MR. hovey's address. 69 



subject to the attack of that pest, the canker worm, nor has it any enemies in 

 this latitude unless we except the blight, so called, which has been so destruc- 

 tive to the trees of your late President, Mr. Breck, who has given you some 

 account of his losses. Happily it has yet affected but few plantations, and it 

 is hoped it will not become an epidemic, as it has in Western N. Y., where 

 thousands of trees are yearly destroyed, even in the nursery rows. 



This noble fruit has a very clean record with us, and the past year our mar- 

 kets have been well supplied with pears of very fine quality, and our Exhibi- 

 tion tables have been filled to overflowing with the choicest specimens of our 

 amateur and professional cultivators. While a small space was sufficient for 

 the generally inferior specimens of apples, the broad and lengthy tables at our 

 Annual Exhibition were unable to accommodate the numerous pears ; and, 

 while we regret tiie loss of such a fine display of the former fruit, as in dajs 

 past enriched our tables from the orchard of one who no longer holds con- 

 course with us, we are proud to see the pear, so often pronounced, and still 

 asserted to be, an uncertain fruit, fulfilling the expectations of the ardent cul- 

 tivators who have devoted years to encourage, by the exhibition of superior 

 specimens, and the introduction of the choicest varieties, the more extensive 

 culture of such a delicious fruit. Your Fruit Committee, acting in concert 

 with the views formerly expressed by me, have, by the alteration of their pre- 

 miums, done much to bring out the real qualities of many favorite kinds ; and 

 I am glad to learn that now we have the prospect of abundant space, they 

 propose to introduce, into their schedule of prizes the present year, some 

 liberal premiums for the largest and best collections of thfe pear. Gladly do 

 I announce this, and I look forward to another of those great displays, which 

 once made our exhibition the attraction of Pomologists from all parts of the 

 country, and gave us the high reputation, so well earned, of widely dissemi- 

 nating a knowledge of its excellencies. 



How rich has been the display of Grapes ! We no longer turn from the 

 meagre show of native sorts, to gloat over the rich clusters of foreign varieties ; 

 but rather satisfy ourselves that the latter are well enough of their kind, while 

 the former rivet our attention. Indeed what can be more interesting to the 

 lover of good fruit, than the rich blue bloom of the noble Concords — the com- 

 pact clusters of the rosy-tinted Delawares — the amber hue of the delicate 

 Rebeccas — the transparency of the luscious Allen's Hybrid, or the pinkish 

 berries of the spirited lona ? How great the change within the remembrance 

 of the youngest member of our Society ! and how vast that within the recol- 

 lection of its pioneers! They did not dream of such progress. That our 

 Society has been instrumental in bringing this about is a source of the highest 

 gratification. Let it be an incentive to still further energies to make known 

 the best grapes, and reward with liberal premiums those who are active in 

 bringing forward new varieties of this delicious fruit. 



I have been gratified, no doubt in common with every member who heard 

 the report already alluded to, to hear the Chairman advocate more attention to 



