324 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



home ; all who heed the still, small voice of their teachings 

 shall lay up treasures of memory for the drafts of after years. 

 They shall honor the father and mother that bore them, and 

 the land that gave them inheritance. The auriferous sands of 

 California shall not tempt them away from their farms and 

 firesides, and the defence of all that New England holds dear. 

 The commandment with promise shall be theirs, their heads 

 shall bear the silvery crown — reward of years, and their children 

 shall call them blessed, for without invidiousness they will 

 undoubtedly have one " flower in the family," and when their 

 eyes are dim with age, little children shall place the butter-cup 

 to their chins to see if they still have a relish for dairy products, 

 and a pansy slipped into their bosoms shall revive the sweetest 

 memories of by-gone days. And when they die, as the lessons 

 of nature and grace shall one day make them willing to, the 

 near and dear shall place the sod over them, and the violet — 

 emblem of virtues that still blossom in the dust — shall look 

 heavenward from their graves to its kindred azure above ; and 

 the sun — parent of flowers, shall at morning and evening, daily 

 and forever, gild the place of their sepulture in the land of 

 their fathers. 



George D. Phippen, Chairman. 



HOUSATONIC. 



From the Report of the Committee on Fruits. 

 The committee on fruits and horticulture, in presenting 

 their report, cannot but express their satisfaction at the quality 

 and variety of the products that fell under their department of 

 inspection. Such a show has not dcliglited a committee-man's 

 eye for three years. Apples — fall and winter — pears and 

 quinces, were nobly represented ; the increased varieties of 

 grapes indicated a growing attention to the culture of that 

 delightful fruit, most encouraging and gratifying ; wliilc the 

 show of peaches, though small in variety, yet splendid and 

 toothsome individually, put our fears at rest, at least for the 

 present, that our recent tough winters had nearly effected tlie 

 destruction of this precious delicacy. Plums alone were wanting 

 to complete a picture of Berkshire fruit, capable of inspiring 

 even a hypochondriac with paradisal dreams. We think that 



