1885.] TRANSACTIONS. 17 



" Why did you bring down those hard things ?" " I should 

 think Lincoln would know better than to send thera !" Snch 

 was the greeting accorded to one of your Members who, upon 

 the 29th of August, ult., offered to the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society a dozen of the Assomption Pear. The saluta- 

 tion was scarcely cordial even if veiled beneath a very latent 

 courtesy. The Massachusetts Society invites exhibits from 

 abroad — not restricting its solicitations to its especial Member- 

 ship. The Pears in question were sent in good faith. They 

 had taken the first Premium at our own Exhibition ; and, as 

 unusually good specimens of a comparatively new variety, it was 

 thought might be welcomed elsewhere. The mistake was quite 

 natural ; and therein must be found the apology of the writer, 

 who aimed to be the exhibitor and by whom, most assuredly, 

 the error will never be repeated. 



But should fruit be dead-ripe when exhibited, or simply 

 mature ? The law that governs, in Tremont Street, will not 

 answer for the guidance of Worcester County. The Baldwin 

 Apple is hard for months after it is fit to be picked from the 

 tree : a circumstance alike fortunate for those who would have 

 it in Winter, as for that large company of Orchardists who are 

 looking to it as a profitable article of export. The Northern 

 Spy and the Koxbury Russet would never be exhibited in the 

 year of their growth were it exacted that they should be mellow 

 to the touch. The chief merit of the Hubbard Squash, — among 

 vegetables, — is its quality of late keeping. What Pear that is 

 worth mention could be shown — hitherto — except of half-size 

 and impenetrable even to the knife ! Is it the Comice, Anjou, 

 or Winter Nelis ? Each of those leading varieties is gaining 

 daily in bulk, color and flavor. They might be arrayed in the 

 awkward squad of Pomology, as they were on Tremont Street, 

 September 15th, ult., but they would be merely the result of 

 conscription ; and like all the products of a draft, thoroughly 

 worthless for their legitimate purpose. 



It may suit the peculiar eclecticism of the metropolis to gloat 

 fondly over the fleeting charms of a Boussoc or Flemish Beauty. 

 Bnt, in these rustic and benighted regions, fruit is prized for its 

 excellence of flavor and somewhat also for its keeping qualities. 



