THE SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION OF GARDENERS. 171 



tiwarded to things iu this line, and many reall}^ choice plants 

 are consequently allowed to go back to oblivion. This is not a 

 personal matter, but it is an important one to the country at large. 

 This work requires the possession of great knowledge and judg- 

 ment, the result of long and peculiar education, and where it is 

 already acquired it should not be permitted to pass away and be 

 lost through lack of due appreciation and encouragement. 



LeverettrM. Chase said he had been many years a teacher of 

 boys. He had tried to induce them to experiment with fruits, for 

 the purpose of producing new and better varieties, especially 

 pears, and most of them enjoy it. He thought it desirable that 

 more of us should take up this work, both iu fruits and many 

 other hardy plants. They have been too much neglected. The 

 study necessary to prepare for it should be introduced into the 

 schools. Now, happily, it seems probable that something may be 

 done in this direction ; at least the prospect is better than heretofore. 

 He would like to see, in Horticultural Hall, monumental tablets 

 to commemorate the services, and to honor the names of such 

 noble discoverers, or producers, of good things as E. W. Bull, 

 the originator of the Concord Grape, and Francis Dana, that 

 single-minded, earnest seeker after better fruits, who produced so 

 many choice varieties of pears. We should recognize and honor 

 such laborers for they are benefactors of our race. We should not 

 take the fruits of their study and toil as matters of course — 

 which may not yet be styled robbing them — but should show 

 appreciation by rewarding them. 



President Spooner, called attention to two hardy plants. Vibur- 

 num plicatum and Andromeda speciosa, which were brought in 

 from the Arnold Arboretum, and exhibited in bloom today, by 

 Jackson Dawson, the gardener there, who is doing more than any 

 other person to bring out the beauty and other desirable qualities 

 of hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, and to make known their 

 availability for garden, lawn, or park adornment. 



John C. Hovey considered annuals and bedding plants as 

 valuable as shrubs. A great advance has been made in these 

 plants; new ones have been introduced and many new varieties 

 have been produced, and most old sorts have been improved. We 

 all know that asters and zinnias, geraniums and other bedding 

 plants are invaluable for decorative purposes, as we see in the 

 Public Gardens, at Mr. Hunnewell's country seat, and other similar 



