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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
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1898

T K A N S A C T I O N S

WORCESTER COUNTS

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

REPORTS OF THE OFFICERS

FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 1, 1898,

B Y - L j^^W S

5it'orrf.5tcv, inasiis.

PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON

3 11' MAIN STREET.

1899.

LIBRARY

UniVERSiTY OF
a^ABSACHUSETTS

mms\, MASS.

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CONTENTS.

Page
Report of the Secretary 6

Report of the Librarian 17

Report of the Treasurer 21

By-Laws .... 25

:iip03io

WORCESTER COUNTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,

For the Year Ending Nov. 1, 1898.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.

To the Members of the

Worcester County Horticultural Society :

In presenting the Annual Report for this year, I desire to refer
to some of the conditions which have prevailed that are unusual,
and which have been beneficial to some varieties of Fruit, Flower
and Vegetable, and exceedingly detrimental to others.

This season has been unusually long, nearly seven months
having passed without frost, and with an unusual amount of rain.

The vegetables which have been exhil)ited have l)een unusu-
ally fine, and the number of exhibitors has largely increased;
this latter fact being true of every department which this Soci-
ety recognizes.

We stated last year that our honored President showed Rhu-
barb of which twelve stocks weighed 22^ lbs., thinking it a
remarkable production, but this year he presents for our con-
sideration the same amount which weigh 24J lbs., and this is
but one of the many instances where vegetable growth has
eclipsed" all former records.

The show of Strawberries, early in the season, was uneven,
and did not give promise of average size or quality, but later
on they proved as good as any that have heretofore graced our
tables.

2

6 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

Of Apples there has been but about a third of the usual crop
for the bearing year, and the quality has not been as good as
usual. Our Exhibitions have been large, and many fine speci-
mens have been shown. Of Baldwins alone there were forty
exhibitors.

While this is not the bearing year for Pears, of some varie-
ties, we have been surprised and pleased at the showing made.
Of Sheldons alone there were 41 plates exhibited, and some of
enormous size. One of our members, Mr. Arthur J. Marble,
showed a Sheldon which weighed 17^ ozs., while Hon. George
K. Nichols, of Grafton, sent in a Sheldon pear which weighed
23^ ozs. There were 27 exhibitors of Bosc pears, and they
were as fine as we have ever had. There was a good showing
of other varieties, and the number of those competing was larger '
than ever before.

On the 13th day of October, the Worcester Agricultural
Society, to preserve their rights to State Bounty, and to keep
good the privileges granted by their charter, united with this
Society in an exhibition. The display of'fruits, flowers and
vegetables was the largest ever shown in our Hall, and were as
fine as were ever shown in this section. The display of hot-house
grapes and ornamental plants, from the greenhouses of Mr. G.
Marston Whitin, of Whitinsville, were exceedingly fine, and
added no little to the success of the exhibition. It was rather
late in the season for an exhibit of Mushrooms, but Miss Mary
E. Atherton showed 86 varieties, and our judge in that depart-
ment pronounced it a very creditable exhibition, particularly for
so late in the season. The interest in this field, which is practi-
cally new with us, is increasing, and at nine of our exhibitions
during the season they were shown, even when not on our sched-
ule or any premium offered. At this exhibition a dinner was
served, at which nearly 150 persons sat down. It seemed a
very popular feature of the show, and I would recommend that
in future this Society consolidate their October exhibitions, hav-
ing but one that month, keeping it open from 10 A. M. to 9
P. M., and having a dinner served, as was done this year.

I am of opinion that such a course would add to the interest,

1898.] TRANSACTIONS. 7

and bring to our Society many new members from the sur-
rounding^ towns. This question is one to which I invite your
careful consideration.

While this has been a very poor year for the cultivation of
Sweet Peas — which after July were a failure, Asters and Dah-
lias— which were very late in blooming, it has been a specially
good year for Tuberous Begonias and for Wild Flowers. At one
show we had thirteen exhibitors of \N'ild Flowers, none showing
less than sixty varieties, while some placed upon exhibition from
ninety to one hundred.

Of our winter meetings I would say they were very interest-
ing and largely attended ; those which were illustrated by the
stereopticon being attended by enough people to fill our main
hall. Inasmuch as the essays are in print, and so far as applied
for in your hands, there is no necessity for me to make a review
of them in this report.

As last year, the Market Gardeners had the use of our library
for their meetings, at which valuable papers pertaining to their
business were read, and the Massachusetts Fruit Growers held
their annual convention in the hall. Both of these societies have
voted their thanks to this Society for its courtesies to them.

I desire to place upon record an acknowledgment to those
who, during the past year, have materially added to the success
of our exhibitions by furnishing us with useful and decorative
materials without any apparent expectation of reward, only that
they recognize this as one of the institutions which deserve
whatever of success it has attained.

At the time of our Chrysanthemum exhibition the Clark,
Sawyer Company furnished us with jardinieres, large vases,
silver, glass and china ware, and at all times have willingly loaned
from their stock anything of which we stood in need. The John
C. Maclnnes Company has furnished table linen and decorative
materials on several occasions, and has always seemed to take
an interest to assist us with whatever we needed in their line.
Messrs. O. S. Kendall & Son set up for us four mantels, simply
to add to the beauty of our exhibition and make more attractive
our distribution of flowers.

8 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

The annual meeting of the Society was held Wednesday,
November 3, 1897 ; President O. B. Hadwen presiding.

The election of officers was first in order, a list of whom
Vt'ill be found on the covers of the various publications of the
Society.

Reports of the Treasurer, Librarian and Secretary were read,
approved, and referred to the Committee on Publication.

Under the head of new business, the following letters were
read :

12 Jefferson St., Worcester, November i, 1897.
Mr. a. a. Hixon,

Secretary Horticultural Society.
Dear Sir : — The School Garden Committee of the Civic Club
respectfully ask the assistance of the Horticultural Society in encour-
aging the development of the school gardens of our city.

Much has already been done in this direction by teachers, pupils
and friends, and your Society is earnestly requested to arouse greater
interest in the subject by offering prizes for the best garden display
of Tulips, Hyacinths and the like, and also for the best display of
bedding plants. If the Society or individuals thereof can con-
veniently contribute bulbs, shrubs, etc., credit therefor will be given.
I hope that in the interest of the children this request will be acted
upon favorably by the Horticultural Society, for I can safely assert
that such action will be far reaching in its beneficent results and will
be appreciated.

Yours, Very Truly,

JOHN E. LYNCH,
Chairman Garden Committee of Civic Club.

Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Mr. Adin a. Hixon, Secretary.

My Dear Mr. Hixon : — Last April you will remember my speak-
ing to you on the matter of the Horticultural Society offering prizes of
some sort to school children for the cultivation of flower plants. You
regretted at the time that, since the appropriations had been made for
the year, nothing could be done until this fall. The experiment as
tried in the Upsala St. School last spriug may provoke a smile on the

1898.] TRANSACTIONS. 9

part of some veteran horticulturists, but it demonstrated both the
feasibility of the phm, in the interest it awakened among both chil-
dren and parents, and the need of such practical school work in certain
sections of the city.

Since I have only a few moments to write, I will ask you to also
bear in mind a discussion of the subject which we enjoyed for a good
part of an afternoon in October.

The points upon which we seemed to be agreed at the time are as
follows :

1. In no better way can the Horticultural Society stimulate inter-
est in its work throughout the entire city than by coming into the
most helpful relations possible with the children and teachers of the
public schools.

2. The natural result of such mutual relations should be that more
young people, as they become interested, would wish to join the
Society.

3. That, in the coming annual appropriations, the Society should
devote a certain sum to be used as prizes to children in the public
schools for the plant or plants, the species to be designated by the
Society, which, raised entirely by the child, exhibits the best culture.

My plan is to have the prizes of the Horticultural Society come in
to "cap out" similar work in the individual schools. For example
I have personally offered certain prizes in the Upsala St. School. I
hope that others may do the same for other schools. Now let the
Society's prizes be given to the winners in each class from all the
schools. Of course, the Society might put smaller pi'izes into the
individual schools, if thought best.

If I can be of any assistance to you or the Committee of Appro-
priations, as you suggested that I might be, in arranging the details
of these prizes, I am at your service.

Yours, very truly,

C. F. HODGE.

3 Charlotte St., Nov. 1. 1897.

Considerable discussion followed without any definite plan
being offered. It was

Voted to refer the matter to the Trustees.

The question of revising the By-Laws was next considered.

10 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

The importance of the question demanding more time than
could be allowed this day, it was

Voted, to adjourn to Wednesday, November 17, 1897, 10
o'clock, A. M.

The annual meeting of the Trustees was called immediately
upon the adjournment of the meeting of the Society ; President
O. B. Hadwen presiding.

The first business was the election of committees and judges,
a list of which will be found vvith the officers.

Votes of thanks were tendered the judges, Henry Phelps,
William A. Wood, and Charles Greenwood.

Voted to appropriate the following sums for premiums :

Flowers and Plants, $700 00

Fruit, 600 00

Vegetables, 400 00

with the addition of $300 to be divided between the different
departments ; $50 to be devoted to Native Mushrooms.

Voted to appropriate for

Winter Meetings, $300 00

Hon. Henry L. Parker, Henry B. Watts, John B. Bowker,
with the President and Secretary, were appointed a committee
to arrange for them.

Voted to appropriate for

Library and Publications, .... $250 00
with an additional sum to bind all unbound books.

Letters from flohn E. Lynch, of the Civic Club, and Dr. C.
F. Hodge, of the School Board, were read and laid on the table
until the next meeting.

No other business oti'ered, it was voted to dissolve.

The adjourned annual meeting was held on Wednesday, Nov-
ember 17, 1897, 10 o'clock A. M. : President O. B. Hadwen
presiding —

To act upon proposed amendments to or changes of the Con-
stitution and Bv-Laws. After considemble discussion as to the

1898.] TRANSACTIONS. 11

legality of some propositions the following changes and additions
were adopted :

Proposals for membership shall be submitted to a Committee
consisting of the President, Secretary, and the members of the
Finance Committee, who shall consider the same and upon a
vote of a majority of said Committee they may become members
of the Society upon payment of five dollars for men and three
dollars for women and signing the By-Laws of the Society.

ExpuLS:iON OF Members. If any member shall reflect serious
discredit upon the Society or shall be guilty of any breach of
the rules of the Society, he or she may be expelled, two-thirds of
the members present voting therefor. But no member shall be
expelled unless a written notice of the motion be served by
the Secretary upon the member personally or left at the mem-
ber's usual place of abode, at least twenty days before it is acted
upon.

All meetings of the Society shall be called by giving not less
than one week's notice in at least one newspaper published in
the City of Worcester and the Secretary shall notify by Postal
Card each member as far as their address may be known.

At all meetings of the Society twenty-five shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.

At all meetings of the Trustees ten shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business.

Librarian.
His Duties. The Librarian shall have charge of all the
books, drawings, engravings, herbaria, and other articles apper-
taining to the Library, and shall attend to the purchase, record-
ing^, cataloo^uing, arranginoj, bindins:, delivering:, and receiving
of books ; these duties to be performed under the direction of
the Library Committee. He shall so far as possible assist those
desiring to use the Library in their investigations.

Library Committee.
They shall adopt and enforce regulations for the Library and
Cabinet which have been approved by the Society. These

12 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

regulations shall be affixed to every volume, and posted in
the Library.

Voted to print the Constitution and By-Laws in the Trans-
actions.

No other business presented it was voted to dissolve.

A meeting of the Trustees was held immediately upon the
dissolution of the society's meeting; President O. B. Hadwen
presiding.

This meeting was called at the request of F. J. Kinney and
others who were desirous that the Horticultural Society should
be among others who were contributing; works of art to the
Worcester Art Museum.

It was voted to appropriate one hundred and fifty dollars for
the purchase of Casts from the Parthenon Frieze. A letter
tendering the gift was sent to T, H, Gage, Jr., Secretary of
the Worcester Art Museum ; in acknowledgment the following
letters were received.

Worcester Art Museum.
Mr. Adin a. Hixon,

Secretary of the Worcester County Horticultural Society.
Dear Sir: — I am in receipt of your letter of Nov. 18, 1897, pre-
senting the Worcester Art Museum with a Cast of the Parthenon
Frieze. I beg to assure the Horticultural Society of the grateful
acceptance of the gift by the Worcester Art Museum,

You may expect to receive a more formal recognition of gratitude
from the Chairman of the Committee on the Museum.

Very truly,

T. H. GAGE, Jr.,

Secretary.
Nov. 18, 1897.

Central Church Parsonage.
Worcester, Noo. 20, 1897.
Mr. Adin A. Hixon,

Dear Sir: — As Chairman of the Committee on the Museum, the
agreeable duty devolves on me of communicating to the Worcester
County Horticultural Society the hearty thanks of the Directors of
the Worcester Art Museum for their superb gift of Casts from the
Parthenon Fiieze.

No casts are more desirable than these, and they will prove a great

1898.] TRANSACTIONS. 13

and permanent enrichment to the Museum, for which the Directors
are extremely grateful.

With much respect, Yours sincerely,

HELEN B. MERRIMAN.

The letters of Dr. Hodge and John E. Lynch were taken from
the table. After some discussion it was voted to postpone action
to a later meeting.

Voted to dissolve.

A meeting of the Trustees, legally called, was held December
16, to consider the advisability of holding a Chrysanthemum
show in November, 1898.

After considerable discussion it was voted to tender the use
of the hall to the florists, free of charge, for a Chrysanthemum
show. Discussion followed. It was voted to refer the matter
to the Committee on Arrangements and Exhibitions, to arrange
a schedule for a Chrysanthemum show, and report to the Trus-
tees for their approval.

Voted to pay the premiums as awarded for season of 1897.

Voted to make the combined premiums for fruit, flowers and
vegetables for 1898, $2,100 instead of $2,000.

Hon. Henry L. Parker informed the Society that by the will
of William Eames they would receive a legacy of five hundred
dollars for the promotion of apple culture, to be known as the
Eames Fund. Voted to accept the same, and the thanks of the
Society extended to his sister, Miss Mary R. Eames, for making
it immediately available.

Received from Miss Mary R. Eames a picture of her brother,
William Eames, which was accepted with a vote of thanks to
Miss Eames.

No other business presented, it was voted to dissolve.

A special meeting of the Trustees, legally called, was held
Monday, December 27, to act upon the report of the Committee
on Arrangements and Exhibitions as to holding a Chrysanthe-
mum show, and appropriations necessary for the premium list.

Voted to hold a Chrysanthemum show, and to appropriate
$200 and the door receipts for the premium list.

Voted not to advertise the show in the papers.

14 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

Voted to pay the railroad expenses of George McWilliams,
Judge of Flowers.

Voted, as no definite plan could be decided upon in the mat-
ter of offering prizes to school children, as proposed in the
letters received from Dr. C. F. Hodge and John E. Lynch, to
lay it on the table indefinitely.

Voted that the President, Secretary and Judge of Flowers
constitute a committee to decide who are florists and amateurs.

No other business offered, it was voted to dissolve.

In reference to the letters received from Dr. Hodge, of the
School Committee, and Mr. Lynch, of the Civic Club, your
Secretary does not see any practical way for this Society to
move in the matter. The school children rarely attend any of
our exhibitions, even when invited to do so specially or in the
general invitation for any one interested to be present.

Then, again, until such time as some of the scholars of our
public schools exhibit something, either wild flowers, when
scheduled, or any plant, trusting to our system of gratuities for
their reward, I can see no reason why we should attempt to
force upon them the planting and care of flowers when during
the period when they should receive the mo!?t attention the
scholars are enjoying their long vacation and would not devote
that time to either the theory or practice of horticulture.

There does seem to be a call among our members for some
instruction in botany, the arranging of flowers and a more thor-
ough understanding of the science of grafting and budding of
trees, and I would recommend that on Saturday afternoons such
instruction be given in the library to such as care to attend,
whether members of the Society or not, and that this matter be
placed in the hands of the Committee on Winter Meetings for
such action as they deem best for the good of all interested in
the subjects named.

Received from Arthur J. Marble, a portrait of his father.
Freeman M. Marble, with the following letter :

Worcester, Mass., Feb. 24, 1898.
Adin a. Hixon, Secretary Worcester County Horticultural Society :
Dear Sir.- — I herewith present to the Horticultural Society a por-

1898.]

TRANSACTIONS.

15

trait of the late Freeman M. Marble, for many years a member, and
for twenty-five years a trustee of the Society. I feel that to the many
friends he had in the Society, it will be a pleasure to see his portrait
on the walls, and that it is a fitting tribute to his lifelong interest in
the Society.

Very sincerely yours,

Mrs. Freeman M. Marble.

A letter accepting the portrait, with thanks, was sent to Mrs.
Marble.

Received from our President, O. B. Hadwen, three paintings,
which have been placed in our rooms.

In conclusion, I desire to thank the officers and members of
the Society for their hearty co-operation.

Respectfully submitted,

ADIN A. HIXON, Secretary.

Horticultural Hall, Worcester, Mass.,
Nooemher 3, 1898.

Since publishing the membership list July 1, 1897, the fol-
lowing have been added :

B. J. Bertels, Worcester.

Annie E. Brierly, "

Mrs. G. M. BuUard,

John F. Bartlett, "

Edward W. Breed, Clinton.

Ledyard Bill, Paxton.

Mrs. J. A. Balcom, Northboro.

Charles E. Bond, Worcester.

E. F. Corey, Northboro.

Zelotes W. Coombs, Worcester.

Mrs. F. B. Davidson,

J. Warren Ellsworth,

Mrs. William A. Green,

Mrs. Frank W. Haynes,

John B. Hunt,

Frank A. Harrington,

Edward W. Higgins, W. Boyls'n

George M. Houghton, Worcester

Mrs. Isaac Hildreth, Worcester.
Bertha Hardy, "

Lilian A. Jones, "

Carrie W. Jones, "

Annie E. Jones, "

Mrs. Lillie R. Kinney, "

Oran A. Kelley, "

Mrs. Oran A. Kelley, "

F. E. Lawrence, Northboro.

Mrs. Marcella Maynard, "
Mrs. Kate E. Parker, Worcester.
Clara B. Rood, "

Emma L. Taylor, "

Frank H. Warner, "

Elizabeth T. Weir, "

A. S. Wolfe, Auburn.

George N. Newhall, Worcester.
Mrs. Charles E. Neale, "

16 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

The following deaths have occurred since July 1, 1897 :

H. J. Allen.
Alzirus Brown.
Elbridge Boy den.
F. J. Boyden,
Albert Curtis.
E. D. McFarland.
W. E. Hadwen.
E. B. Hamilton.

Leominster.

Benj. James.
John D. Lovell.
E. L. Biigbam.
T. L. Nelson.
Cbarles B. Pratt.
Edward Proctor,
Mrs. Sumner Pratt.

Spencer.

November 1, 1898.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN.

To THE Members of the

Worcester County Horticultural Society.

The Library has been open nearly every day the past year,
proving a convenience for those who wish to consult the books
and having only a limited time. The interest shown among the
3'ounger members for books on birds has been supplied by the
addition of several.

The following Books, Periodicals, Papers and Bulletins have
been added to the Library during the year : —

United States Department of Agriculture : Library Bulletin. Ac-
cessions to the Library from July 1, 1897, to June 30, 1898.

Catalogue of the Publications for sale by the Superintendent of
Documents, corrected to Oct. 1, 1897.

Library Bulletin : Reference list of publications relating to edible
and poisonous mushrooms, compiled by Josephine A. Clark, Assist-
ant Librarian, 1898.

Bulletin: Some common birds, in their relation to Agriculture.
F. E. Beal, 1897.

Bulletins: Twenty-two numbers, 1897, from Hon. Joseph H.
Walker.

United States Civil Service Commission. Report, July, 1896, to
June, 1897.

United States Department of Pomology. Catalogue of Fruits,
recommended by the American Pomological Society, 1897.

Field Columbian Museum. Re[iort of the Director for 1S96 and
1897.

Botanical Series. Part 4, Vol. 1.

Lake Mohawk Conference on International Arbitration. Fourth
Annual Meeting Report.

18 WORCESTER COUNTT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station. Reports; 77 in all;
complete set. Robert E. Browning, Librarian.

Report on the San Jose Scale, August, 1898. W. G. Johnson.
Twelve copies for distribution.

Michigan Board of Agriculture. Report, 1896.

Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station. Bulletins, Nos. 154
to Ifil inclusive.

Cornell University Agricultural Experimental Station. Bulletins,
Nos. 139 to 151 inclusive.

Bulletin. Farmers' Reading Lesson. First Lesson.

Connecticut Board of Agriculture. Report, 1896. T. S. Gold,
Secretary.

West Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station. Bulletins, Nos.
49, 50, 51.

Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station. Bulletin, No. 49.

Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. Report, 1897. William R.
Sessions, Secretary. Twenty copies for distribution.

Massachusetts Crop Reports. Bulletins, Nos. 1 to 6 inclusive.
Series of 1898.

Massachusetts Agricultural College. Hatch Experimental Station.
Bulletins, Nos. 49 to 53 inclusive.

Meteorological Observatory. Bulletins, Nos. 104 to 118 in-
clusive.

Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Transactions. Part 3, 1895.
Part 2, 1896. Parts 1 and 2, 1897.

Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association. Reports, 1897, 1898.

Hingham Agricultural and Horticultural Society. Transactions.
Full set. From Edmund Hersey.

Board of Trade, Worcester. Report, 1897.

Parks Commission, Worcester. Report, November 30, 1897.

Worcester Agricultural Society. Report, 1897.

Worcester Society of Antiquity. Town Records, 1845 to 1848.
Bulletins, Nos. 1 and 2.

Worcester County Horticultural Society. Two volumes, bound,
1862 to 1870; 1871 to 1880. From Edward Winslow Lincoln.

Journal of Horticulture. Vols. 34 and 35, 1897. English.

Revue Horticole. French. 1897.

Silva of North America. Prof. Charles S. Sargent. Vol. XI.

Mushrooms of America. Students' Hand Book. Edible and
Poisonous. Thomas Taylor, M. D. Pamphlet, Nos. 4 and 5.

1898.] REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 19

Moths and Butterflies, 1898. S. F. Denton. Illustrated. Sec-
tions 1, 2, 3, -4.

Illustrated Flora of the Northern States and Canada. Vol. 3, 1898.
Britton & Brown.

North American Birds. Illustrated. 1874. Baird, Brewer &
Ridgway.

Hand Book of Birds. Eastern North America. Illustrated. 1895.
Frank M. Chapman.

Birds of North America. Illustrated. 1896. Elliott Coues.

GleaniniiS on Bee Culture 7 vols. From Fred. A. Blake.

United States Department of Agriculture. Reports. From Miss
Sarah A. Powers.

United States Department of Agriculture Reports and American
Agriculturists. From Henry Lovell.

Amateur Flower Garden. 1839. Edward Sayers.

Gardening. Charles Marshall. Vol. 1, 1799.

Short Treatise on Horticulture. William Prince, 1828. From the
American Antiquarian Society.

Insects Injurious to Vegetation. T. W. Harris, M. D. Exchanged
for, with George E. Francis, M. D.

United States Department of Agriculture. Special Reports. Vol-
ume 1, 1S77, to Volume 17, 1888. From Henry Phelps.

Inaugural Address. Rufus B. Dodge, Jr., Mayor. Jan. 3,
1898.

United States War Revenue Laws, 1898.

Worcester County Atlas.

Worcester City Directory.

Worcester City House Directory.

American Florist.

American Gardening.

Country Geutleman.

Florist Exchange.

Gardening.

New England Homestead.

Massachusetts Ploughman.

Meehan's Monthly.

Rural New Yorker.

State Board of Health Bulletin, Nashville, Tennessee.

Worcester Daily Spy.

Worcester Daily Telegram.

20 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

English :

Agricultural Gazette.
Garden.

Gardener's Chronicle.
Gardening Illustrated.

Respectfully submitted.

ADIN A. HIXON, Librarian.
Horticultural Hall,

November 7, 1898.

REPORT OF THE TREASURER.

The Treasurer of the Worcester County Horticultunil Societ}^
herewith presents his annual report for the year ending Novem-
ber 1, 1898.

The general business depression of the country has affected
this Society as shown by the decreased income from the renting
of our hall, but it is confidently hoped that with the expected
revival of business in this section, another year will show in-
creased receipts from this source.

Since the last annual meeting the treasurer has received from
the estate of our late associate William Eames the sum of $500,
which in accordance with a vote of the Society has been invested
and will hereafter be known as the William Eames Fund.

The fire in the building adjoining our own has rendered neces-
sary certain repairs, the expense of which has been neai'ly met
by the amount received for insurance.

Our loss by the fire in the theature building was promptly
adjusted by the payment to us of $419.

It is a cause of congratulation that the changes and improve-
ments made in the upper part of our building were practically
completed before the fire alluded to, for without much doubt
they saved our property from destruction.

The past year has called for unusual expenses, owing to the
changes and improvements made in the stores belonging to the
Society, and these alterations made it necessary to incur other
expenses for making safe entrance to our hall.

22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

The expenditure for these purposes was about $10,000, but
the increased rent received for our stores makes it a good
investment.

This year, too, the insurance on the building and its contents
had to be renewed at a cost of nearly $1,300 ; this was reduced
by a rebate in the premium for insurance, brought about by the
improvements I have referred to, about $300.

The extensive alterations and repairs made on our building
the past year has involved the borrowing of about $13,000; of
this amount $5,350 remains unpaid.

This is in addition to the mortgage loan, which now amounts
to $8,900.

As will be seen by the detailed report, there is but a small
amount of cash on hand ; the annual premiums will soon have to
be paid, so that it will be necessary to temporarily borrow more
money, and the treasurer requests that he be given the necessary
power, under the direction of the Finance Committee.

If the date for paying the premiums could be extended for a
short period, say till the first of January, it would delay the time
at which we should have to borrow and thus be a saving of
interest, and the sum received in the meantime from the rent of
the stores and hall would very materially reduce the amount we
should have to borrow.

There should l)e some way devised to economize the current
year in order that our debt should not be increased, but if possi-
ble reduced. I would suggest that it might be advisable to
reduce the amount paid for premiums, certainly while the Society
has to borrow money to meet the annual expenses and the inter-
est on our loans.

It is probable that the maintenance of our building the coming
year will not involve large expenditures, and the large item for
insurance will not be needed.

