320 



to be judged by its published proceedings, which, 

 in their reports of discussions, reports of com- 

 mittees, catalogues, and papers on various pomo- 

 logical subjects, embody, in a condensed form, such 

 a mass of information on this science, the best 

 thoughts of the best cultivators throughout our 

 land, as is possessed by no other nation on earth. 

 Instead of the fifty-four varieties recommended in 

 1848, our Catalogue now contains the names of five 

 hundred and sixty-one fruits, viz.: one hundred 

 and seventy-eight Apples, one hundred and twenty- 

 two Pears, forty-three Cherries, fifty-five Peaches, 

 six Nectarines, eleven Apricots, thirty-three Plums, 

 three Quhices, eighteen native Grapes, twenty-two 

 foreign Grapes, eighteen Currants, thirteen Goose- 

 berries, twelve Raspberries, two Blackberries, and 

 twenty-five Strawberries; and the list of one 

 hundred and twenty-six varieties rejected in 1849 

 has grown to six hundred and twenty-five, viz.: 

 one hundred and twenty-six Apples, three hundred 

 and fifty one Pears, five Apricots, thirty-two Cher- 

 ries, two Grapes, thirty-one Plums, three Rasp- 

 berries, and seventy-five Strawberries; making a 

 total of one thousand one hundred and eighty-six 

 varieties of fruit on which the Society has set the 

 stamp of its approval or rejection. 



\Vh ]e the results achieved by other societies are 

 of but local value, ours are a common possession to 

 every inhabitant of our wide land. And if asked, 

 What is the most important measure ever adopted? 

 i should point to the Catalogue, first suggested by 

 the Chairman of the General Fruit Committee, 

 the late Mr. Walker, in 1858, consummated mainly 

 by the intelligent, persevering labors of his suc- 

 cessor, Mr. Barry, and adopted by the Society in 

 1862. Into it is condensed the substance and 

 essence of our proceedings and the various State 

 reports. At present it is necessarily in an incom- 

 plete but progressive state, and is intended espe- 

 cially for the use of the members of the Society ; 

 but with every revision it may be expected to ap- 

 proximate more nearly to perfection. 



Among other objects specified in the circular by 

 which the first meeting of the Congress of Fruit- 

 growers was called together, is this: "To maintain 

 a cordial spirit of intercourse among horticul- 

 turists;" and, although last mentioned, and to be 

 eff'ected rather by incidental and indirect than by 

 direct means, it has not been forgotten, as the 

 joyous greetings and kindly partings, the generous 

 hospitaUties given and received at our meetings, 

 bear witness. Nor has the influence of these 

 amenities ceased with the close of our sessions, but 

 remained with us in pleasant anticipations of the 



time when we should again come together in mu- 

 tual congratulation, as we do to-day. 



MORAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE. 



I have urged, among the advantages of our pur- 

 suit, that it ministers to the comfort and happi- 

 ness of the human race, not merely by gratifying 

 the sense of taste, but that it strengthens local at- 

 tachments and multiplies the joys of home ; pro- 

 motes industrial happiness and the love of kindred 

 and country ; sweetens the social relations of life ; 

 and opens the heart to the study of nature in her 

 most beautiful, bright and fascinating moods. And 

 may I not now add to these benign influences what 

 experience has taught me of the power of these 

 studies to soothe and cheer in sickness and suffer- 

 ing, and express the hope that, in those hours of 

 darkness and sadness from which none are exempt, 

 you may, as you stroll among the trees which your 

 own hands have planted, and which you almost 

 fancy to be endowed with human attributes, and to 

 be susceptible to sympathy and moral influences, 

 find the truth of these words, spoken of another ? 



" The pulse of dew upon the grass kept his within its number, 

 And silent shadows from the trees refreshed him like a slumber." 

 DECEASED MEMBERS. 



But while we rejoice in the progress of the So- 

 ciety, we are reminded of other changes since its 

 formation, of those who started with us, but have 

 ceased from among us. Of the nine members of 

 the Special Fruit Committee which laid the founda- 

 tion of our Catalogue, four — Downing, Lovett, 

 Hancock and Eaton — were taken from us in less 

 than seven years from our first meeting. And 

 others there are whose graves, as they have fallen 

 from time to time, we have strewed with sweet 

 and bitter flowers, but not until we recall them to- 

 gether — Brinckle, Kennicott, Walker, French, 

 Ernst, Reid, Saul, Frost, Beeler, and many others 

 who took a less prominent part in the Society — 

 do we realize the loss we have sustained. We 

 count it among the choicest blessings of our lives to 

 have enjoyed the friendship of so many wise and 

 good men, whose talents would have given them 

 eminence in any pursuit to which it had pleased 

 providence to call them. We honored and ad- 

 mired them for their skill as horticulturists, but 

 still more we loved them as men ; we would 

 cherish their memories now that they are de- 

 parted ; and here, amid the drought, and blight, 

 and decay incident to all earthly things, we are 

 cheered by the hope that we shall one day join 

 them in that better country — 



" Of fairer valleys and streams than these, 

 Where the river of God is full of water, 

 And full of sap are His healing trees." 



