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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY

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1890-91

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TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

WORCESTER COUNTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

FOR THE YEAR 1890-91.

CHARLES HAMILTON, PRINTER,
311 MAIN STREET.

1891.

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF
MASSACHUSEHS

AMHERST, MASS.

L . -

W M

CONTENTS.

Page

Report of the Secretary 5

Report of the Librarian 25

Report of the Treasurer '. 28

Preface 31

Address by Hon. Henry L. Parker 33

Essay by Stillman H. Record, A.M 44

Essay by J. Howard Hale 63

Essay by William H. Spooner . . 67

Essay by S. T. Maynard 79

Essay by George Austin Bowen, M.D 89

Essay by Joseph Jackson . . 100

Essay by E. W. Wood 105

Essay by Frank J. Kinney 118

Essay by Mrs. Fannie Dean 129

Essay by Obadiah B. Hadwen 142

WORC^ESTER COUNTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

A. D. 1890.

ANNUAL UEPOllT OF THE SECRETAllY.

To the Members of the

Worcester County Horticultural Societt :

At the annual meeting of the Society, A. D. 1889, it was

Yoted : To " inemoriah"ze or petition the General Conrt for
such further legislation as will more effectually protect fruit-
growers from the depredations of juvenile trespassers or thieves."

Pursuant to that vote application for relief from existing, cry-
ing evils was duly made. It was not granted as a matter of
course, because asked. It was not granted as a matter of proper
concession to the statement of facts, and testimony, submitted by
your committee and other parties in a common interest. To
illustrate, in some measure, the character and gravity of the evil
complained of, your Secretary recites a letter which he submitted
as a summary of evidence that he could not give, in person:

February 21, A. D. 1890.

Hon. Henry L. Parker, Chairman Judiciary Committee.

My Dear Sir:

As I have explained to you personally, it will be out of my

power to attend the "hearing" appointed for the 26th, upon the

petition of this Society, et als.^'va the matter of Juvenile Trespass

and Theft. But I would like to impress upon the Committee the

2

6 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

increasing gravity of the oflfence. Sunday is especially selected
as oflfering a favorable opportunity to steal flowers and fruit ;
householders being presumed to be absent at church.

The worst feature of the case, in my judgment, is the fact that
so many of the offenders are young girls — the female sex being
largely predominant in such form of trespass. In one instance,
upon my own premises, there was a party of five (5) girls and two
(2) boys busy picking and eating half-formed clusters of green
grapes. At another time, passing the estate of Mr. Charles L.
Pierce, on William Street, at an hour when he was away at his
business, I found another gang (!) of seven (7) girls and three (3)
boys busy as bees filling large baskets with apples and pears
from Mr. Pierce's trees. In neither instance did there appear to
be a child older than twelve (12) years.

This evil is rapidly developing, as our city grows in popula-
tion, with a portion of whom it would seem to be an accepted
theory that there can be no private property in flowers or fruits.
Their cultivation will have to be abandoned, however reluctantly,
unless juvenile trespass and theft can be effectually arrested.
Sincerely,

EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,

Secretary and Member of Committee.

Reference to the next General Court was finally ordered, in
sheer inability or reluctance to decide what would be most advis-
able to do in the premises. It is doubtless your settled opinion
that some measures should be devised and enforced for juvenile
restraint or reformation. That parents are much at fault cannot
be disputed. Nor can they well plead in excuse for their short-
comings, that our hillsides are so thoroughly stripped of birch
that there can no longer be satisfactory application to the way-
ward child. Birch enough can be found by those who seek,
and, even if not, there is the weighty authority of the late Henry
Ward Beecher that a judicious selection from young quince twigs
will conduce to the just collocation of saplings. Meanwhile,
what is the parochial school doing to abate the nuisance, or, put-
ting it more emphatically, wanton mischief ? If the common
schools are godless ! and therefore exercise no moral restraint,
the same plea cannot be urged in defence or mitigation of pecca-
dilloes by students at institutions whose inculcation of the moral
law is the sole reason for existence !

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 7

There has been less fruit to steal, although as many flowers,
since the General Court uprose with the freshets of June. Yet
it was an average year for thieves. Indeed, the very scarcity of
apples may be assumed to have put a keener edge upon that
especial foe of industry which, unlike the razor, needs no protec-
tion ! Appetite points the way ; and your Secretary may be al-
lowed to ask why its satiation might not approve itself a most
effectual cure for all but hardened sinners ? Why not administer
homcBopathic remedies ? Why not permit the youthful off'ender
to shorten his stay in the reformatory by conforming to a specific
diet? Feed to him, for breakfast, twenty-four transcendant
Crabs ; let him gorge, at noon, upon a half-dozen mealy Bous-
sock ; supper bringing the culmination of his punishment, in that
he will be required to devour, with what relish may be, a half-
dozen Gloria Mundi or Duchesse. To please sentimentalists,
this regimen might be varied ; Clairgeau being substituted when
Duchesse grew tiresome, and Red Bietigheimer taking the place
of Gloria Mundi if S. F. P. C. T. animate creation felt its bow-
els yearn over the suflferings of Juventus. This suggestion may
not be appreciated, at its true worth, by the Committee on Agri-
culture. Was one ever ? But it has at least the merit of costing
nothing in the proposal ; and not much more in the application.

The Finance Committee were authorized at the Annual Meeting
of the Society, A. D. 1889,

To procure plans and estimates for such alterations of the
upper stories of Horticultural Hall as shall provide for a banquet
or supper room adequate to entertain a large company, without
impairing the beauty, symmetry, or light, of the Hall of Po-
mona :

Reporting the same, in their discretion, to a special meeting of
the Society.

Little has been accomplished under that authorization, the
sketches that were drawn l)y architects being prepared, appar-
ently, in a partial misconception of the intent of the Committee
within the scope of their powers. There was no need for hurry
in the premises, since any considerable alteration of our Hall is to
be esteemed a serious matter ; to be undertaken, if needed, and

8 WORCESTER COUNTT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1890.]

always to be deferred until the change can be shown a gain be-
yond peradveuture. Tlie Committee can therefore merely report
progress, and ask that yonr trust be extended. An element that
should enter into the consideration of the matter — perhaps con-
trol its decision — must be the determination by the Society of its
policy for future years. If our resources and time are to be sur-
rendered to exhibitions, as now; virtually compelling a reliance
upon the same, or augmented, sources of income ; why then we
must take effectual measures to set competition at defiance. We
must simply improve and augment the conveniences that we
would lease, so as to put them above and beyond successful
rivalry. Concede a pleasant nomenclature to Colonial, or Ideal,
Halls ! But the colonies have become States and the practical in
rush and whirl of existence succeeds the ideal. Or, if there is
aught in a name ? Where will you find a more felicitous desig-
nation than is supplied by Ceres, Flora or Pomona ? If, how-
ever, we adopt the conclusion that the science and practice of
Horticulture are better advanced and improved in other ways
than those that we have followed so undeviatingly for a half-cen-
tury, then our present accommodations may appear all-sufficient
for every legitimate use. As students in the various branches of
our favorite pursuit, we can find now, if we will, every desirable
facility for freshman or senior. Suppliants for popular patron-
age, we must conform to, preferably, anticipate the public wants.
Masters of our own aims and intentions, and content with our
actual resources, we have only to assure ourselves that they are
applied in such manner that we cannot be reproached with bury-
ing our talent in a napkin or wasting it upon our own perverted
and selfish cravings.
It was also

Voted, on motion of Charles E. Parker, that " so much of the
Secretary's report as relates to taxation of Horticultural Hall be
referred to the Finance Committee, with power to act."

The contention of your Secretary, as you will doubtless recall
to mind, having been that this Society ought not to rest satisfied
with the law that governs the assessment of its property for pub-
lic purposes : the very property being held and administered in

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 9

trust for public purposes and yet, in practice, being subjected to
an invidious discrimination. For the bounty of the Conomon-
wealth is lavished upon the Worcester Agricultural Society,
which holds a large and valuable tract of land wholly exempt
from taxation ; which uses that land for but a single week of the
entire year, at other times sub-letting for all sorts of perform-
ances and antics, any diversion other than agricultural, in fact,
from which revenue can be derived ; capping the climax by en-
gaging, as co-partner with that queer simulacrum — the New
England Agricultural Society, in the invasion of our especial
province, inviting a rival horticultural exhibition, of egregious
size and inconspicuous excellence. Our appeal for redress would
have been made to the General Court but for an unofficial sug-
gestion from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society that it was
not prepared, as formerly, to co-operate with this Society ; inti-
mating, in fact, apprehension lest, by seeking further relief, it
might lose present benefit. The cases are not parallel ; no Soci-
ety receiving State bounty for pretending to exhibitions of "Hor-
ticulture, Floriculture and Vegetables !" on Tremont Street. Nev-
ertheless, under the circumstances, your Committee felt that
comity, if no other consideration, required that the sense of the
Society should be taken, before prosecuting any definite action or
policy, under the formal vote.

" What shall it profit me ? " exclaimed the cynical Shah of
Persia, when urged to attend the " Derby." " It is already
known to me that one horse can run faster than another ! "

For well-nigh upon fifty years this Society has been placing
successive footfalls in the same continuous rut. We have learned
pretty thoroughly, in that course of time, that, other things being
equal, specimens of fruit from a young and thrifty orchard will
excel such as may be gleaned from one spent by age, overpro-
duction, or neglect. We have been taught ; or we might have
been, had we availed ourselves of the lesson apt to direct observa-
tion ; that the ravages of insects are irreparable ; that injury or
disease are waste and consequent destruction ; that the mischief
which we were too careless or indolent to arrest, at its first inten-
tion, is ever active and malignant, sapping that vitality to which,
under whatsoever name, — bacillus, bacteria, fungus, blight, or

10 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

rot, are omnipresent if insidious foes. Competitive trial has de-
termined that twelve Bartlett Pears may turn the scales at a cer-
tain unprecedented weight : a fact of possible value, if any one
could tell wherein, or to what degree ! We have also found out
that one woman can arrange flowers more tastefully than her
rivals in like pretty competition ; likely enough being endowed
by nature with a nicer discrimination and a more exact judgment
of the proper collocation of colors. We assume, with good rea-
son, that there are vicissitudes of climate, extremes of tempera-
ture; natural causes in short, whereof the character and origin
are alike inexplicable ; perhaps because we do not investigate
them, bnsy as we are in the award of fifty-cent gratuities ! and
when these do occur, bow our heads in all the fatuity of fatalism,
beneath the dispensation of Providence ! Might we not better
take heed, as we look upon orchards defoliated by the canker-
worm ; upon our highways tolerant of white birch and wild
cherry — convenient breeding places for the caterpillar ; as we re-
call the wanton extermination of the game birds that held our
insect foes in check and the senseless introduction of varieties
that have become a greater plague than chrysalis or larva ; that
we cast not our burdens upon the Lord ; but rather see that our
own work is not left undone ! The plague of insects is ever
with us. Is it more aggravated this year than last? Wherein,
if at all, do the unnatural, abnormal winters contribute to multi-
ply and disperse the pests, whose unchecked development bids
fair to put a speedy end to Horticulture — whether actual or ten-
tative. We accept, as inevitable, canker-worm, caterpillar and
codlin-moth ; and take no active or efiicient measures to suppress
their ravages ; submitting supinely to their invasion. Is eternal
vigilance the price of libertj^ ? What think you of sixty (60)
cents per peck as the price of Gravensteins when brought, in
pristine beauty and perfection, last September, to challenge the
pomologists of Worcester ? Shall we therefore cry out for pro-
toction to home indolence, that would not safeguard its own op-
portunities ? Or shall we try to deserve, and therefore earn,
success by our own unremitting diligence ? Shall we first learn,
and thereafter, instruct others ?

Have exhibitions, purely, as such, and not replete with meri-

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 11

tricious lures, grown monotonous and therefore unattractive?
Our older Members are rapidly passing away : is there promise
that their vacancies will be filled ? Certainly there can be no
hope of it from the County which, save in title, has ceased to
maintain any distinctive connection with the Society. Since my
last report, Ward and Hapgood of Shrewsbury ; Banister, Hill,
Tainter,* and, but yesterday as it were, Newton, of Worcester,
have gone to pluck the apples of the Hesperides, wherefrom, if
they extract celestial juice, it may be hoped that they will not
subject themselves to the espionage of angelic spotters ! Their
successors may appear ; but will their places be filled ? is the
question that should concern a Society that has the reputation of
our own, — a position in Horticulture which is so much easier to
lose thari acquire.

Cultivation recedes from us, repelled by the expansion of the
City. The suburban farmer sells his orchard or flower garden
for house lots, and cuts coupons in the eight hours that consti-
tute a modern working day. Green-houses are built, it is true;
but mammon presides at the laying of their corner-stones and
dictates tlieir management. The professional florist may adorn
his own windows : he cannot sacrifice his stock in trade to make a
display in our B.k\\. It speaks well for us, so far, that we have
been able to acliieve so much. But, looking straight ahead, what
reasonable prospect is there of keeping up — let alone advanc-
ing— the position and repute of the Society in Floriculture!

Who introduces novelties of promise or evident merit? A
peach-pit is thrown away ; and thereafter, it may be, a choice
seedling is brought to our Hall. It is a result of chance, in which
design had no place, however slight. It gets a more or less ap-
preciative notice, at the moment; and disappears, — out of sight,
out of mind. No one secures buds, since that would involve the
taking of a few steps and some trouble. And so it is that, in a
latitude and longitude which favored the origin of Coolcdge and
Crawfords, it has come to be a sort of accepted creed among the
faint-hearted, in whose elbow is little power, that the peach is a

* Mrs. Daiik'l Tainter, a j-osarian in especial.

12 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

hopeless crop in Massachusetts ! Can anytliing be grown by a
people that wastes hours of daylight swinging in a tropical ham-
mock ?

Who toils eight hours at best,
Sleeps other eight with zest,
Letting Satan have the rest,

may be sure that disease and insects will combine to get in their
perfect work, and can compute as certainly in June as in October
what shall be the harvest !

