564 Exhibitions of Horticultural Societies. 



To make out the attractions of the display, the room itself was decorated 

 with paintings. These and other preparations having been made, the peo- 

 ple (counted as easily by scores as by hundreds,) assembled to witness the 

 first regular exhibition held by the Society, 



A few years have passed away, and the Society have just held their 

 eleventh annual exhibition. Their large and commodious hall was filled 

 with tables, leaving only passage-ways between them. Upon these were 

 arranged twelve hundred plates of beautiful fruit, all carefully labelled ! 

 Beside the members of the society, more than two thousand visitors crowded 

 into the hall to examine and compare the fruits, and to become bewildered 

 by the profusion that surrounded them. 



* The display of pears alone comprised nearly four hundred plates, contain- 

 ing specimens of not less than seventy varieties ! 



Of apples, there was a still greater quantity, although the number of 

 known varieties might have been less. 



More than thirty varieties of the peach were exhibited, among which 

 were several fine and beautiful seedlings. Although late and in an unpro- 

 pitious season, the best collection numbered not less than thirteen valuable 

 varieties of the plum, — a cheering evidence that, in despite of black excres- 

 cence, the rot, and the curculios, it is not yet time to despair of this favorite 

 fruit. 



Of grapes under glass, a single cultivator, — D. W. Lincoln, Esq., of this 

 city, — exhibited nine varieties. 



Several specimens of the grape grown in open culture were upon the 

 tables, but tliey were mostly unripe. There were also fine quinces and 

 other fruits. 



There were upwards of one hundred and twenty contributors, principally 

 from the county. The largest collections were from the city as fol- 

 lows : — 



D. W. Lincoln, Worcester, pears, G3 varieties ; grapes, (grown under 

 glass,) 9 varieties. J. M. Earle, (president of the Society,) pears, 47 varie- 

 ties ; plums, 4 varieties. S. H. Colton, (of Worcester Nursery,) pears, ^7 

 varieties ; apples, 52 varieties ; peaches, 23 varieties ; plums, 13 varieties. 

 Benjamin F. Thomas, pears, between 20 and 25 varieties. Hon. Levi Lin- 

 coln, pears, 17 to 20 varieties. Joel Knapp, Sutton, apples, 20 varieties. 

 George A. Chamberlam, Worcester, apples, 25 to 30 varieties. B. N. 

 Child, Worcester, apples, IG to 20 varieties. Asa H. Waters, Millbury, 

 pears, and other fruits, 33 varieties. 



The award of premiums on pears and apples was as follows : — 



Pears.— 1. To J. M. Earle, best collection, $5. 2. To D. W. Lincoln, 

 second best, $4. 3. To S. H. Colton, third best, #3. 4. To John C. 

 Mason, best dish of not less than six, (Paradise of Automne,) $2. 5. 

 To Gardiner Paine, second best, (Louise Bonne of Jersey,) $\. 



Apples. — 1. To S. H. Colton, best collection, #5. 2. To J. Knapp, Sut- 

 ton, second best, $L 3. To B. N. Child, third best, $3. 4. To Job 

 C. Stone, best dish of not less than six, (Mother apples,) $2. 5. To 

 Chester Gorham, Barre, second best, (Hubbardston Nonsuch,) $1. 



