WHAT THE SOCIETY HAS DONE. 109 



country; and by its proceedings and publications has furnished 

 examples and methods of work which have been adopted by 

 other pomological and horticultural societies, all working har- 

 moniously together, and thus has become the acknowledged pomo- 

 logical authority of our land. 



It is truly an American society, having, through all the vicis- 

 situdes of the past, held in the bonds of friendly intercourse for 

 the promotion of our cause, the North, East, West and South, 

 and every region where fruits can be grown on this continent. 



It has raised the standard of excellence by which our fruits 

 are judged, discouraged the cultivation of inferior sorts, and thus 

 educated the taste of the public for those of better quality, so 

 that kinds once common in our markets have become obsolete, 

 and are now considered unworthy of propagation. In doing this 

 portion of its work, it has discarded by general consent more 

 than six hundred varieties, either worthless or superseded by 

 better sort^. 



It has established a uniform system of rules, by which fruits 

 are to be shown and judged. But, what is of the highest 

 importance, it has instituted a much needed reform in the nomen- 

 clature of fruits, by which all long, unpronounceable, indelicate, 

 inappropriate and superfluous words are to be suppressed in the 

 dedication of our fruits. 



One of the grandest achievements of the society is its catalogue 

 of fruits, published biennially, with isothermal divisions and 

 columns for fifty states, territories and districts, in which are 

 recorded the fruits which may successfully be grown in those 

 divisions, with stars to designate the merits and seasons of each. 

 This is a work of great merit, and not attempted by any other 

 society, and here let me say, that we should never forget how 

 large a debt of gratitude we owe to Mr P. Barry, as chairman of 

 the general fruit committee, for its compilation and classification. 

 He has performed this duty for a long course of years; and for- 

 tunate indeed is it that we have, as his successor, his son, Mr W. 

 C. Barry, who has been so well educated for this duty. 



Few things in the history and progress of American pomology 

 have been more effective in the past and more promising of 

 valuable results in the future than our system of state reports. 

 They embrace correct information from trustworthy persons, 

 having special reference to the varieties most successfully grown; 

 nfw kinds worthy of special notice; the chief obstacles to suc- 

 cessful fruit culture in each district; and correct information in 

 regard to the extent and progress of fruit culture in each section 

 of our country, and are published under the supervision of the 

 chairman of the general fruit committee of our society, and con- 

 tain a vast fund of information not elsewhere to be found. 



These reports constitute a mine of pomological wealth, and 

 contain not only all the modifications and changes which may 

 have been made in collecting information concerning the culture 