And except there are novelties, — if there is to be no advance,
— cui bono ? Who comes, or wishes, to see, save possibly at the
" Hoss-Trot for the Acceleration of Agriculture," the same stale
stallion, or effete gelding, year after year, notwithstanding the
" Hi-ya's ! " may be more vociferous ! Having brought to your
notice my share of the newer varieties in all the diversified
branches of Horticulture, 1 claim the right to call attention to
the radical deficiency of the Society, as a whole, in this particu-
lar. For, even if novelties of prospective or manifest value are
produced at home, or imported, what can we know of their in-
trinsic merits under the prevalent theory and practice whereby
the money premium has become the Horticultural Alpha and
Omega !

What in good sooth do we accomplish? We meet weekly :
and thereafter some of our Members are richer, pecuniarily, by a
few dollars or cents. Doubtless, as a method of dispensing our
income, the money is well disposed. In some cases it is of ma-
terial assistance, enabling its recipient to procure the newer seeds
or plants that would have been unattainable otherwise. The re-
turns from Garden or Farm, — Hortus, Agerque, — are not so
bounteous as to entice the modern syndicate, that harpy omniv-
erous of every ample harvest. For the Trust of these latter
days, pet infant of legislation. Potatoes or Corn have no charm.
In the endless pages of the cotemporary statute, as we are assured
upon the highest authority, there occurs nowhere a line that will
provide a market for another bushel of wheat — another barrel of
pork ! Does fruit fare better ? To him that hath shall be given !
And is it not re-enacted at Washington, — the law that was graven

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 13

upon the tables of old, — from him that hath not shall be taken
away even that which he hath. Can we sell to him of whom we
will not buy ?

Nevertheless, this Society was not founded for a bank of dis-
count or a savings institution. Its purpose was definite and spe-
cific unders : tood clearly at the date of its organization, and
which ought not to be left out of sight now that a half-century
draws to its close. Thanks to the munificence, foresight and
self-denial of the generation that preceded us, we have the good
fortune to possess an inheritance that supplies abundant means
for our legitimate uses. We may claim, with entire justice, that
we have suffered no waste of that talent. But, — has its value in-
creased, in our keeping ; or have we applied the increment to our
individual account ? Have we added to the store of knowledge
heretofore accumulated ; or are we ignobly, content to profit
by the hardly-won experience that puts it in our power to make
an exhibit from the results of other men's diligence and skill ?

Simply resolved into a Society for tlie consideration of ques-
tions of high public policy ; and to whom is their proper decision
of greater moment than to the tillers of the soil; might we per-
chance hope to determine whether a thing is undesirable merely
because it is cheap ! I have known the year when a barrel of
Baldwin Apples could be had in exchange for an empty barrel ;
and again, when that quantity commanded but seventy-five cents
in open market. Was the fruit therefore worthless ? The chil-
dren did not think so, at the time. I can remember when a suit
of " Vermont Mixed " was as honest as the animal from whose
fleece it was woven ; and would hold a boy in safe suspense even
if the ladder or limb did give way ! Yet our modern shoddy is
higher-priced. Does it concern us, in Horticulture, to learn if
out-go enriches any one, — no matter whether it is denominated
tax or exaction, unless an income can be plainly shown to
counterbalance it ! Do we care whether barter, developed
into commerce, is necessarily a loss to those who engage in it ; or
mayhap involves reciprocal benefit to either party, enabling the
one in want to obtain that which the other has in superfluity ? Is
it a fact, or simply a bald, partisan assumption that, if we ship a
barrel of apples to an Englishman beyond the seas, we lose our

14 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

own soul ; whereas a sale of just as many Hubbardstons to John
Bull, who has become naturalized, and votes our especial ticket,
is net gain to us of the whole world ! It might then be pertinent
to inquire why Medes and Parthians, Elamites and Paphlagoni-
ans, draw our wire, and stitch our shoes, while honorable tillage
is scorned and none of those choice breeds of the human animal
will hire out for the cultivation of the earth, so long as they can
sweat, beg or steal, in the crowded town ! Possibly there are
good and sufficient reasons, if one is smart enough to discover
them; or fat-witted enough to accept them supplied to order;
why Hungarian or Polack should delve in the mines of Pennsyl-
vania ; while Armenians and Pamphylians throng the shops of
Worcester; so-called American Labor fattening upon Home In-
dustry, forsooth ! for the support of all which shiftless tribes the
Terrseculturist is — taxed ? Oh, no ! only required to pay tribute
unto Csesar ! There may be valid arguments, adapted to the
comprehension of the coward in politics, why, for the sake
of such breechless, illiterate bulwarks of our Republic, we should
repel the Chinese or Japanese, cleanly and educated ; whose pro-
ficiency in Horticulture is alike a marvel, and a continual re-
proach to us in our arrogant conceit ; whose patient labor is pre-
cisely what American impatience needs in this very emergency
that we are just beginning to recognize, now that we are throt-
tled by its gripe ; whom we might well and wisely hire for that
intensive culture whereof they are such masters, if they are will-
ing to take service ; and whose right to enter the country should
be as unrestricted and perfect as that of the filthy Slovack, or
those dwellers in Cappadocia who left the land of their nativity
for its manifest good and our palpable detriment.

But, recurring from this digression, if it is such, — do our Mem-
bers appreciate, for its true worth, the palm of excellence whereat
we formerly set our mark, and have hitherto upheld it ? Do they
fully realize how easy it is to forfeit that prime rank in Horti-
culture, maintained in the very fore-front of kindred associations?
If aye, — why that eagerness to compete at " Shows " of an in-
ferior grade ! ofi'ered for money, by Societies that are confessedly
" on the make ? " At which confusion worse confounded is the
dominant rule ; Floriculture, Horticulture, and the growth of

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 15

Vegetables being set into classes alike separate and unique ; con-
stituting a distinction so rare as to be known nowhere else on
earth. Whereat our especial purists, who were so zealous to
purge our own entries from all taint, or even suspicion, of
wrong-doing, are eager to engage, with lamblike innocence, in
unreserved competition with the very scapegoats ! There can be
no accession of dignity derived from thus stepping outside of our
beaten tracks : since Governors and Judges illustrate our roll, and
the cotemporary Senator, whether Federal or State, may well
challenge precedence with the Minister to Liliput. Moreover,
all such participation in side-shows, although supplying room for
our exuviae^ operates by way of condonation of a gross public
wrong. Since we are not alone subject to taxation upon our
property that is devoted to the purposes of Horticulture, while
our mimics are not; but the bounty of the Commonwealth is
lavished in their behalf, to our signiMcant and invidious exclusion.
In a social point of view, our exhibitions were eminently use-
ful; an advantage that is not wholly lost, at present. But the
field, once exclusively relinquished to us, is now invaded by
others ; whose efforts to pervert our members from their old-
time allegiance are not wholly fruitless. In this particular, — we
are compelled to recognize the Grange as a formidable competi-
tor ; affording as it does those attractions of pleasant intercourse
so irresistible to the young, and which have not actually palled
upon maturer fancies. Our sessions are brief: long enough for
their avowed object, but holding ont no especial fascination in
the way of cheerful amusement. This may not count for much ;
but it must needs have its due weight in an exact estimate of the
precise value of our operations. We run together in haste, — to
disperse even more rapidly. It may be the best that we can do :
but — is it f Of yore, — the hopes and illusions of a twelvemonth
culminated in the Cattle Show Ball ; in which extreme of revelry,
the energies, rigidly restricted for a year, burst their bonds and
found safe dissipation and outlet. Masonry, with its rites, and
regalia; its pomp of procession and luxury of banquet; had long
been under a cloud, beneath which were rare glimpses of the
faintest silver lining. Odd Fellows enough there were, it is true :
but no one had conceived the plan of banding them together in

16 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

an organization whose serried tread should, later, shake the very
town. The theatre ! Who, in those " orthodox " days, while the
echo of Beecher's thunder from the pulpit of the Old South was
yet vibrant in the atmosphere, would have dreamt of seeing
Thespis save literally dragged at the tail of his own cart, thank-
ing his stars if he escaped the pillory or whipping post and was
not obliged to carry a second or third mortgage ! The Con-
tinental uniform had faded into a memory. And, if the eye was
annually directed to a muster of the Light Infantry, it was only
to excite pity for the absurd dream that armed militia could ever
become needful in a Republic like our own. In such an idyllic
season of Arcadian peace, there was ample room and occupation
for this Society. Its calm pursuits might well culminate in the
Autumnal Harvest-tide, when abundant fruition was celebrated
in rural leisure. Under such propitious auspices our foundations
were laid, — broad and deep : so deep and broad that upon them
the structure of our prosperity has been built and maintained,
down to the present day. But now, when amusements of all
sorts, occupations of every variety, and, shall I add — vacuity ?
claim time and attention ; now, — when life is harassed with per-
plexity, in its effort to meet the problem, — what can I omit that
I may the better devote myself to this which must not be neg-
lected ? does not the question recur with imperative urgency :
Are exhibitions of Flowers, Fruits, Vegetables, etc., etc., the
sole — nay, the best method A. D. 1890, and in the years to
come, of

" Promoting the science, and encouraging and improving the
practice, of Horticulture ! "

All this conceded, — you may say, — aimless purpose or inert
action, what do you advise ? What shall be the remedy ? But
if there is a malady, does not the diagnosis take precedence ?
Can the physician invariably prescribe wisely ? Is there any-
body but your average Representative in Congress whose pre-
rogative is omniscience ? Your Secretary does not arrogate in-
fallibility : only that conviction and faith which is based upon
the observation of a lifetime, whereof more than thirty years
have been largely occupied in your official service. And this, at

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 17

least, he notes with surprise and some mortiticatiou. Possessing
a Library that has few equals ; its superiors in Anaerica, restricted
within its especial sphere, are less in number than the fingers of
one hand ; he sees its privileges contemned, and the prospective
benefits from its use utterly disregarded. Some of our members
have been ostentatiously delegated, by those who can be forgiven
for ignorance of the opportunity at their very doors, to dive or
delve at will in the pile of black-letter gathered in and heaped
up on Tremont Street. Forty miles inland, right in the heart of
this great Pomological County, is located a Library whose selec-
tion by Harris and Haven, Earle and Paine, should be a voucher
for its intrinsic excellence : and for the sustained quality of which
their successors may modestly assert that no depreciation has
been sufifered. Still, with all this accumulation of books, to what
actual use are they put? Elsewhere, — with no. invested wealth ;
with no commodious halls, in exclusive ownership ; without even
a printed page; we witness the origin and successful develop-
ment of a flourishing School of Botany. Is that any concern of
ours — as Florists ? Does that boldly invade our peculiar prov-
ince and challenge our perception of duty ? Or do we rather
achieve the complete aim and scope of our incorporation as, once
a week, we invite this suffering brother to accept Three Dollars
for showing us a dozen Boscs or Greenings ; or award to the
bashful thrift of that forlorn sister Fifty Cents in gratuity for a
confession of inferiority that shrinks from competition !

How notable, or how insignificant, are our contributions to the
study of Entomology, whereof the knowledge is fast cominar to
comprehend the problem of success or failure in any and every
branch of Horticulture ? What do we add to the lore of Noxious
Insects ; — what it is that facilitates their development ; — to what
extent the plague is influenced or modified by the relative sever-
ity or humidity of successive seasons ! In what way are we to
distinguish the useful parasites which hold them in check ; and
without whose beneficent aid the activity of our insect foes would
be yet more pernicious !

Are our local applications, — our cunning contrivances, — of
more good than harm ? destroying only our enemies and sparing
our allies. If aye, — in what manner, and to what degree, are

18 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

Hellebore, Pyrethrum, or patent trap, endowed with the super-
human wit to discriminate where man confesses himself at fault !
What we do not know, — what we do not care or are too lazy to
learn, — who shall tell us ? Canker-worm, caterpillar, or codlin-
raoth, in more or less aggravated alternation, abide with us
always. The ground is strewn with twigs, even limbs, from the
massive Oaks that would otherwise, in perfect symmetry, endure,
as it were, forever. The once superb Elm of Massachusetts is
foul with tent and web-worm ; its foliage curled and yellow from
waste by myriads of aphides. And now a new and insidious foe
threatens mortal injury to that noblest of all forest trees of the
temperate zone, — Acer Saccharinum^ — the Rock, or Sugar,
Maple.

Again, — are those swarms of birds that now, in early October,
make their homes upon our Bartlett and Washington Pear trees ;
or in our vineyards; the beneficent agencies that the sentiment-
alist asserts ? For, with reason or not, it. must be noted that
their visits are ever to the fairest, brightest-colored pears ; the
clearest, thinnest-skinned grapes. Are they to be encouraged, or
held in check ? The flocks of the sparrow are countless. Our
old friend ! Turdus migrator-ius, — thrives mightily under the
fostering wing of legislation. Of assumption, without facts, we
have more than enough. Of birds, — inevitable result from that
assumption of their beneficial agency, — is there not a woeful ex-
cess ! The naturalist of tender years is allowed to shoot his little
gun ; and, of course, is sure to find that predestined early worm.
The farmer and orchardist is forbidden to use fire-arms and is
warned to distrust his own eyesight when he sees beaks busy and
crops (of the birds !) swollen to very repletion. We have literally
exterminated our wild birds, of predaceous instinct and habit,
and for reward can roll up our grass-sward like a carpet. The
crow, and crow black-bird are shot at sight ; or, if rendered too
wary to approach within range, that very excess of caution pre-
cludes their natural usefulness. What few birds survive whose
instinct prompts them to get a living by beak and claw, from
worm or beetle, are protected in a brief existence, only that they
may fall a surer prey to the legalized pot-hunter or "sportsman."
Would the quail or grouse, the plover or woodcock be of more

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 19

benefit or harm, if shielded by law the year round ? Of graceful
carriage, they would be pleasant to the eye. Insectivorous, —
they might aid in maintaining the due proportion between the life
that is beneficent or noxious. Encouraged to frequent and mul-
tiply in our homesteads and public grounds, they would soon
overcome the extreme timidity that has become innate after gen-
erations of reckless slaughter. Perhaps their fecundity and in-
crease consequent upon being in-lawed would be of no practical
or appreciable use. But that is the point at issue ; one which
this Society might well assist in determining.

