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cially noted for zeal in the cultivation of fruit, and most 

 of all of the pear. The leading cultivators sought to 

 bring together in theu' collections all known varieties, to 

 test their qualities and their adaptation to our climate. 

 The fruit-growers of our day have but a faint idea of 

 the vast amount of care, time, labor, and money, spent 

 in making the collections from which has been obtained 

 the information, now so easily accessible to all, as to 

 the most desirable varieties for cultivation. And not 

 only Avere the best varieties unknown, but there was 

 much confusion and perplexity in the nomenclature of 

 fruits. To clear up this confusion by careful compari- 

 son was another object in making large collections of 

 fruit. This work, in its various branches, was so dili- 

 gently begun and pursued during this first era of the 

 society, as to form its most prominent feature. It was 

 an era of collections. 



The lovers of flowers were hardly less diligent in col- 

 lecting every novelty in their branch of horticulture. 

 The enthusiasm in the cultivation of the dahlia eclipsed 

 even the love for the rose. Every new variety an- 

 nounced in European catalogues was imported, some- 

 times at enormous cost ; and special shows were held for 

 the display of the finest specimens. The number of 

 varieties of roses had increased so that those who could 

 remember when there were but from six to ten Aarie- 

 ties, limited in their time of flowering to the month of 

 June, could count them by hundreds ; and. some of them 

 were in bloom nearly the whole year. Next in impor- 

 tance to the dahlia and the rose as a floral gem in the 

 open air, came the hyacinth. The tulip was much more 

 largely grown than it is now ; and beds containing thou- 

 sands of bulbs, and protected by houses built to screen 

 them from the sun and bad weather, were shown in per- 

 fection. Among green-house plants, the collections 

 were particularly rich in camellias. It was during this 



