256 JOURNAL OP THE ROYAL HORTICIJLTURAL SOCIETY. 
ment of their presence, he said that he beheved the Society 
had shown them such fruit as they had never seen before, for 
he was confident that a finer collection of hardy fruit had never 
been seen in any exhibition in the kingdom. And he might add 
that he was absolutely certain that the Lord Mayor had not seen 
anything that would compare with it during the exhausting 
series of enjoyments, exhibitions, and dissipations which he had 
recently been undergoing in France. He need hardly say how 
greatly obliged they all were to those who had been good 
enough to contribute to the Shov/ from all parts of the country, 
and he felt sure that the important industry" of fruit cultivation 
in Great Britain and Ireland must receive a very considerable 
stimulus from such shows as the present, for did they not 
abundantly prove that in fairly genial seasons we could success- 
fully produce at home such hardy fruits as could not be beaten 
in any part of the world ? Eeferring to fruit-drying, he said that 
it was eminently desirable in years of glut like the present for 
producers to have the opportunity of fruit-drying to fall back 
upon when the market prices for fresh fruit were unremunerative ; 
but in his opinion, before fruit-drying could become a real and 
practical success in this country, it was absolutely necessary 
for the growers to enter into co-operation and dry on a large 
scale at some central factory, and not for each one to be drying 
his own comparatively little surplus fruit only. He then drew 
attention to the need of the exercise of greater care and skill in 
picking, handling, and packing fruits, if we wish to compete on 
equal terms with the foreigner, who has long and successfully 
studied these so-called minor points, and ended by saying that 
he thought the Society deserved the thanks and support, not 
only of fruit-growers and farmers, but of the whole country at 
large, for drawing periodical attention to these and similar points. 
Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Samuel, in responding, said that 
it had given him and his brother Sheriff the greatest possible 
pleasure, not only to open and see such a splendid collection of 
fruit, but also to receive such a kind welcome as had been 
accorded to them that day. The City of London had by their 
Guilds always from the earliest times taken the keenest interest 
in anything that tended to promote the welfare of the country. 
]Ie fally agreed with the rresideiit that there was not only room 
ibr extended fruit culture, but that it was most desirable to 