Your Secretary has no other interest in this matter than a
heart-felt desire that this Society shall elect and follow that path
which tends most directly to the public and therefore your indi-
vidual welfare. Influenced solely by such concern, he is com-
pelled to ask whether we shall enter upon the second half of our
first century of corporate existence by inaugurating a new de-
parture, of fairer augury to ourselves and the community ! Or
rather confess that the premium and gratuity must continue to
be our highest aim ; and that only by their lavish award do we
expect or aspire to

"Advance the science and encourage and improve the practice
of Horticulture ! "

An Act of the General Court of Massachusetts whereby John
Green, Anthony Chase, Frederic Wm. Paine, George W. Rich-
ardson, their associates and successors, are hereby made a Cor-
poration by the name of the Worcester County Horticultural
Society, was approved by His Excellency, John Davis, A. D.
1842, thereupon becoming a Law of the Commonwealth. You
can compute for yourselves the precise period of time that has
since elapsed. Suflice it for the present purpose to emphasize
the fact that, upon the Third of March, A. D. 1892, little more
than a twelve-month hence, a Half-Century will have expired
since our Founders cheerfully invited the responsibilities to
which we have fallen heirs. Should any formal recognition of
such a notable event be authorized % Shall its marked influence
upon co-eval life and development be noted in a way that shall
endure \ Of Horticultural Societies that are entitled, whether

20 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

from character or usefulness, to bear the name, the list is
lamentably short. If onr own has prospered beyond measure ;
if we are still in vigorous career when others that started in equal
promise, hsive faded from memory ; shall we now put down a
mete or bound wherefrom another generation may be enabled to
trace a new departure ! If anything is to be done, there will be
no time to waste, in deciding its proper character. What to omit
is usually more essential than what to achieve. Hundreds of
absurd, if plausible, schemes must be summarily discarded, since
the scope of Horticulture, broad as it is, does not comprehend
all human interests. A discreet Committee, early appointed,
should be competent to evolve some wise and sufficient plan for
celebrating an event wherein we have a right to feel such pride,
witiiout ensnaring us in the meshes of a multiform trades-pro-
cession or plunging the Society in the hopeless bog of political
intrigue.

All which is Respectfully

Submitted by

EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,

Secretary.
Horticultural Hall, Worcester,
Worcester County, Massachusetts,
November 5, A. D. 1890.

Postscript.

Of the few men, famed in Horticulture, whose lives were co-
temporary with the existence of our Society ; and whose names
dignify our Roll of Honorary Membership ; the number was
signally diminished by the death of Patrick Barey. It was
never the felicity of your Secretary to enjoy his intimate
acquaintance. But, through the correspondence of a lifetime, I
had learned to appreciate that rare conscientiousness which would
profit by no advantage not honorably gained and was almost
painfully sensitive to the fear that, by some mischance, aught
might be disseminated untrue to name or report. The reputa-
tion of his great nurseries placing him easily at the head of his

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 21

profession, constituted of itself a power for incalculable evil,
unless controlled by the most unflinching regard for principle.
His growing fame for straight-forward, upright dealing rapidly
developed his trade, which, in its turn by a reflex action as it
were, tended yet more to attract the trust of all who once had
dealings with him. The veriest tyro in pomology could depend
upon getting what he ordered and feel implicit faith that no ad-
vantage would be taken of his evident inexperience. May it be
long before his due share of credit must be apportioned to George
Ellwanger !

An obituary notice by our honored associate, Thomas Meehan,
originally published in the Gardeners' Chronicle (London), is
quoted at length, to inform you more fully of the merits of him
whose loss to Horticulture is so serious; and, as well, to furnish
an example to the young wherefrom they may derive profit, if
only they deduce the proper inspiration.

Of the generous nature that was swift to proffer credit or
purse without calculation of return, Mr. Meehan had perhaps no
occasion to speak. But the writer cannot forget the kindly in-
tention in behalf of one dear to him; none the less appreciated
that it was not needed; a fact, the ignorance of which by Mr.
Barry but served to render his open-handed munificence still
more conspicuous.

E. W. L.

OBITUARY.

Patrick Barry. To my mind, June 26, 1890, ends a famous chapter
in American Horticulture. The grave closed over all that was mortal
of Patrick Barry, who, in connection with his partner, George
Ellwanger, has for half a century been a central point, around which
revolved much that was progressive in American horticulture. A
respectful cortege of some fifty carriages followed his remains to the
Cathedral of St. Patrick, which his munificence in great part founded,
and a solemn high mass, in which twenty-four priests assisted, was
offered in his behalf. The Catholic Bishop, McQuade, one of the most
eminent pulpit orators, made a funeral address. Officials of the great
city he did so much to build up were among the mourners, and brother
nurserymen from some hundreds of miles paid their last tribute to his

22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICtJLTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

remains. But the most touching scene was when, in passing the public
schools along the line of the funeral procession, the children were all
drawn up in line in front of the school buildings, until the body had
passed by. He was borne to his grave in the Catholic cemetery of the
Holy Sepulchre, by eight of his faithful workmen who desired this sad
privilege.

I was so glad the cemetery was not one of the usual cold-blooded
sort. The Catholic cemeteries of the United States are not generally
among the types of beauty — but the diocesan of the district, Bishop
McQuade, is in many subjects among the progressive spirits of our
country. He employed a famous landscape gardener, F. R. Elliott, to
design the grounds, and, beautiful as so many modern cemeteries are,
this will take rank among the foremost. The rare and lovely trees,
Virgilia lutea (Cladastris tinctoria), will stretch its arms over him,
and I was glad to see him reposing in so beautiful a spot.

How can men like these be rewarded, except in the consciousness of
the good they do. Here was a lad born on a farm near Belfast, who
came to America in 1834, first resigning his position as a country
schoolmaster to try his luck among strangers in a foreign land. That
luck brought him a clerkship in Princes' Nurseries at Flushing, and
thus he gained a good knowledge of the machinery of a nursery busi-
ness. Falling in with a thoroughly educated young nurseryman from
Germany, in George EUwanger, they started the nursery business in
Rochester just fifty years ago. Like most young men, they found they
had much to learn. Many would have been disheartened. They had,
however, the good judgment, so rare in many cases, to turn even dis-
aster to profit. This firm was, perhaps, the first to see the enormous
capabilities of the fruit tree business, which has since grown to such
enormous proportions through the United States. Rochester was then
only a small settlement of some 10,000 inhabitants, and I could hardly
help wondering how many of the 100,000 or more the beautiful city
now contains knew, or cared to know, how much this great prosperity
was due to this one man. When the only employment the working-
man could get would be at most but a dozen or so in any one place,
Ellwauger and Barry took to work several hundreds at a time. Their
success was so marked, that numbers followed, and Rochester became
a city of nurserymen, and from these radiated younger nurserymen,
until almost every State and territory had its nursery, most of which
got their fii'st inspiration from Rochester experiences.

And the city itself — it was not in him to merely make and hoard the
money he earned, but to turn it all to account for the beauty and glory

1890.] TRANSACTIONS. 23

of his adopted town. The only thing I ever knew him decline to do
was to be put in nomination as mayor of this great city, and to which,
thougli the political party with wiiich he was affiliated was largely in
the minority, he would have, in all probability, been handsomely elected.

He and his beloved partner, EUwanger — for they had worked
together through life in outside affairs, as well as in the nursery busi-
ness— had just about completed an enormous building, to be rented out
for business offices — 108 offices in the one building. Every day he
would think that on the morrow he would go and look at the finishing
touches of this magnificent enterprise ; but it was left for me, his
many year friend, to examine it for him.

I pen these lines to you because I know how much he prized the
English horticultural periodicals — how continuously his thoughts wan-
dered towards the lovers of gardening he had left in the Old World
behind him, and I have thought I could do no better service to those
whom he loved than to offer this brief sketch of his career as an exam-
ple for their encouragement. It is given to every man to do something
for his life work. I know of no one who did so much, and did that
much so well, as Patrick Barry ; and I know that the gardeners of the
Old World will share with me the exultation that such a man was one
of themselves.

THOMAS MEEHAN,

Germantown Nurseries,
Philadelphia, U. S. A.

— The Gardeners' Clironicle.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN.

To THE Members of the

Worcester County Horticultural Society.

The Library has been considerably improved during the past
year by the addition of a new bookcase and the enlargement of
two of the old ones. There is still need of more improvement
and space by replacing two at least of the old cases with more
spacious, convenient and modern ones. The increased shelf-room
made by the recent changes is already occupied and more is
needed, not only for convenience but for the credit of the Society.
The most important work done for the Library during the year
just closed has been the binding of about 250 volumes of many
pamphlets and reports that had accumulated during several years
past, which for various reasons had not been bound. The princi-
pal works bound are the English Garden, the English Gardeners'
Chronicle, the English Agriculturist, the American Garden, the
Country Gentleman, the American Agriculturist, Transactions of
the Mass. Horticultural Society, Reports of the American Fomo-
logical Society, and several volumes of the Journal of Horticul-
ture. There are a considerable number of pamphlets and reports
yet to be bound, which will be finished as fast as we can find room
for them. The following list comprises the books, pamphlets,
bulletins and reports that have been received during the past
year, either by purchase, gift or otherwise :

The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, a practical and scien-
tific encyclopaedia of horticulture for gardeners and botanists, 4
vols., 4to, by George Nicholson, A. L. S., Curator lioyal Botanic
Gardens, Kew.

Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1887-88.

Proceedings of the Twenty-second session of the American
Pomological Society ; from F. M. Marble.

Bulletin No. 1; Report of the Proceedings of the Department

26 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1890.]

of the National Educational Association at its meeting held in
Washington, D. C, March 6-8, 1889.

Bulletin JSfo. 2 ; Indian Education.

Consul Reports, Nos. 106 to 118, inclusive.

Annual Report of the Parks-Commission of the City of
Worcester, 1889 ; E. W. Lincoln.

Bulletin for Oct., 1889; Cornell University College of Agri-
culture; on Tomatoes; also 13, 14 and 15.

Second Annual Report of the Cornell Experiment Station,
Ithaca, New York, embracing Bulletins Nos. 5 to 15, inclusive.

Catalogue Supplement, Worcester Free Public Library.

Curtis Botanical Magazine, Vol. 45, Third Series, 1889.

Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue ; by Chas. A. Cutter, Libra-
rian of the Boston Athenaeum ; second edition with corrections
and additions, U. S. Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.

Costa Rica and her Future; by Paul Boilley ; translated from
the French by Cecil Charles, 1889.

Henderson's Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture ;
New Ed., 1890.

The Journal of Horticulture; Yols. 19 and 20, New Series.

Report of Worcester Schools, 1889.

Annual Report of the Board of Health of the City of Worces-
ter, Nov. 30, 1889.

Twentieth Annual Catalogue of the Worcester Polytechnic;
Institute, 1890.

Transactions of the Mass. Horticultural Society, Part 2, 1888;
Robert Manning, Secretary.

Bulletin No. 17; Cornell University, May, 1890.

Second Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the
Rhode Island State Agricultural School and Experiment Station,
1890.

Bulletins from Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station,
Nos. 55 to 62, inclusive.

Bulletins from Hatch Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass.,
Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive.

Bulletins from Mass. Agricultural College, Nos. 36 and 37.

Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Control of the State
Agricultural Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass.

Bulletin No. 16, March, 1890, of the Agricultural Experiment
Station, Cornell University, on Growing Corn for Fodder and
Ensilage.

Bulletins Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ; Mass. Crop Reports.

Bulletins Nos. 1-5, 6 and 7; Agricultural Experiment Station,
Kingston, R. I.

1890.] REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 27

Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Mass. Agricultural
College, 1890.

The History of Federal and State Aid to Higher Education in
the United States ; by Frank W. Blackmer, P. D.

Third Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission,
1889 ; W. G. Veasey.

Speech of John Sherman on Silver in the United States Sen-
ate, June 5, 1890.

Compendium of the Tenth Census of the United States, pts.
I and 2, 1880.

Revue Horticole ; Paris; 1889; Society.

How Crops Grow ; new edition ; 1890 ; Society.

Manual of Injurious Insects and Methods of Prevention ; by

eanor A. Ormerod, London, Eng. ; Society.

The American Florist ; Semi-Monthly ; 1890.

The American Garden; Monthly; 1890; Society.

Gardener's Chronicle ; English Weekly ; 1890 ; Society,

The Garden ; English Weekly; 1890; Society.

Gardening Illustrated ; English Weekly; 1890; Society.

Garden and Forest ; Weekly; 1890; Society.

The Country Gentleman ; Weekly; 1890; Society.

The Agricultural Gazette ; English Weekly ; 1890; Society.

The American Agriculturist; Monthly; 1890; Society.

Tick's Monthly Magazine; 1890; Society.

Massachusetts Ploughman.

Popular Gardening ; Society.

Essay on the use of Nitrate of Soda for Manure and the Best
Mode of its Employment ; by Joseph Harris ; Society.

Catalogues received : Pitcher & Manda ; Seibeicht & Wadley ;
R. & J. Farquhar & Co., Boston ; D. Landreth & Sons, Phila-
delphia; Peter Henderson & Co., Farmer's Mannal ; Peter
Henderson & Co., Manual, "Everything for the Garden," New
York ; Chrysanthemum, Pitcher & Manda ; W. W. Rawson, 34
South Market street, Boston, Mass. ; Parker &, Wood, Seeds and
Agricultural Implements, Boston, Mass. ; W. W. Rawson & Co.,
Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Boston, Mass. ; Fred. W. Kelsey,
Shrubs, Roses, Bulbs and Hardy Plants, New York,

All of which is respectfully submitted.

CHAS. E. BROOKS,

Ijihrarian.
Hall of Flora,

JVoveinber 5, 1890.

REPORT OF THE TREASURER.

Charles E. Brooks in account with

Worcester County Horticultural Society.

Dr.
1889.