As will be seen by the report the taxes for the past year have
been more than for previous years, and with the greatly in-
creased expenditures of the city will be likely to be higher
rather than lower.

1898.] REPORT OF THE TREASURER, 23

The detailed report of the receipts and expenditures is as
follows :

Nathaniel Paine, Treasurer, in account with

Worcester County Horticultural Society.

1897. Dr.

Nov. 1. Balance as per last report, $4,287.44

1898.

Nov. 1. Receipts to date :

From rent of stores, $5,922.20

rent of hall, 3,865.25

membership fees, 94.00

Chrysanthemum exhibi-
tion, 107.00
Est. of William Eames, 500.00
insurance on building, 419.00
rebate on insurance, 308.07
For tickets to annual reunion, 170.00
interest on deposit in

bank, 42.00

Money borrowed, 13,350.00

Nov. 1.

Total receipts to date.
Total,

1898.

Cr.

Nov. 1.

Payments to date :

City taxes and water bills, $

936.2 t

Premiums paid,

2,380.52

Paid judges of exhibits.

150.00

for gas.

781.50

A. A. Hixon, salary as

secretary.

400.00

A. A. Hixon, as librarian,

&c.,

999.96

treasurer.

150.00

janitor,

458.33

A. A. Hixon, sundry ex-

penses at Hall,

432.58

,777.52

$29,014.96

24 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

Nov. 1. Worcester Agricultural Society, 100.00

Worcester Art Museum,

150.00

Interest on loans,

644.29

For books and periodicals.

151.23

printing publications, &c,

., 412.21

Repairs and alterations to build-

ing.

10,027.67

For coal,

91.71

Insurance premium,

1,298.15

Loans paid,

8,000.00

For lire extinguishers,

39.00

ordinary repairs.

129.91

Expense for annual banquet.

302.65

Deposited in Savings Bank

(Fames Fund),

500.00

Incidentals,

239.07

128,775.02

1898,

Nov,

, 1. Cash balance.

The Francis H. Dewey

239.94

Fund.

1897,

Nov.

1. Balance of fund,

$1,081.80

1898,

Nov.

Interest to date.

43.25

,014.96

1898, Nov 1. Present amount of fund, in-
vested in Savings Bank, $1,125.05

The William Fames Fund.
1898, Nov. 1. Amount of fund, $500.00

NATHL. PAINE, Treas.
November 1, 1898.

Worcester, Nov. 3, 1898.
We the undersigned. Auditors of the Worcester County
Horticultural Society, hereby certify that we have this day
examined the account of the Treasurer, and find the same to be
correct and properly vouched, and that the cash balance is
accounted for.

HENRY L. PARKER.

F. H. CHAMBERLAIN.

OF THE

WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Revised and Adopted November 17, 1897.

ANNUAL MEETING.

Article 1. There shall be au Annual Meeting of the Society to
be held on the first Wednesday in November of each year.

MEMBERSHIP.

Article 2. Any member may propose candidates for membership
to a Committee consisting of the President, Secretary and the mem-
bers of the Finance Committee, who shall consider the same, and
upon a vote of a majority of said Committee they may become mem-
bers of the Society upon payment of five dollars for men and three
dollars for women and signing the By-Laws of the Society.

EXPULSION OF MEMBERS.

Article 3. If any member shall reflect serious discredit upon the
Society or shall be guilty of any breach of the rules of the Society
he or she may be expelled, two-thirds of the members present voting
therefor. But no members shall be expelled unless a written notice
of the motion be served by the Secretary upon the member person-
ally or left at the member's usual place of abode, at least twenty days
before it is acted upon.

OFFICERS.

Article 4. The Officers of the Society shall consist of a Presi-
dent, three (3) Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, a Librarian, and a
Treasurer— (all of whom shall be Trustees ex- officii s) .

The Officers are to be elected by ballot, to hold their Offices until

26 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

the next annual election or until others are chosen in their places,
and to discharge the duties of their respective offices.

MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY.

Article 5. All meetings of the Society shall be called by giving
not less than one (1) week's notice in at least one newspaper pub-
lished in the City of Worcester and the Secretary shall notify by
postal card each member as far as their address may be known.

Special Meetings of the Society shall be called by the Secretary at
any time, on the application of five (5) members therefor. And at
all meetings of the Society twenty-five (25) shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business.

SECRETARY.

Article 6. His Duties : The Secretary shall keep records of all
business transacted at the meetings of the Society and of the
Trustees, and also of the admission of members, and he shall call
and notify meetings of the Society and of the Trustees, and shall
notify persons chosen to office in the Society of their election and the
Committees of their appointment, and shall attend to the correspond-
ence of the Society.

TREASURER.

Article 7. His Duties: The Treasurer shall, at each Annual
Meeting of the Society, make a report of his receipts and expendi-
tures on account of the Society, and the condition of its finances, and
exhibit his accounts. And a Committee shall be annually appointed
by the Trustees to examine and audit his accounts and to report
thereon. The Treasurer shall give bonds to the acceptance of the
Trustees of the Society for the faithful discharge of the duties of
his office.

THE LIBRARIAN.

Article 8. The Librarian shall have the charge of all books,
drawings, engravings, herbaria, and other articles appertaining to the
Library, and shall attend to the purchase, recoriUng, cataloguing,
arranging, binding, delivering, and receiving of books ; these duties
to be performed under the direction of the Library Committee. He

1898.] BY-LAWS. 27

shall, so far as possible, assist those desiring to use the Library in
their investiarutions.

LIBRARY COMMITTEE.

They shall adopt and enforce regulations for the Library and
Cabinet, which have been approved by the Society. These regula-
tions shall be afiixed to every volume, and posted in the Library.

TRUSTEES.

Article 9. Their Number: The Trustees shall consist of any
number not less than twenty-five (25) exclusive of the officers, who
are trustees e,f-(>Jficiis — and the exact number of Trustees for the
year ensuing, shall be determined at each Annual Meeting.

Their Powers : The Trustees shall have the general 'charge and
direction of the affairs and business of the Society, its funds and
property, so far as not otherwise provided for in the By-Laws or at
the meetings of the Society ; and may appoint one or more exhibi-
tions of Flowers, Fruit or Vegetables in each year, and make all
arrangements therefor and for conducting the same, including the
appointment of Committees ; and may establish premiums and provide
for awarding the same, and shall direct the disposal of all articles of a
vegetable growth which may be presented to the Society, including
the distribution of Seeds, Scions and Cuttings, Layers and Roots.

Their Meetings — Quorum : At all meetings of the Trustees, ten
(10) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; and a
meetiog of the Trustees may at any time be called, on the application
of three (3) members of the board to the President of the Society;
and all meetings of the Trustees shall be called by the Secretary.
There shall be stated meetings of the Trustees, to be held once in
three (3) months.

FINANCE COMMITTEE.

Article 10. There shall be chosen at the Annual Meeting of the
Society a Committee of three (3), one member thereof to be elected
each and every year, to hold office for the term of three years ; said
Committee, subject to the control and supervision of the Society, shall
have the general care and oversight of the lands, buildings and other
property of the Society; shall approve all bills against the Treasury
before being paid by the Treasurer, except money awarded for Pre-

28 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898.

minms ; and shall authorize the Treasurer to invest for the benefit of
the Society, in one or more of the Savings Banks of the City of
Worcester, any money not appropriated or necessary for the current
expenses of the Society.

AMENDMENTS.

Article 11. The By-Laws may be altered or amended at the
Annual Meeting of the Society, by a vote of two-thirds (|) of the
members present : provided, that previous notice shall have been
given in the call for the Annual Meeting that the subject of an
alteration of the By-Laws is to come before the Society at that
meeting.

ADIN A. HIXON, Secretary.
November 17, 1897.

TRANSACTIONS

WORCESTER COUNTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

ESSAYS

FOR SEASON OF 1899

PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON
3 11 MAIN STREET.
1 'J 0 u .

CONTENTS

P.MiE.

Address by O. 15. Iladwen, President 5

Remarks by Samuel Hathaway H

Remarks by Rev. George W. Kent 7

Essay by Edward W. Breed 7

Essay by Aaron Low 12

Essay by John Farqiihar .20

Essay by H. H. Goodell 29

Essay by Edith Barnes 44

Essay by E. L. Beard 54

Essay by Mrs. A. E. Whitaker oG

Essay by Jackson Dawson 67

Essay by Mrs. Delia F. Corey 83

Essay by Abel F. Stevens 98

Annual Reunion and Social Gathering 92

WOlUESTElt COU NTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

5th January, A. D. iSgg.

ESSAY

BY

O. B. HADWEN, Pijesident.

Subject : — Review of Horticulture.

It is .'I sijxnificant fact that the winter nieetin<»:s and summer
exhil)itions keep the members in touch with tlie advancement of
Horticulture.

The Society's Library of upwards of 3000 volumes is the
second largest in Massachusetts. The books are among the
costliest and most valuable upon Horticulture, and have proved
of inestimable value to members. The library is also well
supplied with weekly and monthly publications of this and
foreign countries. Horticulturally speaking, the library is
full of leaves abounding with fruit and flowers.

In its earliest history it was kept in the oflBce of Anthony
Chase, subsequently in the oflSce of Clarendon Harris, and, in
1852, was removed to its present location in Horticultural Hall.

The Society was organized in 1840 and received its act of
incor[)orati()n in 1842. The first exhibition was October 13,
1840, largely through the efforts of William Lincoln, and it
l)roved as great a novelty as it did a great success.

Of those who were recorded as exhibitors, Andrew H. Green
is the only one now living.

The succeeding exhibitions were migratory until the comple-
tion of Horticultural Hall. When incorporated the Society was

6 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

permitted to hold real estate to the amount of $1500, and per-
sonal property to the amount of $2000. Until 1850 the amount
of funds received was $3611.52.

By the will of Hon. Daniel Waldo the Society was left $3000,
and with the funds the land was bought on Front street for
$6847.30, and the building erected for $11,278.25, making
the total cost $18,125.65. The building has twice been altered
and improved, at nearly double its original cost, until it is
now adequate for all the needs of the Society. I am the
only person living who contributed to the exhibition in 1841,
also who attended the meeting at the office of Anthony Chase,
County Treasurer, when the committee was chosen to buy the
land and build Horticultural Hall. The members were Stephen
Salisbury, Frederick W. Paine, William M. Bickford, William
T. Merrifield, William Workman, Horatio N. Tower and D.
Waldo Lincoln.

Lieut. HATHAWAY.

I CERTAINLY did uot comc here as a speaker, l)ut as a listener.
Horticulture, to your President, is like a school-book which he
has learned from cover to cover. I stand here as one of the
two living charter members of this Society. I feel that I have
done something for this Society. That is, in the decoration of
the window trimmings of this building;. I was then enffasfed in
terra cotta work, and these beautiful window trimmings were
designed especially for this building. As you have probably
noticed, they are a combination of fruits and flowers. I wish
I could speak to you with the vigor that two-score years would
give a man, but which four-score years will not allow a man to
carry. Who can tell what makes the seed to grow? It is
dropped into the bosom of the earth, and in a short time
springs up and bears beautiful blossoms. So it will be with us.
We will be laid in this earth only to rise up in the earth of
immortality.

1899.] ESSAYS. 7

Ki:v. Mil. KENT.

You cjin (iikc .'I iiiinistci" l)y surprise souietiiues, and your
President has certainly taken me by surprise. 1 do not feel
like talking to you on Horticulture when there are so many
gentlemen here who can talk to you so much better than I can.
In giving my talk on roses I only spoke of their relations to
me. I had a dozen of my boys learn to solder, so that when
their mothers' kettles needed mending they could solder them.
When I liv^ed in Illinois, there was a young man who came to
take charge of a church there. It was a village with about 400
people and 600 pigs. The pigs and the people seemed to be
very friendly with one another, they certainly shared the same
door-yard. Well, when this young man came, he started a
little garden in the door-yard. I believe that his Howers did
more good and saved more souls than his preaching did. The
next year the women wanted to make their door-yards look
pretty, and commenced to build fences to keep the pigs out.
The people improved very much after they ceased to associate
with the pigs. And so your Society, by its exhibition of
flowers, has done nmch to elevate the people.

EDWARD W. BREED, Clinton.

As we review Horticulture for the past few years, we find there
have been many valuable additions made, although, in many
instances, new varieties only serve to adorn catalogues. Their
chief value lies in the fact that they are novelties.

There are, however, many desirable acquisitions, from which
I have selected the following :

Trees.

Cornus Florida Rubra. — The flowers of this variety are a
deep rose-color and are freely produced. The tree is a fit com-
panion for the white flowering dogwood.

Larix Kaempferii. — This is a Japanese variety that makes a
slow dense ijrowth with \\2hi soft-irreen foliao;e. While it is not

8 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

as hardy as our larch, it is nevertheless worthy of our attention,
and we should give it some slight protection.

BechteVs Double Fhivering Grab. — This is one of the most
beautiful of the dwarf flowering trees. It blooms freely when
quite small, and has flowers that are very fragrant and bright
pink in color, intermixed with white.

PojmJus Alba Nivea. — This tree is an improved form of the
white or silver poplar and very beautiful for the lawn, with the
underside of its leaves white as snow.

Shrubs.

Berberix, Neubertii. — This is a very attractive form of bar-
berry, having holly-like leaves. It is a grand addition to this
valuable family.

Deutzia Lemoinei. — The flowers of this variety are two-thirds
longer than the well-known Gracilis, and when in bloom, cover
the plant thickly. It is as well adapted for forcing as for plant-
ing in the garden.

Vibernum Tomentosum. — This is the single form of the Jap-
anese snowball, and is said to be the finest variety of the Viber-
num family. A little protection is advisable when the plants
are small.

Philadelphus Avalanche. — This is a dwarf flowering form of
the old-fashioned syringa. It has weeping branches, and when
in l)loom, resembles a fountain. Its flowers are pure white and
fragrant.

Sleplienandra Flexuosa. — This is a new shrub from Japan, of
low, dense growth, having deeply cut foliage that is the attrac-
tive feature of this shrub.

Ligusfrum Ibota. — The al)ove is a Japan privet, having dark,
oval foliaoe and graceful habit. It has white fragrant flowers.

Lilacs. — Among these there have been a great many valuable
additions that give this old-fashioned shrub a prominent place
in the gardens of today.

KOSES.

Marchioness of Londonderry. — This is a new ivory white
hybrid-perpetual: the flowers of very great size, carried on

1899.] ESSAYS. 9

stout stems. It is free flowering, highly perfumed, niid one of
the finest of the roses.

Mrs. 7?. G. 8harman Crairford. — This is deep rosy-pink in
color, with outer petals shaded with pale flesh. It is a free
l)Ioomer all the summer.

This variety and the preceding one were awarded gold medals
Ity the National Rose Society of England.

Marr/aret Dickson. — This is a magniflcent rose — white, with
j)ale flesh centre, and very fragrant.

Clio. — The flowers of this variety are large, of fine form,
llesh color, shaded in centre with rosy pink. It has handsome
foliajre and is a vigorous grower.

Mad. Georges Britant. — This has single white flowers with
very pointed buds. The foliage of the new growth is very
bright and contrasts prettily with the older growth. It is a free
bloomer and well adapted for planting with Rugosa varieties,
with which it is closely allied.

Liberty. — This is a hybrid tea-rose and is to be put on the
market in the spring of 1900.

Its originator claims for it all the desirable qualities that a
rose should possess, and whenever it has been exhibited it has
attracted marked attention. Its color is like Meteor at its
best.

Ramblers. — Among: other varieties of roses the Ramblers de-
serve special mention, and among them the Crimson rambler is
the most desirable. It is of climbing habit and can be grown in
a variety of ways. It is of Japanese origin and is universally
admitted to be the greatest rose novelty of recent years. It is
perfectly hardy.

Wichuriana Hybrids. — This rose and its hybrids are valua-
l)le additions with their single and double flowers and rich glossy
foliage. For a ground carpet or for trailing to any object, they
are very desirable.

Lord Penzance''s tSweet Briar Hybrids. — The foliage of these
is deliciously scented, and the flowers are single and of the most
beautiful kinds.

10 worcester county horticultural society. [1899.

Herbackous Perennials.

Campanula, Peririfolki Alba. — These have beautiful white
bell-shaped tlowers. They are useful for garden or pot culture
as decorative plants.

Anemone, Lady Ardilaun. — A very robust form of Japonica
Alba, having massive foliage. It is a more vigorous plant.

Hollyhocks, Alleghany. — A new strain, claimed to be supe-
rior to old forms. The flowers are large, delicately fringed,
and beautiful in color.

Gaillardia, Grandifiora Coinpacta. — This has very showy
red and yellow flowers, single, and continuously in bloom.
They are useful for cut flowers. It has a more compact growth
than the old form.

Rudbeckia, Golden Glovj. — As this has been so universally
grown during the short time since it was introduced, we need to
say no more than that it is a valual>le addition to our hardy
plants.

Tender Plants.

Berfonia, Glorie de Lorraine. — This plant is probably the
most valuable addition to house plants that has been introduced
for many years. Its beautiful pink flowers almost hide the
foliage and give it the appearance of a bouquet.

Begonia, Tuberons — Duke Zeppelin. — This tuberous rooted
begonia is a variety that will stand the sunshine. It makes a
very showy appearance with its dazzling scarlet flowers.

Acalypha Sanderli. — This is a phmt having such peculiar
tassel-like flowers that it has been called the chenille plant. It
well describes the flowers.

Adiantum Lathomi. — This plant is similar in appearance to
the valuable Farleyense, but is of easier culture, and well
ada[)ted for house use.

Asparagus Sprengeri. — This is a vigorous grower and very
useful as a green for arranging with cut flowers.

Carnation. Mrs. Thomas Laivson. — This has a very large
flower of a bright carmine pink. The fabulous price paid for

181)9.] ESSAYS. 11

this new variety attracted more public notice through the press
than the advent of any other variety yet produced.

With these additions to our k)ng list of valuable plants we
need not lack variety.

Further remarks were made by David Fiske of Grafton,
George McWilliams of Whitinsville, H. B. Watts of Leicester,
Herbert R. Kinney, Henry Reed and Secretary Hixon of
Worcester.

i2th January, A. D. 1899. •

E S S A Y

BY

AARON LOW, HiNGHAM.

Theme : — Vegetables.

Mr. President: — When your Secretary wrote to rae that your
Society wished nie to give you a paper upon Vegetables, I
thought that he had selected a very comprehensive subject ; a
subject that to the market gardener is of great importance, for
at the present time if he desires to 1)e in the front rank, he nuist
ever be on the alert to cater to the whims and fancies of his cus-
tomers in supplying them with such varieties of vegetables as
they wish for.

The market gardener of forty or fifty years ago had a very
simple task, to supply the demands of customers, as the num-
ber of varieties in cultivation were but few, and these mostly of
the old standbys. Since that time, there has been developed
and brought into general use many new vegetables then unknown.

Among the vegetables used or grown fifty years ago. Rhu-
barb was but little known. Now it is one of our best paying
early spring crops, of easy and simple cultivation, producing as
it will quite a number of tons yearly per acre, when well estab-
lished and on early land ; selling at good prices. The Giant and
Victoria are both good varieties, having large, stout stalks, and
are both rapid growers.

Asparagus is another vegetable, the demand for which has
rapidly increased during the last twenty-five or thirty years. As
one of our early spring crops, this must be reckoned as among
the most profitable. When well established, it can be cropped
for many years, giving good returns, as the demand is usually

1899.] ESSAYS. 13

equal to the supply. This crop ctm he well grown l)y the annual
appli(%'iti()n of chemical manures. A good fertilizer would he
.500 Ihs. Fine Ground Bone, 300 Ihs. Muriate of Potash, and
200 Ihs. Nitrate of Soda.

Lettuce has largely increased in consumption, and as grown
under glass is a very important cro[). Large amounts are yearly
sent from Boston and vicinity to New York markets, and has
usually paid a good protit.

For a few years past, the out-of-doors lettuce grown in Florida
has heen an important factor in lowering [)rices of lettuce grown
under glass at the North.

White Seed Tennis Ball, Big Boston, and New York are all
excellent varieties.

The market gardener who can have a few acres of early Cab-
bages ready for market ahead of his neighbors, usually finds it
to be a very paying operation, as the land can l)e utilized for a
second ci'op of Celery or Squashes, and the cost of production
of the second crop materially lessened.

The best early varieties are Early Spring, Early Peerless, All
Head, and Succession.

For a few years past, there has appeared in New York, Phila-
delphia and Chicago markets in the spring of the year, a variety
of cabbage imported from Europe which brings a much higher
price than any variety of cabbage offered of American growth.

This variety forms a good sized, very solid head, and is a
much better keeper than any of our native varieties. This cab-
l)age is sold under a number of different names : Danish Ball
Head, Hollander, and Solid Emperor. On testing the above
varieties, I found them all of apparently the same kind. With-
out doubt it is one of the best kinds for the main crop. A
barrel of this cabbage will weigh a third more than the best
of our American kinds.

Since the War of the Rebellion, there has developed in the
southern section of our country, an industry of great importance
in orrovvino; veoetables to send to the Northern markets in the

O DO

winter season, so now fresh vegetal)les can be had on our tables
almost every day in the year. Previous to the War there was

14 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

but little competition between southern and northern grown
vegetables, but since then, it has had a very important bearing
on the market gardening of the North, lessening the demand,
and also lowering the prices previously obtained.

Green Peas and String Beans are shipped North in large quan-
tities during the winter months, and when the home grown sup-
ply comes in the demand has become small.

The same conditions apply to most varieties of vegetables, as
the extent of our country is so large, that while the northern
section is covered with snow, and under the grip of the Frost
King, the southern section is producing the luscious strawberry
and other seasonable fruits and vegetables. Although grown
thousands of miles away, the improved methods of transporta-
tion deliver them at our doors, apparently as fresh as when
picked from our own vines, or gathered from our own gardens.
The above condition of things the market gardener of the North
is obliged to confront, and one of the most important problems
of the future is its successful solution.

Another important factor within a few years has entered into
the production of vegetables, — the canning industry. Thous-
ands of acres are annually grown solely to supply the canning
factories. Perhaps the two most important vegetables grown
for that purpose are the Tomato and Sweet Corn. Many of
those present doubtless remember the first appearance of the
Tomato in our markets. Some forty-five or fifty years ago a
neighbor came to me one spring morning and wanted to know if
I would not send with him to Boston and buy a dozen of tomato
plants. He said he did not want more than a half-dozen and
thought I might want the rest. We sent and got them, and I
think they were about the first tomato plants set out in the
town.

There was not any demand in the market for Tomatoes, but
an increasing demand to try them. The following spring I com-
menced growing the plants in hotbeds. The demand rapidly
increased, and in a few years I had to grow many thousands of
plants to supply the call for them. The demand for Tomatoes
in the open market rapidly increased, the first brought in selling

1899.] ESSAYS. 15

from $().()() to 18.00 :i Imshel, ;ind seldom going below $1.00 for
the later or main crop.

No vegetable has i)een more rapidly improved than the Tomato.
On its first appearance tiie fruit was rough and ill-shaped, so th.'it
a large part had to l)e thrown away in preparing it for the table.
The rapid increase in the demand for Tomatoes was without pre-
cedent. It sprang at once into universal consumption. New
and inn)roved varieties were introduced, larger in size, smoother
in shape, and earlier in ripening. Its cultivation rapidly ex
tended over the entire country, and at the present time, in the
southern part, it is considered as one of the most important
cro[)s grown.

Varieties have mutiplied almost indefinitely ; and among such
a large number of ditferent kinds, many of wtiich are of great
excellence, it is not difficult to select a half-dozen adapted to all
sections and markets.

Some markets give the preference to the pink tomatoes, others
to the bright red varieties. If I was to select, judging from my
own experience, varieties the best adapted for market and home
use, I should name the following kinds : Early Comrade, New
Imperial, Perfection, Essex Hybrid, Dwarf Aristocrat, Dwarf
Champion, May's Favorite, and New Stone.

Second in importance to the Tomato, especially to the canning
industry, is Sweet Corn. Not only has the demand in the mar-
ket largely increased, but thousands of acres are annually grown
to supply the canning factories, and if desired, sweet corn can
be had, of first quality in sweetness and flavor, for table use, the
entire year. Many varieties are in cultivation, but for all prac-
tical purposes, a few kinds still stand at the head of the list. As
a variety for both purposes, canning and table use in its green
state. Early Crosby ranks the highest. This has a good sized
ear, kernel very sweet and tender, and although not growing a
large stalk, is productive in the essential point of good ears.

As a later variety, Potter's Excelsior ranks high, both in
quality and productiveness. As a still later variety, with larger
ears and kernels of luscious sweetness, Stowell's Evergreen fills
the bill. There are man\' other kinds of marked excellence, but

16 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

for a succession from first to last, the three named will give
perfect satisfaction.

Judging the importance of any vegetable in its value as an
article of food to the world, we must accord to that grand old
vegetable, the Potato, a very high place. For is it not speak-
ing within bounds to say, that hardly a day passes but it is in
use upon the tables of the rich and poor alike?

I do not believe that there is any other vegetable so univer-
sally grown by every farmer in the land, or which holds a higher
average in his crops, than the potato.

The farmers of fifty years ago had but few varieties in culti-
vation. The old Long Red, Orange Yellow, Jackson White,
and Blue Nose, were the principal kinds then known.

On the advent of the Early Rose Potato a new impetus was
given this vegetable. The unparalleled success of this new
variety, combining as it did earliness, great productiveness and
first-class quality, placed it at once at the head of all known
varieties.

The great advance of this variety infused into the hearts of all
seedsmen an earnest desire to bring out other new kinds, which
should if possible surpass the merits of this wonderful variety.
Many new kinds were introduced, some of much merit, but the
Early Rose still holds the prestige of being one of the very best
in quality and productiveness.

Among the many valuable varieties introduced since the Early
Rose, Beauty of Steben, New Queen, Early Essex, Clark's No.
1, Carman No. 1, and Carman No. 3, and Early Fortune are
the most desirable. As indicating the o^reat mao^nitude of
potato growing in this country, I received a communication a
few days since from a large Western seed firm, stating that they
sold the past year 87,500 bushels of potatoes for seed purposes.

