AND II O K T 1 ( V L T U R A L U E G I S T K U . 



N. E. FARMER. 



From the Boiion Coarier. 

 rHIRTKENTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION 



Tfll. MASSACHUSETTS IIORTICULTUK A I. SOCIETY. 



Tins Socicly held its annual exhibition of fruits 



i llonors (luring llie past week. Tlio display of 



rs and fruit was splendid beyond dcscriptinn, 



lid justice to tlio skill and enterprise of the 



alciir cultivators and practical gardeners, who 



itninited so liberally of their bounties to the 



oratuin of the room. The dahlias were supcri- 



,0 those of any previous year; many of the new 



eties being almost perfection itself. The show 



double Uernian asters, and verbenas, was also 



,e attractive. The pot plants were from vari- 



collections, and were all good. Among oth- 



there were good specimens of the Rhodochiton 



ibile, Brunsvigia falcata, and Banksia ericifolia. 



fruit was beautiful and in the greatest abiin- 



ce. and the contributors so numerous as to ron- 



it impossible to designate them here. 



)f the decorations of the room, it can only be 



, they were, as usual, e.\cellent and in good 



\ The whole was under the direction of Mr 



Iker, aided by subcommittees. The exhibi- 



was very well attended, and realized the e.x- 



ations of the Society's friends ; though the 



:her was unfavorable on the last day, still the 



c continued to crowd in till the very close at 



o'clock in the evening. 



n Friday, the members celebrated the anniver- 

 by a dinner at Concert Hall. The hall was 

 tifully decorated with some of the magnificent 

 ers that had been exhibited at the Society's 

 IB, and t)ie tables were richly laden with the 



contributed by the members. 



bout one hundred and twenty members of the 



Bty, with a number of guests, (among whom 



President Quincy, of Harvard University, — 



Lincoln, President of the Worcester Agri- 



aral Society, — Gen. Dearborn, first President 

 le Horticultural Si'ciety, — Mr Grattan, the 

 ill Consul, — Rev. Dr. Codinan, of Dorchester, 

 several other clergymen, — Messrs. Samuel 



i~eton, R. G. Shaw, and others, nut now recol- 

 d,)sat down to dinner about four o'clock. The 

 which furnished the dessert, were mostbaun- 

 y supplied by the liberality of many of the 

 jers of the Society. The President, D. Hag- 

 on, S. Pond, A. McLennan, F. W. Macondry, 

 owner, O. Johnson, E. M. Richards, S. Sweet- 

 '. B. & C. M. Hovey, W. II. Cowan, and B. 

 rench, were the principal contributors ; and a 

 rich repast was never set before the Society. 

 hall P. Wilder, Esq., President of the Society, 

 Jed at the head of the table. Mosars. Jona- 

 Winship, Benjamin V. French, and Cheever 

 lall acted aa vice-presidents. A blessing wag 

 ed by the Rev. Dr. Codman. After the cloth 

 ciiioved, the following regular toasts were 

 inccd from the Chair, the intervals between 

 i ■ enlivened by music from a band engaged for 

 casioD : 



I. Our Country — A sapling, descended from n 

 good stock, whose vigorous growth watered by the 

 blood of thousands of patriotic hearts, now waves 

 its branches over millions of freemen. 



'J. Good Old Miissnchuselts — .Mwnys in the 

 fitld, where there t« ?ny good work to accomplish : 

 what she undertakes, she docs irctl — llic fruits of 

 her e.xcellcnt institutions have liecii liberally dis- 

 tributed among her sister States, and she lius yet 

 enough left to garnish her own tabic. 



'■i. The City of Boston — With her industrious 

 and enierprizing population — her schools and her 

 churches — her nnble harbor — her ships on •very 

 sea — her Iron Roads, East, West, North and South 

 — how glorious is her prospect for the future. 



4. Horticulture — The art which strews our paths 

 with roses, loads cur tables with luxuries, and 

 crowns our labors with the rich fruits of content- 

 ment and happiness. 



.5. Intellectual Cultivation — That mighty agent 

 to which every science is indebted for its most won- 

 derful improvements. Its importance to the horti- 

 culturist may be estimated by tlic valuable labors 

 of Knight and Van Mons. 



6. Capital Stocks — The slocks most wanted and 

 sure to yield the largest dividends are Fruit Stocks. 



7. English Florists and American Amateurs — 

 The first have furnished us with superior varieties 

 of fruits and flowers — the latter now reciprocate 

 their favors, and return tliciii productions equaling 

 their own. 