Nov. 1. To balance $3,961 25

To cash received from rent of

stores 4,000 00

To cash received at Chrysanthe-
mum Exhibition 142 00

To cash received from new mem-
bers 18 00

To cash received of A. N. Cur-
rier, insurance 110 00

To cash received from rent of

hall 2,797 50

Total $11,028 75

Cr.

By cash paid Premium Awards,

1889 $1,568 55

By cash paid judges of Awards. 138 00
By cash paid Mechanics Bank. . 1,038 88
By cash paid Chas. Hamilton for

printing 195 49

By cash paid City of Worcester,

tax 521 04

By cash paid City of Worcester,

water tax 7 72

1890.] REPORT OF THE TREASURER. 29

By cash paid for books and

papers 144 67

By cash paid for insurance 30 60

By cash paid J. S. Wesby & Sons

for binding. . 194 35

By cash paid Sanford & Davis

for binding 54 25

By cash paid F. W. Wellington

& Co., coal 5800

By cash paid W. H. Jourdan &

Co., coal 10 50

By cash paid for advertising. . . 25 50

By cash paid O. S. Kendall & Co. 14 41

By cash paid Protective Union. . 4 41

By cash paid White & Conant. . 14 13

By cash paid Faine & Dean. ... 9 00

By cash paid Arba Pierce, ever-
green 15 00

By cash paid Henry Brannon,

bookcase 50 00

By cash paid E. G. Higgins. ... 5 00

By cash paid C. Baker & Co.,

lumber 9 25

By cash paid State Safe Deposit

Co 10 00

By cash paid George W. Mellen . 35 00

By cash paid J. A. Long, mirror. 40 00

By cash paid B- C. Jaques, work

on bookcases 82 77

By cash paid B. C. Jaques, work

on new stairs 66 80

By cash paid J. S. Perkins, roof

paint and glass 20 49

By cash paid Strauss Bros 45 75

By casli paid George L. Barr, re-
pairs in store 20 00

By cash paid Hey wood Bro. &
5

30 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1890.

Co., repairs on chairs 17 01

By cash paid Augustus E. Peck,

portraits 235 00

By cash paid A. K. Gould and

others, fare to Boston 20 00

By cash paid E. W. Lincoln,

salary 400 00

By cash paid C. E. Brooks, salary, 1,000 00
By cash paid extra labor and

sundry small bills 377 10

By cash paid Worcester Gas Light

Co 265 35

$6,744 02
Balance . 4,284 73

$11,028 75
Respectfully submitted.

CHARLES E. BROOKS,

Treasurer.

PREFACE.

At the Annual Meeting of the Society, November 5th, A. D.
1890, it was voted — that Messrs. O. B. Hadwen,

James Draper, and
Charles E. Parker,
be a Committee to consider the matter of providing Essays and
starting Discussions upon Horticultural topics, on successive
Thursdays, throughout the winter, with power to act.

This publication results directly from the action of that
Committee. In most cases, it has been the good fortune of
the Society to secure a revised report from the Essayists.
Where that was impossible, resort to the columns of the
contemporary press became imperative. In the better time
coming, it is to be hoped that the relative consequence of
matters under current observation will be more accurately
weighed ; and that success in growing flowers or fruit will
command as close study and careful notice as endurance in the
prize-ring, or sinuosity in sliding to base.

As it happens, the contributions of our own members to the
lore of the various topics is almost entirely lost. It is hoped
that no injustice will be found done to the guests of the Society,
where their remarks are restricted to an abstract ; and that the
Society will be held to no responsibility for opinions that,
howsoever correct, must be regarded simply as the utterance of
their authors.

For tJie Oommittee on Publication.

Edward Winslow Lincoln.

Worcester, Mass., A. D. 1891.

WORCESTER COUNTY

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

8th January, A.D. 1891.

ADDRESS

BY

Hon. henry L. PARKER, President.
Subject: — The Injluence and Benefits of Horticultural Societies.

The year 1891 is marked by two notable events in the history
of this Society — the closing of the first half-century of its ex-
istence, and the extinction of its debt.

There is a certain worthy body of Christian worshippers, who,
on the annual recurrence of New Year's eve, take that occasion
to review the misdeeds and short-comings of the past, and to
strengthen themselves for a renewed struggle with "the world,
the flesh and the devil." In imitation of them, might not this
secular body, devotees of Ceres, Flora and Pomona, with some
advantage make this coming year a watch-night for a review of
former work, and a careful consideration of the question,
whetlier tiie methods of fifty years have truly advanced the
science of Horticulture and accomplished thus far the objects of
the Society's foundation.

Our veteran Secretary, like a sentry upon the wall, has
sounded from time to time the note of warning, and the horta-
tory strain of his last annual report gives ample proof that he
has not slept at his post. If intended as a whip and spur to
greater vigilance and greater effort, it cannot be other than well

34 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

advised, for if " eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," it is
no less the price which any institution mast pay, if it wonld
thrive and grow and accomplish the ends of its existence.

We may with reason and propriety confess that " we have
done many things that we ought not to have done and have left
undone many things that we ought to have done." And yet it
does not seem in looking over our achievements that having
made this our general confession, we need to occupy for a long
time the mourner's seat, or prolong the wail of self-deprecation.

If through our intervention new and improved vegetables have
been brought to the attention of the market gardener ; if our
weekly displays of fruit and the competition excited thereby has
raised the standard of fruit culture — has stimulated the grower
to aim at perfection in appearance and flavor — has educated the
general public to better discrimination and increased consump-
tion— has introduced new choice varieties and perpetuated those
which have been proved and not found wanting; if our floral
exhibitions, our periodicals and the rare volumes on our library
shelves have so quickened an aesthetic taste that our lawns antl
grounds, botli public and private, have taken on an added
beauty ; if garden and conservatory have been enriched with rare
exotics and plants from every clime ; if each succeeding year
has witnessed an additional interest in the science and art of
Horticulture on the part of both our own members and the gen-
eral public ; if this Society has accomplished these results it
may well claim that it has shown a " raison d'etre^'' And that
it has accomplished these results there is no room for doubt. I
make the assertion, without fear of contradiction, that the two
societies, the Massachusetts and the Worcester County, have
accomplished more for fruit culture and market gardening in
Massachusetts than all otlier agencies combined. That it has
accomplished more for Floriculture goes without saying.

The possibilities of Horticultural science in this direction may
be best illustrated in the marked — the almost miraculous — im-
provements in those three typical plants, the orchid, the rose and
the chrysanthemum.

The culture of the orchid with its curious mimicry of organic
life — of the bee, the butterfly, the dove, the swan, beetles, flies,

1891.] ADDRESS. 35

the lady's slipper, and of so many other forms of animate and
inanimate nature — with its rich and varied colors, its delicious
perfumes, has grown by such leaps and bounds, that its distinct
varieties now comprise according to diflferent authorities from
3,000 to 6,000. Of tiie rose ; out of about one hundred botani-
cal species collected from every known habitable portion of the
earth's surface, Dr. Lindley has made eleven distinct types or
tribes to which all belong. From this material, horticultural art
has been able to increase the list of varieties to an almost limit-
less extent. Some of the recent new varieties surpass in ele-
gance not only any production of a generation ago, but anything
that existed in the wildest dreams of the amateur.

But the flower which of all others has made the most mar-
vellous development, and stands perhaps highest to-day in popu-
lar favor, is the chrysanthemum. Although its origin dates
back, or perhaps it would be more correct to say its existence has
been known several hundred years, the centenary of its introduc-
tion into England was celebrated only a year ago. Most of the
Japanese varieties were introduced into England within twenty-
five years, and into this country still later.

It can be recalled early in the history of this Society as an
odorless, white or purple flower, imperfect in shape, insignificant
in size. At our last November exhibition it had culminated in
blooms which rival the rose in beauty and to some of which
science has already lent a perfumed breath. In size, the blooms
of certain varieties have reached the almost incredible measure-
ment of twelve inches in diameter.

Some of the most unique varieties have been obtained from
the Canary Islands, Madeira, Barbary, China and Japan. In
tliose features which distinguish one tribe or species from another
there is no flower perhaps except the orchid more strongly
marked ; and these tribes or species take their name from these
distinctive features, as, for example, the Incurved, the Ranun-
culus flowered, the Recurved or Reflex-flowered, the Anemone
or quilled, the Aster-flowered, the Pompone, the small reflexed
Chusan, the Daisy-flowered, the quill or Pin-feathered Japanese
and the large-flowered Japanese. Like the rose, also, the varieties
produced from these species are almost innumerable. At a

36 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

recent exhibition in France 600 distinct varieties were exhibited
by a single house ; and there grew in 1889 in the Chiswick
gardens 800 distinct varieties.

But to fully appreciate what this and kindred societies have
accomplished for the objects of their foundation we need to look
at the beginnings of Horticulture, or rather at the state of horti-
cultural science when these societies began their work. At the
beginning of the present century horticultural science was in its
infancy. The Royal Horticultural Society of London was the
first society of any note in Europe or America to collect and
classify plants under the Linnsean system. Its establishment dates
back to 1804 and its incorporation to 1809.

Its first active president, Thomas Andrew Knight, F. R. S., in
his introductory remarks relative to the objects of the Associ-
ation, in speaking of the primeval state of those vegetables which
now occupy the attention of the gardener and agriculturist, says:

" We possess no sources from which suflBcient information can
be derived to direct us in our enquiries as to how to trace out the
various changes which art or accident has in successive gener-
ations produced in each, and are still ignorant of the native
country and existence in a wild state of some of the most im-
portant of our plants.

" We know that improved flowers and fruits are the necessary
produce of improved culture, yet few experiments have been
made the object of which has been new productions of this sort;
and almost every ameliorated variety of fruit appears to have
been the ofispring of accident or of culture applied to other
purposes. Societies for the improvement of domestic animals
and of agriculture in all its branches have been established with
success. Horticulture alone appears to have been neglected and
left to the common gardener, who generally pursues tlie dull
routine of his predecessor."

He goes on to speak of the mission of the Society, to promote
experiments for the production of new and improved varieties of
each species of plant and fruit, as well as the improved culture of
the known varieties. The Society proceeded to act on these
suggestions, and in 1817 it had corresponding members in almost
every quarter of the globe. Through the assistance of the East
India Company the Society sent its agents to collect plants from
Bengal and China.

1891.] ADDRESS. 37

In 1819 the formation was begnn of a collection of models in
wax of tlie fruits grown in the gardens of Great Britain.

In 1820 the Society began the construction of an experimental
garden, to become, as expressed in the language of its foundation,
" a national school for the propagation of horticultural knowledge
and a standard of reference for the authenticity of every species
of garden produce." This garden was located at Chiswick, and
consisted of a tract of land of thirty-three acres taken under a
lease renewable forever at the will of the Society.

In 1822 two agents for the collection of plants were sent out
under the auspices of the Society, one of them to the Western
coast of South America and the West India Islands, the other to
the Eastern coast of Africa, to Lisbon, Madeira, Brazil, and the
Cape of Good Hope.

In 1823 a second mission for the collection of plants was
organized, and Mr. John Dampier Parks was sent to China for
that purpose. In the Spring of the same year of 1823 Mr. David
Douglass was taken into the Society's service with the intention
of sending him to the coast of Chili, but the disturbed condition
of that country at the time made that impossible as an objective
point, and he was sent to the United States instead. He selected
from the nurseries of New York and Philadelphia such fruit
trees as seemed desirable, and made a botanical excursion
through the United States into Canada. The Council says of
this expedition :

" This mission was executed by Mr. Douglass with a
success beyond expectation ; he obtained many plants which
were much wanted, and greatly increased our collection of fruit
trees by tiie acquisition of several sorts known to us only by
name. It would be unjust here to omit to mention the uniform
kindness and attention with which he was received in every part
of the United States that he visited. It is most gratifying to
have to add that the presents of cultivated plants to the Society
embraced nearly everything which it was desirous to obtain, and
that the liberality with which they were given was only equalled
by the hospitality with which the collector was received. Mr.
Douglass was sent in the following year on a similar expedition to
the mouth of the Columbia river.

"In the same year, 1824, Mr. James McBaewas sent on a like
errand to the Sandwich Islands. The Society meanwhile was

38 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

not content with mere acquisition. It exerted itself to transmit
to various places abroad those seeds and plants known to be
wanting to the comfort of its respective inhabitants. These
efforts of the Society were appreciated and met with a corres-
ponding return. The East India Co. sent valuable contributions
from their gardens and possessions. The Hudson Bay Co. ex-
erted itself to procure and send to the Society anything that
could prove useful or interesting ; and from individual corres-
pondents from all parts of Europe as well as more remote coun-
tries articles of great value and variety were being continually
received."

But the Society did not rest content with the mere collection
of seeds, plants and trees, and their classification under their
botanical names. It began their culture and careful study in
their gardens at CHiswick. And in 1824, two years after the
grounds were prepared, the Society had at Chiswick the most
complete collection of fruit trees and of hardy trees or shrubs
ever made, up to that date, in England or any other country.
Then followed the construction of hot-houses, green-houses,
pineries, melon pits, forcing beds, tanks for aquatic plants, in
short, every conceivable structure and appliance necessary or
needful for the protection and culture of exotics and the experi-
mental work which followed on flower, fruit and vegetable.

The results of the experimental work of the garden were em-
bodied in a series of papers read before the Society and published
in its transactions. During the years 1824, 1825 and 1826, Dr.
Lindley, the assistant secretary of the garden, made reports upon
173 new and rare plants which had flowered in the garden. Re-
ports were also made by other members upon experiments and
observations.

Nor was the literary work of the Society confined to reports
upon the results of work at Chiswick. Papers were prepared
and read by men of the highest scientific attainments, pro-
fessors. Fellows of the Royal Society, Fellows of the Linnsean
Society, as well as Fellows of the Horticultural Society itself.
During a period of from six to eight years, from 1822 to 1828
or 1830, an average of about seventy per year of such papers
were read and published in the transactions of the Society.

These were some of the topics discussed : —

On the accidental intermixture of character in certain fruits.

1891.] ADDRESS. 39

On the state of Chinese Horticultnre and Agricnltnre.