In some sections of the country Squashes are largely grown,
especially in the vicinity of large canning establishments, as the
squash ranks in the amount of product put up as one of the
largest. Quite an important point in growing squashes in our
section is to utilize the land used for earl}' cabbages, peas, and
early potatoes, in growing this as a second crop, planting them

1899.] ESSAYS. 17

at the last hoeing or by the middle of June. As large a crop
can often l)e grown by this method as if no other crop had
preceded it.

When I Hrst introduced the Essex Hybrid Squash, a friend
came twenty miles to get seed enough to plant an acre, then
planted to early potatoes. He grew upon that acre 400
bushels of potatoes, and as a second crop nine tons of Hybrid
Squashes, and received first premium on both crops from the
Essex County Agricultural Society.

The only labor performed on the squash was sticking these
seeds into the side of the rows ten feet apart, and hoeing them
once when he dug the potatoes. Another market gardener of
Dedham, after taking oft' a crop of Early Turnip Beets from
one-half an acre, planted it to Hybrid Squashes the last of June,
and informed me in the fall that he grew eight tons on the half
acre, and that almost the entire lot were handsome, good sized,
marketable squashes.

In thus growing two crops the same season, of course the land
must be well manured and in good condition, and it is well to
use for the second crop some active nitrogenous fertilizer to give
the plants a rapid growth, as upon a strong, vigorous growth at
first depends your success.

Perhaps the Essex Hybrid is the best variety to plant for the
second crop, as it is of rapid growth and quick maturity.

Of the many kinds of squashes now in cultivation, the Boston
Marrow, Dunlap's Prolific Marrow, Bay State, Essex Hybrid,
VV^arreh, and Hubbard are the most desirable.

In the vicinity of the large cities, growing of the melon crop
is often very profitable by starting the plants under glass or in
hotbeds and transplanting them to the open ground the first
week in June. Those who have warm, early land will often
find the melon crop giving as large a profit as any. Melons can
be planted in the open ground from the 25th of May until the
10th of June, and, if a favorable season, will give good returns
for your labor. A few years since I planted half an acre on the
8th of June, following a crop of spinach. The amount grown
on the half-acre was 200 boxes of very nice melons, and were

18 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL .SOCIETY. [1899.

sold at an average price of $1.25 a box. The varieties grown
were Orange Christiana, yellow flesh, and Extra Early Hacken-
sack, green flesh, — two excellent kinds.

Within a few years there has appeared a number of new
melons, which seem to be superseding the old vvell-known kinds
in many of the large markets. Prominent among these new
varieties I will name the Colorado Gem, Paul Rose, Rocksport,
and last, " Nectar of Angels." The last named certainly ought
to be the best of all, and I shall try it the coming season.

The Colorado Gem wherever knovvn has been in great demand,
as although small in size in quality it ranks the highest. Of
the older varieties, Montreal Nutmeg, Extra Early Hackensack,
and Arlington, of the green flesh, and Orange Christiana, Tip
Top, Millar's Cream and Emerald Gem, of the yellow flesh, are
all choice, and will give satisfaction to all.

Celery is another vegetable that has largely increased in culti-
vation within the last twenty years. Where formerly it was
grown in small acreage, it has now become an important crop
to many market gardeners living near large cities. A market
gardener living near Boston had sixty acres in celery the past
year, and a number of others from twenty to thirty acres.

Many large gardeners who have land adapted to growing
onions, when sowing the onions, omit every sixth row, and later
set that out with celery plants. The onions maturing by Sep-
tember are taken ofl", and the remainder of the season the land
is devoted to celery. The old varieties of celery had to be
banked up when growing to properly blanch the stalks, to
render them fit for table use. A few years ago a variety was
introduced from Europe named Golden Self Blanching, which
proving very desirable as not requiring the extra labor of bank-
ing has largely superseded the old varieties in cultivation.

The onion upon land adapted to its growth, and when suf-
flcient help could be obtained to perform the cultivation neces-
sary, was formerly a very paying crop. Now the sharp
competition of onions grown on the fertile lands of the West,
with which our markets are overstocked, renders this crop one
with but a small margin for proflt. This crop is one which

1«99.] ESSAYS. 19

requires ;i large outlay for sufficient fertilization to carry the
croj) to maturity, and which has to have as largo a cost for lal)or
in weeding, harvesting, and preparing for market. It can only
he grown where plenty of cheap labor can he had just at the
time when it is needed. This crop is not as universally grown
as most of those I have called your attention to.

Mr. President : —

There are various other v(!getal)les which 1 should he pleased
to notice if time i)ermitted, hut as I have l)rietly brought to
your attention most of the prominent ones in general cultiva-
tion, and believing as 1 do that the principal object of the
papers read at our Farmers' Clubs and Institute meetings
should be to call out the ideas and practice of those present, I
trust that all will freely criticise any point brought out, givin"-
their own ideas and practice in relation thereto ; by so doino-,
our meeting can be protitable and instructive to every one
present.

igth January, A. D. i8gg.

ESSAY

BY

JOHN FARQUHAR.

Theme: — Our JSfejn Possessions — Hawaii.

Illuj^trated by Stereopticon.

The most momentous question before our administration, at
present, is the annexation of certain sections of the globe that
have recently come under our control. I am not a politician in
the popular sense of the word, although I never hesitate to vote
as my conscience dictates. I have been invited to address you
regarding the most momentous of these recent annexations — the
Hawaiian Islands. There can be no question but what this is a
valuable annexation, being so near our western coast. They
are the nearest land from Portland and Seattle, and afford
excellent protection to our western coast against rival povveis.
It is five days' sail from San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.
Aside from the situation, I want to show you, ladies and gentle-
men, that we have in these Hawaiian Islands valuable territory.
I would say here that when I come to a Horticultural Society I
mean to speak only on horticulture, but, on the present occasion
of speaking before this Society, I thought it might be gratifying
to say something aside from horticultural interests. I shall
endeavor in this address to omit nothing which might i)e of
horticultural interest.

The voyage to Honolulu occupies nine days, really ten, but
in going west as you cross the one hundred and eightieth
meridian you live one day over twice, and coming east you
drop one day. I took passage on the Oriental Steamship line.

1899.] ESSAYS. 21

wliirh 1 IoiukI inucli iiilcrior in speed imd aceoiiimodatioiis lo
the Canadian and Paeitic line. The smooth seas and warm
temperature made a pleasant voyage. The average temperature
of this section of the world is S'2 degrees. One very pleasant
feature of the voyage is the swimming tank. It is a very large
bag into which is pumped 25 gallons of sea water.

We see to the north of us Bird Island. Thousands of birds
make their home in this island. There lies to the north the
island of Lasage. These are now under our flag. They pro-
duce large quantities of guano, and ship it to Honolulu, and it
also has a large trade in eggs. There are over twelve small
islands of like character attached to the western group, and the
only business carried on is the gathering of guano.

The most important island of the Archipelago is Oahu, on
which Honolulu is situated. This island is 300 miles in length
and 600 miles in breadth. Its population is 40,000, of which
30,000 reside in Honolulu. The next in importance is Hawaii,
with an area of 4200 square miles and a population of 43,000.
Kauaii is third with an area of 760 square miles and a popula-
tion of 10,000. Hawaii holds preeminence and is the seat of
ofovernment.

The harbor of Honolulu is the finest in the group, and owes
its existence to the coral reef. It is the only harbor on these
islands to which a steamer can make fast to a dock. Imme-
diately upon a steamer's arrival it is met by a crowd of boys,
who invite the passengers to throw coins and see them dive.
When one is thrown they dive for it, and place it in their
mouth, and call for more, until soon the cheeks of the lads bulge
out with coins.

The Hawaii Islands boast of few hotels. I was directed to
the Arlington and reached there about five o'clock in the after-
noon, registered, and proceeded at once to the post-oflBce. To
my amazement I found that olfice closed at four o'clock. I had
nothing to do but wait until the next morning. I was very
anxious for mail, having been without it for four weeks. Eight
o'clock had hardly struck before I was standing at the post-
otiice ; five minutes past and still it remained unopened; then,

22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

fifteen minutes elapsed and still the crowd increased ; twenty-five
minutes past, and there must have been at least 150 persons
waiting. At twenty-eight minutes past the door opened, and
one clerk proceeded to give out the mail. I got mine at 9.45.
From this you can get some idea of the manugement of the
office. I had some photographs to send away. I inquired at
the stamp window for the proper postage, and was told that it
would be two cents. I gave the two cents in payment, and the
clerk said, " We do not take coppers, nothing less than five
cents."

Next I proceeded to ascend Punch Bowl, along a good carriage
road to this long extinct crater. This view shows the inside of
the crater. The carriage road leads around the mountain, from
which one gets a view of the harbor. It is divided from the
ocean beyond by the extensive coral reef. To the east of Punch
Bowl are two beautiful valleys, in l)oth of which are many
beautiful residences. This valley is really the crater of an
extinct volcano. Along this valley are palms and Night Bloom-
ing Cereus.

This is the home of Sandford Doane, who held a government
position for five years, and was instrumental in bringing about
the annexation of Hawaii. The residence of the ex-queen has
been here since 1893. Near here are a company of United
States troops, who are stationed in the rear of the palace. The
raising of our flag over this building took place three weeks
before I arrived. Among the crowd was great enthusiasm, and
many were moved to tears. It is well known that the Japanese
wanted to annex Hawaii, and it was only on account of negotia-
tions with the United States that they were prevented from
accomplishing their end.

The natives are well developed physically ; are tall, broad-
shouldered, kind-hearted and serious. They are very fond of
horseback riding, ladies as well as gentlemen.

The population of this new territory is 117,000, divided as
follows : Natives, 39,500 ; Japanese, 28,000 ; Chinese, 26,000 ;
Portugese, 15,000 ; Americans, 2,500 ; British, 1,500 ; and the
rest foreigners. There are 3,000 United States troops stationed

18!)J>.] ESSAYS. 23

at Honolulu uiuler a l)uildii)gat Ihe niaiket-place, wliicli i.s simply
a steel framework.

At the market-place are displayed all of the vegetables and
fruits which could be found in this country. There are over
seventy kinds of fish, from the shark to the shrimp. The
mullet is the most appetizing. Some of the fish are very repul-
sive looking. The Chinese preside over the vegetable stores.
Here are found turnips, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and straw-
berries. These grow on elevations of three or four hundred
feet. Women as well as men sell in the market-places. Oiie
woman was sitting outside of a building opposite her store.
Hardly had I taken this picture before she darted across the
street, and proceeded to cut deftly a section of meat for a
waiting customer.

Flowers grow abundantly, and the natives are passionately
fond of them. The flowers are not made into bouquets but in
long wreaths, and are worn around the neck or over the shoul-
ders. It is customary to present to a friend going on a journey
two of these wreaths. When the steamer leaves the dock he
throws one to his friends on shore and keeps the other as a
souvenir.

This shows a picture of a steamer on which we are to go to
San Francisco.

We have here a wall made of coral rock.

This is one of the principal streets, bordered on either side by
Royal palms.

Taking one of the cars on the street which we have just
looked at we ride out on King street, where we see some of the
troops fishing under large trees. They asked me to take their
pictures to send home to their friends. This street is ap-
proached by rows of Date Palms, which lead through a grove
of Cocoanut trees and Giant Fern trees. These are exceed-
ingly beautiful. These fern trees almost conceal the residence
of the Prince.

I was invited to a native feast. The distinctive feature of
this feast is roasting of pigs. The pigs are roasted over hot
sticks. They are small, some being only two months old. It

24 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

is a favorite dish of the native Hawaiian. This dish was
accompanied by various vegetables.

We have here the native grass house. Attached to this
house was Camp Otis where 8000 of our troops were stationed.
The major was making a tour of inspection, and invited me to
accompany him. This shows another section of the tield, in
which tiie men are drilling. I saw a number of New York
troops stationed at this stand who were anxious to have mc take
their pictures to send home to their friends. Here we have
some New York troops sitting under trees eating their mess,
which was hardly suited to the country. The government did
not provide fruit and vegetables, although the country afforded
plenty of both. The hospital was crowded with soldiers who,
as a result of the food, in such a climate, had become sick.
Most of the troops came on the Arizona, and were intended for
Manilla, but were left over. The natives arranged a dance for
the entertainment of the officers of the Arizona. 1 was invited
to be present, going in a party with the correspondent of the
Sau Francisco Call. The natives are fond of singing and danc-
ing. They took two calabashes, and by clashing them together,
produced a hollow sound which accompanied their dancing.
The natives at once appeared with lays of flowers and some of
them in native dress.

This is one of the streets which is lined with beautiful resi-
dences, and bordered with Century plants. Here we have
another of these residences showing palms and also fine groups
of beautiful ferns about the house growing luxuriantly. This
also shows palms and ferns which one finds in going up this
valley, and in suburbs of Honolulu palms are grown extensively.

This picture shows a native picnic. A party of ladies mak-
ing lays of these native flowers to carr^y home to their friends
are sitting under a Hyl)iscus tree.

This gives an idea of the rich vegetation of the valley. Here
are beautiful tree ferns and Hybiscus, which looks like Man-
grove. The flower is yellow with a white centre. The valley
terminates twelve hundred feet above Honolulu in a precipice
nearly one thousand feet steep. This is a view of the valley,

1899.] ESSAYS. 25

which is six miles from Honohihi. It was the only possible
course to Honolulu in that vicinity until the road was cut. The
termination of the drive along this way was cut out of a preci-
pice. This road has been cut at great expense. This place is
of great interest because of its history. At this place the King
of Hawaii murdered two English captains.

This shows the cultivation of rice by the Japanese and
Chinese. You can see such a picture as this at any season of
the year in the department of rice culture. The soil is exten-
sively rich, and the Chinese are excellent market-gardeners.
This picture shows a field of beans. The Chinese get immense
crops from them. We now see a field of lotus, extensively
grown in Japan and China. It is valuable for its roots which,
as an article of food, is much relished by the Eastern people,
being sometimes preferred to olives.

Here we see the beautiful residence of S. M, Damond, who
managed the finances of the Queen, which she presented him
in recognition of his services. Proceeding along the avenue
lined with date palms we come to a grass house which formerly
was used by the better class of Hawaiian people We found in
this house a great many antiquities, and some idols that were
worshiped by the natives.

We saw quantities of the better class of bananas. They are
no such bananas as we get in Worcester or Boston. This class
of bananas sell readily at forty cents, but when better varieties
are introduced there is no reason why they should not bring a
fair price. There are a good many things that might be intro-
duced into these islands successfully, and there is no reason
why chocolate cannot be grown here. Tea and cotiee are next
to sugar as a staple industry. Numerous fields of pineapple
are grown for both home and foreign use. The first crop was
absorl)ed in a Honolulu market at seventy-five cents apiece.
These are nmch superior to the pineapples previously grown
there, and are now exported in large quantities to San Francisco.
Orano^es, lemons, and all citrous fruits grow well in Hawaii.
Last year they imported five thousand dollars worth of these
fruits from San Francisco.

26 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

This shows a picture of a date palm in fruit. There are
huge hunches of fruit at the top. The tree was fifty feet in
height. These trees grow remarkably quick and give excellent
results. It is a fruit that is now grown to some extent, but
they do not have the best varieties. The Liche, ordinarily
found along rivers in China, especially in Canton, grows exten-
sively. You sometimes get the fruits at Chinese stores, but
here it is usually inferior on account of age. It tastes like
delicious raisins when fresh, but the Chinese rather like it when
it is musty.

This picture shows bread fruit, which grows in great abun-
dance, tastes very much like bread. It is extensively used
in our tropical countries. The leaves of the plant are used
to wrap meat in, and it has the effect of rendering meat tender
that is tough.

I met a number of troops who had walked from Camp Otis a
great distance, and were expected to walk back. They com-
plained bitterly of the food they received, but it was not the
fault of the government, but through the mistake of some offi-
cial, the supplies failed to reach them. I have since learned,
through a letter from one of the young men, that conditions
have been improved.

This is an interesting group of natives who are washing
clothes in the brook. Growing along the banks of the river is
a beautiful purplish flower.

This is the picture of a beach, along which some of the Ex-
queen's fishermen are enjoying themselves, while here we see
the residence of the late Robert Louis Stevenson. Many beau-
tiful plants surround the house, including nearly all of those
found in our greenhouses. Vines cover the veranda and
arbors. Near the house was a large tree which stood sixty feet,
and which was planted twenty years ago.

This is a beautiful yellow oleander tree which is grown exten-
sively in China. We find here two crotons, cultivated in the
Hawaiian Islands more extensively than in any other place,
except Jamaica. The natives make use of the crotons. The
Philanthus is found here. It has purplish leaves. It makes

1899.] ESSAYS. 27

Jin excellent liediic [)l:int. On the higher mountains is found
Sandal Wood. The Yucaliptus is found in one hundred and
fifty different varieties in cultivation in different sections of the
island.

This is a scene at the railroad station of Kauai. There is
now a railroad running around the coast for a distance of one
hundred and fifty miles. It is interesting to see the different
nationalities represented at this place. I had a chance to wit-
ness a boat-race, and I never saw more enthusiasm displayed at
a Harvard- Yale game than was displayed at this race.

Here is a sugar plantation which is the most productive i'n the
world, yielding a dividend of sixty per cent. It yields millions
of dollars worth of sugar yearly, and employs twenty-four
thousand people, three-fifths of whom are Japanese. The
product of sugar is nearly three times that of the \\'est Indies.
Passing along we come to a stretch of unproductive land, which
might be made highly productive by irrigation.

We have here a picture which shows what is known as the
Barking Sands. The sand along this beach is blown upon the
rails, and when the train passes along produces a sound like a
dog and is therefore called the Barking Sands.

This shows the Tycena Lutea, which is used to wrap up fish.
The leaves impart a delicate fiavor, and render the meat and
fish more tender. No native ever cooks anything of this kind
without using this leaf.

On the island of Molokai is the home of lepers. Leprosy
is not indigenous to the island, l)ut was introduced a few years
ago ; also mosquitoes were introduced from South America.
This settlement covers a thousand acres.

Here is a view of Cocoanut Island near the harbor. It shows
the house where the municipal government was carried on.
Kilo has been held back in its progress by Honolulu. The
government did not give them money, but for all that it is des-
tined to become the capital, as it is better situated, being two
hundred miles nearer San Francisco, and its harbor is easily
approached.

This is a view of some magnificent Oleanders, and more inter-

28 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

esting palms. This view shows one of the flues in which sugar
cane is floated down from the plantations. This gives you an
idea of the streets of Kilo. A drive of thirty miles from Kilo
brings one to the volcano of Kilauea. Along the road is the
most wonderful vegetation, including Dixsonias, Brazilian Tree
Ferns and Begonias.

Col. Sacket, from the west of London, has recently bought a
coffee plantation here. Coffee at present is sold for sixteen
cents a pound, and would pay very well at half that price. At
the end of three years a tree will yield three or four pounds of
coffee. There is an enormous rainfall, but the rain is at once
absorbed because of the dryness of the earth. Coffee is never
Si'own below a height of fifteen hundred feet, and suji^ar is never
grown above this height.

This shows a vine which infests the trees, and finally kills them,
and is only limited in growth by the height of the tree.

Above three hundred feet peaches, carrots, parsnips and pears
can be grown.

This view shows a volcano mine which overlooks one of the
most wonderful craters in the world.

The temperature here never goes above ninety degrees, and
l)elow fifty degrees, but on the mountains there is found snow
iind ice. The temperature is inffuenced by the Japan current.

This is a section of the surface of a crater. It is three miles
long and eighty-two and a half miles wide. There has not
been an eruption for eight years. It is only active towards the
centre. The lava is very beautiful, being blue, gray, purple
and crimson. Vegetation starts up quickly over the lava.
This shows a picture of lilies which are very common here.
They can be grown at any time in the year, January, Ai)ril,
July, or October.

There is no question but that the possession of these islands
would be of great value to this country. The Japanese were
very anxious to get possession of Hawaii. Opinions may differ
regarding the Phillipine Islands, but we have nothing to regret
so far as the annexation of the ILiwaiian Islands are concerned.

26th January, \. D. iSgg.

ESSAY

BY

H. H. GOODELL, M.A., LL.D.,
PiiEsiDKNT Massachusetts Agricultural Collfoe

litem e : — Trees, FJoiners and Fruitu of the EcikI.

As the traveller approaches the golden city of the East, — that
city perched on its seven hills and spanning two continents, —
two species of trees come prominently into view : the one the
symbol of life and perpetuity, the other of death and extinction ;
the one planted when a male child is born, the other marking
the last resting-place of some beloved one ; the one a giant in
size, shading with its outstretched limbs and broad leaves a
great area of ground, the other an evergreen, close and compact,
tapering up to a point ; the one, the Platanus orientalis^ the
plane or sycamore, and the other the Cupressus horizonla/is
and the sempervirens found in every Turkish cemetery. A
greater contrast between two trees cannot be found. The one
standing alone or in small groups, the other massed in such
numbers as to constitute a forest, miles in extent. Of the
former, two specimens arouse the attention of the curious sight-
seer. One stands in the courtyard of the Seraglio at Constanti-
nople, more than fifty feet in circumference and reputed to have
been planted by Mahomet II. in 1452, to commemorate the birth
of his son. In one of the great ravines dividing the hills of the
Bosphorus on the European side, in the valley of Buyukdere,
about fifteen miles from the city, stands the other, celebrated
alike for its age, its size and the historic memories that cluster
about its weather-beaten trunk. For two thousand years,

30 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

according to the calculations of the botanist de CandoUe, has it
looked down on the generations of men that have lived and died
and passed away. It is about forty-seven yards in circumference
at its base, while its branches afford shade to a circular area of
one hundred and forty yards. Its huge stem, called the seven
brothers, is divided into a number of branches, seven of which
issue from below the present surface of the soil, while seven do
not divide till they rise a few feet above. The interior of one
of these divisions of the main trunk has been hollowed out by
fire and fashioned into a coffee-shop in which fourteen or fifteen
persons can be easily accommodated. "It is," says an enthusi-
astic Frenchman, "a temple of verdure whose leafy dome rests
amid the clouds." And here nine hundred years ago, in this
great temple of nature, while the choirs of birds sang matin
masses in response, tradition tells us that Godfrey de Bouillon
gathered together his crusading host and offered up a solemn
thanksgiving to the God that had brought them thus far upon
their way. And we may well believe that as the warlike bishop,
Adelhemar of Puy, elevated the host and blessed the kneeling
multitude, the cry once more arose and swept from rank to
rank, till with one loud shout the whole vast army, six hundred
thousand strong, joined in " Dieu le volt ! God wills it ! God
wills it!"

The cypress is only found in Turkish cemeteries, being
planted perhaps for two reasons : because its aromatic resin helps
overcome the eftluvia arising from the shallow graves; and
because its evergreen foliage, dark and sombre though it is, is
the emblem of immortality. The Greeks and Armenians,
instead of the cypress, use the sycamore or, quite as frequently,
the graceful Pistacla terebintJius or turpentine. These grow to
considerable size ; one in the garden of the British Embassy
measuring twelve feet in circumference, being over a hundred
feet high and shading a circle of one hundred and eight yards.
These trees, notwithstanding their size, are sometimes parasitic,
and but a few years ago, just across the Bosphorus, on the
Asiatic side, could be seen an enormous one growing out of a
still larger cypress. There is another peculiarity of the tree.

1899.] ESSAYS. 31

A species of insect, probably an a[)his, forms a nest in the
extremity of the leaves by puncturing its substance, which then
becomes fungous and swells into fleshy follicles of a bright
scarlet hue, having a strong resinous odor and clammy feel and
full of turpentine. They are so abundant sometimes as to give
the tree the appearance of bearing rich flowers or fruit.

Another variety of this tree, the Putacia lenfiscu.'=t, yields
that pure, transparent gum, the Mastic, used by the natives for
chewing purposes, to preserve the teeth and sweeten the breath.
It is also used by the Greeks to improve their brandy made from
grapeskins. It is procured by making incisions in the bark of
the tree, the resin exuding in clear, tear-shaped drops. So
highly was the product of the island of Scio esteemed that the
inhabitants were compelled to pay an annual tribute of one
thousand pounds for use in the Sultan's seraglio.

The olive is grown over a very wide area, especially in
Asiatic Turkey and the Mediterranean islands. An olive
orchard in the tlowerino; time is one of the most beautiful sights
in the world, — the gnarled and twisted trunks, hoar with age ;
the short, oblate, slightly curled silvery leaves ; the branches
fairly bending beneath the weight of the snowy petals ; and the
ground beneath and around white as with flakes of snow. Job
says, referring to this peculiarity of its shedding its blossoms,
" He shall cast off his flowers as the olive." Ne*it to the
cereals, it is by far the most important agricultural product of
Turkey. Its berry, pickled, forms the' chief article of food ;
the oil, produced from its pericarp, seasons most of the dishes,
and keeps alive the light that cheers the winter's gloom ; its
wood, close-grained and hard, 'takes on a beautiful polish and is
very highly prized ; while its bark and leaves, possessing cer-
tain febrifuge principles, are much sought after by the leeches
of the country. The tree is slow in reaching maturity, but after
the fifteenth or sixteenth year it bears on indefinitely, and seems
never to lose its vitality. There are trees in the garden of
Gethsemane estimated to be over a thousand years old, still in
full sap and vigor. It is of all fruit trees the hardiest, for
scarcely any amount of mutilation, any severity of frost, or

32 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

even sharp scorching by tire suffices to destroy its life. " So
long as there is a fragment remaining, though externally the
tree looks as dry as a post, yet does it continue to bear its load
of oily berries, and for twenty generations the owner gathers
fruit from the faithful old patriarch. This tree also requires
but little labor or care of any kind, and, if long neglected, will
revive again when the ground is dug or ploughed, and yield as
before. Vineyards forsaken die out almost immediately, and
mulberry orchards neglected run rapidly to ruin ; but not so
the olive. Though they may not have been attended to for half
a century, yet they continue to be a source of income to their
owners."

These peculiarities Virgil observed and carefully noted in his
Georgics nearly two thousand years ago : —

" But on the other hand, no culture needs
Tlie olive tree at all; not it the knife
Forthcurved expects, nor clinging hoe, when once
It in the field is fixed, and bears the breeze.
To it the earth, its bosom loosened up
By furrows of the ploughshare's hook-like tooth,
Sufficient moisture gives, and gives the plough
Returns of weighty fruitage rich and ripe."

