FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 307 



possible, by connecting with them every object of interest, so 

 that every man and woman, and every boy and girl, Avill have 

 good cause to inquire as earnestly for the time of their occur- 

 ring, as for the coming of Thanksgiving-day ; and after they 

 are past to look back upon them as the most delightful and 

 instructive of all their holidays. The more all of us can be 

 made to feel that we have something there to do, and are 

 somehow part, if not parcel, of this great jubilee, the greater 

 will be the good cheer and animation of the occasion. It is no 

 time nor place for exclusiveness, formality, or conventional 

 reserve. The proudest nobility of the world may gladly mingle 

 in such festivals. And, that women, if endowed wit!i common 

 sense and observation, should co-operate with committees on 

 flowers, dairy productions and domestic manufactures, seems 

 not only appropriate but in many respects very desirable. They 

 are not less interested in having such productions of the choicest 

 character, than men ; nor are they less prompt and active in the 

 exercise of quick perceptions, good taste and sound judgment, 

 in estimating their true value and merits. For the want of 

 their more active participation in its interests this society suffers 

 essentially, and it is high time that the evils were corrected. 



There were, we are sorry to say, contributions of flowers 

 without labels attached to them, and others without full names, 

 which must of course leave some contributors unnoticed and 

 unrewarded. Some fifty varieties of flower seeds for exchange 

 were offered by F. G. Sanborn, of Andover, but as there were 

 no others for which to exchange them, they were mostly distrib- 

 uted gratuitously. The example is worthy of imitation. It 

 might be well to have a department in this and all our agricul- 

 tural societies, for receiving and exchanging seeds, bulbs, and 

 all elements of floriculture, by which the rarest and most desira- 

 ble flowers might be widely and cheaply distributed. 



We cannot forbear, too, our commendation of the exhibition 

 of insects — some half a dozen cases, containing about 1,500 

 varieties, either injurious or beneficial to vegetation, having 

 been presented — by which much valuable knowledge may be 

 communicated to the growers of fruits, vegetables and flowers, 

 and to all agriculturists more directly, perhaps, than by any 

 other means. The department of entomology will, it is hoped, 

 receive special encouragement by the society, by liberal pre- 



