STATE POMOLOGICA.L SOCIETY. 49 



great use and purpose of the Fair wa? to sbow in an artistic manner 

 the products of the world, and it was not always the best that 

 secured the prize, but that that was shown in the most artistic man- 

 ner. If you could have seen some of those fruit and agricultural 

 exhibits, you would have been pleased. It was not always intrinsic 

 worth nor quality, but to show in such an attractive way that they 

 would bear off the prizes. Ttiat, it seems to me, is one of the mis- 

 takes of the Fair. They said in their circulars that quality should 

 be first, but the quality is not in these insipid fruits brought us from 

 the Rockies, although they are very beautiful to look at. When we 

 come to test the quality of the thing, it is flit, and doesn't compare 

 with our Maine grown fruits. I know that old Dirigo could pro- 

 duce and has produced as good fruits as were shown there, even in 

 size, and we know they are better in q'lality. The states of Wash- 

 ington, Idaho, Wisconsin, as well as California, showed immense 

 quantities of fruit, large and beautiful. They exhibited fruits that 

 do not grow here. But when j'ou come to compare our fruits with, 

 theirs, there is a difference ; theirs is extremely overgrown in some 

 instances, and when you get into it, the texture and flavor are want- 

 ing. 



We moved to our own space the middle of May, and put on our 

 full exhibit of fruits in jars in connection with those on plates. The 

 jars were of different sizes and forms, holding from two quarts to 

 seven gallons. There were upwards of flft}' of these jars upon the 

 table. When the fruit was first put up it looked very beautiful, and 

 was admired by thousands. No preserving fluid has been found up 

 to the present time that will hold the apple in its natural color for 

 any length of time, and when I left the first of June the color was 

 fast coming out, and this part of the exhibit was fast losing its 

 beauty, and I am told that it was left on the tables in very bad con- 

 dition. But we had no part in it after I left Chicago. It was in 

 the hands of the State Board of World's Fair Managers, and what- 

 ever disgrace comes to the State of Maine does not belong to the 

 Pomological Society, though it has been placed on us a great many 

 times. Not but what I feel sorry for the State, but I don't want 

 anything heaped upon us that does not belong to us. 



In relation to the exhibit, Mr. Samuels, chief of the Horticultural 

 Department, a man of great worth and judgment, came to me and 

 said, "You have the finest exhibit of apples in the south curtain." 

 I knew that but it was kind in him to say it to me. 

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