— Georgic, II., p. 420.

" Why, cleave an olive tree's dry stump, and, strange
And wondrous strange to tell, an olive root
Will from the dry wood come! "

Frequently a whole village will unite and plant a grove in
common. Then not even the berries that fall to the ground are
allowed to be picked, till a proclamation is issued by the head
man of the village or the governor of the province. A tree
yields from ten to lifteen gallons of oil, and the profits are
al)out one hundred dollars to the acre. It is claimed that the
tree bears only every other year; but this is due probably to
the vicious manner of gathering the fruit, — beating the branches
with long poles to shake off the berries, and, in so doing,
bruising and destroying the tender buds that are setting for the
next year's crop.

The husks with which the prodigal son would fain have tilled

1899.] ESSAYS. 33

his belly, and which Scripture says the swine did eat, were not
after all such very poor fare. Many a repentant sinner niic^ht
go farther and fare worse. They are the fleshy pods of the
U)cust ivea ( Ceralonia i^iUquas), 'A leathery brown when fit to
eat, sonic six to eight inches in length, containing a spongy,
mealy pulp, of a sweet and pleasant taste in its ri{)encd state,
and in which are imbedded a number of shining, brown seeds,
very hard, and somewhat resembling a split pea. These seeds
are of no value whatsoever, on account of their bitter flavor ;
but the sweet pulp of the pod, when dry, is extensively used
as an article of food, particularly among the laboring classes.
In Syria it is ground up into a coarse flour, and a species of
molasses made, which is used in the preparation of different
kinds of sweetmeats. As food for horses it is exported in large
quantities into the south of Europe. Into this country and
Great Britain it finds its vvay, under the name of locust beans
or St. John's Bread, receiving both names from the ancient
tradition that they are the " locusts" which formed the food of
John the Baptist in the wilderness. The tree is cultivated
extensively in all the countries bordering the shores of the
Mediterranean, both for its food-producing qualities, and its
wood, which is hard, and susceptible of a fine polish. In size
and manner of growth it resembles an apple-tree, but is more
bushy and thick-set. It yields a prolific harvest, and it is
not unusual to see a tree bearing over half a ton of green
pods.

One other tree deserves mention, not on account of its food-
producing qualities, but for its importance in a commercial
point of view. It is the shrub oak, — the Quercus cef/ilops, —
which, growing wild on the mountain slopes and rugged steeps,
where nothing else will grow, gives employment to hundreds of
men, women and children, who, in the season, go out to gather
the acorns. These are brought down in sacks to the nearest
seaport, whence they are exported, thousands of tons annually,
under the name of " valonia," to be used in the tanneries of
Europe. They readily command eighty to ninety dollars a ton ;
and, from the seaport towns of Smyrna and the islands adjacent,

34 WORCESTEK COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

tbily thousMnd tons have been sent to England alone in a single
year.

The wild olive, Elceagnufi augufitifolia, grows abundantly in
low situations and humid soils. It has more the habit and
appearance of a willow than an olive, though the underside of
the leaf is hoary and sometimes quite silvery. The fruit is dry,
mealy and saccharine and retains for a long time its usual size
and form. It is sold extensively in the markets.

The Acacia juUbrassin, though not a native, is found in every
garden in and around Constantinople, The foliage, though not
sensitive to the touch, is highly susceptible to the variations of
the atmosphere. On a bright day the dense pinnate foliage
gives a thick shade, but if rain threatens, the leaflets close their
under surfaces together and the tree seems denuded of leaves.
The beautiful, large clusters of stamens of bright pink color
and rich silky texture make it an essential favorite among the
Turks who have given to it the poetic name of Gul Ibrisim or
Silk Rose, and from this has arisen the specific botanical name
of Julibrassin.

The Smilax excelsa runs riot in all the woods covering the
hills on either side the Bosphorus. It climbs to the tops of the
highest trees, and descending in streaming branches forms a lofty
green wall by the roadside. In autumn, loaded with rich, red
berries, it is wonderfully beautiful.

The cherry, a pale, amber-colored, transparent variety, grows
wild in the woods of Asia Minor. The flavor is delicious.
The peculiar fact about the trees is their great height, the low-
est branch being thirty to forty feet from the ground and the
whole tree measuring seventy to ninety feet.

Other fruits abounding are apricots, figs, walnuts, plums,
medlars, chestnuts and filberts. The pears and apples are not
worth mentioning. The fig-trees grow to very large size. The
trunk of one standing in my father's garden was about the
circumference of my body, and in its branches I used to sport
in my boyhood's days. The apricot-trees were likewise large,
the size of our largest apple-trees, the fruit more nearly the size
of the peach and more juicy than those grown in this country.

1899.] KssAYs. 35

Among the shrul)s, one of the iiiosit l)eaatit"ul is the lied Bud
or Judas tree (the Cera's siliqiiastrum) which grows in profu-
sion on every hillside. As you descend the Bosphorus in the
early spring, the n:iountain slopes on either side from the
water's edge to the very summit are ablaze with its bright pale
red blossoms, while interspersed are the beautiful flowers of the
almond. The buds are withered and used with other raw vejje-
tables by the natives in salads, to which they lend a charming
color and flavor.

The lihamnus pal iurus or buckthorn is the common hedge in
Asia Minor and forms a most impenetrable hedge. It is cov-
ered with spines which stand in pairs, one being straight and
pointed and very sharp, the other hooked, so that once
any portion of a person's dress is caught, the whole soon
becomes engaged and it is very difficult to tear oneself loose.
Like the "wait a bit thorns" of Africa, once caught, there is
no hurry in getting away. It is popularly believed to be the
plant from which our Saviour's crown of thorns was made. It
(litters very materially from the Spina chrisfi in the membran-
ous wing surrounding the seed-vessels. In fact these seed-
vessels are its most marked characteristic, for when fully ripe,
they hang in profuse clusters of a vivid light-green or yellow,
giving the tree the appearance of being clothed with rich
flowers.

The strawberry tree or arbutus belongs to the heath family or
ericacene, to which belongs our common trailing arbutus. The
s[)ecies, I am inclined to think, is the unedo, but I am not cer-
tain. At any rate it is the one mentioned by Virgil in his Third
Eclogue, — " Moisture is grateful to the sown corn ; the arbute
to weaned kids ; the limber willow to the teeming cattle." It
is a shrub eight to ten feet tall, with fruit fleshy, Ave celled,
many seeded, dotted with little projections having the resem-
blance of a strawberry. The leaves are smooth and shining,
oblong-lanceolate, more or less serrated. The flowers are
white, growing in clusters, but each separate flower bearing a
resemblance to a lily of the valley. The fruit of all the species
seems to possess a narcotic influence, and wine is made in Cor-

3(l AVORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1)S0{).

sica from (he arbutus unedo. The name strawberry tree in the
United States has been applied to the Euonynui< americanu^, a
very ditl'erent plant of an entirely different order. I think it
does not grow wild, at least I only recall seeing it cultivated in
gardens.

The vitex agnus-castus, in company with the oleander, is found
on the banks of all the rivers in Asia Minor. The pink and
lilac blossoms form a beautiful combination in color, while their
frao-rance fills the air. The ao^nus-castus derived its name from
being carried by the priestesses in the festivals held in honor of
Ceres. To this day, certain virtues are ascribed to it.

Of the numerous flowers ajrowinoj wild on the hillsides of the
Bosphorus those coming most prominently to my remembrance
are beautiful anemones, red, white, pink and yellow ; three
kinds of thistles, pink, purple and yellow ; single hollyhocks of
great diversity of color ; forget-me-nots and English daisies ;
poppies flaunting their blood-red banners amid the pale lavender
of the flax fields ; white snowdrops and bloodroots pushing up
their delicate flowers ; the sign and symbol of the coming spring ;
while Scotch heather, wild thyme and lavender made the air
redolent with their spicy fragrance. A species of erigeron or
flea-bane, which is used (from its strong odor) to keep oft'
noxious insects, light up with a ruddy glow the parched and
withered vegetation of the islands of the Marmora in the fall.
The Pancraliun maritimum abounds in all the sandy plains of
Asia Minor. It propagates by seed as well as bulb. It is
claimed to be the lily of which our Saviour said, "And Solo-
mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." A
gigantic arum grows on the plains of Broosa, the flower
reaching the height of four feet, its spathe edged with purple
and the stem variegated like tortoise shell. In a little valley
lying at the foot of Mt. Olympus is one of the most fragrant
spots in the world. It is planted entirely with roses of the
centifolia, damascena and moschata varieties. For here is
manufactured that most costly of essences, the attar of rose.
As it takes the petals of 100,000 roses to yield 180 grains of
attar, you can readily understand how many thousands were

18D9.] ESSAYS. 37

phintcd in this ii;ircleii. In mere sensuous pleasure, notliini:; can
surpass this spot. You wander aimlessly about, lulled by the
sweet notes of the nightingale, intoxicated by the fragrance
rising from a myriad of flowers, the eye charmed by the
wealth of color banked about you, and only wishing that each
sense might be nmltiplied in power fourfold, that you might in
u fourfold manner drink in the pleasure of the hour. The
valley is appropriately called Gul Batistan, or the valley of
gratification.

You pass from this valley of peace and repose, where every-
thing conspires to lull the senses into a dreamy forgetfulness,
into a place of wonderful commercial activity, into the great
silk-manufacturing industry of the East. Broosa is one of the
most beautiful and interesting cities of the Orient. It lies at
the foot of the Mysian Mt. Olympus. The country around is
volcanic in its origin and earthquakes are not unfrequent.
Within my own remembrance it has been almost totally
destroyed. In the centre of the city rises a rocky eminence
crowned with the remains of an ancient citadel. To supply it
with water, a long sloping passageway, descended by 150 to
200 steps, leads to the well or spring found at the bottom. It
is pre-eminently a city of baths. Fuel is not needed, for hot
springs abound, and by their side are fountains of ice-cold water
fed by the melting snows of Mt. Olympus. Fronting the cit}'
are miles of plain covered with nmlberry trees, mostly of the
alba variety, for the leaves of the niger are not considered deli-
cate enough to suit the delicate palate of the silkworm. It is a
beautiful sight to see the tender care lavished upon these worms.
They are tended by women who, twice or thrice a day, feed
them with fresh leaves, brush out the droppings and remove the
diseased or dead caterpillars. These women take the most
scrupulous care of their persons and clothing in order to have
nothing oifensive about them. It is said that in sudden cold
they will even cherish them in their own bosoms to prevent
their beinji chilled. And this is not strange when you remember
that the loss of their silkworms means the loss of their liveli-
hood. The story of the introduction of this industry fifteen

38 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

hundred years ago is an interesting one. Silk was at that time
brought from China and was worth its weight in gold, pound
for pound. Some Christian monks who had JDeen for many
years resident in China came to the court of the Emperor Jus-
tinian claiming that the eggs of the silkworm might be imported
safely. Commissioned by the emperor to undertake the enter-
prise, they departed on their long journey and returned after
several years with the eggs concealed in a hollow cane. Mean-
time mulberry trees had been planted and soon the industry was
started, which has lasted until the present day.

The implements of husbandry are very simple and primitive.
The ox-yoke is made of two straight pieces, one above, the
other below the neck, the top piece alone being hollowed. Two
straight pins serve instead of the yoke to inclose the neck, a
strong trunnel in the middle taking the place of staple and ring.

The plow is absurdly ridiculous. Take a pole about ten feet
long, four or live inches diameter at the butt, and by mortise
and tenon unite this at a slightly acute angle to another piece of
about equal size, sharpened and shod with iron to plough the
earth, and variously provided with some sort of handle for the
plowman's hand, and you have an Oriental plow. It does not
turn a furrow, it simply scratches the earth to the depth of four
or five inches, and then the ground must be cross-ploughed in
order to secure anything like an adequate preparation for the
sowing. European plows, to which several pairs of buffiiloes
were attached, have been introduced at various times, but were
soon given up on account of the difficulty of finding animals
strong enough to draw them. The hope of success lies in the
improvement of the breed, but there is something beyond this,
for the best breeds introduced soon degenerate from lack of
nourishment. The country must be better governed, property
made more secure, before farmers will find it to their advantage
to give their cattle more than the scanty grass they can pick up
here and there on the parched hillsides. The improvement of
implements will follow as a matter of course. The same thing
is true of the ordinary horses ; barley and straw alone, and the
treatment received through many generations, has produced the

189(1.] KSSAY8. 39

small, wiry, (Midiiriiig hack of Asia Minor, as far removed from
the lithe form and airy grace of the Aral) steed as light is from
darkness.

The spade is trianguKar in sha[)e, with a straight handle,
longer than a man is tall. A few inches above the blade, a
piece of wood is mortised in, upon which the foot is set, to
force the blade deep into the earth. The length of the handle
enables the laborer to lay his whole weight upon the extremity,
and afterwards use it as a lever in order to raise a large quantity
of soil, which he merely turns over. " Shallow ploughing, but
deep spading seem then to be two chief rules of Oriental agri-
culture."

The hoe has a broad blade, not flat, but slightly concave,
the handle very short, compelling the laborer to crouch to his
work. The sickle is about the sixme form as our own. The
scythe, shorter, heavier, clumsier, the snath nearly straight,
with bi^t one handle, the left hand grasping the snath itself.
The blade has no curve worth mentioning. Fortunately for the
back of the laborer, hay is in so little demand that the scythe
is practically only used in the cradle, and that, not by Turks,
but almost exclusively by the Bulgarians. As you pass by the
great wheat tields, you will see men and women with their
sickles slowly and laboriously reaping the golden harvest. Ask
them whether they could not do the work much more rapidly
and easily with the cradle, and they will answer, "Doubtless."
Ask them why they do not use it, and with a shrug of their
shoulders they will reply, " Good Lord ! it is not our custom."
And (hal is the end of all controversy with an Oriental. To
change the custom of his fathers is as impious an act as to
defile the bones of his ancestors or curse his grandmother.

One is sometimes in despair of any progress in the P^astern
world. The l)e2innin}2: must be made at the root. Educate the
youth and they are as ready for improvement as any people.
In some places on the rich banks of the Danube, modern imple-
ments of harvesting have been introduced, and the produce
doubled, because the farmer is no longer afraid of sowing more
than he can orather. The women do a great deal of work in the

40 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

fields, and may be seen laboring side by side with the men.
The position occupied by them may be fairly well illustrated by
the following story : A gentleman riding one day in the coun-
try overtook a man who had laden his wife with a heavy bundle
of sticks. He remonstrated with him, saying, " M}^ good man,
it is too bad that 3'ou should load your wife down in this way.
What she is carrying is a mule's burden." " Yes, your excel-
lency," the man replied, " What you say is true. It is a mule's
burden. But then you see Providence has not supplied us
with mules, and he has supplied us with women." It is the
same all through the East. Sir Thomas Munro, in his " Trav-
els to the City of the Caliphs," relates as a reason why an
Indian should be exempt from paying his tax that he pleaded
the loss of his wife, who, " Did as much work as two bullocks."

Stuart Wood, in a recent number of the " Quarterly Journal
of Economics," says: "The agricultural processes of different
countries are among the surest indications of the condition of
the laboring population. In Germany it is a common sight to
see a cart drawn by a woman and a dog. Where labor is dearer
and money more plenty, or the people a little easier, a horse re-
leases both alike from their unnatural task. In the United States,
where labor is dear, costly agricultural machinery is extensively
used in spite of the smallness of the farms. It is much used
in England also, Ix^cause there the farms are large ; and wages,
although lower than in the United States, still far exceed those
of other countries. In Russia, on the other hand, in Turkey
and in Asiatic countries, we find the rudest tools ; baskets are
used instead of wheelbarrows, wooden plows instead of iron
ones ; and gangs of spade men replace both the plows and the
beasts which draw them. A part of this is no doubt due to
sheer stupidity, but much is also due to the price of labor and
the rates of interest."

The products of the soil are as various as the climate and
geological character of the country. Fruits are abundant, of
excellent quality, and extensively used by the whole population.
Grapes are delicious, and within reach of the poorest, selling at
the rate of two and three-fourth pounds for two or three cents.

1899.] ESSAYS. 41

Apples, npricots, peaches, cherries and plums have their U)cali-
ties of ahundant growth, but no attention is paid to ol)taining
the best kinds or improving those ah'cady possessed.

Of grapes, whoever has once partaken of the famous " chaoush"
from the Byzantian side of the Bosphorus, will forever
eschew all others : thin-skinned, small-seeded, tine-pulped, — a
dream, a delight, — something to be talked about, never to tind
equalled. The vineyards of the Christians and the Moslems
differ in one very important particular. The former cultivate
those kinds suitable for making wines ; the latter, those that are
best for food. While the one are making spirits, the other are
preparing that grape molasses called " pekmez," which is
extensively used. In it, all manner of fruits are stewed or
boiled, and the preserves laid aside for winter use. With it
savory dishes of quinces and meat, or chestnuts and meat, are
prepared, much relished by the poor.

The cereals of the empire do not differ much from ours.
The exports are barley, maize and wheat. Rye, oats and millet
give good results, and there are various other seeds of good
native use. Looking only at the soil, climate, industrial f)opu-
lation and the rivers and coasts of her great inland seas, Turkey
ought to be our formidable rival in the markets of Europe, but
her state of paralysis is such that nothing is to be apprehended
from that quarter. Destructive treaties with England, and
stupid legislation on the part of her own government, have
reduced her to a state of hopeless bankruptcy.

Turkish agriculture and horticulture furnish all that the heart
could wish in the shape of edible vegetables. All that we pro-
duce is there produced, with the exception of potatoes, which
are imported from Europe ; — squashes of various kinds and
measure unlimited ; okra, spinach, celery ; melons unrivaled in
flavor and size ; cucumbers of any length you choose.

Among the vegetables, several deserve special mention. The
tuberous knobs of the roots of the Cyperus esculentus are eaten
either raw or made into some kind of a pi-eserve. It is called by
the natives heavenly manna or " manna turano," is quite sweet
but somewhat woody in texture and looks like a minute potato.

42 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

Two varieties of egg-plant are grown, one similar to our own,
and the other bearing a round, rich, dark {>urple fruit, called
the apple of Sodom, because it is sometimes punctured by a
minute insect, a species of cynips, which gangrenes the fruit
and converts the inside into dry ashes while the outside preserves
its plump and beautiful aspect.

The Cicei' arietinum or chick pea, contrary to the other plants
of the pea family, is distinguished by its serrated leaflets. The
pea is of a bright yellow, half again the size of a large marrow-
fat. It is cooked with rice or other dishes, or is simply parched
and sold in the streets to be eaten as we do peanuts. When
freshly parched it has a peculiarly crisp, pleasant flavor. It is
claimed to be the parched pulse mentioned in Scripture.

A dozen or more different species of gourd are grown for
cooking purposes, but I will onl}^ speak of the Oucurbila clavi-
for7nis, which reaches a length of seven or eight feet. It grows
so rapidly when well watered that in an incredibly short space
of time it forms a dense, shady arbor, under which the people
sit and smoke. When young, not more than six inches in
length, it is boiled and then stuffed with force-meat and rice.
This dish and meat-balls wrapped in tender grape leaves and
covered with a white sauce are exceedingly palatable. Owing
to its rapid growth it has been thought to be the gourd of
Jonah.

In opening this lecture, I brought before you a picture of the
most striking objects of nature as you approached the great
city of the East, and now as I close let me leave with you the
impression that lingers still with me after the lapse of forty-three
years as I sailed away into the unknown West. Behind me lay
the city of Constantinople, each minaret and dome blazing with
light as though shot with purest gold. To the east rose the
majestic, snow-capped peak of Mt. Olympus, its pure white
crimsoned with the ruddy glow of the sun's last rays. From
the mainland drifted over the spicy perfume of the heather and
the thyme. The porpoises were gently sporting in the blue
waters of the Marmora. As we steamed past the little islands

1899.] ESSAYS. 43

of Halki and Pnnki])o, around huge bonfires the young men and
maidens with hymn and dance were celebrating the summer
solstice, leaping through the flames. A moment more and
twilight deepened into night, and the scenes of my boyhood's
days had faded away into a memory of the past.

2d February, A. D. 1899.

ESSAY

BY

EDITH BARXES, Northboro, VImss.
Theme: — Mosses and Lichens.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Worcester Horticultural Society :
When your Secretary wrote to me inquiring about subjects on
which I could address you, I gave hiru, among others, this talk
on Mosses and Lichens, saying it was of no practical value
whatever, and would not interest a club whose attention was
directed solely to those ends. Considered broadly, however,
it has, in common with all studies whose immediate efTect is to
open the eyes, quicken .the observation, give interest to nature,
a very practical bearing, especially to people living in the
country.

I think we will all admit that any condition which obliges a
man to rearrange his plan of life, perhaps sell his home or
move to other regions, possibly change his occupation entirely,
is a practical consideration, as much so as finding out the best
varieties of plum or how to destroy the latest insect pest. Yet,
how often do we hear that one has left the farm or country
home because the wife or children are not contented. Any-
thing that makes a person happy or content in his enviroment
is of the highest practical value. Now all the studies of
nature, — landscape art, the birds, the flowers, these humbler
plants, — if begun and persevered in, so that they become a part
of one's spiritual nature, not a mere outside affectation, make
one of the strongest bonds between the individual and the soil,
man ajid a rural environment.

1899.] ESSAYS, 45

In days past, it has often seemed to me a titting end to an
out-of-door tram[) to drop in upon one of our neighbors on my
way home. There was something about her that was akin to
sympathizing with the out-of-doors that made it a pleasing-
variation, yet an harmonious element, of my walk.

She was of old New England stock and traditions ; a large
woman, over eighty, nearly helpless with rheumatism, and
nearly blind, so that her fiivorite seat was her arm-chair by her
south window. Her face was as placid, fair and smooth as a
girl's, and her brown hair as fresh above it. She had seen
al)Out as hard a life as any of us would care to face. Brought
u[) on a farm, she had lived to see mother, brothers, sisters, all
pass away ; the farm lost and her father alone left to her,
with nothing on which to live, except what they earned from
day to day. Her father lived to be over eighty, supported, in
part, by the town at the last. Then she came upon the town
entirely for support, although allowed to care for herself in two
rooms of the old house where they had lived for a number of
years. Think of it ! The last of all near relatives and friends,
eighty years of unremitting toil, which had yet not sufficed to
keep them from that which is so great a dread of all old-
fashioned New Englanders, "coming upon the town." And
yet this woman could say, " I have had a happy life !"

Now, I am not so much a special pleader that I am going to
claim that this was all owing to love of nature : but I do think
it was largely owing to their enjoyment of their environment
(I say they, for both father and daughter were of much
the same nature and disposition) ; an enjoyment which they
got partly from peo[)le and partly from nature. Nature in the
wild, and nature cultivated — their garden, the round of farm
life in the neighborhood. Some of their knowledge was
tradition ; much, however, first hand, for they were good
observers, especially the father. They found nature immensely
interesting:. There was a zest in their life and interest in
things that I have not found in more favorably-placed people.
There was superstition in some of their beliefs ; to my more
modern scientitic way of looking at things, some unwarranted

46 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

deductions ; but all were based on or related to acute, affec-
tionate interrogation of natural phenomena.

As I entered the room, on my walk, she was all loaded and
ready with questions. Hardly had I closed the door — I always
let myself in — before I was seated, she was leaning forward
with expectant attitude : — " Has your father planted his peas
yet? He planted them the 17th of March last year. They
ought to be planted in the full of the moon," she would add
rather deprecatingly ; for I think she knew that was a part of
her creed I did not take much stock in — or, " Have you heard
the piping frogs yet? You have? I used to hear them in the
pond-hole here ; but my hearing isn't as good as it used to be."
Or, suiting the season, it might be, " Have the white oak trees
dropped their leaves yet? Father used to say that when the
white oak trees dropped their leaves, in the wood, the back of
winter was broken." Or, "Have you found any bloodroot
yet? or goldthread? or heard an oriole "? Something showing
that she was following the round of nature with interest.

Any considerations which, under such untoward circum-
stances, make life not only bearable but enjoyable, seem worth
taking account of.

To me, or any one who has studied the lichens and mosses,
they need no apology or practical considerations to bolster up
their claim to consideration. Like Emerson's Rhodora, they
are their own excuse for being. To one whose eyes have not
been anointed, they seem small and unimportant. I take
them up together in this talk, as they are often confounded,
and because their place in nature, the touches in color and
picturesqueness which they give the landscape, are much the
same in both.

The leaves on mosses are one cell deep, and in them first
appears a vein — the first time in the evolution of leaves. The
shape and arrangement of the cells is called the leaf areolation,
and is very various but constant, becoming an important point
in classification. By spreading out a leaf under a lens of
sufficient power, as there is but a single layer of cells, we get
a full view of its structure, margin, apex, &c., and these are

1899.] ESSAYS. 47

very pretty. The voiiiiug Jibove tilluded to is contined to a
midrib, sometimes only a beginning at the base of the leaf,
sometimes extending half way, or just short of the a[)ex or
beyond. It has been shown to be mainly a conduetor of water,
and is found chieHy in leaves of plants whose habitat is such
that it has a constant supply of moisture. In these conditions,
it has been found that a well-developed costa will supply the
loss of transj)] ration. The property which mosses have of dry-
ing up and again reviving is a very remarkable one. It resides
in an undetected {)roperty of the protoplasm. How remarkal)le
that })roperty is is proved by some artiticial experiments.
Severe desiccation in a drier was applied to Barlmla-muraJis
with the aid of sulphuric acid, and after eighteen months, after
a few wettings, it renewed growth in all its parts. A species
of Griinmia was dried until it would pulverize, left in a drier
ninety-five weeks, and again revived. This is in excess of any
natural drying it could be subjected to. Mosses have developed
many devices to economize moisture and to distribute it rapidly
over the whole plant, so that a short, small supply of rain will
do the most good, by being spread and retained.

Some, like Dirianum-undulaiutn and the Mniums have a
felting of hairs about the lower part of the stem, ascending
more or less. The leaves are arranged overlapping or clasping
about the stem so as to form a system of capillary chambers
through which the water passes rapidly. In Sphagnum there
are two sorts of cells, — one of large green cells, in which the
assimilation is done, and long capillary cells which are colorless
and furnished with points or pores for the rapid circulation and
storing of water.

