26 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



know; but if not, it was their own fault. We had the 

 show, and a fine one it was. I wish we might be able to 

 have a show of fruit at every meeting-, but this cannot be 

 done without premiums to draw people out, for really there 

 is no incentive to cause people to go to the trouble of mak- 

 ing such an exhibit. The manufacturer does it as a 

 matter of advertising, but the fruit grov/er really gets very 

 little benefit for the trouble of getting such an exhibit 

 together. The fruit he carries there is a dead loss; he 

 never takes it home, and the only real good out of it, is the 

 benefit the town or place gets from the exhibit; the indi- 

 vidual seldom gets any benefit. It is different from other 

 classes of exhibits and how best to make it of value I cannot 

 say. I have learned more about the varieties of fruits at 

 such fairs than anywhere else; it is a matter of memory 

 very largely. You cannot do it by any books, but by a 

 close observation of varieties and a careful retention of 

 these facts so learned. In our exhibition at Meriden we 

 had some forty varieties of grapes and some fifty varieties 

 of apples ; you v/ill not find such a collection as this every- 

 where. There is an immense amount of information to be 

 gathered from such a show and it seems that for its educa- 

 tional value it should be held in connection with some large 

 fair, where more people will see it. 



Following the reading of this report, President Hale 

 called attention to the superb exhibit of apples on the tables 

 at this meeting, that were secured from the Eastern New 

 York Society's meeting by Mr. N. S. Piatt and Professor 

 Gulley. 



Referring to the matter of exhibitions, the President 

 suggested that a committee be appointed to arrange a scale 

 of premiums that would cover the whole season through, 

 and exhibits be made at the different institutes and field 

 meetings of the Society. "For instance, at a field meeting 

 in the summer, have an exhibit of seasonable fruit then; 

 and at another meeting in August, have an exhibit then. 

 Of course we could not give too much in premiums — per. 

 haps $50; or enough to pay our members for gathering the 

 fruit and carrying it to the meeting. In this way scatter 

 the premiums over four or five meetings." 