On the supposed influence of pollen in cross-breeding, upon
the color of the seed-coats of plants and the qualities of their
fruits.

On the culture of new hybrid passiflorte.

On the culture of the African gladioli.

On the Neapolitan violet.

Many of the papers were of an intensely practical nature, such
as the forcing of asparagus, the forcing of garden rhubarb, the
best methods of constructing melon pits or strawberry beds, and
the culture of various garden vegetables.

All this work the Royal Horticultural Society had accom-
plished when the Massachusetts and our own Society had their
birth. The Koyal Horticultural was the pioneer. It led the
way. Under the auspices and prestige of royalty, with the con-
tributions of its noble patrons and its army of wealthy members
it was able from its very beginning to expend in one line of in-
vestigation, or on a single expedition, more perhaps than both
our State and County Society combined could expend for the
same time for all purposes. It has been able to send its agents
to every corner of the earth and to collect and classify the plants,
fruits and vegetables of all nations, and has made known and
disseminated those worthy of culture, whether for pleasure or
profit.

On the profit side the result has been a great impetus to fruit
culture and especially small-fruit culture in England. Land
there which formerly could not be made to pay with the ordinary
crop cultivation, when turned to small-fruit culture pays for the
value of the land in a short time, so that the tenant becomes
the owner. And the consumption of fruits has increased to more
than double within the past twenty years.

The tomato, occupying that half-way place between fruit and
vegetable and which half a century ago was hardly known as
edible, has now become almost as necessary an adjunct of culi-
nary processes as the potato, and in the season of 1885, no less
than 80,400,000 cans of this esculent were grown in Cornwall,
Jersey and Guernsey.

Hygienic progress, increased longevity, the diminution of lep-

40 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

rosy, scrofula and kindred diseases (although sanitary science has
done much), is due to a very large extent to the increased con-
sumption of fruit and the various kinds of vegetable food.

On the aesthetic side it has ministered to the spiritual needs of
man. It has gladdened the face of nature. It has adorned and
brightened many a humble home. It has poured into the lap
of the temperate zone the glowing colors of the tropics and en-
riched the English park with arborescent beauty. It has made
the English landscape a picture on which the eyes of the tourist
delight to dwell. A picture which becomes forever afterwards
a pleasant memory.

I have attempted to sketch thus briefly the work of the Lon-
don Horticultural Society, not only as the most striking illustra-
tion of the influence and public benefits of such societies, but as
leading the way and laying the foundation of the societies which
have followed. What it has accomplished has been done not for
the benefit of England alone but for all other nations. Our own
Society and the Massachusetts have received the benefit of its
work, and we have followed its lead though not with equal steps.
We have done as best we could with our limited membership
and the limited means at our disposal. We have not been able
to fit out botanical expeditions or to send collectors to foreign
lands. Nor have we found it necessary. This work was accom-
plished for us by the Royal Society. And many other lines of
investigation pursued by the Royal Society have been anticipated
by other agencies.

At our agricultural colleges chairs have been established in
entomology, meteorology, and botany and at both the Agricultu-
ral College and Experiment Station, special attention is given to
the study of fungi and to the various diseases incident to plant life.
The Agricultural College and the Agricultural Experiment Station
with the State and National treasuries behind them have vastly
greater facilities for these lines of work than any we could ever
hope to attain. We have thus been compelled by the force of
circumstances to move in a narrower circle. But jjvithin that
circle we have accomplished much. Our collection of books
forms a library of Horticultural science which, outside of that of
the Massachusetts, cannot be duplicated within the limits of this
continent.

1891.] ADDRESS. 41

We have been represented at Horticultural conventions and at
those of a kindred nature in other States. We have maintained
from time to time courses of lectures from scientists of the higli-
est character, as well as discussions among our members. And
each annual report of our Secretary has been a valuable contri-
bution to horticultural knowledge.

Our exhibitions began, and for a long time were confined to a
single annual one. They then began to be held at more frequent
intervals until they merged at last into weekly displays main-
tained through all but the winter months. How successful these
weekly displays have become, and with what ever-increasing
interest they have been attended you well know. We may say
of our work what is said upon the tomb of Sir Christopher
Wren, the architect of St. Paul's, " Si raonumentum requiris
circumspice ! " if you seek a monument look around you.

And now having reached that point where the- last instalment
of the Society's debt has been liquidated, and with an increased
annual revenue, we are confronted with the problem, what shall
be done with our surplus funds ? What new departure, if any,
shall be made. I must confess that, while I can see no reason to
abandon the old methods, with such modifications as changed con-
ditions may make advisable, there is no new field of enterprise
to my mind more promising than an experimental garden after
the Chiswick plan.

This Society is incorporated for the promotion of Horticultural
science ; and what is science but exact knowledge, and what is
horticultural science but exact knowledge of the structure,
growth and life of plants. And how may this exact knowledge
be obtained ? Not solely from books or from the analysis of the
chemist or from the observations of the meteorologist or the
scientist, but as well also from the careful study and investiga-
tion of the practical gardener. It is not the scientist pure and
simple, who has originated new varieties in Horticulture- It is
not the scientist, surely, who has enriched pomological nomen-
clature with pears like Earle's Bergamot, Clapp's Favorite, and
Dana's Hovey, with grapes like the Concord and Moore's Early.
These were all active and enthusiastic members of the Massachu-
setts and Worcester County Societies without any pretension to

42 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

any special scientific attainments, and who attained results by
careful, patient study and experiment as practical growers. I do
not mean by this, that such experimental work would by any
means be outside the scope of the professional scientist. But
the work of the professional scientist has been for the most part
confined to the laboratory.

The State Board of Health of Massachusetts, with an annual
appropriation of from $15,000 to $25,000 for the purpose of
devising some satisfactory system of sewage disposal, have for
years persisted in the idea, long ago exploded in Europe, that
downward intermittent filtration was the only efficient system ;
and almost their entire appropriation from year to year has been
expended in experimentation in this direction. And almost
entirely by simply laboratory experiments. They are now com-
pelled to admit that the practical solution of this great problem
by our efficient city engineer has demonstrated that, so far as
Worcester at least is concerned, they were mistaken, and that
chemical preci})itation has settled for us this troublesome question.

In this plan, therefore, while the work of the professional
scientist would be not only welcome but essential, for the science
of Horticulture includes almost the entire range of sciences, we
should have also the principles of science practically applied.
Phytology or vegetable physiology furnishes still a wide field for
investigation. Much has been done in the line of hybridization
and cross fertilization, but the possibilities in this direction, judg-
ing from what has been already accomplished, are almost infinite.

It would seem that the suburbs of Worcester should afford
some tract of land of easy access, of the right exposure, and of
other conditions suitable for such an experimental garden. Of
course such an enterprise if entered upon should be attended
with great deliberation, and years might elapse before it could be
fully perfected, before the proper site could be selected, the
ground prepared, the proper buildings and appliances constructed
and the work in successful operation.

But these are simply crude suggestions. The plan may not
meet the approval of your good judgment. You may pronounce
it Utopian and chimerical. I offer the suggestions for what they
are worth, in no pride of opinion and with the best good of the

1891.] ADDRESS. 43

Society at heart. Bnt wluitever may be the course determined
upon, let us hope that the next tifty years may witness in the
history of this Society the same enthusiasm, the same unity of
purpose, the same good financial judgment, the same uninter-
rupted growth and prosperity which has marked the first half-
century of its existence.

[f a trust, in the nature of an educational duty, was imposed
upon the founders of this Society in procuring its incorporation,
and if we, its present officers and members, in undertaking the
administration of its affairs have assumed that trust, may we not
say without arrogance that we have not abused it, that we have
made of it an institution of public benefit, that we have educated
not only our own members but the outside world as well, and
accomplished a work for which we shall receive the blessing of
coming generations.

i5th January, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

STILLMAN H. RECORD, A.M., of Worcester.
Theme: — The Culture of Lettuce and Cucuvibers under Glass.

Perhaps there is no garden vegetable grown for our markets
that requires less skill when raised in open culture than lettuce,
for it will grow in almost any good garden soil, and, in open air,
is seldom injured by disease. But when grown under glass by
artificial heat, I know of no vegetable that requires more skill, or
a longer apprenticeship to acquire that skill necessary for suc-
cessful culture, than does the lettuce plant. I know of successful
market gardeners after forty-five years of practical experience in
its culture, declare their belief that a crop of good lettuce forced
under glass is simply the result of "good luck," because while
growing three and four crops per year they say they can get
only about one good crop in the course of four years. Another
lettuce grower, though younger in years, yet the largest lettuce
grower in New England and probably the largest in America,
says, that the same treatment never produces the same result
twice in succession. Explanation of these varying and seeming-
ly hap-hazard results, is probably found in the fact, that the cul-
ture of plants under glass requires nearly all the conditions for
successful growth to be produced artificially, and these conditions,
particularly in the case of the lettuce plant, are so numerous,
and so obscure, that finite man, even after years of careful
observation and practice is not quite equal to the task of bring-
ing about uniform results, though he may attain partial and
varying success.

1891.] ESSAYS. 45

The culture of lettuce under glass is really one of the abstruse
sciences, and should be classed among the " learned professions,"
as much as Law or Medicine or Divinity. If the later cyclo-
paedias do not so class it the bookmakers have failed in their duty.
They have not thoroughly canvassed all the liberal arts and
sciences, and properly arranged the subjects respecting which
they profess to treat.

The lawyer in his study of jurisprudence, and the divine in his
search of the Scriptures, have the statutes inexplicably stated and
plainly printed language, which can usually be understood with-
out great difficulty. But the horticulturist, who must study and
conform to the laws that govern the growth of plant life, does
not find those laws written in legible characters on a plain, white
surface. His is the more recondite and profound subject. The
laws which he seeks to understand and the conditions of health-
ful plant growth, which he is himself required' now to produce
artificially, are as obscure as the occult properties of matter
itself. Those who have had the longest experience, acquired the
greatest skill, and achieved the largest measure of success in pro-
ducing artificially the necessary conditions for the growth of this
difficult plant, are the most frank in confessing their deficiencies.
After all they have learned they will assure you that there is yet
left ample field for years of further study and careful observa-
tion, by the most scientific men in charge of our agricultural ex-
periment stations, before all the conditions of successful growth
are perfectly understood.

I confess to a feeling of much more modesty in attempting to
give instruction on the cultivation of lettuce by artificial heat
than possibly I miglit have felt immediately after attaining my
first partial success. But seventeen years of practical experi-
ence, with the prerogative of standing all the losses of many
expensive failures, has taught me that there was far more to
learn to master the business than I had conceived, even after
several previous years of reading and frequent and careful obser-
vation of the methods of our largest and most successful lettuce
growers around the cities of Providence, Boston and New York.
If I could secure correct answers to all the questions wiiich I
would like to propound on difficult points to be met with in the
6

46 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

cultivation of lettuce, 1 am quite sure that my catalogue of ques-
tions would outnumber the answers which I should dare to give
as the correct ones to questions that might be proposed to me.
Nevertheless, I have, I trust, learned some things, at least, as to
what ought not to be done in lettuce growing.

And as one of the first and most essential things that a novice
in any trade or profession needs to know is what he ought not
do, such negative instruction may be of value to those who have
not already learned it in the costly school of experience. My
advice to one proposing to begin this business and to follow it as a
means of livelihood would be: (1.) Hfot to undertake it at his own
expense until he first serves a thorough apprenticeship of several
years, with the best lettuce grower that he can find. Even if he
should have to give his services, and pay his own board, and pay
tuition for several years, it will bo cheaper than to undertake it
on his own account, particularly on a scale sufiicient for a living
business, provided he understood the intricacies of the trade him-
self. Such a course will cost him more money than it need to
for a full collegiate and university course of literary and scientific
instruction.

(2.) Do not think you can start into the business on a busi-
ness scale and avoid such losses by hiring a professional expert to
manage the business for you, and at the same time teach you
the intricacies of the trade. Competent men cannot be hired for
that business, at least, not by one who is himself a novice.
Having hired the most competent man that you can secure, in all
the States, and spread out your property for him to manage, the
first yon will realize as a tangible result of your enterprise will
be a loss of $500 or $1,000 at a stroke by reason of his blun-
ders, or rather his ignorance.

A few years ago, a man having a lucrative business purchased
an adjoining vegetable farm, with a greenhouse and four or five
hundred hot-bed sashes, and proposed to make a little money out
of lettuce growing, by hiring an expert market gardener to
operate his glass on shares, while he himself continued his former
business. He asked me to refer him to the right kind of a man
for such an enterprise, if I could. I asked him if he himself had
a practical knowledge of growing lettuce under glass. He said

1891.] ESSAYS. 47

he Imd not. But he thought if he could secure a man who liad,
the man, "while making a dollar for himself, might also make a
dollar for him." 1 told liim I knew of no such man to be hired.
And, besides, that T had never in all my life heard of but two
such men that were hired to manage such a business, and in both
these cases the owners gave their personal and constant oversight
to every detail of work. I told him that while not able, under
the, circumstances, to help him make any money, I was confident
that I could save him at least $5,000 if he would but adhere to
the advice which I could give him in just jive words — " DonH
do any such things Of course I knew he would not follow it,
for it would seem to him to be prompted by personal interest.

He tried his experiment several years with two or more, I
think, different men. I occasionally looked in upon him to learn
what success attended the enterprise. On my last visit to his
place, I met several teams loaded with hot-bed sash which he had
wisely leased or sold to a market gardener who understood his
business. The green-house was desolate and cold, and, besides,
had collapsed under a heavy snowdrift, and the busy hum of
market garden work no longer enlivened the scene. He frankly
admitted that my advice given him was sound, but boasted of
wisdom enough to quit the business before he had sunken quite
as large a sum of money as I had predicted.

The Prepakation of the Soil.

The preparation of the soil and the manipulations of the
plants are very simple processes to one used to ordinary garden
work. The soil for the seed bed should be mixed with about one-
third its bulk of well rotted stable manure, and made as fine and
mellow as thorough spading and pulverizing can make it, to the
depth of about one foot.