It is owing to the capacity of holding moisture and rapidly
gathering it that makes mosses so valuable in the forest floor or
on open plains, especially on mountain slopes, as they prevent
the rapid flowing of the water, which carries away the soil. I
was reading recently an account of large areas in Alaska covered
deeply with mosses, which prevented the gullying and denuding
of these districts.

An interesting point is that in some of the higher mosses, or

48 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

Polytrichum, a fibro-vascular bundle first makes its appearance
in the middle of the stem. The faint beginning which fore-
shadows the o;iant trunk of the forest tree. Also in some
capsules, as in OrUiofrichum, quite well developed stomata, or
breathing pores, first make their appearance.

Let rae try now to give you the place in the ladder of plant
life which mosses and lichens hold, and somewhat of their life
history.

[This was done by the aid of colored sheets.]

This, in bare outline, is the life of a moss or lichen ; but we
all know that the life history of any plant means much more in
the economy of nature and our [esthetic enjoyment than any
such description will indicate.

As we go about out of doors, we find these plants almost
everywhere. A moist climate is especially favorable to their
growth, so wonderful stories are told of the beauty of mosses
in our Northwest Coast.

Moisture and rather cool temperature, together, make the
conditions for best growth. Still, they have a wonderful faculty
for drying up and then, with returning moisture, to renew
themselves quickly, flourish and improve the season of moisture,
be it longer or shorter. We find some species in dry, exposed
situations, as the bark of trees even in open orchards, though
more often in forests on rocks, on old boards, walls, and fence-
rails, roofs of houses. Some old shed roofs are verdant
gardens of many species of plants. On the ground, in open,
worn-out fields, we find the ground entirely occupied by Poly-
tricliuyn-comyniine. What seem bare banks and trodden foot-
paths are, on examination, found covered with mossy growth.
Gravel pits are often nearly covered with rosy hmomyces.

As we examine more moist situations, we find correspond-
ingly ranker and more luxuriant growths. Meadows where the
feet sink deep into beds of Sphagnmn ; swamps where dead
tree trunks are a wilderness of delight, with scores of species
of delicate beauty in deep mats, velvety cushions and tiny
incrustations. Perhaps the most delightful of all mossy haunts
is the mountain stream. Follow the sound of the waterfall

1899.] ESSAYS. 49

and it will surely lead you through scenes of surpassing love-
liness and interest. The cold waters of the spray keep a cool,
moist atmosphere always around the rocks. Everywhere are
mosses, lichen and liverwort. In the stream, Grimmia, con-
oc€2)halus, jiJiilonoles. Half in and out the water the hand
seeks satisfaction into deep beds of Hypnun-allegJianiense, the
rank form of Ati'tchiim-anguntatuin. In crevices of rocks the
shining emerald Plagiolhe cium.s, and, if one is fortunate, the
rare, luminous moss ; overhead Neckera and Drummoiidia, and
on decaying trunks that span the stream, mats of shining Lri-
ponens, Oup)r€ssif<)lium, and Cupressiform; and, trailing in
the water itself, long streamers of Fontinalis and DkJielyina.

It sometimes happens that a peculiar season brings rare
species to light ; as, a few years ago, during a very dry time,
I discovered what were to me new species in the dried-up beds
of ponds and wells, and, hanging from the dried-up stems of
grassses and water plants about the margins. Some fine speci-
mens of H. riparium, Dlchelyma Gapillaceum, Oonomiirium
were among them.

We often speak with contempt of the fields all grown
to moss, as if the moss were to blame. Poor indeed is the soil
indicated by the growth of moss ! But we should remember
that when man has taken the fertility, and the more lordly
plants refuse to occupy it, the mosses begin the humble work
of renewal. Even subsoil thrown up from some depth, as in
ditching, digging wells and cellars, will, if left to itself, be
soon covered, more or less, with a growth. I have wondered
how the spore got there, whether they were in the soil or were
always in the air and ready to attach themselves and start under
these conditions.

It is usually the same species that I find in these places —
Physcomitinum-pyriforme^ Brywni-argentia and Funaria.
These species seem to get along with the smallest quantity or
no humus. A few years ago, there was a wood burnt over near
us. It was an old wood, fifty years' growth at least. It had
been cut ofi", and a fire started in midsummer, burning every-
thing, including the cord- wood. It was dry and hot and the

50 WOHCRSTEK COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1809.

tire very tierce, so everything was burned, even the soil.
The ground was left in such a barren condition that plants
have been very slow in taking possession again. But the tirst
fall I noticed broad tracts form, six and ten feet wide, of thin
moss growth, especially Funaria^ its tangle of silky stems the
most luxuriant I had ever seen. Another thing I noticed here
was the growth of Marchantia-jwlymorpha in the i)urnt field.
It was not the first time I had found it in association with ashes
and charcoal, — once in the cellar of a burned house, and several
times forming lonely circles around a deserted camp-fire in the
woods.

It always interests me to find a plant or animal occupying a
peculiar and circumscribed habitat. It seems as if it had such
a special work to do in nature's economy. So I was interested
in Mrs. Button's account of the Sj)Iachnu7n. She writes: — " In
mountain districts, where cattle pass to and fro from the
meadows and Alps, one notices on their halting -grounds and
along their tracks moss of a conspicuous green grovving on
circumscribed spots. On closer examination we find we have
here an example of that remarkable group the Spladinmn, and
that it has selected the cow dung to be the nutrient element
substratum. Each group of emerald green /^plachiium is strictly
limited to the area of a lump of dung, no trace of it is seen
elsewhere, all the stages of development of this moss following
each other in the same substratum. First of all, the lumps of
dirt, which are kept moist by rain or standing water, are en-
veloped in a web of Protonema, and their surface acquire
thereby a characteristic greenish lustre. Later, hundreds of
little green stems, thickly clothed with leaves, emerge, and the
spore cases, which resemble tiny antique jars, and are amongst
the prettiest exhibited in the world of mosses, become visil)lc
as well." Other species of Splachnum vary their habitat so
far as to occupy the excrement of the chamois, the reindeer,
birds of prey. One specimen was found in the foot of an old
stocking, another in the skull of a musk ox. Still another in
the skeleton of a hedgehog.

Each season has its own peculiar charm and its own special

1899.] ESSAYS. 51

plants to offer for the students or admirers of nature ; and the
mosses and lichens seem to fill a gap which would otherwise
be vacant. After the last blossom has gone, when mushrooms,
even, are no longer found, save, perhaps, a few blackened
brick-tops or Omphalia-carnpanula around the frosty stumps,
when the fall rains have been with us, and tiie nights are cool,
then the mosses and lichens are at their best ; they soak up the
abundant moisture, put on their greenest colors, and send up
their tiny fruiting capsules. Now is the time to collect for
winter study. On starting out for a tramp, supply yourself
with a number of small paper-bags. On finding a specimen
you wish to preserve, put it in its bag, witli something to indi-
cate the substratum on which it was found, pin to and put
in pocket or bag. On reaching home, add dates and place and
pack away without further care. In the winter, when you wish
to study your mosses, wet them out thoroughly and they will
be as fresh as if newly gathered. They keep indefinitely dry,
and stand considerable hard usage.

In these late fall days, and again in the time of the spring
rains, and, indeed, all through the winter, during milder inter-
vals, whenever we hear the drip, drip on the roofs, we know
the mosses are waking up and we can look out to such renewal
and enjoy the rich colors they take on. The lichens, especially,
are dull, lifeless-looking things when dry ; but, with a good
soaking, become changed, as with magic, into richest colors.
No gaudy primaries, but rich secondaries and tertiaries — olive-
green, sage-green, apple-green, grays, mauve, ruby, bronze,
orange, with dots of bright colors.

A friend was being shown over the new house of a wealthy ex-
governor. She particularly admired the coloring of the walls,
draperies and carpets. She was told that the designer was a
real artist and did really what so many claim to do, but in
reality do so seldom, copied his colors directly from nature. I
have been told that Worth and Doucet do the same, and have
read descriptions of their costumes named from natural scenes
or objects, as for instance, one was a lichen costume. Surely,
one could not copy any colors with greater security in produ-

52 WORCESTER COUNTY JIOR TICULTUKAL SOCIETY. [18'.)9.

cing harmony than the ones we see on the trunks of the ehiis,
ashes, on the stone-walls and fences after a rain.

There is on Mt. Pisgah a rock covered with a rich growth of
Umbilicaria, which is worth a visit after every rain. The
boulder is covered with the delicate apple-green folds or rutHes,
which fall in frills, showing the rich underside, which is black
and velvety. It is the lichen, I think, which Mr. Bolle refers
to in his description of a lichen which covers the peak of Mt.
Chocorua. He calls it the burnt paper species. He describes
himself as going out into a swamp during a heavy thunder-
storm to see the effect of the rain on various thinos. Among
other phenomena he sees this : —

" Presently a vista opened northward, and at its end rose
the dark peak of Chocorua. After a rain, this towering rock
presents a noticeably difi'erent appearance from its normal color-
ing. Most of its surface is covered by lichens, one species of
which, when dry, resembles burnt paper. When rain falls
upon them, these lichens alter their tints, and the burnt })aper
species in particular becomes so green that a wonderful change
takes place in the whole coloring of the mountain."

How many lichens are associated with our country walks,
perhaps, unconsciously ! The Cladonia, or reindeer moss,
that crackles with crisp brittleness as we climb the hill pastures
in summer ; another Cladonia with tiny goblets, my father
used to tell us children, were " fairy wine-glasses," and the
little vermilion-tipped species near by, the " fairies red-apple
trees"; the Cetraria, found so abundantly in old pine trees;
Pelligera, conspicuous among the green mosses in spring ;
JJsnea, that cosmopolite that drapes the trees of the swamps
like Southern moss, and sacred to all bird lovers as the chosen
material of the nest of that dainty darling the Parula warbler ;
Stida, whose curiously-shaped and mottled chalice doubtless
suo-ojested the likeness to and hence the healino- of the lun«;s ;
Parmelia, whose circles of crimped, close-clinging tissues,
slowly enlarging from year to yeav, form, with the rocks and
fence-rails on which they grow, one of the most familiar back-
grounds which the New England nurtured eye takes in. And

18J>;».] ESSAYS. 53

so we might go on, but " 1 don't quite like tiie cat'log style,
dew you? As if to sell otl" nature by venders."

In closing, no talk on mosses and liehens would be complete
which omitted those beautiful lines of ,[ohn Ruskin : —

*' Lichens and mosses — meek creatures"! &c., &c.

gth February, A. D. 1899.

ESSAY

BY

E. L. BEARD, Boston.
Theme: — Hardy Herbaceous Plants.

The lack of interest in this branch of floriculture and gardening
in America is to be deplored. A keen faculty of observation
on the part of the horticulturist is not requisite to detect the
fact that in every quarter, what are popularly known as l)ed-
ding plants have so far usurped the place of their less obtrusive
relatives, hardy herbaceous plants, that the latter are to a large
extent unappreciated, because forgotten and unknown.

These remarks apply not only to hardy plants but to some
beautiful things not altogether hardy, but such as the gardener
whose love for his profession rises above the mere drudgery
often incident to its pursuits, may, with the aid of cold frames
and coverings, protect through our trying winters with compara-
tive ease, being more than recompensed in spring and summer
by the unique beauty of blossom with which some of the more
tender are favored, I have set the two classes of plants, the
hardy and the more tender bedding plants against each other for
our consideration and comparison. The latter includes Gera-
niums, Coleus, Alternantheras, Pyrethrums, Lobelias and others,
and depends for effect on color and strong, often glaring,
contrasts.

Such displays show favorably in certain locations, but in this
country, where gardening as an art is still something of a
weakling, these pleasing horticultural pictures must necessarily
be confined to the gardens of a few wealthy persons.

Bedding out, as generally i)racticed by the amateur and

1 «!!!).] ESSAYS. 55

gardener is like the lirst nttempts of" a tyro in pHiiitiiig, enule
and inharmonious. There will be found a yearly reeurrenee of
the monotonous ever-l)looming reds and yellows with a few
ineonspicuous and ding}^ intermediate colors which in summer
drought or in heavy rains assumes a forlorn aspect upon which
the curtain is dropi)ed by a sharp frost early in the season.

A more general insight into the beauty and adaptability of
hardy plants and bulbs, and a more practical study of their
habits and requirements on the part of the gardening craft at
large, would ultimately lead to such an exposition of beauty in
our garden borders that the wearisome round of bedding out
and the monotonous recurrence of its short lived display would
l)ecome not obsolete perhaps, nor would I have it wholly so, but
at least subordinate to the more retined and satisfactory culture
of hardy plants and bulbs. For general cultivation would
recommend Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, Grape Hyacinths,
Narcissus in variety ; Iris, English, Spanish, German and Ktemp-
feri varieties ; Pajonies, Chinese and Japanese varieties ; Fox-
gloves, Canterbury Bells, Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, Phlox,
Lilies, Rudbeckias, Helianthus, Spireas, Clematis, and many
other varieties of flowering plants ; also grasses like the
Eulalias, that are very ornamental.

i6th February, A. D. 1899.

ESSAY

BY

Mrs. a. E. WHITAKER,

Editor of Woman's Interest, New England Fakmer and
Grange Homes.

Theme: — Antiquated Premium Listfi.

The annual visit to the cattle show on Old Sturbridge Common
is one of the earliest memories of my childhood. Although
mine was a village home, its productive garden and the house-
wifely skill of my mother and grandmother were nearly always
represented in the hall. This early gave me a vital interest in
the exhibition.

The anticipation and realization of the annual fair have lost
nothing by the flight of years, but there has come to me the
experience to form a more intelligent criticism and a better sense
of values. The development of the primitive village cattle show
of my childhood's rememl)rance into the grand jumble of fakirs,
sideshows, races, vaudeville exhibits, midways, balloon ascen-
sions, base-ball games, firemen's })arades and gambling, along
with grange speakers, governors, dairy cows of national fame,
birds of proud plumage and a hundred other attractions of the
up-to-date fair, in some respects has been abnormal. Some great
advances have been made, but not all of the transformation has
been progress. Much thought has been given to the modern
cattle show by the best friends of agriculture, while columns of
newspaper literature have been printed about it.

My own thought has been directed towards that department
usually given to comprehensive name of woman's work. Here
the progressive spirit of the age has failed to make its full

ISMK.] ESSAYS. 57

impression, and devclopnienl, whether for iijood or l):id, has
been less marked than in other departments.

If the farmer were to enter in this year's fair the counterpart
of animal, fowl or produce which he took to the old cattle show,
with no record of pedigree, feed or method of growing, he
would tind himself absolutely nowhere ; though his exhibit
would doubtless be ranked properly by expert judgment given
deliberately. He could bank nothing on his being a friend of
Deacon Smith, Farmer Jones and Neighbor Brown, acting as a
committee and endowed with the weakness of human friend-
ships, prejudices and enmities.

His wife, however, might carry the selfsame bedquilt or rug
that her ancestors did and stand a good chance of drawing a
premium. This condition may have exceptions; but a close
study of premium lists and exhibits shows that the modern
agricultural fair has developed faster in all other departments
than in the household branch. The same time-consuming bed-
quilts of 9999 pieces, and ephemeral, gone-by fancy-work fads
are listed as commendable accomplishments to be encouraged by
money premiums.

It is decidedly non-progressive to encourage women and girls
to spend time on what is neither useful or decorative or without
money value.

Why, for instance, should a premium for " the best bedquilt
made by a girl under 12'' be continued as it is in ninety per
cent, of lists? You would not expect the city girl to sit and
sew together inch pieces of print. Her mother would teach her
sewing by allowing her to cut out a simple garment by the con-
venient and cheap paper patterns and helping her over the
puzzling {)laces and stitches. If I think too much of my
daughters' health to com{)el them to " sit on a cushion and sew
up a seam " like the lady of long ago, why should other country
girls grow round-shouldered slaves of the patchwork quilt.
Yet one society in this State offers a one dollar premium for a
single block of patchwork.

There yet exists a trace of the old notion that farmer folks
must he different and do differently fiom other folks. It shovvs

58 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899,

plainly in the survival of certain things in fair premium lists.
Why should the country home be encumbered with the dismal
hair wreath in a glass case, the cross of shells glued on to a
pasteboard foundation, or feather flowers dyed in bright hues?
In reality very few are. Yet these old-time fads are still awarded
money prizes in Massachusetts fairs. They are positively
inartistic and should be eliminated.

Next to the things, the making ()f which is almost criminal
waste of time, come the things which have a use but which the
whim of fashion pronounces out of date. The premium lists
should also be pruned of these. When lace-edged table covers
of white linen are the exclusive fjishion don't oft'er a dollar for
the best table scarf embroidered with arrasene, for such went
out of date before some of the present exhibitors of needlework
were born ; yet half the premium lists in the State carry this
item along, conveying the idea that this work is still in favor.
Most lists still have large premiums for white silk embroidery
on flannel such as our mothers took pride in working but which
is a minor accomplishment today.

Fortunately not all country women are deceived in such mat-
ters ; as a rule, thanks to more steam and trolley cars, they go
al)out more than ever before, and see what is being made and
used. But such antiquity causes them to lose faith and interest
in the hall exhibit. They get to thinking and saying, " Oh,
there 'II be the same old lot of crocheting and baby socks." In
this way some of their influence and aid to the fairs is lost. If
the modern fair is to be improved woman's help should be
secured, but it cannot be done by encouraging time-killing
follies, by trying to perpetuate the fads of a former generation,
or by recognizing the inartistic creations of more primitive
times.

These are some of the errors and the result.

What shall we substitute?

A small proportion of premiums should be ofl'ered for the
trifling decorative novelties, of present but not lasting favor.
The greater part should be reserved to encourage work of real
moiit including the union of artistic and useful.

1899.] ESSAYS. 59

Wouldn't it 1)6 l»etlor to omit preniiuins for out-of-date
l)ic'ture throws, emlnoidered banners, painted placques, hair
wreaths, lanihrc(|uins and that ilk, and encourasfe the making of
more modern and of useful things. Take dressmaking for
instance ; many women wear a " store" wrapper, or an ill-fitting
gown of their own creation as they work at their embroidery.
The ingenuity and skill and the artistic sense required for the
delicate fancy work, if jiroperly directed, would fit and make a
dress. More premiums should be ofiered for hand sewing and
for well cut and made wearing apparel. One society is to be
commended for its premiums for the best twelve or six [)ieces of
hand sewing. Encourage the young girls by a premium for the
best shirt waist, or its equivalent as fashion changes ; this would
illustrate all the stitches of plain sewing. The neatest lined
and finished cloth skirt and the best made dress designed
especially for housework would be other practical exhibits, from
which of course the professional dressmaker would be barred
out.

Women have been knitting golf stockings for several years
but 1 fail to find these articles recognized in any premium list.
Fire etching on leather and wood has been popular for several
years and is capable of a high rank in decorative arts but it is
almost entirely overlooked in the department of fine arts at the
fails. One who is skilled in the embroidery of household linen
with monograms, crests and initials, and in making needle and
bobbin laces, has an accomplishment which is a pleasant posses-
sion and may bring her substantial reward where a thousand
yards of crocheted edging of the prevalent inartistic designs
would yield nothing.

Work of commercial value should be encouraged. In con-
nection with my editorial duties many letters come to me with
the request that I help the writers to earn something by w(yrk
at home. These letters are often pathetic and force one to close
study of the problem involved. My question of what the
writer can or wishes to do is usually answered by " fancy
work" for which there is practically no market.

The farmer has been encouraged by the agricultural societies'

60 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

rewjirds to keep better cows and raise finer fruits ; thereby he
can cater to a critical or exacting market and get more money.
His wife, in moments taken from household duties, has spent
some of her energies over passing fads, usually without merit,
or has followed a rut in which she has learned little of market-
able value. The agricultural fair has been no help to her.

A somewhat extended movement is being started in the
Middle \A"estern States to make woman's work done at home in
her spare time more remunerative. The marked preference for
good hand work over machine-made products favors such a
scheme. It originated with Mrs. Candace Wheeler of New
York city who has no superior in her success in applying deco-
rative to industrial art. She has established as a paying occu-
pation in isolated or village homes in certain parts of her own
State the making of portieres woven from scraps and pieces ;
these are a sort of artistic rag carpeting converted into dra-
peries. I do not remember having seen a premium offered for
these portieres yet they are found in the most elegantly fur-
nished houses, bring a good price because they are hand made,
and cater to the exclusive taste because it is about impossible
to repeat the design exactly.

Rag carpets are among the old fashioned things which are not
gone-bys, and through correspondence with Mrs. Wheeler I
find that she agrees with me that premiums should still be
offered for them, especially when woven in the mixed pattern
and where no gaudy cheap dyes are used. There is a limited
demand for this floor covering in houses which have one old-
fashioned room ; artists like it for studio floors when it is not of
aggressive pattern ; and in the country house it is always in
keeping.

Mrs. Wheeler also writes to me of women who are making
and weaving blue and white washable rugs for bathrooms and
sleeping-rooms, which are excellent in every way and are
salable. Braided floor mats, if well made and sul)dued in color,
are always worth a premium, as they are serviceable and assume
to be nothing more than what they are. With apologies to the
one-fifth, what can be said of four-fifths of the drawn-in or

1899.] ESSAYS. (il

hooked ruirs exhihitod :it fairs in wiiich all beauty of desijrn or
color is lacking. Yet a New Hampshire woman, trained as a
designer, has succeeded in working up a paying business in
these rugs made under her own artistic supervision. There
were many obstacles to progress in her undertaking by reason
of an uneducated taste. Eyes accustomed to impossible cats
and dogs, jis well as to lilies and roses of poor design and
glaring color, as wrought in the average home-made rug, were
not prepared to look with favor on conventional patterns in
subdued, cBsthetic colors. She was compelled to work out her
own ideas, and the adaptation of color schemes from high-
priced imported rugs, upon a sufficient number of rugs for an
exhibition. She had also to prove by the sale of, and orders
for, her work that it appealed to i)e()ple of artistic taste with
means to gratify it. In other words, she had to l)reak down
the false standards which have been sustained by the premiums
awarded at fairs for years and years. Surely the quality of
home-made rugs might be improved at fairs if a judge could be
found with backbone enough to discard all but the worthy.
The premium list ought to help her by prescribing conditions.

There is room for improvement in the bread exhibit, which,
as I tirst remember it, consisted of white and baked rye and
Indian bread. Innovations came in steamed brown bread, gra-
ham bread and then cakes, until now the cake part is the
leading part. There never was a New England farmer's wife
but excelled in cake making; it seems to be a universal gift in
this section of the country and very little money ought to l)e
expended in encouraging greater feats in this line. It might be
urged that good premiums are already ofi'ered for l)read and
that most women prefer to make cake and take greater interest
in it. The remedy lies in creating more interest in bread mak-
ing; lack of interest is the cause of so many poor bread
makers. The mysteries of fermentation and chemical changes
have not attracted their thought or study. It would be I)etter
to give three dollars for the best loaf of bread than one dollar
for a cake, as is sometimes ofi'ered.

Does anyone doulU that housekeepers would take interest in an

(>2 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

exhibit where there was oflered a sweepstakes premium for the
best bread, and in addition three first and second premiums for
bread made with home made, compressed and dry yeast? Add
to this, distinctive premiums for graham and entire wheat, which
are not the same although often classed as one. Then might
come the various kinds of rye and Indian, rolls and I)iscuits.

The New England man loves pie even if pie is not an adjunct
of the fashionable dinner. It may be daring to -ay that here
in the great pie belt; the home-made pie is seldom well made,
and a number of premiums for toothsome pastry would prol)-
ably set cooks to experitnenting until undercrusts were as light
as uppers. A few societies make one or two additions to the
articles named.

Accuracy ought to be encouraged in cooking exhibits ; but in
looking over the recipes which are sometimes required to be
sent with them I seldom tind one so complete that I dare to
print it. "Sweeten to taste" or "Hour to mix "convey no
instruction. The written recipe should be as exact as a drug-
gist's formula, and should always be required.

In this connection allusion is proper to the effort now being
made to establish in connection with the national department of
agriculture, a bureau of domestic science in which investiga-
tions as to methods for the preparation of food shall be con-
ducted and the information printed for distribution in the form
of bulletins. The movement started in Illinois and the advo-
cates of this plan call attention to the fact I hat colleges are
established throughout the country where every facility is pro-
vided for education in the production of food material ; State
fairs have generous appropriations and institutes are conducted
for further consideration of this question. The best results of
all this effort and expenditure may be, and often are, ruined by
the ignorant or careless cook. The Illinois State fair intro-
duced a department of domestic science in I89() and continued
it at following exhibitions. A domestic science committee had
a larffe corn exhibit at the corn convention in Chicago.

Managers of fairs ought to keep in step with such movements
and can much bettei- afford to give less premium money for

1899.] - ESSAYS. ca

(lc('()rMti\ e nionstiosities, and ndd something for illustrations of
what may he done to make fruits and vegetahles more aoceptahle
and nutritious as foods.

More attention siiould he paid to increasing tlie uses of New
Enghind fruits and vegetahles. The wholesome apple ought
not to he so largely supplanted hy the orange. Who knows,
for instance, what a prize offered for a new confection made
from apples might hring out from inventive cook's experiments.
Evaporation is a much easier method of pieserving than canning.
Yet l)eyond a few articles, which even the earliest settleis of the
country prepared in this way, little success has heen attained
in saving product;: of the farm and orchard by drying. With
handy stove evaporators there is ample opportunity to save some
of the fruits and vegetal)les, which might go to waste if there
was no other way of saving them than hy canning.

Along with this might be added an exhibit of how the dried
article would look and taste after the cook has done her work
properly. Part of the popular indifference to dried food of
this kind is due to lack of knowing how to restore the moisture
without 'losing the solidified juices as they dissolve or without
breaking up the more solid part into an uninviting mass.

No man cares whether he sleeps under a patchwork quilt of
ten or ten thousand pieces, but it does concern him whether his
dinner be good or whether what he provides is used to the best
advantage. At least until the government sees fit to aid in
spreading knowledge on this subject it appears to be the duty
of fairs to encourage and reward l)etter methods of feedinof
people as well as animals.