6. The increase of glass structures for Horticul- 

 ture — They perpetuate Spring, Summer and Au- 

 tumn — they spangle the whole year with flowers. 



0. Practical Cultivators — Physiologists may 

 study the causes of vegetation, and chemists may 

 analyze soils and manures — but the skill of the 

 practical man is required to test the value of their 

 speculations. 



10. Horticultural Pursuits — Inexhaustible sour- 

 ces of study and delight — rewarding all who par- 

 ticipate in them with the enjoyment of health and 

 strength, and the luxurious indulgence of nature's 

 choicest gifts. 



II. The memory of three distinguished patrons 

 of Horticulture — John Lowell, Jesse Buel, and 

 Thomas Green Fessenden. "They rest from their 

 labors and Iheir works do follow them." 



12. The Clergy — Always sowing the good seed 

 — may they at the ingathering be rewarded with 

 an abundant harvest. 



1-3. Woman — 



" A seedling sprung from Adam s side, [ 



A most celestial »liooi, 

 Became of Paradise the pride, 



And bore a world of fruit." 



Af\er the delivery of these toasts, Mr Wildeii, 

 the President, made a very neat and appropriate 

 address, substantially as follows : — 



GENTi.rMF..>-, — It is rather my duty to solicit re- 

 marks from you, than to olTer them myself, but I 

 cannot refrain from briefly adverting to the present 

 flourishing condition of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, and to the success that has at- 



I tended the eflorts of its members iiinco ita organi- 

 zation. 



. It was formed in February, 1831), and hold it« 

 first Anniversary ond Exhibition of Fruits and 

 Flowers in September of the samo year, and wo 

 I rejoice to number among its members on this oc- 

 ; cosion, some who were its founders and progeni- 

 I tors, and to whom we now mo.-'t cheerfully accord 

 a debt of gratitude for the beiicvulcnt motives that 

 prompted them to its formation. 



Its object was to promote, improve and dissemi- 

 nate a love for the science of Horticulture, to cor- 

 rect and simplify the confusion which then existed 

 in the nomenclature of fruits, and by a liberal be- 

 stowment of premiums, to excite tho emulation and 

 to concentrate the individual skill of its members, 

 to bring to notice such native and foreign fruits 

 and flowers as should be deemed truly valuable or 

 worthy of cultivation. 



How well this has been accomplished, will be 

 seen by taking a retrospect. At the time of its 

 origin there were but a limited number of fruits of 

 acknowledged excellem'.e to be seen in our mark- 

 ets, and although many of the new and popular va- 

 rieties had been previously introduced into the gar- 

 dens of the opulent, they had not generally been 

 disseminated or proved, while at the present time 

 there are members of this f^ociety who have exhi- 

 bited during the year, forty, fifty, and at the pre- 

 sent exhibition, a single member, R. Manning, Esq., 

 has placed on our tables ISi) varieties of the Pear; 

 and the same worthy and persevering individual 

 has also proved and fruited in his own grounds 

 nearly SQO varieties of this fruit, 03 of wijich are 

 supposed to be of American origin ; and 185 Ap- 

 ples, 80 rtf wliich are of American origin. I might 

 notice a comparative increase in other fruits, but 

 what has been stated is sufficient to give some 

 idea of what has been accomplished. 



A similar advancement has also taken place in 

 the introduction of choice and rare plants, and the 

 Dahlia, which thirteen years since was but little 

 known with us, has become so popular and so in- 

 creased in tho number of its varieties, as not only 

 to require a grand gala day to be set apart for its 

 exhibition, but the whole of the Society's rooms 

 for a fair display of its beauties. 



Other conspicuous flowers have increased in 

 corresponding ratio — the Rose, the Tulip, the Ca- 

 mellia — and although I am now speaking of the 

 science in this country, it may not be uninterest- 

 ing to state that so great has been the augmenta- 

 tion of varieties of popular flowers, tliere are indi- 

 vidual or amateur collections in Europe consisting 

 of more than 500 varieties of the Tulip, GOO varie- 

 ties of the Camellia, and more than IbOO varieties 

 of the far-famed Rose. 



Of the financial resources of the Society, I can 

 speak in the most gratifying terms, having com- 

 menced without tt dollar in its treasury, and being 

 now better endowed in this respect than any other 

 Horticultural Society we are acquainted with, and 

 entirely free from any pecuniary embarrassment 



Horticulture, until recently, has not kept pace 

 with other pursuits, but it is now waking up with 



