BRISTOL SOCIETY. 145 



the little which I profess to know shall be freely given, to any 

 one who will take the trouble to call upon me. 



Mansfield, October I2ih, 1846. 



Fruits and Vegetables. 



The Committee state, that the specimens of fruit were not so 

 extensive and of so choice a variety as on some former occa- 

 sions. They are such, however, as to give encouragement to 

 our horticulturalists and orchardists to persevere in well-doing- 

 The best specimen of apples was presented by David Arnold, 

 of Norton, consisting of eighteen varieties, and the second best, 

 of seven varieties, by P. Thatcher, of Attleborough. A. Robe- 

 son, Jr., of Fall River, offered four varieties of pears, one, the 

 Duchess d'Angoulemc, weighing eighteen ounces. John Pratt, 

 of Taunton, exhibited a specimen of fine top seed, of superior 

 weight and brilliancy ; and S. Deans, of Easton, a specimen of 

 the marrowfat species of squashes, accompanied with a state- 

 ment of his method of ult ivation. 



Samuel Deayis's Statement. 



The squash herewith presented, weighing twenty-four lbs., is 

 of the marrowfat species, and is the largest of seventeen grown 

 upon a patch in my garden, measuring ten by fifteen feet, the 

 whole number weighing one hundred and seventy-six lbs. I do 

 not exhibit this so much from its magnitude, as from its being the 

 result, in part, of a successful experiment. My garden is a light 

 gravelly loam, and so very dry that I have never before succeeded 

 in raising winter squashes of a medium size or quality. I deter- 

 mined to make one more effort, and, if I failed, to give it up. I 

 therefore, instead of manuring in the hill as formerly, spread 

 the manure, spaded it in, and then planted the seed, without 

 much regard to order, permitting about eight plants to grow. 

 These, however, proved to be too many for the space they had 

 to occupy ; for, had the vines been less numerous, the squashes 

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