Not long ago, a man having wide knowledge of agricultural
and horticultural interests, urged me to write more in favor of
encouraging children to comi)ete for prizes at fairs. Premium
lists show a diversity of custom in this respect, and some have
special prizes for school work. Theoretically there could be no
l)etter way to encourage nature studies and manual training.
Even when not under the supervision of teachers or limited to
school work the plan works to a charm. The boy raises a fowl,
some choice berries, oi- completes a creditable bit of wood

64 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCFETY. [1899.

carving, all, as the children sav, " his own self." The sii'l
carefully stitches an apron, or mixes and bakes her bread or
cake without supervision and the slight expense of rewarding
their effort is money well laid out. In some localities it is all
the encouragement that they get for manual training.

But there is another side where the whole family combines to
send its best in the name of the child, who thus learns a large
lesson in deceit and falsehood, and if it secures a prize is
encouraged to repeat the experience. I have seen a loaf of
frosted, rich, fruit cake accredited to a child and given a pre-
mium ; the written recipe attached was so indefinite as to have
been no guide. One can easily imagine the child, working-
mechanical ly under direction of a practiced hand, hoping by
this proxy to gain the coveted prize.

The best classification of children's work is that given by one
society, which calls for herbariums of flowers, grasses and ferns
respectively, collections of 75 and 100 specimens of wood,
geological collections, agricultural and horticultural products,
also cookery, sewing and the arts of wood carving, drawing
and painting as taught in the public schools.

Leaving the details of the premium lists I would make a few
general suggestions.

Let the standard in these classes of exhibits l>e so high that
the award will mean something ; if nothing deserves the first
premium then it should not be awarded. The clause giving
committees or judges the right to withhold any premium, if in
their judgment none is deserved, means little to the average
three people who distribute awards, and if but one lone chrochet
tidy is entered it receives the first prize although it be a carica-
ture of its kind.

The judge should be an expert whose opinion would count
for something. A woman is not fit to judge needlework be-
cause her husband is a man of some local prominence or because
she has a reputation as a good housekeeper. I have known
good bread to receive no notice because an inexperienced judge
" didn't like that kind." The judge for the exhibition of
cookery should be a graduate of the normal class of some

1899.] ESSAYS. H5

cooking school of good standing. Such a person can detect the
slijjhtest overfernientation of bread or the smallest variation of
texture in cake. I have In mind one such judge whose rapid
but systematic decisions, according to a scale of points, were
above question.

In no department is a qualified judge more needed than in
that of painting, drawing and decorative design. Without an
expert, false standards are made for those out of reach of the
influence and advantaofes of art exhibitions and schools.

A problem for the management of fairs is the compaiative
value and claims of the professional and the amateur exhibitor.
A list offers first and second premiums for ten to twenty differ-
ent articles. The judge finds a large and beautiful exhibit of
needlework, covering all branches specified in the list and a
great attraction to visitors. She starts upon the task of judg-
ing, has a scale of points for shading of colors, setting of
btitches, beauty of design and so on. If strictly im})artial she
must award every first premium to the exhibitor who is well
known as a teacher or dealer. In her heart she believes that
the award should go occasionally to the woman who has sent her
one masterpiece made at home in spare moments and which falls
but a shade lower than the work of the successful professional.

But the judge must not let sentiment influence the award.
The professional's work is doubtless a great attraction to visitors
and is an object lesson to those who do that particular kind of
work ; it is too valuable to be dispensed with because it tends
to raise the standard of the exhibit both in quality and by the
introduction of new ideas. On the other hand less skilled
workers are apt gradually to withdraw their efforts because of
the certainty of being outdone, for it takes courage to submit
one's handiwork to the chances that await it under these condi-
tions. A remedy lies in the larger societies oflfering separate
premiums for professional and amateur work, and in the smaller
ones either barring out the professional or giving a gratuity on
such collections or exhibits. This leaves the money encourage-
ment and the grading of prizes where it belongs.

This reference to the product of the needle may apply as
well to the brush. In the art department a few societies already

(ifi WORCESTF]K COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

discriminate between amateur and professional work. Copies
and originals are classified and thereby comparatively just deci-
sions are made. But this is an exception to the prevailing
custom where clever copies of the familiar three horses' heads
at the drinking fountain or a branch of oranges, worked out
possibly under the supervision of a teacher, is given a premium
while an entirely original study is passed by.

The tendency in all great expositions is to omit a distinctive
department for woman's work. This came about partially by
the wish of women themselves to earn, not the commendation
of having done " very well for a woman" but the reward of
being "best of all."

While the State, county and town fairs do not specially
classify their hall exhibits as woman's work the general inter-
pretation is such. A better classification would be Domestic
Science, Industrial Arts and Fine Arts. The first would
develop from the present few loaves of bread or cake and jars
of pickles and preserves into an instructive exhibition of cook-
ery, preserved and dried fruits and vegetables, appliances for
household work, demonstrations of cookery, exhibits of table
setting, household inventions and so on. Men could compete
for premiums if they liked, and could have attractive and
instructive exhibits as they do in food fairs and in the great
State expositions.

The industrial art department ought to be guided towards
what is of use and to the things that the world needs and will
buy, while the standard of the fine arts should be kept as high
as consistent' with existing conditions.

All plans of instruction and entertainment are tl;ie result of
evolution as the world has grown older and better ideals have
advanced. The schools that were good enough for our fathers
or for us, are not good enough for our children ; the clumsy
stage appointments of an old-time theatre would meet ridicule
today ; even the preacher has changed methods, if not texts,
else he would be left alone with his eloquence. Why should
the agricultural fair so often cling to primitive plans in that
which should interest women and which could be of much
profit and improvement !

gth February, A. D. iSgg.

ESSAY

BY

JACKSON DAWSON,
Of the Arnold Arboretum.

Tlieiiie: — Propagation of Trees and Shrubs.

There are many methods of propagation, the most natural one
being from seed. Phints, as a rule, grow strong from seed and
live longer than those which are grafted, and where it is practi-
cal to do so the growth of plants from seed is the best method ;
but there are exceptions to all rules and many trees, such as
Willows and Poplars, grow as readily from cuttings and produce
equally as good plants as those from seed. Species, as a rule,
come true from seed, or nearly so, but there are many variations
which we wish to perpetuate and these must be increased by
other methods, such as grafting, cuttings, layers or inarching.
In growing plants from seed it is important that the seed should
be selected from good healthy plants, and if grown in a cooler
climate than that in which you intend to grow them they are
apt to be more hardy than seeds taken fiom a warmer climate to
a colder one. If possible, this should be the reverse. We
know for a fact that many evergreens from California and
Oregon are not hardy here, while the same species from Colo-
rado or other high latitudes are perfectly hardy here.

Picea Engelmanni, Abies concolor, Picea pungens, and the
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), the latter which was
imported from England, would not stand our climate, these
being grown from seed collected in California and Oregon, and
not until Dr. Parry sent seeds from Colorado did we have hardy
forms of these trees in New England. At the present day all

68 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [189Jt.

seed of these trees for northern growths are collected on the
eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, where the summers are
hot and the winters are cold. Hence the necessity of having
the seed from the best trees near by or from those grown in
similar climates. Seeds should be as fresh as possible, and the
sooner they are cleaned and sown the better results. Many
seeds which would germinate the iirst season if sown as soon as
gathered, would lay in the ground until the second season if
thoroughly dried before sowing.

Of course when seeds have to travel a long distance they must
be thoroughly dried or they are apt to mildew and spoil. Many
seeds, such as Cherry, Plum and Peach, unless subject to hard
freezing, will not germinate the tirst year. Many will not
germinate until the second year under any artificial condition,
and often seeds will lay in the ground three years and then
germinate. It is well, if you have not the ground in the con-
dition to plant, to stratify all seeds as soon as cleaned, that is,
put them away mixed with layers of sand or earth and keep
them in a cool cellar or frame until spring. When small
quantities are used they can be put in small boxes and mixed
with sand, or if large lots they can be stratified out-of-doors.
It is well to have the sand or soil used fine enough to run through
a sieve. By having different sized sieves the seeds can easily be
separated from the sand.

In all large nurseries, where there are quantities of Peaches,
Plums, Hawthorns, Cherries, Lindens and Junipers, the seed is
mixed with piles of earth on the surface of the ground, stacked
up, left covered with sods or boards until spring. Such seeds
as Honey Locust and other hard and bony seed which have
become thoroughly dried, should be treated with hot water (so
as to swell before planting, otherwise they would come up
scattered at intervals for several years).

The first consideration is what you desire to plant ; the
second, to have the seed as fresh as possible ; and the third, soil
and situation to plant in : the fourth is to know what depth to
plant the seed and how long to wait for the seed to come up.
In this sort of a paper it is hard to give many details, so that I

1899.] ESSAYS. 69

will toucli on the most hardy of the (lillereiit ueiiera and leave
the varieties for another time.

Maples, Magnolia, Horse-chestnut, Mulberry, Alders, Plane-
tree, Birches, Amor-cork, Hornbeam, Oak, Hickory-nut,
Plums, Chestnut, Willow, Catalpas, Viburnums, Redbud, Picea
(Spruce), Yellow-wood, Abies (Firs), Hawthorn, Pines,
Beech, Aralias, Ash, Barberries, Holly, Siberian Pea-tree,
Tulip-tree, Cornus, Clematis, Bladdernuts, Euonymus, Snow-
berry, Hibiscus, Hypericum, Ligustrum, Pyrus, Kerria, Koses.

SOIL AND SITUATION.

In selecting a place for the seed-beds the soil should be a
deej) rich mellow loam, avoiding gravelly soils or heavy chu's.
The soil should be well manured with good rotten manure a
year old, then ploughed or trenched twelve to fifteen inches
deep and well pulverized. All coarse stones and rubbish should
1)6 cleaned off so as to have the land in the best possible condi-
tion. If the land is full of weeds it would be well to manure
heavy and plant one year with crops that would be well culti-
vated. Nothing tries one's patience more than trying to grow
seedlings in a soil that is already full of weed seed. If {)()ssible,
the land should be sheltered from the north and west by fence
or hedge. If the seed is to be sown broadcast I should lay out
the beds five feet apart with a pathway two and a half feet
between the beds. This will give ample room to weed the beds
from each side. If sown broadcast, rake the beds smooth and
sow the seed thinly and evenly over the surface. li the seed
is fine, raking them in with a coarse rake and rolling them
lightly will be sufficient. If the seed is large, it should be
covered about its own diameter. For myself I prefer to sow in
rows eight inches apart, across the bed, especially if there is a
large number of varieties and only a few of each wanted, or in
long nursery rows, eighteen inches apart, if to be worked by
hand, or from two to three feet if to be cultivated by horse-
power. One reason I prefer the rows to broadcast is because
they are much easier to cultivate.

Seed should never be sown when the ground is wet. The
6

70 AVORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

soil at the time of sowing should be neither wet nor dry, but in
such a condition that it can be raked without its clogging. If it
is too wet many fine seed will scarcely come through, while if
too dry the seed is apt to work out, unless covered "deeper than
desired.

A supply of water should be at hand, ready to be used on all
lightly rooted plants during dry weather. It is also well to
have lath screens to protect delicate plants from the hot sun.
If in the fall we begin with the Oaks, as the acorns do not long
retain their vitality (neither does Chinquapin, Chestnut or
Beech) ; to insure success these should be put in boxes of earth
or sand, as soon as gathered. If sown broadcast, the nuts
should be scattered thinly over the bed and pressed down with
the back of a spade or a light wooden roller and covered a little
more than the diameter of the seed, which should be over an
inch for the Beech and Oak, and two or more inches for the
Hickory. Some prefer making shallow drills with the plough
and sowing thickly. The Maples, with the exception of rubra
and dasycarpum (these ripen in June), should be sown as soon
as possible after gathering, otherwise they will not come up
until the second year. The Ash must also be sown as soon
as gathered, otherwise it will not come up until the second year.
Carpinus, Ostrya, Cornus florida, Amelanchier, Celtis and
Viburnums seldom come up until the second year. The Red-
bud, Kentucky Coffee-tree and Yellow Wood need to have
boiling water poured on them, letting them stand for twenty-four
hours, then take those that have swollen, which are considered
fit for sowing, and treat the rest to a hot bath a^ain. The
Ailanthus, Catalpa, Mulberry, Birch and Alder are best sown in
spring as soon as the ground is dry enough to work. The Red
and White Maple, the Elm, and Betula nigra ripen early and
should be sown as soon as gathered, and if well cared for make
good plants the first year. Magnolias should not be sown out-
of-doors until the weather becomes warm. The Holly seldom
comes up until the second year. Such seed as that of Magno-
lias, Roses, Mountain Ash, Celastris, Viburnums, Araelanchiers,
and all fleshy, pulpy seed I macerate in water and wash out,

181)9.] KSSAY.S. 71

aiul sow or stnitity before they are dry. When seeds are sown
in the fall, as soon as the ground is frozen cover the bed with
a light covering of hay or pine needles, which will keep the
ground from heaving and the heavy spring rains from washing
up the seed. If closely looked after, the covering may be left
on until the seed shows signs of germination, when it should be
carefully removed. All seed-beds and rows should l)e kept free
from weeds, and as soon as seeds are up the ground should be
hoed or cultivated frequently. This causes the young plants to
push more vigorously and makes them better able to withstand
the drought. If the weather is very warm and dry the seed-
beds should have a good soaking of water once or twice a week,
and in the case of delicate seedlings they should be screened dur-
ing the heated term or until the plants are deeply rooted, when
they may be gradually inured to the weather. After the tirst of
September all watering should be stopped and the plants should
gradually be hardened so as to go into their winter quarters with
well ripened wood. At the approach of winter those sown in
drills will stand better if a plough is run between them, throw-
ing a furrow against the stems. This keeps the young plants
from heaving with the frost, and also keeps the water and ice
from settling round the young stems, which often causes great
injury. All the others should be mulched with leaves or short
manure.

Most all deciduous plants should be transplanted the follow-
ing spring if good shapely plants are desired. In my own work
I sow most of my seeds in boxes, as I find it more convenient
where I desire only a few hundred of a kind. They are far more
easily handled and the plants, especially nuts and oaks, trans-
plant more readily and with little or no loss. I call it the box
system. I procure a lot of boxes at a grocery store, of as uni-
form a size as possible, for they pack better in a six-foot frame
than various sizes. Canned goods or soap boxes are nearly
equal in size. With two cuts of the splitting saw you have
three fiats about three and a half to four inches. With one-half
inch auger I bore four or five holes in the bottom for drainage.
For the finer seed I drain the boxes with broken crocks, with

72 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

coarse siftings of peat or sod, or any coarse material that will
allow the moisture to pass off. Then I make a compost of two
parts rotten sod, one of peat and one of sand, and fill the boxes
with the compost and press down firmly. Sow the seed evenly
and cover according to its size. On one corner of the box I
plane a place, rub over with white lead, and write the name of
the seed and date of sowing. This takes only an extra minute,
and is of much value afterwards.

After sowing, the seed should have a sood waterins: to settle
the soil. The boxes can then be piled four or five deep in a
pit, or placed in a greenhouse. If in a pit, as soon as the boxes
are frozen, they should be covered with leaves to keep them so
until spring. If no [)it is available, they may be piled in a shel-
tered place and covered with leaves or other litter. In case of
the seeds which take one or two years to germinate, it will be
well to cover the boxes with boards, so that squirrels and mice
may not get at the seed. About April, put the boxes in frames
where they can get the morning sun, but not in a shady place.
Cover them with pine needles or sphagnum moss, which will
save a great amount of labor and waterino^. Winter the first
winter in a deep pit, slightly covered with leaves or meadow
hay. If no pit is available, three or four inches of pine needles
or leaves placed over them will keep them in good shape until
spring. But on no account should the boxes be left without
protection, as the young seedlings will sutler very much in so
little depth of soil. These boxes are from fourteen to sixteen
inches square and will hold from 100 to 200 plants, according
to their growth. The conifers, such as the Pine, Spruce, Larch,
Cedar and Hemlock, require more attention and care. It is al-
most impossible to grow many of the finer kinds in our New
England climate out-of-doors, although with care many of the
ordinary conifers can be grown out-of-doors. The seed may be
sown thinly, in rows or broadcast, about the 20th of May, slight-
ly covered, certainly not more than twice their own diameter.
If sown broadcast they should be lightly raked in and the bed
rolled with a light wooden roller. The beds should be covered
with screens to protect the young plants, partly from the sun

1899.] ESSAYS. 73

and partly from the l)irds which often pick up the youn<r sced-
liiijis which are just hreakinn jriomid. If no laths are handy,
the beds can be covered with Pine, Hemk)ck or Cedar branches.
As soon as the young plants begin to appear the branches should
be raised some inches above the ground. It is a good plan
where pine needles are plenty to cover the beds thinly between
the rows with them. This keeps down the weeds and saves
much watering.

The critical time for young conifers is the first three months
of their existence, until they have made a crown bud. After
that time there is very little danger. A great quantity of rain
or a scorching sun will often prove fatal to thousands. Stirring
the soil after heavy rains or sifting dry soil among the beds of
over-wet seedlings is a great benefit. After the muggy weather
of August is passed they require very little care for the rest of
the year. Pines should not stand more than two years in the
seed-bed unless sown very thin. The White, Black and Norway
Spruce will hardly be fit for transplanting until the second year.
The Larch and Arborvit* should be transplanted after the first
year. The seeds of Juniperus and Taxus do not germinate
until the second year. The Stone Pines lie on the ground un-
til the second year, although a few may come up the first year.
The seeds of conifers, with the exception of the Silver Firs,
will, if kept in a cool dry place, retain their germinating powers
for a number of years. White, Scotch and Austrian Pines and
Pitch Pines come up fairly well after being kept five years, and
might possibly have been several years older when received.

I have found by experience that too much moisture is fatal to
the germination of old seeds, and especially resinous or oily
ones. If sown in a soil barely moist and covered with dry
sphagnum to prevent the escape of the little moisture in the
soil, many will grow, while if treated in the ordinary way, the
seed will swell and then rot.

Many shrubs and trees can be grown from cuttings of old and
new wood, also by cuttings of the roots. Many trees and
shrubs otherwise hard to propagate by cuttings of the hard or
soft wood are easily propagated by pieces of the roots. The

74 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

Elm, Ailanthus, Plum, Pea, Apple, Hawthorn, Cherry,
Mountain Ash, Acanthopanax, Aralia, some Cornuses,
Philodendron, Xanthoceras sorbifolia, Nyssa multiflora, and
others are examples. Most of the shrubs are easily propagated
by soft wood, that is the growing wood, in summer-time under
glass, while most shrubs root readily from the young growth
but few of the trees will. The trees to root most readily from
hard wood are the Willows, Poplars and Plane-trees. Of the
shrubs that root most readil}*^ from hard-wood cuts are most of
the Loniceras, Hydrangea paniculata type, the Forsythia, Phila-
dcl|)hu:s Titiiarack, Privet, Spiraea, Sambucus, Rosa setigera
and Rosa lucida, Carolina, mannetia, multiflora, repens and
Wichuriana are the most easily rooted among the Roses ; many
of the Roses it is almost impossible to grow from hard wood.
Ribes, that is currants, and Gooseberry, Cornus of most species,
a few of the Viburnums, such as tomentosum dentatum and
varieties, Actinidia, most of the Grapes, Altha3as, Wigelias,
Deutzias and some others. Many plants root much more readily
from the green cuttings in summer than by hard-wood cuttings,
all the Viburnums, Cornuses, Ailanthus, Privets, Iberis berberis,
Euonymus, Spirjeas, Actinidias, Gordonia, Syringa Chinensis,
Caryopteris, Daphne Mezereum, Deutzias, Philadelphus Stepha-
nandra, hybrid Lilacs and others.

Fall is the best time to make hard-wood cuttings, although if
they are taken any time up to the middle of March they will do
well. The best height of most cuttings is five or eight inches.
Willows and Poplars may be much longer and thicker than those
of the shrubs. Good clean new growth of the previous year,
well-ripened, makes the best cuttings. T always like to cut the
cutting smooth just below an eye. Although it is not always
necessary, as soon as made tie up in bundles, say ibrty or fifty
in a bundle ; if the bundle is too large they are apt to heat. I
usually use copper wire to tie them as string is apt to rot, and
then follows confusion if you have many varieties. If your
ground is dry and well sheltered the cuttings may be planted in
the fall, otherwise it is best to heal them in winter, the butts
neat" the surface, and cover the whole several inches deep; and

1899.] KSSAYs. 7/)

over all a jrood coveriii": of niaiiuie or leaves to keep them from
freezing too hard in the sprinjr. They can be planted out in
jiursery rows or frames. If in frames, the rows need not he
more than eight or ten inches apart, and the cuttings three or
four inches apart in the rows ; if in nurseries, the rows may he
three feet apart if to be worked by horse-power, less if other-
wise. The soil should be deep and good, and if heavy or wet
well drained. Plant the cuttings to within one or two eyes of
the toj), and if the weather is dry they will require watering
several times until well rooted. Keep them well cultivated and
most of them will be good plants by fall, and at the end of the
second year tit to plant permanently. Where cuttings are
healed in inverted, as 1 have spoken of, they callous much quicker
and the tops are not so liable to start into growth so quickly
as they would otherwise, thus giving the cutting great advan-
tage over the one which is planted at once in the proper place
without this treatment.

In the orowino; of soft-wood cuttings a greenhouse or frames

or? O o

are necessary. They can be grown in boxes, pots or on a solid
l)ench. I prefer boxes thiee to four inches deep, and well
drained ; they are much handier than having the cuttings in the
solid bed, as they can be moved to different positions if needed.
Also if necessary they ctm be transferred to frames as soon as
rooted, to harden them up without disturbing them. The soft
cuttings will need much more attention and care than the hard
ones will, but in many cases I think they pay the best.

The time for putting in soft-wood cuttings is from the first of
June until the last of Sej)tember, the sooner after the first of
June the better, as the weather is not so hot then, and the early
rooted plants in many cases can be planted out in frames and
make good strong plants before frost. Make the cuttings
two to three inches long. Lath screens are needed for
the outside shade, on inside white cotton cloth. The
cuttings should never be allowed to wilt, and when collect-
ing them it is always well to have the watering-can with
you. Put in cuttings from one to two inches apart, according
to their sizes. Give a good watering to settle the sand, and

7(i WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

shade during hot sunshine for the first week or ten days, when
you can gradually dispense with the inside shade, but will still
need the outside scieen in very hot weather. Damp down the
floor several times a day to keep the air moist. In growing
plants from root-cuttings the roots arc to he cut up in lengths
of from two to eight inches, according to the habit of the plant.
They can be tied in bundles, right end up, and laid in damp
sphagnum moss until they show signs of growth, or planted in
beds, boxes or pots of sandy soil. They need to be kept moist
but not too wet, until they have started ; they do not require
shading as soft cuttings, but need the same treatment as growing
plants. As soon as large enough they need transjjlanting and
care. Other shrubs, like some of the Roses, some Spirteas,
Lilacs and others have stolons, tubers or underground stems ;
these can be cut up and treated the same as root-cuttings.

Many evergreens can l)e grown from cuttings, such as Thuya
retinosposa, Cedar, Junipers, Dwarf Spruce, Cephalotaxus and
Yews. It was not thought possible a few years ago to grow
Piceas from cuttings, but hy selecting the young sides growth
Picea Engelmanni and pungens can be grown from cuttings of
their own wood. The best cuttings of most conifers are the
ripened upgrowth of the last years taken off with a heal on it,
that is for the Spruces, Firs and Yews. The Junipers, Arbor-
viftes and Retinosporas take the small side branches. The best
time to take off cuttings of evergreens is in the fall and early
winter just before the hard frosts begin. While they will root
at other times, the more diflScult ones are best taken in the fall.
When first put in they need to be kept quite cool until they
callous, when more heat can be given them. The time of root-
ing varies with the si)ecies, many of the Arborvitffis and Retin-
osporas rooting in a few weeks and some of the Junipers in a
year or more. The cuttings should be put in well drained pots
or boxes, or in the case of a large establishment a whole bench
can be reserved for them. The cuttings in most cases should be
small, not more than a few inches in length. Evergreen cut-
tings are impatient of too much wet; nothing will rot them
(|uickcr. A temperature of 4") to 50 is high enough until they

1S1)9.] ESSAYS. 77

.'ire well calloused. While they do not require as much shade
as soft cuttings, a little shade the first few weeks is beneficial.
After they are well (calloused they will not need any ; after
having rooted their treatment should l)e the same as that of
other plants.

Many plants that are difficult to propagate by cuttings and are
wanted on their own roots can be had by layers. This is
prol)ably the surest way for an amateur, but it is slow ; but by
layering, many plants are had on their own roots which would be
almost impossible to get any other way. Layers are branches of
trees or shrubs either twisted or cut half-way through and buried
in the earth several inches, but not detached until they arc
rooted. Clematis, Magnolia, Rhododendron, Rose, Maple, Lin-
dens, Halesias, (Quinces, and in fact almost any plant can be
layered. Some root easily in a few weeks and others take
several years. Some layers, such as Clematis, Grape-vines and
Wistarias, can be layered at every few eyes as fast as they grow,
but this kind of layering needs to have the sap checked at every
place. You put it in the ground either by cutting half-way
through on the stem or twisting the branch so as to check the
flow of the sap. In most of the nurseries abroad, and some in
our own country, layering is carried on to a great extent. The
part of the nursery devoted to layering is usually called the stove
ground. Here two plants or sometimes several are planted in
groups three, four or more feet apart and layered every year or
every other year, as the case may be. Young clean wood of
the previous year is usually considered the best, so the plant is
grown and pruned so as to produce as much straight growth as
possible ; they are then bent down, turned or twisted or not, as
the case may be, and covered up with soil, and if the growth is
too rank the tops are pinched or pruned so as to regulate the
sap. In very dry seasons or in the case of choice plants these
layers are kept well watered and cultivated. It is not always
necessary to have a stove ground, for any branch or vine can be
brought down and the soil and conditions made good around it,
and success is sure to follow. The Magnolias, Maples, Rhodo-
dendrons, and other hard-wooded plants usually have to remain

78 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899,

on the parent plant two years, while Clematis, Grapes, Roses
and other quicker rooted plants are cut off from the parent
plants in the fall and healed in till spring or planted in the nur-
series. As soon as the rooted plants are taken from the stools,
a good dressing of manure is spaded in around the mother-
plant and it is pruned and trained for another season's growth.
Layering can be done any time, l)ut spring or early summer is
the l)est time. By layering such plants as Viburnums, Cornuses,
Hydrangeas, Loniceras, and others, salable plants can be had
in one season.

