22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1893. 



garnishment of the table as anything out of tlie way. Oysters 

 were but little known in the era of stage-coaches, and Lobsters 

 not at all. Simplicity dominated the feast and hearty digestion 

 waited upon wholesome appetite. Milk, of course, was in plenty, 

 supplying material for creams and custards. But of the supper, 

 as now known ! so artificial, so monotonous, and shall I not say ? 

 so cloying! — there was neither trace nor premonition. How 

 welcome, then, came the new varieties of Pears ; the rare, toil- 

 somely grown clusters of delicate, exotic Grapes ! For upon 

 those occasions of social amenity, when the Providence Planta- 

 tions were not represented in person, by their foremost citizens, 

 generous hampers of Chasselas, Grizzly Frontignan, Black Ham- 

 burgh, and Muscat of Alexandria attested the interest, if not the 

 presence, of Brown and Ives. And there was " sound of revelry 

 by night" when, at the close of their Annual Harvest-Home, of 

 a bright October day, young men and maidens met in the dance 

 to celebrate the Festival that was a culmination of long-cherished 

 hopes ; a Festival that exacted no charge for admission, since the 

 Horse had not yet imposed an onerous Debt; a Festival that was 

 free to all, — enjoyed by all, — whereof the fond remembrance is 

 cherished as a priceless possession by a surviving few, who can 

 never forgive the reckless mismanagement that forfeited such 

 innocent enjoyment for generations that shall come. And all, — 

 to demonstrate, what was never in doubt, that one horse can 

 move faster than another ! 



All which is Respectfully Submitted 



[by] 

 EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, 



Secretary. 



Horticultural Hall, 



Worcester, Massachusetts, 



Mvember 1, A. D. 1893. 



