 

 James Dougall of Canada West, and Hugh Allen 

 of Canada East. For Secretary, H. W. S. Cleve- 

 land of New Jersey. For Treasurer, Thomas P. 

 James of Pennsylvania. 



This report was accepted. Mr. Wilder, on as- 

 suming the duties of the chair for the ensuing 

 term, addressed the Society briefly. He remark- 

 ed :— 



Gentlemen, — I am not of tlie number who, hav- 

 ing put hand to the plow, are disposed to look 

 back, but I freely confess ihat it has been my in- 

 clination and desire (at this time) to retire finally 

 from the chair. Having held the of&ce of Presi- 

 dent for two biennial terms, I felt it due, alike to 

 myself and to you, to resign this position to oth- 

 er members equally or better qualified to perform 

 its duties. But at the instance of those whose 

 opinions I feel bound to respect, I have consented 

 to waive my private convenience and personal com- 

 fort in favor of their judgment, — and thanking 

 you for this renewed testimony of your confidence 

 and regard, I accept the trust, and wiU meet- its 

 responsibilities as far as I am al)le. 



xVll persons present intere;-tcd in the objects of 

 the society, whetlier members of any horticultural 

 society or not, were invited to take seats with the 

 feociety and participate in its doings. 



The President appointed tlie following commit 

 tee to report " Business for the Convention:" — 

 Messrs. \V^alker of Massachusetts, Barry of New 

 York, Keyser of Pennsylvania, Nourse of Florida 

 and Eaton of (BuUalo) New York. Mr. Walker 

 subsequently reported as foUoAvs : — 



Presuming that the session of the convention 

 will be continued during three days, the commit- 

 tee recommend that the order of business shall be 

 for the first day the discussion of the Pear ; 1st, 

 the rejection of unworthy varieties ; 2d, varieties 

 for general cultivation ; 3d, varieties which prom 

 ise well ; 4th, varieties on quince. For the sec 

 ond day, Apples, and after that, Peaches, Plums 

 and other fruit. 



Reports of the Fruit Committees from the dif- 

 ferent States wore now called for, and Mr. Samuel 

 Walker of Massachusetts submitted a report con 

 taining a list of pears which it was recommended 

 should bo rejected. A general discussion ensued 



on this report, in which Messrs. Cabot, Hovey, 

 King and Walker of Massachusetts, Barry of New 

 Y'ork and Prince of Long Island took part. 



On motion of Mr. Hovey of Boston, the Presi- 

 dent proceeded to read the list of pears on Mr. 

 Walker's list, and that the varieties should be re- 

 jected unless three members object. The follow- 

 ing pears were retained on the list for further 

 trial : — Beurre Adam, Du Mortier of Manning, 

 Duchess Dumas, Fit;ue du Naples, Flemish bon 

 Chretien, Hacon's Incomparable, March Berga- 

 mot, Knight's Monarch and Styrian. 



In reference to the Kniglit's Monarch, Mr. 

 Walker remarked that he believed more money 

 had been expended on that fruit than on any va- 

 riety in the country. He never raised a good 

 specimen — at least ho never ripened one. It is 

 not only an uncertain fruit, but cracks badly. — 

 As to ripening it in this section, he believed it to 

 be totally impossible. 



]Mr. H. Lines of Connecticut said it seemed to 

 him to be an imposition upon the puldic to i-ecom- 

 mend the Knight's Monarch pear. The object of 

 the society was to benefit the public tliroughout 

 the country, by recommending the cultivation of 

 none but good fruits ; the society had better turn 

 their attention to the rejection of poor varieties 

 than to increase the list. 



Mr. Hancock moved a reconsideration oF the 

 vote whereby the IMonarch pear was permitted to 

 stand on the list. 



Hon. B. V. French, Mr. Knight, and Mr. 

 Thompson of the London Horticultural Society, 

 speak highly of the Monarch. The tree is thrifty 

 and is a gjod bearer. Considering the high char- 

 acter of the fruit in England, and the strong re- 

 commendations which have accompanied it, Mr. 

 Thompson was willing to try it a little longer. 

 After some furtlier discussion the Knight's Mon- 

 arch w'as retained upon the list. 



Mr. Walker submitted the following list of va- 

 rieties to be added to the list of pears for general 

 caltivation : Lawrence, Howell, Beurre Superfine, 

 and Beurre d'Anjou. 



jNIr. Walker remarked that he considered the 

 Lawrence pear as one of the greatest acquisitions 

 to our list of pears since he had been engaged in 

 cultivation. Among the new varieties he knew 

 nothing equal to it. ISh. Prince stated that the 

 Lawrence pear originated in Flushing, L. I. — 

 Mr. Walker believed the time would soon come 

 when the Lawrence pear would be as eagerly 

 sought after in Boston and New York markets as 

 the old St. Michael was. Xlio tree is thrifty, and 

 has an abundance of foliage. Another property 

 peculiar to the Lawrence pear is this : the fruit 

 clings to the branches as though it had been tied 

 on, reminding one of the Urbaniste in that par- 

 ticular. He wished that a unanimous expression 

 should go out from the socie'ty, that the Lawrence 

 pear is among the best late native pears in the 

 catalogue. 



Mr. Manning had known the pear for twelve 

 years, and from his experience with it he consid- 

 ered it the most valuable pear tliat had been pro- 

 duced within that time. 



Mr. Hayes remarked that the Lawrence pear 

 originated on sandy soil, and would like to be in- 

 formed whether it would grow as well on strong 

 soil. 



The President said he had grown it on stiff, 