For the first winter crop the seed should be sown in Septem-
ber, either in open ground or in an uncovered frame. The seed
should be covered about one-fourth inch with very fine soil,
pressed down gently with the back of a shovel. The best way
of covering the seed is by sifting the soil through a fine coal
sieve as evenly as possible. The seed, almost invariably used for
forcing under glass, is the wiiite seeded Tennis-Ball, sometimes

48 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

called " Boston Market." Too great care to get the very best of
seed cannot be used.

Pricking Out the Plants.

When the young plants have attained suflScient size to handle
easily — say when the leaves are an inch or so across — ^they should
be transplanted, or "pricked out" as it is termed, into another
frame of equally rich and equally finely pulverized soil, three
inches apart each way. This frame should be covered with glass
and, during the warmest part of sunny days, the ends of alternate
sash should be raised three or four inches to give air.

If sufficiently lale in the season for the ground to freeze quite
hard nights and, particularly, if the ground remains frozen during
the day outside the frame, the frame should have bottom heat of
fermenting stable manure, showing a temperature of 120 or more
degrees, placed beneath six inches of the mellow, rich soil into
which the lettuce plants are to be set. This bottom heat should
be about 8 inches deep, evenly spread and gently pressed down,
and when covered the soil should come within two inches of the
glass on the south side of the bed. The north side of the frame
should be six inches higher than the south side.

While this heat is fresh and active, say for the first two or
three weeks and particularly in mild weather, great care is essen-
tial to give it plenty of air during the day. At first it is some-
times needful to have some ventilation during the night, by
placing a lath flatwise beneath a sash once in twenty or thirty
feet. When the weather is cold enough to freeze hard nights
the sash are to be covered nights with straw mats, and these mats
also covered with broad shutters, later in the season, and particu-
larly when snow comes. These shutters and mats by day are
leaned back against the shelter fence, made of tight boards six
and a half or seven feet high, two and a half feet north of the
frame.

Planting 6x6 Inches.

When these plants are large enough to entirely cover the
ground, they are again transplanted into another frame filled
with fresh heat, a distance of 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 inches, which will give
a less number but larger heads.

1891.] ESSAYS. 49

Great caution should be used at the first transplanting from
the seed bed not to use plants that are infested at all with the
green aphis or lettuce louse. If by any means even one louse is
introduced into your frames, you have a hard enemy to tight, for
they multiply so fast that if they do not ruin the first crop, they
are almost sure to destroy the second winter crop in those frames.
The only effectual way to destroy them, when they get on the
plants, is by fumigating with tobacco smoke while the plants are
comparatively small, before the foliage is dense enough to pre-
vent the smoke from penetrating to every hiding place. The
fumigation of lettuce in the hot-bed frame is much more difficult
than it is when growing in the green-house. Indeed, fumigating
the frames is seldom attempted. Weekly or semi-weekly fumiga-
tion is needed in the green-house when the plants are young.

But the real difficulty in lettuce growing under glass begins
when the lettuce is planted upon bottom heat, or in the green-
house, after the weather is cold enough to close your house tight
and start your fires. Here the necessary heat, moisture, and
needed change of air must be produced artificially, and it re-
quires almost infinite skill to understand, and to regulate all
these, and adapt them to the varying light and change of outside
temperature. The temperature must be lowered just as soon as
the sun ceases to shine, even during daylight, or the plants will
soon become unhealthy.

As the plants begin to head in and, especially, just before they
have attained the proper size and .solidity for market, the black
rot in the head, mildew and various other unnamed and unnama-
ble diseases, are liable to manifest themselves, that greatly injure
and sometimes utterly destroy the crop.

Night Temperatuke.
It used to be thought that the night temperature should be
45° and from that up to 50°. But experience has convinced
many, and our experiment station has verified this opinion that a
lower night temperature is necessary to avoid mildew. 40° or
less is now regarded as high enough for healthy growth, especial-
ly after a cloudy day. Tlie day temperature in clear weather
should be allowed to go up to 60° or 70°. If the weather is
cloudy the day temperature should not go above 55°,

50 worcester county horticultural society. [1891.

Yentilation.

It used to be thouglit that considerable outside air should be
admitted every clear day, no matter how cold the outside temper-
ature. This may be necessary for lettuce in frames on fresh and
strong bottom heat. But in the lettuce house it is found better
to admit but little air unless the outside temperature is as high as
40°. In mild days give plenty of air.

Watering.

Lettuce requires a great quantity of water, especially when
heading up, and particularly just before it is ready for market.
But too much moisture is sure to induce mildew during the short
days of early winter when but little ventilation can be given. To
apply the water at such time requires nothing less tlian an
expert, or the constant presence and oversight of an expert. I
never knew a raw hand to put on quite half water enough the
first time even after the most careful directions. Nor would he
get on sufficient even the second time though sent immediately
over the work. But having been twice shown at how little deptli
into the soil all the water he has put on, penetrates, in his third
attempt he is almost sure to spoil the job by getting on altogether
too much.

The only time that it is safe to break in a raw hand at water-
ing lettuce is when the days are sufficiently long and mild to
allow a good deal of ventilation. Then place the hose in his
hand and a watch in his pocket, and tell him precisely how many
minutes to let the water run upon a given number of sash, or a
section (space between parts) in your greenhouse.

When to Water.

It used to be thought that the best time to water lettuce was
in the afternoon, soon after the greatest heat of the sun had passed,
say after 2 o'clock. But it is now found that the best time to
apply the water is in the forenoon of a sunny day, as the leaves
of the plants have more time to dry off, and are less liable to
mildew from u possible too high night temperature.

1891.] JESSAYS. 51

Mildew.

As mildew is the greatest obstacle to the growth of good
lettuce and occasions the greatest loss to market gardeners, it
becomes the grower to study most carefully all the conditions
liable to produce it, for here, if anywhere, the old adage proves
true, that " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.''''

Our Hatch Experiment Station at Amherst has already ren-
dered much aid in determining and publishing some of the condi-
tions by which this disease may be brought on. But I do not
think that they have yet determined all those conditions. Be-
sides, there are several other diseases that appear to be distinct
from mildew, wiiich often accompany it — sometimes preceding,
and sometimes following it — that are quite as destructive as the
genuine mildew. These diseases, if they really are distinct from
mildew, do not seem to be described in the bulletins issued by
the Experiment Station.

The conditions which produce mildew, as given by the Experi-
ment Station Bulletin, are five, viz. :

(1.) Too high temperature at night, say 45° to 50°.

(2.) Want of proper plant food in the soil.

(3.) Too much moisture in the soil.

(4.) Sudden and extreme changes in the temperature when the
plants have been growing rapidly and are soft and tender.

(5.) The same temperature both day and night.

All these conditions, I think, are correct as far as they go.
But there is one other condition not mentioned in their bulletins
that I am quite sure produces a disease that often accompanies
the mildew, and may be a result of mildew, unless it is a distinct
disease. The disease is black rot in the head of the lettuce just
before it is ready for market, that resembles what is called
"scorching" of the head, but is, I think, diflferent from it. Too
great dryness in the soil, when the lettuce is nearly headed, will
cause this phase of the disease.

The rotting off of the trunk of the lettuce junt beneath the
head, when almost mature — and sometimes so suddenly as to
leave the head loose before it has wilted — is another disease that
sometimes accompanies the mildew, and may be a result of it, or
it may be distinct disease. Too great moisture, occasioned by

52 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

dripping around tiie plant from the glass, seems to be one of the
causes of this rotting ; also too cold a stream of air dropping
suddenly upon the plants seems to be another condition. But
after several cloudy days in succession, when lettuce is nearly
headed up, this disease prevails most destructively. There is
still another cause of many of these diseases to which lettuce is
subject, which I have never seen mentioned in any book, nor
heard any of these old lettuce-growers refer to as a possible
cause, viz. : the transmission of these diseases in the seed. My
son first suggested this as a possible, yea, as a probable cause,
some years ago, when the mildew and rot seemed to threaten the
utter destruction of the lettuce business throughout New Eng-
land. Acting at once upon that suggestion, I procured some of
my seed from a part of the country (Northern Illinois) where
the disease had never prevailed, and we became fully persuaded
that had we used that seed wholly in the next planting in my
house, we should have made a saving of at least one hundred
dollars on that single crop.

Remedies.

To check the mildew, evaporated sulphur is often used. When
I have used it, I have placed the sulphur in small tin cups, and
heated them over kerosene lamps, by a simple nursing lamp
attachment to the lamp chimneys. At the Hatch Experiment
Station I see their arrangement is similar, but perhaps more con-
venient— a small kettle heated over an oil stove lamp. Great
care is needed to prevent the brimstone taking fire, for, if com-
bustion takes place, all plant life in the house will be destroyed
in a very few minutes.

But Sunlight is Nature's greatest remedy for this, and perhaps
nearly all the diseases that attack lettuce when confined under
glass. It is because we have so little sunshine during the short
days of early winter that makes the forcing of lettuce so diflicult
a business, for when this small amount of sunlight is still further
diminished to any considerable extent by cloudy weather, as it
frequently is, it is sure to bring disaster to the lettuce crop.

Aktificial Light.
But it is right at this point where, I am confident, the next
most important advance in lettuce-growing is destined to be

1891.] ESSAYS. 53

made, viz. : in the use of artificial light as well as artificial heat.
Sunlight is one of the most, perhaps the most important factor
in producing those subtle and mysterious chemical changes,
essential in nearly all the processes of healthy plant growth.
Ever since electricity was first introduced for lighting, I have
believed that the electric light could be utilized in growing lettuce
during the long winter nights. I did not suppose, however, that
the pecuniary advantage would be enough to pay the cost. But
I have often said that if I had a few thousand dollars that I could
aflford to throw away I would myself try the experiment for the
sake of establishing what I believed to be a scientific fact. My
reason for this belief was based upon the fact that the electric
light has more of the elements of sunlight than any other arti-
ficial light, except the light produced by burning silver and gold.
The light produced by the combustion of these two metals, we
are told by scientists, give us precisely the same elements as
constitute sunlight. But such a light would, of course, be alto-
gether too costly for practical use in this kind of horticulture —
at least, at the present low prices for lettuce — unless, indeed,
unlimited coinage should sufliciently cheapen these metals. Per-
haps that is what the Farmers' Alliance is driving at. But I
think that gas light, or even kerosene affords a sufficiently brill-
iant light, if well focused, to show the folly of some of their
financial theories.

A few years after I began to discuss my electric light theory
for growing lettuce a paper was read before the French Academy
of Sciences describing an experiment that had been tried in
growing plants by electric light, and that it had proved a success.

In 1887, while spending the winter and nearly all the summer
on the gulf coast at Tampa, in South Florida, an electric light
plant was built in that city. The electrician was a young man
from Chicago, whose acquaintance I made, and with whom I used
to spend an occasional evening in social chat and discussing elec-
trical questions, and in trying amusing electrical experiments,
some of which we used to try in the college laboratory. Outside
the ofiice door of that electrical light plant was suspended an arc
light of, perhaps, 2,000 candle power. I noticed that under that
light the grass and weeds grew much more rapidly and vigorously

54 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

than they did just around the corner of the building, where they
did not get the direct rays of the light. Perhaps you, who reside
near the electric lights in this city, may have made similar obser-
vations.

I know of only one person who has actually tried the experi-
ment of growing lettuce under electric light, and that is that
enterprising Arlington market gardener, W. W. Rawson, whom
you well know. It was about two years ago, I think, that he
began the experiment. He was then confident that the light
would be of sufiicieut advantage to pay the extra cost. Desiring
to learn further about his experiment, I wrote him a short time
ago, inclosing a list of questions and leaving blank spaces for him
to fill with brief answers. To me these answers are exceedingly
interesting, for they more than confirm my most sanguine expec-
tations, at least, so far as pecuniary results are concerned.

Here are my questions and the answers given by Mr. Rawson :

1. How many seasons have you used electric light in lettuce
growing ? One.

2. How many hours each night ? Until 1 o'clock.

3. Number of lights in each house ? One arc light outside.

4. What kind ; arc or incandescent ? Arc.

5. Candle power of each ? 2,000 ; total power.

6. Number of houses lighted ? One.

7. Size of each house ? 200 by 24.

8. Cost of the lights ? $15 per month.

9. How much time is saved in growing a crop in the short
days of December and January? 20 per cent.

10. Does the light improve the healthfulness and quality of
the lettuce ? It does.

11. Is the pecuniary advantage enough, on the whole, to pay
the extra cost ? It is.

Accompanying the above answers, Mr. Rawson sent the fol-
lowing letter : —

Boston, Mass., Jan. 3, 1891.
Mb. S. H. Record.

Dear Sir. — I have answered your questions and I should have
had the lights this season if I could get them, but the Company
have sold all their power, and I wanted three large lights, 2,000

1891.] ESSAYS. 55

caudle power each, but they could not furnish it, so 1 shall try
again next season. I ana very sure it will pay in two ways, — in
the time and in the quality. Hoping this will be satisfactory, I
am yours truly,

W. W. RAWSON.

I also wrote President Goodell, at the Hatch Experiment Sta-
tion, to ask whether they had made any experiments of growing
lettuce under electric light, or whether they had collected any
facts on that subject from other sources. I asked for the address
of any parties either in this country or Europe who had made the
experiment, if he was able to give them.

Since writing this part of my essay I received the following
letter from Prof. Warner, the meteorologist of the Hatch Ex-
periment Station : —

Amherst, Mass., Jan. 9, 1891.
Me. S. H. Record.