GRAFTING.

To go into the details of orrafting would be more than one
could do in a short paper. All trees can be grafted, and it is by
grafting that many curious forms of trees are perpetuated, as
well as most of our fruits. Many old orchards can be regrafted
with new species or varieties, thus renewing what otherwise
would be of no benefit. By grafting, wekk varieties can be made
stronger by grafting on a more vigorous stock ; others can be
dwarfed. New varieties can be tested by top-grafting on old
trees, and seedling fruits be brought to early bearing by the
same process, thus saving years of lime. To grow an apple or
pear from seed to fruit requires a great numl)er of years, but by
top-grafting on old trees only a few years. Thus you can
quickly find out you?" work of hybridizing, and if the variety is
worth anything whole orchards of it might be in bearing condi-
tion before the original plant was. It is not well to graft where
a tree can be produced equally as well and quickly by other
means. As I said before, I do not think grafted plants live as
long as those on their own roots, although there are some cases
where grafted plants have done much better than seedlings and
are less liable to disease.

There are many kinds of grafting, I think Baltet gives nearly
fifty, but they are all a modification of one another, and four or
five ways would be all that is necessary in practical work. Al-
most every propagator has his favorite : still those methods
practiced by skilful propagators are best, and may be summed up

1899.] ESSAYS. 79

:is tollowt! : inarching, l)ottle-graftino-, clot't -grafting, side-grafting,
crown-grafting, splice, tongue or whip-grafting, root-grafting and
veneer-srraftino'. The best season for straffing outdoors is in thi;
spring, when the sap is in motion, from March to June ; undei-
ghiss, with half-ripe wood, from August to the hist of September ;
and December to the hisl of March with dormant wood. Mid-
sunnner "grafting either in or out dooi's is not a success. In all
kinds of trraftino; it is better to have the stock started ahead
of the scion. A calm atmosphere and a warm temperature is
more conducive to success than a cold, wet one. The tools
necessary are a good saw, budding knife, grafting iron, pruning
shears, a bunch of raffia or wax cloth to keep the grafts in
place, and grafting wax to cover the wounds with and keep out
the water. All scions should be cut I>efore the sap begins to
How raj)idly, from January to the middle of March. Many
plants with slender stems are injured by freezing; these should
be cut in the fall before heavy frosts and kept in sand or moss
in a cool pit or cellar. For future use I find this especially
applicable to hybrid Roses when the wood is wanted for winter
use. A o:reat loss of ijrafts is sure to he the result if the wood
is not thoroughly ripened and collected before being hard frozen.
All scions, if possible, should be of medium growth and of well
ripened wood a year old. In some cases, such as Oaks, Hick-
ories, Biiches and Beeches, two and even three years old wood
often takes better than that of one year old.

Inarching, or grafting by approach, is without doubt the most
ancient of all grafting methods. From time to time Nature
gives us examples of it in roots or trees that have become unit-
ed where they have been bruised or pressed together. Man
was no doubt quick to perceive and take advantage of this hint,
and when once tried, improve upon it. A few years ago almost
till our Camellias, Azaleas and other hard-wooded plants were
worked in this way and in many continental nurseries it is still
in use. The time for inarching out-of-doors is from early spring
until July or August, while the tree or shrul) is in active growth,
and as the scions are still attached to the parent plant they can
be inarched in cither a woody or herbaceous state. The sim-

80 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

plest method is to remove from both stock and scion a thin slice

of the bark and from two to three inches lonff, then In-ins-

ing both cut surfaces together in such a manner that they will
tit exactly, tie firmly with bass or raffia and cover the wound
to keep out the air, although this is not always necessary.

Another kind of inarching is similar to tongue-grafting. An
incision is made in the stock and the scion, and the two are
bound together. In grafting by approach the trees or plants
must be in close proximity to each other. The plants to be
worked must be either planted around the stock tree or in pots
and so arranged on stoves or stands as to be easily brought in
contact with the branches of the stock tree. When the graft
has taken hold cutting it from the parent stem is an important
matter and should not be done too hurriedly. Make a small in-
cision at first, increasing it from time to time until the final sep-
aration, which may require several weeks.

Bottle-grafting is only another method of grafting by approach.
The lower end of the scion is inserted in a bottle of water to
keep it in good condition until the cut surfaces are united.

Cleft-grafting was practiced at a very early date and is a
method much in use now to top-graft old trees in orchards or to
renew individual trees as well as young stock that have become
too large to bud. In cleft-o:raftino; the stock is cut off with a
saw at a point at which to insert the scion, then smooth off the
surface, then with a grafting iron or knife split the stock
through the centre, being careful to divide the bark at the same
time so as to leave the part smooth. The scions are then cut
wedge-shaped and fitted into the cleft one on each side, making
sure that some part of the bark may come together. In large
stocks it is not necessary to bend the graft before watering, but
in shorter ones it brings the points in closer union. March and
April are the usual months for grafting out-of-doors.

Side-grafting. This term is applied to a number of pro-
cesses of grafting in which the head of the stock is not cut away.
The most simple side-graft is that in which the scion is cut with
a long splice perfectly smooth and thin to the bark : then from
this stock a thin strip of bark and wood two or more inches in

1899.] ESSAYS. 81

length is cut. Fit the harks exactly together and bind firmly.
This is a favorite method of grafting Azalias and Camellias,
and should be done under glass.

Crown-grafting is very similar to cleft-grafting. It is prac-
ticed in spring as soon as the l)ark is easily separated from the
wood, the stock being headed down several weeks before the
time of grafting. The scions should be cut with a flat sloping
cut on one side, but instead of splitting the stock the bark is
divided from the top downward and lifted as in budding. The
scion is then inserted under the bark. A small implement of
wood or ivory made in the form of the scion can be used to
advantage in preparing a place to insert the scion.

Tongue or whip grafting is the method most commonly used
in nurseries. For grafting young fruit-trees where the stock
and scion are nearly equal the scion is prepared with a long
sloping cut and the stock in the same manner. A small cleft
or si)lit is made about midway of the cut portion of both stock
and scion ; these are joined together and bound with waxed
cloths, then healed in boxes of sand or earth and planted out
in spring, leaving one eye above the surface.

All methods of ofraftinsr can be used on root-o-raftins;. The
Peony, Begonia, Wistaria, Rose, Clematis, Dahlia and many
others can be successfully worked on roots.

Side-grafting is one of the best methods of propagating
hard wood under glass and can be practiced from November to
April and from Auo:ust to October. In this mode of orraftinof
all plants should be potted the spring before. In grafting select
a smooth place on the stock and with a sharp knife make a
slight cut downward in the stock and slightly into the wood,
then insert the blade two or more inches above, cutting off a
thin slice of the wood down to the cross cut. A corresponding
slice is taken off the scion. They are then fitted together so
the two meet, tied firmly together and placed in closed frames
in the greenhouse slightly sprinkled overhead when necessary.
The frames must be kept closed the first few days, but as soon
they begin to unite more air must be given and gradually harden
them off.

Budding consists in taking a bud with a portion of bark

82 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

attached to it and inserting in some portion of another tree.
In order to do this a longitudinal incision is made through the
hark of the stock to the wood ; a cross cut is then made at the
upper end, forming a letter T, into which a bud previously
prepared is inserted. Some remove the inner bark and some
retain it. I do not think it makes much ditference. The l)est
buds are those in the centre of the stem. As soon as scions
are cut the leaf-blades should be removed, leaving a small })ortion
of the leaf-stalk, which facilitates the handling of the bud.
When the bud is titted bind it with bass above and below, leav-
ing only the bud and this leaf-stalk exposed. Most of our
nurserymen practice budding more than grafting as it is :i much
cheaper way of getting up stock than grafting.

In the propagation of plants by grafting it is fully as neces-
sary to know the kinds of stock to work on as it is to know
how to perform the operation. All Pines with tive needles,
like Cembra pervifolia and others, do well on P. Strobus. The
Scotch and Red Pine will do for all the other Pines. Picea
pectinata and P. balsamea will do for the Silver Firs, Retino-
spora and Arborvita? for all the varieties of the Arborvila>
Thuja, common Hemlock for all its varieties, Red Cedai for all
the Junipers, common Larch for all Larches, Euonymus Euro-
))eus for all Euonymus, the Locust for all species of Robinin,
Caraofana Aborescens for all Carao;anas, Viburnum Dentatum
and Opulus for all Viburnums, Ulmus Compestris for all
English Elms and Ulmus Americana for American varieties,
Quercus Rubra for all Oaks, Betula Alba for Birches, English
Hazel for all species and varieties of Hazel, Mazzard Cherry
for Standard and Mahaleb Cherry for Dwarf, Prunus Americana
and Mirabelle make good stock for all Peaches, Plums, Nec-
tarines, and Apricots, Pear for standard Pears, (Quince for Dwarf
Pears, Clematis Flamnmla and Paniculata for all Clematis,
Dwarf Magnolia Tripetnia and Acuminata for all Magnolias,
Honey Locust for all species and varieties of Gleditschia, Vitis
Labrusca and V. Aestivalis for Hardy Grapes. Pyrus Toringo
is the best stock for all flowering Apples. There are others
that need special stocks, but I think this list serve for most of
the plants in this section.

2nd March, A. D. i8gg.

ESSAY

BY

Mrs. DELIA F. COREY, Nokthboro, Mass.

Theme: — The Early Education of Glnldren,

IiN attempting to say anything on this subject, I realize that
many great minds and hearts have given their best strength to
it, and what can 1 hope to do with so great a theme save to
l)rino[ together the results of the investigations of others with
perhaps a few thoughts of my own ! The child is a being of
three-fold nature, and nuist be treated as such in our efforts to
i)ring him to most complete maturity. Considered and devel-
oped as either a physical, an intellectual, or a moral being
simply and the result is a deformed thing pitiful to see.

I believe the tendency of the present day is to treat the child
as an intellectual being simply. Public instructors and edu-
cators seem anxious to learn new methods of instruction and to
acquire greater skill in developing the mental power, and but
little is said of the physical, and less of the moral, nature. Mr.
Anagnos once said in a lecture that from what he had learned of
our schools he was convinced that American children were
hurried into and through subjects that they could not digest in
their school life ; and it is true that we begin the process of
training with our little ones while they are yet babies, sending
them to kindergarten at any age between three years and five
and continuing till, as we say, they are finished — in academy or
college. Many of our girls are so nearly finished in our high
schools that it is rare to find one whose bodily health has not
become somewhat impaired ; at least, as we say, she has become

84 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1(S99.

nervous. Does it seem as if Whittier could have referred to
American o-jrls wiien he wrote of girlhood

" With its solid curves
Of healthful strength
And painless uerves."

As a race the Americans have developed a nervous energy,
perhat)s by generations of living in this country that has })roved
a splendid possession, not only in the development of the country
but of the race. V\ e need not be surprised, then, at its appear-
ance in the children, but we must remember that, unduly
excited, it will react upon a feeble or immature body to its
injury. Do we act wisely in our attempt to follow the sturdy
Germans in providing kindergarten schools for our nervous
American babies?

It seems to me that a s^ood wholesome lettins; alone, as far as
mental stimulation goes, during the tirst seven or eight years of
life might be a benetit to us as a people. Such a course must
result in fewer pale, puny, little children in our schools, fewer
delicate, nervous boys and girls, and stronger men and women.
The malady common to us, known among foreign physicians as
Americanitis, would certainly receive a check. It is excep-
tional to find a strong, vigorous mind in a feeble body. When
shall we lay the foundations of health and strength if not in
childhood?

By my own observation I have found that a delicate child
may be made strong by insisting upon abundant sleep, nourish-
ing food, an out-door life, as far as our climate admits, and
merry companionship during the first seven years of life, no
intellectual stimulus pure and simple being allowed. A healthy
child l)y this course lays the foundation of strong, vigorous
maturity. It is generally believed that keeping the child from
school till eight years of age makes him backward in his school
work, but I am convinced that this is not true. A child of
average ability, eight years old, easily takes the first two years'
work in one year, and a quick, bright child can take the first
three years. He is generally able also to combine the third and
fourth, or fourth and fifth years.

18()1).] ESSAYS. S/)

DuriiiiT the tiiiie uikKu- eiii^lit, llio child, thouuh not in srhool,
need not he idle. He is " near to nature's heart," and all that
she has to reveal to his bright eyes and his active fingers arc
very real to him. Many and valuable are the lessons she will
teach him on the beauty and sacredness of the life around him
that will influence him all his subsecjuent life. The little child
will learn much if left entirely to himself, but if a lover of
nature can be his companion much more real good may be
accom[)lished. It seems to me that it is not necessary that the
teacher in this case shall he prop'cient in natural science, though
better so, but it is necessary that he shall have a nature-loving
heart. While a child looks upon a bird as something to call
forth his skill in throwing a stone, or rabbits and squirrels as
things to be trapped, beetles and caterpillars as something
horrible, he is at variance with nature; he cannot understand
her message. " Eyes has he, but they see not."

I have seen children rush to their teacher, a butterfly or
wounded bird crushed in their little hands, with the air of a
hunter bringing in his ffame, but when the teacher has taken the
little creature, smoothed out the ruffled wings with tender hands
and explained that it was suflering, the little man or woman was
immediately anxious to do everything possible to relieve the
pain, often much ajfected because of the injury done.

I fear that parents often underrate the value of teaching of
this kind in the formation of kind and gentle traits of character.

The child may learn much of the character and habits of birds,

insects, and flowers without knowing a technical term ; and

habits of keen, accurate observation may be formed that will

prove invaluable in after life. It is a great thing to start right

in life, in harmony with the environments in which God has

placed us. When a little child has learned that the same great

God that created and loves him, also made and cares for all about

him, even the feeblest and tiniest; that life is a wonderful, a

sacred thing to be guarded, not destroyed, — he is in harmony

with nature and nature's God — he is ready for life. This truth

may be and I think, is hest learned under eight years of age,

without greater stimulation of the intellect than is conducive to
7

86 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

the best physical development. It will be observed that all out
doors is the schoolroom, that these fundamental truths come
from his observations made in playtime, and that there is no
suggestion of a task to be done. This kind of nature work
should be carried on through every year of school life, with
more and more attention given to details as the student advances.
This kind of orjo^inal investigation is invaluable in the formation
of strong, self-reliant character. We take our pills as they arc
prepared for us, sugar-coated often, that we may not lealize
what we are taking, but the eternal truth cannot be taken in
doses prepared by another, but in order that it become our very
own, and really add to our strength, we must by our own efforts
gain it.

In our town, we try to interest the children in the birds and
flowers. We have those among our citizens, prominent among
them Miss Edith Barnes, who addressed this Society recently,
who are able and willing to give time for bird walks, which our
teachers generally attend ; and they, in their turn, take the
children on similar excursions. Thus they become quite enthu-
siastic in watching for the return of our little songsters and in
studying their habits during the summer. Perhaps the children
are equally anxious to search fields and wood for wild flowers.
I believe this an eflbrt in the right direction, encourairing orio;-
inal investigation, and beneficial to the health.

Right here, perhaps, it will not be amiss to say that I most
heartily approve the efforts of this Society in encouraging the
study of our wild flowers by our women in their homes. I have
been delighted to see two of my neighbors, young women,
mothers of children, roaming over woods and fields with flushed
cheeks and shining eyes, in search of the daintiest and rarest of
our lovely wild flowers. And they took prizes, too, several of
them.

I also approve, as a means of education, of the attempts of
this Society to encourage children to cultivate flowers. 1 don't
know what plan has been followed, but it seems to me I should
try to have the gardening extremely simple in the beginning,
taking the hardiest plants, like nasturtiums or petunias. If ray

1891).] ESSAYS. 87

own Jittle one were tlie gurdeuor, 1 would see uiysolf tliut she
did not fail to have good results at first. It is so discouraging
to a child, and, perhaps, to an adult as well, to fail ; so hard to
begin again or to love the svork. The lesson learned of the
necessity of being faithful every day are invaluable. The plant,
then, that gives us the best return for a small outlay of time
and skill, — a vine, a shrub, or a rose-bush, — anything that may
be his very own to cultivate, and will {)robably do well in the
care that he is able to give it, in my judgment, is the best lor a
beginning.

In our own family, we have given the boys a small hotbed,
using small-size sash ; or a piece of ground for a garden in
which they raise lettuce and vegetables, send them to market
and receive the returns for their own use. We have thought that
this IS a valuable experience, for several reasons that doubtless
occur to you, as a means of education.

It is very important that our little children form right ideas
of things — that they get the true view. We quote glibly
enough, "As the twig is bent the tree's inclined." But when
does the child cease to be a tender twig that can easily be bent?
Does it not become more and more difficult to influence him
after he has become associated with other and older children?
You know how surprised and grieved a little boy is as he sees
the older boys torment a dog, stone frogs, pull out the legs of
flies and beetles, and the hundred and one things of that sort that
children see opportunity to do. It is sad to see how soon even
the tenderest-hearted little fellow among them ceases to be
shocked and falls into line with the young ruffians. This is the
beginning of the hardening process, extending through all the
phases of ill treatment of companions and elders, disrespect for
law and order, ending, in some cases, in the village or city
hoodlum, with all his possibilities.

Now a little one, five years old — the age at which children
are allowed to enter school — and a majority do start in at that
age, has had neither time, ability nor opportunity to get any
very definite conceptions of his relations to things about him.
He is now preeminently a tender twig. If only he may bo

88 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

trained upward into the sunlight of truth and right ! Think of
the power that comes into the hands of the older children whom
he meets on the playground, to turn his life toward good or
evil. (1 do not mean that his character will be formed during
the next three years, but I do believe it will receive a bent that
will probably be followed.) How much of the time is their
play supervised? Who knows what that older child is telling
the little ones as they cluster around him in the sunny corner?
I believe the city and village school-children are Jiiore fortunate
than those of the country district-school in the respect of super-
vised [)layyards. These " ragged beggars sunning," generally
in some secluded spot, often with no human habitation within
sight or hearing, afford every opportunity to the bad boy or
girl to vitiate the whole school. Thus isolated, the children are
shut in to the influence which there prevails, whether good or
bad. The homelife may be narrow, but there is little chance of
help reaching them from the more cultivated centres. The
closing of these outlying schools and bringing the pupils to the
village is a blessing to the country children living on the out-
skirts of the town, in my opinion.

The village hoodlum is getting to be as grave a problem as
the city tough, fully as much to be feared. Often he is not a
foreio;ner, but a descendant of the first settlers, havinjj had the
advantages of country life and district-school training. Cowper
may sigh " for a lodge in some vast wilderness," but it certainly
is not a good place in which to bring up children, or to build a
district schoolhouse. The attempt of some cities to provide
playgrounds for the children during the summer by opening
the schoolyards is good. It is very good, because suitable per-
sons either volunteer or are hired to care for the little ones and
oversee their play.

An ideal plan, it seems to me, for the early education of little
children, that could easily be carried out in the country, but in
the city would be a little more difficult, would be to have them
enter school at about eight years of age. In the city, parks
reasonably accessible to the children should be provided, not
beautifully-kept parks, with smoothly-shaven lawns decorated

1899.] ESSAYS. 89

with signs " kee[) ofl" the grass," nor gravelled walks, nor raie
plants necessitating the employment of a gardener, hut a jiiece
of land like that used for pasturage in the country. A wall
should be built around it that would secure quiet and seclusion
as far as possible. In it should be planted wild flowers, in such
nooks as would best suit each variety, and there they would
blossom through spring, summer and autumn, — from arbutus to
goldenrod. Trees should be set out, — Maples, alders, beeches,
pines, birches, — shruhheri/, such as we find growing by the
country roadside ; bushes and vines, such as we find in pastures.
There should be water — either a pond or a brook — in some
part of it. In short, it should be as full of wild plant and
animal as well as insect life, as by any contrivance it could be
made.

This could not be a public place, but must be kept as care-
fully from depredators as a schoolroom. During as many days
of the year as possible, the little children under eight years of
a^e should come in classes of a dozen or twenty, at stated times
during the day, for an hour or two's walk and talk with a
teacher provided by the school board. Any teacher who failed
to awaken the interest, sympathy and love of the little ones
for the life about them should be considered unsuccessful.

This plan could be followed in the country without the
expense of preparing a park, as everything is there arranged by
Mother Nature in the best possible manner. When a child has
become acquainted with life, — animal, insect and plant, — has
really seen it in the right way, has learned that animals suffer
pain and fear when we are not gentle in our treatment, that they
love and trust us when we are kind, that insects sutler, that
their little life is easily destroyed, that plants are living beings,
that with careless hands we may tear them from their home and
they will die, — the thoughtless, even cruel treatment that so
often helpless life sutlers at the hands of children will be im-
possible. I have heard that the Romish Church says, "Give
me the children till they are seven years of age and any one
may have them afterwards"; and 1 fully believe that we should
seize that most impressible period of a child's life to leach him

90 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

the truth concerning the rights and privileges of the life about
him and his relations to it. Ordinarily, the child, in the lirst
grades of public schools, is taught of animals by the use of
pictures, and while pictures are much better than nothing, they
are entirely inadequate.

It is possible for a little child to love the horse, cow, sheep,
dog, or other animal in the picture, and to be entirely unac-
quainted with the living creature. Besides, while we are doing
our best to teach the wonders of fros: life, from the egor to the
wonderful changes to froghood, Billy Jones has taught the boys
always to approach the frog pond with stone in hand, to watch
patiently for them and to aim well ; in short, they have become
persuaded that the frog has no other purpose in living than to
furnish sport for the boys. Now B. Jones has a great advantage
over the teacher, who has the pictures simply, for he presents
the real object, rouses the keenest interest and enthusiasm, and
thereby makes an indelible impression. Now, we want to take
the little fellow while B. Jones scorns him, while his legs are
too short to keep up with the fellows and his hand too little and
weak to throw a stone with any chance of hitting anything that
he aims at; we want to take him to the park to become
acquainted with mamma frog and all the taddies, watch all the
wonderful changes, and deneloj) that interest that he will imme-
diately feel in them.

You will readily see that domestic animals — the cow, horse,
sheep, goat — could easily be made to feel at home in the park
for a few days at a time, and the children would have oppor-
tunity to become acquainted with them. Foxes, raccoons,
scjuirrels, mice, rabbits, etc., could also be accommodated in
cages till the children could see and know them. Our birds,
too, I am sure, would iind their way to such a spot if only they
could, in some way, be protected from the belligerent English
sparrow. I know that the fairy tales illustrating kindness
toward animals would be appi-eciated and enjoyed by children
of this age, and they would be very helpful, too Plain, hard
facts do not appeal to these little ones so strongly as facts
clothed in imagery, be it ever so sitnple. To speak of a pansy,

1899.] ESSAYS. 91

for instjin(;e. as hi-ii^lit, beautiful, many-colored or fragrant,
does not appeal to a child as to speak of it as a dear little face
looking up into his.

As a teacher looks into a row of little faces, innocent, trust-
ful, he realizes, as perhaps never before, the meaning of the
words of ffesus, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." How
honest, earnest, consecrated the teacher needs to be who has
the privilege of wielding so powerful an influence over the life
at its beginning. Is there ever a more favorable time to bring
them to the truth as expressed in the life around them, or, is
there anything that appeals more strongly to the awakening
consciousness of little children?

8th February, A. D. 1899.
ANNUAL REUNION AND SOCIAL GATHERING.

59x11 Anniversary of Organization and
57th of Incorporation.

Reception Committee, President O. B. Hadvven, Secretary
A. A. Hixon, Col. Samuel E. Winslow, Calvin L. Hai'tfhorn,
Maj. F, G. Stiles, Hon. Nathaniel Paine, Charles Greenwood,
Frederick H. Chamberlain, Frederick A. Blake of Rochdale,
Hon. Henry L. Parker, H. F. A. Lange, John C. Maclnnes,
A. Swan Brown, Hon. F. A. Harrington, Hon. Ellery B.
Crane, Prof. C. F. Hodge, Joseph Jackson, Henry B. Watts
and John B. Bowker.

The guests and members began to assemble at six o'clock and
they were welcomed by the reception committee in the library
room, where the distinguished personages assembled, the rest
gathering in the main hall, where Bicknell's Orchestra played a
concert.

At 6.30 President Hadwen and Henry L. Parker, toastmas-
ter for the evening, took their places at the head of the long
column of people and marched up the stairs to the banquet
room above, where C. S. Yeaw served the supper. The speak-
ers and guests of honor took seats at a table along the north
side and the other tables, at right angles to this, were lilled by
the main body of the company, which overflowed into the ante-
rooms.

PRESIDENT 0. B. HADWEN
l)egan the after-dinner exercises with a welcome to members
and guests. He gracefully drew a picture of the place Hor-
ticulture and its kindred arts have played in civilization.

1899.] ANNUAL REUNION. 93

He said in the \nist almost everywhere rough nature has been
subdued and the earth has been moulded into forms of beauty.
The roadsides and the homes of almost all classes testify to the
increasing love for the beautiful in nature and show its enno-
bling influences. Each successive year shows a gratifying pro-
gress in the towns which surround our city.

I feel we are reaping no scanty harvest from the seeds of
good works sown by the founders of this society. I feel this
society is doing well its difficult work by encouraging careful
discrimination in the search for perfection of culture. If we
implant in the minds of the young a love and reverence for the
beautiful in the nature about us we will have inculcated the best
teaching that it is possible to give.

The j)eriod which has elapsed since this society was founded
has been marked by the introduction of more important im-
provements in every direction than any like period of the
world's history. Mr. Hadwen closed by introducing Henry L.
Parker as toastmaster.

Mr. Parker said the members of the society take great pride
in the fact that they own this hall, and that they can gather in
so many representatives of kindred societies and states. Last
year has been an eventful one. When we gathered last there
were nmtterings of war. Since then war has been fought and
we have been ceded a vast amount of territory. What will be
done with this territory, whether we help to provide for those
countries a good government, or whether we keep them as a
part of the United States, is a question yet to be settled, though
the latter course is a consummation not devoutly to be wished.
However, there can be no doubt ihe results of the war will
be of immense consequence to horticulture. Of the 1(), 000, 000
acres in Cuba, only 2,000,000 are under cultivation, and yet
there can be grown there almost all the crops of the earth and
grown the year around. All that is necessary to do is to tickle
the crop with a hoe.

