56 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1851. 



ANNUAL EXHIBITION, 1851. 



REPORT ON FLOWERS AND DECORATIONS. 



Samuel F. Havex, of Worcester, Chairman; Calvin W, Forbush, of 

 Grafton, William Hall, of Sutton. 



It was by no means an easy task to decorate successfully the broad and lofty 

 surfaces of unfinished wall and ceiling in the new Hall of the Society. A good 

 deal of judgment and taste were however manifested in the mode of its accom- 

 plishment. Without an attempt at actual concealment, the rudeness of the 

 interior was relieved to the eye by the aid of canvass and whitewash, the un- 

 stuccoed pilasters were converted into rustic supports for climbing spirals of oak 

 leaves and the blank spaces were agreeably broken up by wreaths and stars of 

 evergreen. 



Some very graceful ornaments of the latter description, constructed by the 

 practised hands of Mrs. Richardson, Mrs. Canfield, and Mrs. Whitney, were 

 effectively distributed by the managers, while a series of rich-colored views of 

 the " Chrystal Palace," the property of F. W. Paine, Esq., and a fine engraving, 

 one of Cole's pictures of the " Voyage of Life," with a Fruit Piece iu oils, 

 belono-ing to Mr. I). S. Messinger, enlivened the sides of the apartment. In 

 the center of the room stood a large wooden vase on a lofty pedestal, trans- 

 ferred from some external locality, where, by the inscription on its base, it ap- 

 peared to have been originally dedicated to a species of Smoke plant, (nicotiana 

 tabacum.) Above the vase , which was filled with flowers selected and disposed 

 by Dr. Samuel Flagg, stood a small female statue wi-eathed and aptly repre- 

 senting the Queen of the place. Around this position many of the Green- 

 house Plants wei-e grouped ; and, as a relief to the great size of the Hall, be- 

 fore the eye had been drawn to the particulars of its luscious contents, the 

 arrangement was a happy and effective one. 



Two large screens, one inlaid with asters and amaranths upon a ground of 

 moss, the other composed chiefly of dahlias, ingenious as imitations of rug-work 

 or embroidery — must be classed among the decorations. They were exhibited 

 by Mr. J. Sheehan, from the garden of Mr. Wm. T. Merrifield. To these 

 should be added as specimens of curious art two small pictures, a Dog and a 

 Deer, entirely formed of moss, by Mrs. C. H. Hill, which displayed no small 

 degree of skill and nicety of execution. 



Another specimen of ingenuity which, if not a part of the decorations may 

 well be classed among the ornaments, was a Flora, composed, all but the face, 

 of flowers, — chiefly of verbenas. However unbecoming and unlady-like the 