Dear Sir. — President Goodell asks me to answer your favor of
some days ago. I am at present preparing an article on Electric
Culture, or Electricity in Agriculture, which I may publish in
bulletin form later. The experiment of which you speak has
been tried in Europe and also at Cornell University. I have
also studied the effect of electric light on plant growth. Tlie
experiment in Europe was in favor of the electricity. At
Cornell, I understand, the plants grew very rapidly, the foliage
was much better, but fruit-bearing plants were not as prolific
under the influence of electric light as when grown in the natural
way. Electric light has many of the essential properties of sun-
light, but it remains yet to be proved whether foliage plants can
be grown profitably by this artificial means. My experiments
with dynamical electricity on the growth and development of
foliage plants has led me to believe that electricity, as it exists in
the atmosphere and ground, is a potent factor in the economy of
nature and has much to do witli the growth of vegetation. I
have grown lettuce by this means and found in two cases — 1 have
only recently started — that the advantage was in favor of elec-
tricity, the plants were better and healthier. I shall continue my
experiments in this direction, and will give them to the public
from time to time. Yours very truly,

C. D. WARNER.

Heating Green-houses.
I have had experience with but one mode of heating a lettuce
house, and that by hot water. In my house, 26 x 168, I have

56 WOECESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891,

1,200 feet of 4-inch hot water pipes, heated by one of Smyth &
Lynch's largest boilers (No. 7), which is guaranteed to heat 1,600
feet of 4-inch pipe. I think that most of the lettuce houses
built within the last few years are heated by steam. It is claimed
for steam, at least by those who make steam heating apparatus,
that you can heat a house quicker, and that one can better con-
trol the temperature.

Some three years ago, Mr. Budlong of Providence, I am told,
tore down and rebuilt his four large lettuce houses, varying in
length from 150 to 500 feet, and is heating the new houses with
steam. Probably the principal reason for displacing his old houses,
was to substitute larger glass for his 6x8 light hot-bed sash with
which his old houses were covered, and which he could utilize
quite as well or better on his hot-bed frames. Whether his new
steam heating arrangement is an improvement enough over the
water heating, to warrant so expensive a change, I do not know.
But I very much doubt if it is.

I base this opinion upon the results of a careful, comparative
test of hot water and steam heating for lettuce growing, made
by the Hatch Experiment Station, and published in their Bulle-
tins, Nos. 4, 6, and 8, in which every detail of the experiments
are minutely described, and the daily and final results are tabu-
lated.

Two houses were constructed during the summer of 1888,
75 X 18 feet, as nearly alike as possible in every particular. Two
boilers of the same pattern and make were put in, one fitted for
steam and one for hot water. Their first published test showed
that the hot water gave the best results, and at a saving of cost
of about twenty per cent.

Much discussion having been provoked relative to the results
of that experiment, and especially as to the accuracy of those
results, last winter, 1889-90, they made a " careful repetition of
the experiments to correct any errors that might be found and to
verify previous results, the boilers having been run with the
greatest care possible from Dec. 1, 1889, to March 17, 1890,"
and, as before, the temperature was taken five times every twenty-
four hours and the coal used in each house daily, weighed. This
experiment confirmed the results of their former experiment, as

1891.] ESSAYS. 57

to temperature, and tlie better control of heat, secured by hot
water, and this time at a saving of over 32 per cent, in coal in
favor of the hot water.

Cucumbers Under Glass.

The conditions required to grow cucumbers successfully under
glass are, in several important respects, radically different from
those of lettuce — so much so, that the two plants cannot be grown
together in the same frame or green-house. The high night
tem])erature (60° to 65°) which the cucumber requires would be
ruinous to lettuce, while the low temperature (35° to 40°) at
night needed for the healthy growth of lettuce would soon give
the cucumber its death.

Both lettuce and cucumbers might do fairly well together in
the day temperature suitable for lettuce in sunny weather, pro-
vided no cold air was admitted to keep the thermometer from
going above 70°. But while we should ventilate the lettuce when
the thermometer was getting above 70°, we should not give air
to cucumbers until the temperature reached 100° or more.

Another radical diff'erence between the cucumber and lettuce is
in the very much greater skill and care required in manipulating
the cucumber plants. Any one can transplant the lettuce and
make it live. None but an expert can transplant the cucumber
with any success at all. A single day's work of a novice at pot-
ting cucumber plants once occasioned me a loss of a little over
$300 even after being carefully instructed and shown just how
to do it.

But even very much greater skill and care are needed to trans-
plant a cucumber from the pot or from the bed into the place
where it is to grow and fruit, than in potting the plant when
small. If the soil falls off, or becomes very much loosened from
the roots of a large cucumber plant when placing it in the hill,
you might as well throw it away, first as last, for it can seldom be
saved so as to amount to anything.

In planting out the cucumber into hills where it is to fruit
it must be handled with such gentleness and care that it will
.never know it has been moved. To check the growth, even but
a little, does the plant an almost irreparable injury.

58 WORCETTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

The great secret of success in forcing cucumbers under glass,
consists in giving the seed a quick start, and then keeping the
plants growing rapidly and continuously, without any check if
possible, either from unskilled handling or lack of heat or
moisture.

The Seed Bed

Should consist of some six inches of finely pulverized and
moist soil, placed on top of a foot or more in depth of fresh and
very active bottom heat — stable manure in a very high state
of fermentation — or in direct contact with the water tank of an
incubator. It does not require a large space simply for the
germination of a large quantity of seed, for the seed may liter-
ally cover the ground, or even be two deep for that matter, pro-
vided it is well covered with soil. Cover an inch deep with mel-
low soil sifted through a fine coal sieve, or mason's sieve, and
press down firmly and evenly.

Potting the Plants.

Just as soon as the plants show themselves above the soil
(which will be in 48 hours or less, if your heat is just right) they
should be pricked out into pots (3-inch pots are about the right
size) in fine, moist, warm soil, firmly pressed in and then plunged
in soil over fresh fermenting manure in a hot-bed frame, or else
in a house heated to a high temperature.

When the air outside is mild, ventilation should be given, but
not enough to cause the thermometer to drop below 75° or 80°
in the daytime.

The soil in the pots should be kept moist by frequent watering
with warm water, if you can. Though this is not absolutely
necessary.

Repotting.

When these plants have grown a few weeks in the pots, and
especially if they become "long-legged," as gardeners term it, it
is well to repot them, setting them deeper down in the soil, and
perhaps in a pot one size larger — say a 4-inch pot. A larger pot,
however, is not always necessary, for it is well to let the plant

1891.] ESSAYS. 59

roots pretty nearly fill the pot before being transplanted to
ground where they are to grow.

Another plan of growing the plants, is to transplant them
once or twice into the soil over the bottom heat in the frame,
or in the house soil instead of into pots, at least 6x6 inches
apart. When grown in this manner greater care and labor are
required for the last transplanting into the place where they are
to fruit. This is done by pressing deep into the soil around
each plant a short piece of 6-inch stove pipe made smooth and
sharp at one end. Then a shovel is pushed beneatii the stove
pipe, and the plant and its surrounding soil carried without dis-
turbance and planted where it is to grow and then the stove pipe
is withdrawn.

The plants should be from 8 to 10 inches tall, and as stocky as
plenty of room will make them, and just beginning to put forth
runners, when removed to the soil where they are to fruit.

If they are to fruit in hot-bed frames, a ditch 18 inches wide
and 12 or 15 inches deep, running along the middle of the entire
frame, should be filled with bottom heat and covered six inches
with fine soil, which should be allowed to get thoroughly warmed
through by fermentation and sunlight before receiving the plants.
In a heated house no bottom heat like this is necessary.

From this time on, until large enough to fruit, the principal
labor and care will be to keep them suflSciently moist and sufii-
ciently warm, giving some air, of course, when the weather
is mild.

One plant to each sash (3 by 6 feet) is sufiiciently thick for
fruiting. In a green-house the vines are trained on a trellis,
usually made of tarred marline or lathe yarn, about one foot
apart, stretched tight on leaning supports. In the hot- bed frames
the vines are left upon the ground.

Fruiting.

When the plants have attained a vigorous and stocky growth
of some three feet or more in length, they may be allowed to
begin to fruit. If your vines are in a house now is the time to
bring in your bees that they may mix the pollen, which is neces-
sary for fruit bearing. If your vines are in hot-bed frames and

60 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

the season is not sufficiently advanced to permit them to be
opened, at least a part of the day, for bees to enter, and particu-
larly if too early in the season for bees to be flying, the fertiliza-
tion or mixing of the pollen must be done by hand, else yon can
have no fruit.

But cucumbers grown in frames where it is so difficult to intro-
duce the bee while the frames are closed, are not often planted
early enougli to require hand fertilization, as this would be slow
work, although it can be done and often has been done.

Watering.

The cucumber, as well as lettuce, requires a great quantity of
water, especially when fruiting and particularly after the weather
gets warm enough to keep your house or frames open nearly all
the time. A thorough watering every alternate day is then
required to keep the plants thrifty and prolific.

My house having a slope of one foot in sixteen, I have for sev-
eral years irrigated instead of taking the time of one man half
of each alternate day to water the plants. This I do by letting
the water run through the hose on to the bed at the upper end of
the house, and follow a slight depression or channel in the
soil along the roots until it reaches the lower end, changing once
in several hours to other grooves on each bed until all parts have
been sufficiently moistened.

We practice the same method also with the cucumbers in the
outside hot-bed frames, which are also on sloping ground.

Diseases and Pests.

The cucumber does not seem to be so susceptible to diseases as
lettuce, and in this respect is very much less difficult to grow.

Last summer, however, nearly all cucumber vines in this local-
ity and particularly those in open culture, later in the season,
seemed to be affected with some disease that nearly ruined them.
Perhaps this was in part due to insect pests, for there are of late
getting to be several destructive insect pests besides the old
striped cucumber bug and the large black squash bug.

Last summer the cucumber vines in my green-house, when fully
grown and yielding their best fruitage, became suddenly and

1891.] ESSAYS. 61

almost completely infested with a dark-colored aphis, or louse,
upon which tobacco smoke seemed to make no impression. Tiiey
nearly covered the under side of the leaves and soon sucked the
life out of them. The whole crop was destroyed fully a month
before they would have ceased bearing, if nnliarmed.

Twice, specimens of these insects were sent to the Hatch Ex-
periment Station, but both times failed to reach the Professor of
Entomology before the leaves became dried up and the insects in-
visible. Once the professor was at South West Harbor, Maine,
on a vacation, and the insects were forwarded to him from Am-
herst. Why the second installment should have failed to reach
his assistant at the station I know not.

I afterwards sent some cucumber leaves from the later vines
in out-door frames, which were infested with a similar pest, if not
indeed identical. My son was doubtful al>out tiieir being the
same insects. Prof. Fernald pronounced tiiese the aphis cu-
cumeris, a real plant louse, l)ut the " life history of which has not
yet been fully made out." He says, " There appears to be three
forms: 1st, wingless females like those you sent; 2d, males and
females with wings, wiiich pair and lay eggs, but where is not
known ; 3d, a wingless form that feeds on the roots, dift'ering
considerably from those you sent."

He mentions " Road dust, Pyrethrum ])owders, tobacco smoke,
and kerosene emulsion ; all which liave been tried with varying
success," he says. But he suggests avoiding growing cucumbers
on the same ground next year wliere these pests appeared last
season. He makes the same suggestion for squashes, melons,
etc., that have been similarly infested.

For the destruction of the root-infesting aphis, he recommends
tiie use of " bisulphide of carbon, half a teaspoonful poured into
a hole two inciies or more deep made in the ground about three
inches from the stem of the plant. Then press the dirt together
and down into the hole as compactly as possible."

" The liquid changes to a vapor which is deadly to insect life,
and as it permeates the soil it reaches the roots and destroys the
insects feeding on them. It must not be used where there is a
light, as an explosion might occur."

Cucumbers grown in out-door hot-bed frames or following let-
7

62 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

tiice in a lettuce house, in this latitude, are not usually sown until
into March or April, and planted out where they are to fruit
a month later, so as to come into bearing the last of May or first
of June. To 2;row them in mid-winter it is necessary to have
houses built expressly for this business, double glazed all over.
But this is so expensive and the winter market is so limited but
few undertake it.

22d January, A. D. i8gi.

ESSAY

BY

J. HOWARD HALE, of South Glastonbury, Conn.
TJieme: — 8mall-Fruits ; their Culture and Variety.

President Parker introduced Mr. Hale, who proceeded at
once to the consideration of his theme.

He said the increase in the consumption of small-fruits in
the cities has been remarkable in the last twenty-five years.
As people grow more refined their appetites become refined.
A wonderful mental development is going on in this country,
and that means an increasing demand for the delicate fruits.
The market for poor fruit grows poorer at the same time, and
the profits go only to those who grow the best fruit.

The old method of raising strawberries and raspberries in
matted unkempt beds after the first year is no longer profitable.
An average family of refined tastes will use 15 to 30 quarts of
strawberries a day if given a chance at a field, and the farmer
who neglects to plant his own fruit on the plea that his ground
is unfitted, and that he can better aflbrd to buy what his family
needs, is sure to fail to keep his family supplied with the
luscious berries. Every farmer has some land that will produce
fruits for the family, and the production of his own food should
be his first care. Any one near a small town can cultivate small-
fruits at a profit. I should not advise a farmer who is at a dis-
tance from a railway to raise small-fruits on a large scale.
Generally, any good corn land will be satisfactory. It is well
to have a variety of fruits, so that the failure of one crop may
not be a failure for the whole year's work. The strawberry is
the leading fruit and the first to ripen. If your soil is light the

64 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

strawberry is the best plant, but if you wish to raise good ber-
ries, a strong loamy soil is better. On light soil, plant varieties
that root deep. Low swampy places, I think, will aftbrd excel-
lent crops of fancy strawberries. In preparing the ground
plough eight inches deep, unless the subsoil is poor. Subsoil-
ing is satisfactory when possible. After ploughing apply the
manure, and harrow it in. For strawberry culture commercial
manure suits me best. Stable manure furnishes more nitrogen
than is needed. It will make the foliage growth heavy and
handsome, l)ut the plants will not be so fruitful as when fed with
commercial fertilizers. Make your own fertilizers. We use a
fine ground bone for the phosphates, and wood ashes, cotton
seed ashes, or muriate or sulphate of potash for the potash.

Apply a ton of bone and a half-ton of the potash for one acre
of ordinary soil for the raising of fine fruit. Give each plant a
square foot of soil. Plant the rows three feet apart, putting
• the plants from 12 to 18 inches apart. Another plan is to mark
the field in " check" rows four feet apart, and put the plants in
hills. This plan permits cultivating with the harrow.