There are three horticultural societies represented here,
which are the oldest in the country, — the Massachusetts, the
Worcester and the Rhode Island Societies. It gives me pleasure

94 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

to introduce J. E. C. Farnhani, President of tiie Rhode Island
Society.

Mr. Farnham said the poet has told us that one touch of
nature makes the whole world kin, and he felt the force of that
remark anew as he looked on the faces of the people before him,
who had participated in the same good fare. Horticulture has
come to be a very important industry in the great marts of trade.
From New York to California there are poured into our section
the fruits of all the country. Trades focalize and come together,
and we work each for all and all for each. I have been
impressed with the strength of this Society. I congratulate you
on the possession of this magniticent property. From this
section of the country has gone forth the brain and brawn and
intelligence and energy which has made the country what it is.
Back of the industries we come back to the maiden soil.

B. P. Wake, of Marblehead, Vice-President of the Massachu-
setts Horticultural Society, spoke for that organization. We
in Boston could not get up such an occasion as this, for we lack
the social elements. You may be surprised when I tell you I
used not so many years ago to team into Boston with a two-horse
load of cabbages, and there met a Worcester man with a one-
horse load of huckleberries, and we swapped loads. We are
noted in Marblehead for our cabbage heads. Marblehead cab-
bages teamed all the way to Worcester was a fact only a com-
paratively short time ago.

You send your products down to Boston and beat out our
farmers and other places, and there are a few market gardeners
in Worcester who bring down to Boston stuff which always win
prizes.

Samuel T. Maynard, Professor of Horticulture in Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, spoke for the Massa-
chusetts Fruit Growers' Association, which he called a child of
the Horticultural Society. Prof Maynard defended the institu-
tion against a charge that the Agricultural College was doing
much the same work as the other educational institutions of the
State. The college has graduated 500 men, of whom 40 per

1899.] ANNUAL HKUNION. 95

cent, are ensfaored in some line of ao^ric'ulture. This low per-
centage is due to a public sentiment, even among the agricultural
communities, that farming is a " low down " occupation. We
need more students, and with our splendid equipment can
accommodate 200 more. Send us some of that 200 and we will
return them to you as well fitted for the business of life as the

graduates of any classical or other institution of learning.

»

Postmaster J. Evakts Greenk was introduced as a trustee
of the public reservations. He gave an account of that institu-
tion's aims and what it has accomplished in preserving historic
memorials.

John Farquhar of Boston said there is no doubt horticulture
is on the forward march and New England is in the front rank.
Mr. Farquhar said he wished the Massachusetts Society had as
good a home in a central location as the Worcester Society.
The progress of horticulture in the United States is shown by
the exportation of vegetables to England, whereas the tide was
running the other way a few years ago.

Clarence F. Carroll, superintendent of the public schools,
of Worcester, spoke of the influence of horticulture as an educa-
tional force and a remedy for this great artificiality which is
coming more upon us in the future. The threatening element
in this artificial life is the tendency away from nature and the
spontaneous growth. The two forces that will offset the dangers
of over-civilization are the existence of societies like this
horticultural society, which we should all try to co-ordinate
with the public schools, and the public schools which should
save us from artificiality and barrenness of life.

At 9.15 o'clock the speaking closed, and the party adjourned
to the main hall for dancing. The platform was beautifully
decorated with Palms, Ferns and flowers from the conservatories
of Hon. Stephen Salisbury. The banquet tables were profusely
decorated with bouquets and vases of Narcissus, Snap-dragon,
Carnations, Hyacinths, Callas, Ferns, Roses, and Lilies con-

96 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

tributed by H. F. A. Lange, Fred. A. Blake, C. D. Thayer,
H. B. Watts, A. W. Hixon, and others.

Committee in charge of dancing : Arthur J. Marble, Floor
Director; W. K. Stanley, C. D. Thayer, Will. T. Allen, Fred.
H. Hammond, Arthur Hartshorn, Henry Rich, Edward Watts,
Aids.

Among the Guests and Members were : President O. B.
Hadwen, Hon. Henry L. Parker, George Cruickshanks, Hon.
Henry A. Marsh, Hon. Nathaniel Paine, Col. Samuel E. Wins-
low, Benjamin P. Ware of Marblehead, Warren C. Jewett and
wife. Prof. Samuel T. Maynard, Amherst; Postmaster J.
Evarts Greene, John Farquhar and wife of Boston ; J. E. C.
Farnham and wife. Providence; C. W. Smith, Supt. C. F.
Carroll, Miss Stella Carroll, Principal Homer P. Lewis, Secy.
Adin A. Hixon, John S. Baldwin, John H. Hemingway, John

C. Maclnnes and wife, Hon. Ellery B. Crane and wife, George
Calvin Rice, Senator Francis A. Harrington, William Hart, Col.
James M. Drennan and wife, John B. Bowker and wife, Hon.
J. Lewis Ellworth, Miss Marian Knight, Miss Gertrude M.
Parker, Miss Gooding, A. W. Andrews and wife, H. L. Adams
and wife, W. P. Thayer and wife, S. T. Pierce and wife, H.
W. Thayer and wife, Miss Keyes, Miss Sheldon, Miss L. Coul-
son. Miss Lowell, C. T. Foster, Mrs. Frank E. Holt, Charles
E. Bond and wife, Mrs. A. D. Flagg, Miss Ellen M. Flagg, J. L.
Estey, Mrs. George Estey, F. W. Hixon and wife, Charles E.
Neale and wife, J. F. Thayer, Anna C. Svedberg, L. M. Wood-
man and wife, A. H. Gould, W. D. Ross, Miss Eldridge, Ed.
J. Watts, Miss Florence E. Watts, M. E. Atherton, Charles

D. Thayer, Maj. F. G. Stiles and wife, Lieut. Samuel Hath-
away, Calvin L. Hartshorn and wife, Arthur J. Marble and
wife, W. K. Stanley and wife, Miss Gracie H. Stanley, Miss
Leola Golie, Miss Sarah Gates, Allyne W. Hixon, W. I. Allen
and wife, Mary C. P. Landers, Miss L. M. Hildreth, Isaac
Hildreth and wife, C. B. Winslow and wife, ^ Mrs. Thomas
Ward, H. B. Watts and wife, Varnum P. Curtis, Fred E. War-
ner and wife, Fred L. Chamberlain and wife. Miss Luella E.

1899.] ANNUAL RKUNION. 97

Potter, Frank C. Parker, W. J. Wheeler and wife, C. A.
Ballon, E. A. Weeks and wife, H. Woodward and wife. Miss
Gerr}', F. A. Blake and wife, Hon. E. I. Comins and wife,
Charles B. Eaton and wife, Oliver S. Morey and wife. Miss
Grace A. Chamberlain, J. A. Smith, Miss Rena Ball, Ellis
Brown, Miss Amy Perkins, Edward Jones, E. C. Henchman
and wife, E. J. Allen, Henry Putnam, A. R. King, Charles H.
Marble, Henry Marble, Norman B. Parsons, Miss Anna G.
Parsons, Miss Sarah F. Bennett, Miss C. E. Bennett, Mrs. A.
W. Darling, Clarence E. Johnson, Miss Bertha J. Whitton,
Miss Amy Williams, Henry W. Moore, James L. Marshall, J.
Neilson, F. B. Madaus, H. R. King and wife, George M. Coe,
Herbert R. Kinney and wife, Mrs. C. B. Johnson, Chester F.
Cutting and wife, Miss Marion Otis Midgley, F. H. Hammond
and wife and Miss Hammond, Miss Myra L Hammond, G. H.
Foster, Mrs. Coulson, W. E. Sargent.

From out of town were : Ethelbert Bliss, Wilbraham ; John
G. Avery, Spencer; Augustus Pratt, Middleboro ; E. A. Bart-
lett and wife, Shrewsbury; C. H. Green and wife, Spencer;
E M. Bruce and wife, Leominster; David L. Fiske and wife,
Grafton ; the Misses Fiske ; A. G. Sharp, Arthur J. Hobbs,
Pembroke, N. H. ; J. Elton Green, Spencer ; Abel F. Stevens
and wife, Wellesley ; Charles E. Parker and wife, Holden ; S.

D. Ward, Shrewsbury; W. U. Maynard, Shrewsbury ; George
Mc Williams and wife, Whitinsville ; H. A. Cook, Shrewsbury ;

E. W. Breed, Clinton.

gth March, A. D. 1899.

ESSAY

BY

ABEL F. STEVENS, Wellesley, Mass.

Theme:— New Methods in Horlicidlure.

Horticulture, the earliest employment of man, is also one
of the most attractive. It is the poetry of agriculture ! A
taste for this delightful vocation is almost universal in this
country. That garden in which Adam and Eve were placed
was the primitive paradise ; and to this day a tastefully arranged
and judiciously planted garden, with fragrant flowers and deli-
cious fruits, has still lingering about it many of the charms we
are wont to attribute to the original Eden. And to every true
lover of horticulture it seems, in the fulness of its summer
benuty and autumnal fruitage, to be indeed almost a " Paradise
Regained."

Among the most gratifying evidences of progress in horticul-
ture, are the new methods in culture and the numerous acquisi-
tions of new and valuable varieties of fruits, by which the
season is greatly prolonged by the accessions of earlier and
later varieties, by the better knowledge in the keeping and pack-
ing of fruits, and the facilities of transportation. Our markets
and tables are now supplied with delicious fruits throughout the
entire year, with such a variety as no other nation can produce !
The progress of invention, the developments of science, and the
spur of enterprise are indeed grand in other departments of
industry, but in all this the fruit culture of our own dear State
will have its full share. The great need of our horticulture
today, in all of its departments, is "Brains"; for the practi-
cal progressive cultivator who is up-to-date must be a man of

1899. J KssAYS. 99

broad libenil education. He needs to know in a specitic way
the chemical elements of the soil, of his fertilizers, and fruits ;
he, therefore, should understand chemistry. He should be
famih'ar with the structure of plants, the science of plant life,
botany. It is re(|uired of him to know the habits of those
insects that j)rey on his trees, and how to destroy them. As
well should he know those insects that are aiding him in his
labors, therefore must have a knowledge of entomology. In
fact there is no employment on earth which calls for more
broadly cultivated minds than the profession of horticulture.
And we fully believe that our agriculture will never take the
high rank that it is entitled to, until men everywhere recognize
it as the "most learned of all the professions. And as that
vocation upon the success of which depends the whole fabric of
human society."

Fruit growers are the benefactors of the race. Who can
estimate the importance and value as a factor in our national
wealth, of a new variety of fruit which shall be adapted to all
soils and locations of our rapidly extending cultivation? He
who shall originate such a fruit should be held in remembrance
;is a benefactor of mankind. What greater temporal comforts
can we leave to our children and friends than the fruits of the
orchard and garden? What more valuable testimonials of a
})hilanthropic life than the trees we plant for fruit for the future
generations to enjoy ? The man who plants a fruit tree is a
benefactor of his day and generation !

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD FRUIT.

As all fruits are raised to eat, we must give the tirst place of
honor to \iQ eating qualities . Next in importance, is durability,
or its keeping properties. The third requisite is size, w^hich
should be of good uniform shape, neither monstrous nor small.
As beauty in form, as well as in color, will always be of great
value in market fruit, brilliant colors will always charm the eye,
although they may not gratify the taste. So in our endeavors
to perfect new varieties of delicious fruits we must regard as
the chief requisites : tirst, cjuality ; second, value for general

100 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [ISOJ).

cultivation; third, uniformity of shape ; fourth, beauty of color.
All of these special points of a good variety of fruit should be
the standard of every grower.

All these, combined with vigor of growth, hardiness, and
productiveness in the trees or vines, will be an invaluable acqui-
sition to our list of standard fruits. As a rule, a variety suc-
ceeds best in the locality of its origin. There are two methods
of producing new kinds; viz. by seeds and by hybridization.
Let us sow the seeds of our best fruits. Also, with care, skill
and judgment commingle the pollen of two of the best species
and the production of a seedling from this union, and thus
produce new and improved varieties.

HOW TO MARKET FRUIT.

There is always room at the top for the successful fruit
grower, and there always will be.

There is no escape from over-production and ruinous compe-
tition, from every point, except through higher and betler pro-
duction. Kaise fruit that readily catches the eye by its tine
form and bright color, put it up in A No. 1 style, in neat,
clean, new boxes or barrels, baskets or crates, all neatly sten-
cilled with the grower's full name and fruit farm on each.

Always grade your fruit with care and courage, and never
mix the grades in same package. Before putting in the fruit,
place a piece of white paper, the same shape and size of inside of
barrel head or box cover, with your advertisement as a fruit
grower neatly printed upon it. Now tace the first three layers
stem downward and fill to the top with the saw^e. quality. In
filling, shake often, round up the top and press firmly. Cover
with another heading of printed paper. Secure firmly the head
or cover. Now turn on the other end and stencil it with qual-
ity, variety, and address of grower. When the high quality of
your fruit is knoion,, it will find its ovm buyer and cominand
its own price!

CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL.

To conserve moisture in the soil for the growth and develop-
ment of the plants, for the disintegration of compact soil, to

18!)9.] ESSAYS. 101

oiuil)lc the soil to absorl) the niiiifull more (juiekly, and inainlMiii
it nearer the roots of the growing plants, also to admit fresh
air, and enable them to penetrate the soil, thexe are the primary
reasons for cultivation. And the princi[)al objects for subse-
quent tillage, whether by plow, harrow, or hoe, are to prevent
loss of water by the growth of weeds, &c. Also to keep the
surface covered with loose, dry mulch, in order to prevent
loss of moisture by evaporation. The principles of good plow-
ing seem to be almost one of the " lost arts," for as we see, in
so many sections, the same old custom of plowing for successive
years the same field at exactly the same depth. Thus forming
a compact subsoil below the plow rendering it impervious to
water, the injurious effects are twofold ; viz., it makes it more
difficult for the rainfall to be absorbed as rapidly as it falls, and
increases the danger of loss of water and injury to the soil by
surface washinor and erosion of fields into gullies. These can
be [)revented by deeper cultivation and leaving the subsoil in a
loose and absorbent condition.

SUBSOILING.

The practical value of which will be seen in the beneficial
effect on the growing plants and increased crops, especially in
the orchards and vineyards, as well as in the berry fields.
The true principles of subsoiling. We would lay down for
guidance these rules, viz. : it is rarely necessary in light,
porous, sandy soils ; it is not beneficial in heavy, wet soils
unless they are previously and thorowjhly underdrained ; and
it is likely to be injurious if much of the subsoil is brought to
the top and incorporated into the surface soil, as it is generally
sour, unhealthy and contains poisonous matter, which would be
deleterious to plant growth.

The highest art of cultivation which has ever l)ecn practiced
is that of trenching, so extensively employed in Europe and so
earnestly advocated by all great agricultural writers. No
known implement is so effective for loosing and improving the
soil as the spade, as it does not cut the soil fro7n the subsoil as
the plow, but breaks it off and there is no compacting of the
8

102 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

soil beJoir that point. Notice the difference of tilth of a spaded
garden and of a ploived field. The ideal system of cultivation
for our fruit-producing trees and plants can be made only by
suitable implements specially adapted to the required work.
We have found the best ones in the Steel Swivel Plow ; the
Pick-tongued Subsoil Plow ; the Spading, Cutaway, and Acme
Harrows ; the Plank Drag ; and Harrow-toothed Cultivator.

FERTILITY.

In maintaining proper fertility we attach great importance to
the preservation of humus in the soil, as it performs different
functions, which are of the greatest importance in crop produc-
tion. For it influences the temperature, tilth, permeability,
absorption, weight and color of soils, and controls to a high
degree their supply of water, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and
potash. Humus is added to the soil by application of organic
matter in the form of stable manures, decayed animal and vege-
table matter. The marked difterence between old wornout soils
and that of new virgin soils — of the same character — is in the
amount of humus which is present. In the decline of fertility
the loss of humus is chiefly the cause, more than that of the
removal of the essential fertilizing elements.

NITROGEN IN HUMUS.

The two most important points regarding the composition of
humus are, the presence of nitrogen as a constituent, and the
chemical union of the humus with potash, lime, phosphoric acid,
forming humates. Good humus generally contains from 3 to
.14 % nitrogen. It is also a means of supplying indirectly
compounds which are essential as plant food, and combined with
potash, lime and phosphoric acid this mineral matter so chemi-
cally combined is of fertilizing value. It is well known that
stable manures are among the most lasting in its effect of any
of the fertilizers which can be applied. This is due to the power
which the manure possesses of uniting with the soil potash, phos-
phoric acid and lime, &c., to produce humates —which is also
useful in nuiking the inert plant food of the soil more available ;

1899.] ESSAYS. 108

for it is estimated that an oidinaiv apple croj) removes from an
acre of soil about 50 lbs. nitrogen, 40 lbs. i)hosphoric acid and
75 lbs. potash. This amount, yea more, must be relumed to
the soil annually to supply the trees with food to produce fidl
crops of fair smooth fruit.

ORCHARD FERTILITY.

For apples and pears give a liberal dressing, 10 cords per
acre, of good strong stable manure in November, evenly on sur-
face extending far beyond the outer branches, and alternate the
next November with one ton wood ashes or 300 lbs. muriate of
potash, and 500 lbs. fresh ground bone. The great advantage
of early fall manuring of our orchards is found in the strong and
vigorous bud and spur development in bearing trees and in all
that rich, luxuriant orrovvth of foliao:e in the followino^ spring
and summer, for the reason that the rains soon dissolve the
mineral salts and carry them down in the soil, where the
millions of rootlets feed the trees and plants. For the peach,
plum and cherry trees use a compost of swamp muck, one year
old, that has had a liberal mixture of fresh lime and salt well
incorporated. Now, at the time of applying, to the above add
300 lbs. potash and 500 lbs. fresh ground bone. Notice we
apply to all stone fruits nearly double the amount of phosphoric
acid to perfect the pits ; a very essential point in producing
high class fruit for market or storing for future sale.

ORCHARD CULTURE.

In all young orchards of apples and pears, and in all orchards
of peach, plum and cherry trees, always keep the entire surface
clean from all grass and cereal crops. Do not plow deep, but
use the Wheel-Cutaway and Acme Drag Harrow. Start culti-
vation as early in Spring as possible, have all the soil in good
tilth, and by April 20th sow 12 lbs. clover seed mixed as
follows : 4 lbs. red, 4 lbs. Alsike, and 4 lbs. American grown
crimson. Cover with smoothing: harrow and roll down smooth.
Now, if you do not have sheep or hogs to turn into and feed
down this clover crop in July and August, then plow under

104 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

when in full blossom :ind roll down firmly to conserve moisture.
Do not cultivate after Aug. 1st, so the young growth will ripen
up in early fall Now in our old apple orchards when the trees
have attained their full size, we seed down to clover and blue
grass, and pasture sheep or pigs up to harvesting of crop, then
apply the annual dressing as above. If wc stock heavily with
sheep or pigs and feed them with heavy grain rations this stock
will supply nearly sufficient fertility for the trees.

PRUNING.

We call your attention to a few of the principles in plant
physiology, upon which the practice of pruning depends. In
the general structure of trees and woody plants, practically
there are four general groups of tissues in the trunks and
branches, viz. :

1. Bark: forming the outer coverings.

2. Cambium; is the thin slimy layer or sapwood between
bark and sound wood.

3. Wood; that forms the greater portions of the stem,
trunk or branches.

4. Heart or Pith; which makes up the center of the trees.
The experienced grower has learned by observation to adapt

his system of pruning to the above fundamental principles of
plant growth. Of the above tissues, the cambium is the most
important, as this is the vehicle of carrying the life sap from
root to branch ; it is also the method of adding growth to the
tree or plant ; it is the most delicate substance of the tree fibre,
for it is almost cellular tissue. Pruning is the most valuable
method of directing and controllina: the energies of trees and
plants. In all pruning the fact should be ever kept in mind
that the leaves make nearly all the food used by the living cells
of a tree, for if the foliage is removed the cells must undergo
a process of starvation until new leaves are formed. In the
natural shedding of leaves or twigs, which is nature's pruning,
a layer of corklike cells is formed, so when the leaves fall the
j)rocess of healing is very soon completed, but in the death and
decay of branches they nmst F)c removed at once before rot

1809.] ESSAYS. lOf)

producing fungii and hacteria develops and decay spreads into
the sound wood, and will produce a cavity into which water
and decay will soon destroy the tree. Let all such branches he
cut oft" close down to the shoulder or enlargement at theii' l)ase,
so that the living cannbiuni and bark will heal at once and soon
cover over the wounds. If the branch to be removed is large
have the wound painted over as soon as drif with warm coal
tar, and the internal rotting will be prevented. If in removing
a large dead or decayed limb that leaves a large cavity in the
trunk of the tree, cut close and smooth, then cover the cavity
with a sheet of zinc neatly fitting the wound, secured with
strong tacks, and paint over with coal tar. This practical
method will preserve for man^'^ years a valuable tree. This
system of pruning equally applies to j)ark, street and orna-
mental as well as to orchard trees.

A fruit tree should be in the hands of an expert grower —
a machine for manufacturing fruit. Pruning is one of the most
important means by which this is accomplished.

PRUNING TO shape THE TREE

and keep in !-hape is important so far as it relates to the ease in
cultivation, gathering the fruit, and spraying; also in relation
to winds, the weight of fruit, the protection of the trunk and
l)ranches from sunscald, &c. ; also the pruning to distribute
growth, removing cross-branches and checking terminal branches
to induce the development of laterals. This will keep the tree
vigorous and well supplied with thrifty fruit-producing
branches. The balance between vegetative and reproductive
growth, or between wood and fruit, must be maintained.

Always rememl)er lo cover all wounds at once after pruning
with shellac varnish, li(|uid grafting wax or warm coal tar.
If these wounds are small and on sound young trees, the
shellac and wax is best, but if large and decayed use the tar
covering. As pruning is a surgical operation it should be done
with care and judgment and at proper seasons, as the true
theory is based on the conditions of the sap. As this is the
life-blood of the tnui, never prune when the sap will run or

106 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

moisten the saw. We have seen many a fine orchard ruined,
yea destroyed, by being severely pruned in March, April and
May. Now the right time to prune depends on the object in
view. For vigor and growth, prune during the dormant period
of fall — October and November — but never when the wood is
frozen, as the cellular tissues are ruptured and incipient decay
begins. Now for stimulating fruit buds prune the rampant
summer growth of terminal branches, which checks the vigor-
ous flow of sap and diverts this energy into fruit production.
In a word, prune in Foil for wood, in Summer for fruit.

THINNING FRUIT.

By a new method of pruning we do much of our thinning-
out of inferior fruit. This can be done in January instead of
July. All commercial orchardists acknowledge the tact that to
produce first-class marketable fruit that the crowded specimens
must be thinned. Now during the busy season of raid-summer
when the fruit is one-half grown, the average fruit-growing
farmer has too much other work on hand, just at this important
time in the rapidly developing fruit, to take the necessary time
and care to properly thin out the surplus fruit. And I am
sorry to admit that too many of them belong to that class who
often are heard to say " I kinder reckon that enuff of them
apples will fall without us helpen 'em before they git ripe."
Now every progressive grower unll take time to properly thin
out, so as to produce the very best in size, color and flavor
that is possible for the tree ; about six inches apart, will give
the best crop for profit. Now my new method of winter pruning
is a successful and expeditious means of accomplishing this
indispensable work by pruning or thinning out all the weaker
spurs of fruit buds that are set too thickly on the branches.

MY METHOD

is as follows : during the mild warm days in December and
January, we firmly secure to a long pole for a handle a small
and sharp-pointed key-hole saw. Also, for inside tree pruning
have another saw in a shorter handle. Also, fasten a thin and

1899.] KSSAYS. 107

very sharp two-inc-li chisel in siinihir pole for haiulle. Now
with these practical tools and a Waters' "tree pruner" we
can rapidly go ovei a large ajjple-tree, thinning out all the
weak and those too close to each other, the fruit spurs. Now
with care and good judgment in using the above tools and
rapidly removing the surplus spurs, we find very little summer
thinning of the apple and pear necessary. While the remain-
ing fruit spurs receive so much more nourishment that they are
decidedly stronger and produce larger, fairer, and higher
colored fruit. Brother Fruit Growers, our new method is prac-
ticable. The necessary tools recommended are easily obtained,
are very eft'ectual in practice, and the results very gratifying.
May success attend your efforts along these lines.

PACKAGES FOR FRUIT

should be of a uniform size and shape. The " Massachusetts
Fruit Growers' Association " should demand the enactment of
a State law defining the "Legal Standard Apple Barrel and
Small Fruit Package." For all will concede that the amount
of a product delivered should be the same as has been sold.
No one will defend giving short weight or measure. Yet in
our leading markets we find apple barrels differing more than a
peck in their capacity, and the so-called quart packages which
reijuire forty to hold a bushel. Such conditions demoralize
business, and react upon the whole community of fruit growers,
as it does on the individuals. The " American Apple Shippers'
Association " have recommended as a standard apple barrel the
following, viz. : " Length of stave 28^ inches, diameter of
head 17^ inches, and bilge 64 inches outside measurement."
We find even greater dissatisfaction in the use of small fruit
packages, for so much difference in sizes exist that it has
already seriously injured the business of the grower, makes
trouble for the dealer, and gives great dissatisfaction to the
consumer. A legal standard should also be adopted for peach
baskets and grape crates. Let a special committee of this
Society be appointed to report at our next meeting, " An Act
to Define the Size of all Fruit Packases."

108 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899.

In coming years may the hillsides and valley of the old Bay
State be adorned with young, vigorous, fruitful orchards and
tields, and we again have all the standard fruits in the same
abundance as in their pristine days. Let us go on planting seeds
and raising new varieties to replace the excellent kinds that are
so fast disappearing, having filled their mission like the noble
men that planted them ! When I reflect upon the progress of
horticulture and its benign influence on the health and happi-
ness of mankind, I am most grateful to those noble men who
did so much to help the cause in its earliest days. And by
their laborious sowings we are now reaping such rich rewards
and enjoying the fruits of their toil, which contributes so much
to our happiness and welfare today ! Let us in our day and
generation contribute something to the shrine of "Pomona"
that will be beneficial to those who may come after us ! For as
we have enjoyed what others have planted, let us now plant for
others to enjoy.

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