In the first plan a few runners should be allowed to grow in
the I'ow. In the second, or "bog hill" plan, a new bed can be
started easily. As soon as the berries are picked go to work on
the bed. A horse and cultivator should so through as often as
three times a fortnight all summer, and the field should be hoed
by hand once in two or three weeks till October. The " Sunny-
side" hoe, invented by Mr. Earle of Worcester, is the best.
We use the French cultivator, which has adjustable teeth. The
mulching in the fall is most important. Many a field has been
ruined by mulching it too early. Don't mulch till the ground is
thoroughly frozen. If your bed has not been mulched yet, it
has not been harmed. The danger is from thawing in the
spring. Don't mulch too deep. A ton and a half of marsh hay
per acre is enough. Coarse stable manure may be used, but it
is the poorest of all mulch, because it stimulates the growth of
the foliage, to the detriment of the fruit. Let the plants grow
up through the mulch. Irrigation produces magniHcent results.
Sprinkling water on the ground is the least satisfactory irri-
gation.

1891.] ESSAYS. fi5

In the fixmily plot, if the small boy will not, the women gener-
ally have to i)ick the berries. For, market, good girls and women
make the best pickers. Boys are a nuisance usually. Not more
than a dozen pickers can be managed by one superintendent. I
pick early in the morning for local markets. For shipment it is
better to pick towards night. The fruit picked when dry in the
afternoon will keep 48 hours longer than that picked when wet
with dew. Berries should be packed honestly in new white
liaskets. Don't pack a basket of berries you would not be satis-
tied to buy yourself or give to your best girl.

The Crescent Seedling is, perhaps, the best known variety.
The Haviland sells well and is profitable. The Bubach is
another profitable berry. The Crescent lacks fertilizing proper-
ties, and other varieties, such as the Ironclad, have been planted
with them to furnish pollen. The Warfield is another pistillate
that is a good general purpose berry. The Charles Downing
and Winner's Prolific are both excellent berries. Sharpless suc-
ceeds well, but is not very profital)le.

It is impossible to predict the success of a berry in any local-
ity. You must try the varieties for yourself.

F. J. Kinney, A. J. Marble, and Henry Reed, of Brook-
field, asked the speaker questions on the variety and culture of
strawberries.

R. A. Abbott said that he had had trouble with the Haviland.

James Draper asked if the speaker did not think that pistillate
varieties were affected by the kind of berry from which the
fertilizing pollen comes.

Mr. Hale did think so.

Herbert Cook, of Shrewsbury, who was called upon, thought
occasionally over-production l)y reducing the price and temjxting
non-consumers to become consumers increased the demand for
fruit ultimately. He favored sulphate of potash instead of the
muriate. He did not believe that the second year of cultivating
strawberries would pay.

Mr. Kinney said he managed to get a good crop of grass
besides the crop of strawberries during the second year.

66 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

Mr. Hale then spoke of raspberry culture. Raspberry plants
should be set late in the fall or very early in the spring.

Blackcaps are hard to set. Many plant them in hedge rows.
" Check" rows are cheaper. The best pruning is done by
pinching the new growth of the cane. It don't pay to cut out
old canes before spring. In the winter they sustain the new
canes. In the spring they can be cleaned cheaper. It pays to
use pint or half-pint baskets for marketing. The Springfield
Blackcap is early and good. The Gregg is the largest, but not
reliable. The Pioneer is new and vigorous. The market for
raspberries is limited and peculiar.

There are too many wild blackberries for the blackberry to be
a staple crop here. The " Lucretia " dewberry (the ground
blackberry) is a very rich, large berry. Let it run on an arbor :
on the ground it is hard to pick.

There is a splendid market for currants here. At present
New York supplies three-quarters of the currants used in New
England. The Victoria is late, hardy and profitable.

sgth January, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

IJY

WILLIAM H. SPOONER,

President of Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Theme: — Garden Roses; and their Culture.

The taste for the cultivation of the Rose is constantly increas-
ing, and the demand for the finer class of flowers is steadily
growing ; and the first question that a would-be grower naturally
asks, is, " What varieties shall I plant, and how shall it be
done to the best advantage? What class of plants shall be used
for the purpose, the so-called worked, or the own-root plant?"
There seems to be a peculiar fascination in this study even for
persons of the highest culture ; the yearly changes in the rose
garden are so many that the charm never ceases. My friend
Francis Parkman, the eminent historian, is a living example of
its influence, and has given it expression in his charming pub-
lished work upon the Rose.

The late George Bancroft, statesman and historian, found that
his rose garden furnished one of his most healthful exercises, to
which he was largely indebted for his good health ; and even if
one does not attend to the practical details of culture, there is
great pleasure in the inspection of the flowers.

As to the soil best adapted for their success, since we are
often obliged to conform to the conditions that surround us,
almost any soil may be worked into the proper state by careful
treatment. Soils best adapted to the rose are those of a some-
what tenacious character, or such as are not likely to dry quick-
ly ; but any good garden soil, properly trenched after being
well drained, and thoroughly sub-soiled will l)e likely to produce

08 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1S91.

the desired results. Avoid a location where water will stand
about the plants in winter.

Autumn is the i)est time for trenching. In doing this, take
a given amount of ground, dig a trench at first a spade in
depth, and half that in width, removing the soil to the other
end ; then turn up the sub-soil at the bottom of the trench,
place on it a plentiful supply of manure, not stirring it in, cover
with the soil from the next trench and so on till all is complete.
Half-decayed leaf-mould, spent hops, or fresh manure will
answer the purpose, as the manure will be in good condition for
the plants by the time their roots reach down to it. A space of
three feet between the rows and two feet between the plants is a
suitable arrangement of distance, as the plants can then be
easily banked with soil for protection in winter, — quite an essen-
tial matter with Teas, which are more tender than Remontants
and require more covering. In planting, dig trenches about
twelve inches wide and from sixteen to eighteen inches deep ; in
the trench should be placed a liberal supply of well-rotted
manure, with a little ground bone, all to be turned under with a
garden fork.

The next branch of our subject is the selection of stocks, as
the roses, if not on their own roots, are worked either on
Manetti, Brier, or De la Grifi'eraie stock. Which of these is the
best has l)een a matter of much dispute among cultivators, and
is likely to continue, as the finer varieties cannot be had except
worked on one or the other of these stocks.

The Manetti, for rapid increase of stock and for early matui'i-
ty, is l)y far the best, especially on light soils, though it will
flourish in almost any soil.

The Brier stock is suited to wet or stiff soils, producing its
roots in a thick cluster at the base of the shoot. The Grifi^eraie
stock is strong, and well adapted for this purpose ; it is in itself
a rose of great vigor and hardiness, a very free bloomer, and
quite distinct in color, — so much so as to be noticeable in a
collection.

In using the Manetti stock, if planted two or three inches
below the collar or junction of the bud with the stock the bud
will throw out roots of its own, and with this addition will pro-

1891.] ESSAYS. 69

duce plants of rein5irkal)le vigor. A very good niciliod of
developing the roots rapidly is to tongue the collar of the hud,
hy paring up a strip of the hark ahout one inch long on each
side of the collar, and planting this below the surface.

The leaf of the Manctti is not to a l)eginner very easy to dis-
tiniruish from the ordinary rose leaf. The stem after attainino-
a little size is of a reddish tinge, brovirn upon the older portion
of the stem, generally with seven leaflets, the suckers coming
up about the stems, while in the Brier the sucker is likely to
extend some distance from the main plant. This latter stock
starts late in the spring, which causes the plants to flower later.
It is well adapted, for this reason, to the tea rose, which is grown
almost entirely in this way in England, and is admirable for bed-
ding purposes, growing with great vigor.

The production of own-root plants is a slow process, attended
with considerable labor and expense ; plants for stock must be
grown along for one season in pots, in sizes from three to fiv^e
inches in diameter. In the summer, these are plunged in the
ground to the top of the pot, to prevent the plants from drying
up too rapidly ; and they must be kept thoroughly watered, and in
a growing condition until August, when water is gradually with-
held to ripen the wood, and allow an early start in growth in the
autumn. By placing them in what is called a cold frame, that is
an ordinary hot-bed, three to four feet deep, without artificial heat,
covering with glass and shutters to prevent freezing, and keeping
them in this condition from six to eight weeks in a temperature
of about 40°, they will slowly start into growth, and when
started about one-half inch they can be brought into a higher
degree of heat ; in six or eight weeks they will be in fit condition
for makino- what is called green wood cuttings. A bed for this
purpose should be prepared with coarse, clean sand about three
or four inches in depth, into which the cuttings are inserted about
one-half inch, and firmly pressed into place ; they must be well
watered and shaded from strong sun. These cuttings must be
made with a single leaf to start the sap, and cause the cutting to
callous before it forms its roots ; this leaf will drop off in about
two weeks. A continuous and uniform heat must be kept under
the cutting bed, about 70° or 80°, over it about 20° cooler ; it

70 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

will require from live to six weeks to properly form the roots.
When the perfectly developed plant is taken from the sand and
placed in a 2-inch, or thumb pot, so-called, these potted plants
are placed over heat again to cause growth as quickly as possi-
ble. Several weeks will be required to give the plant strength
to take care of itself, keeping it watered, meanwhile, and by the
first of June the little pot will be full of roots and the plant in
condition to transplant into the open ground, or (if intended to
be grown in pots) placed in the size larger, say 3 inches, and
gradually on to 4 or 5 inches.

After our plant is put into the ground in June, care will be
necessary to keep the weeds down, and if the weather is dry,
frequent watering will be required for the first few weeks, and
hoeing at least once a week. At the end of the season our
plant is about one foot or more in height.

If we intended to leave the plants in the ground for two
years, they would be planted in rows two feet apart to allow
room for drawing the soil about them in the fall for winter pro-
tection ; but if to be lifted for autumn potting, we should place
the rows nearer together, say 1^ feet apart for economy of room.
It will be seen from our description of a one-year-old plant that
the size is small, with very little fibrous root, consequently there
is considerable danger in transplanting that it may die ; a two
years old plant is better, while a three years old is far prefer-
able. It will be readily seen that the process of growing the
oton-root plant is very slow and expensive, and in commerce, we
seldom find a satisfactory size for the purpose.

Another plan for striking own-root cuttings is to take them
off" in the autumn. Having decided about the quantity of cut-
tings which is wanted prepare a small frame of suitable size,
place it on firm ground, and on this put six or eight inches
of light soil with a plentiful addition of coarse sand. This
should be pressed very firmly, watered, and left to settle ; the
cuttings can then be prepared. Select well ripened shoots as
soft wood will generally die : these should be cut off at a joint ;
and some propagators prefer a shoot taken oif with a so-called
" heel," that is, a piece of the old wood of the shoot from where
the cutting is taken. The cuttings should be from five to six

1891.] ESSAYS. 71

inches in length, and all eyes should be left. They should be
inserted in the soil nearly their entire length, and care should l)e
taken that they are pressed very firmly in the ground leaving no
chance for water to get in and rot the shoot ; cover closely with
sashes for a few days. Before cold weather sets in, an inch
depth of leaves should be spread about the cuttings to prevent
the frost throwing them out of the ground. In the spring, they
should again be pressed firmly, as the frost has probably lifted
them to a certain extent. This plan of propagation is not at-
tended in this climate with much success ; it is not easy to find
the cuttings in just the best condition ; and the most successful
system is that adopted by the commercial florists, of growing
from what is called green wood cuttings, as first described.

The best plan of propagation for an amateur if he has a few
})Umts in a healthy, growing condition, and desires to increase
them himself is by layering. The process is easy. First strip-
ping the leaves from a portion of the stem to be layered, make
a cut on the upper side about one inch in length, then twisting it
slightly so as to bring the tip end of the stem upright, or nearly
so, and the tongue made by the cut pointing downward, draw
the soil away so as to allow the burying of the shoot about
three inches, pegging it down with a forked stick to hold secure-
ly, draw the soil about it, and press firmly. With most varie-
ties this tongue will soon callous over, and roots will be produced
from it. The work should be done from the middle of July to
about September 1st. July is the best month, as it gives a
longer season of growth .

Planting.

There is a difference of opinion in regard to the best season
for planting. If we could control our seasons, autumn would
be the best time, as the plant becomes thoroughly settled in the
ground, and consequently starts with the season in the spring.
The work should be deferred as late as possible, so that the
wood of the plant will become thoroughly ripened, giving a
chance for the sap to return to the root ; this is particularly im-
portant for the dark roses of the Jacqueminot type, as they are
very late in maturing their wood. This is one great difficulty

72 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

with that most beautiful of all dark roses, " Louis Van Houtte,"
and I never should plant the latter variety in the autumn, nor
the Hybrid Teas, such as La France, Capt. Christy, &c. Of
course in autumn planting, some protection is required from ex-
treme atmospheric changes. This can be done by drawing the
soil nicely about the plants from ten to twelve inches high, and
heaped above this a liberal coat of manure ; cold, green manure
will answer the purpose as well as rotten.

In spring planting, there is no danger from loss by frost, and
if done early in the season as soon as the ground is in condition,
it is a safe practice. Plants which have been carried through the
winter in a sound condition are in a suitable state for planting
at this time. After planting care should be taken to prevent
the surface of the ground from becoming parched or baked, by
frequently stirring with the hoe, and by syringing the top of the
plant to prevent excessive evaporation from drying winds, which
causes the stems of the newly-planted rose to wither and die.

Pruning.

The ol)ject of pruning is to shape and strengthen the plant,
and to give size and beauty to the flower. I do not believe in
autumn pruning ; it is so apt to cause the low dormant buds to
push. This late growth seldom matures, and the tendency is to
weaken the plant at a time when its strength should be reserved
in its main stems in preparation, so far as possible, for the next
year's growth and bloom. The best time for pruning is in April,
after the soil has been levelled from about the plant and the
manure covered under as much as possible, if it was put on
in the fall.

In a few days after the buds have swelled suflSciently to show
their condition, the work can begin by cutting out all dead
wood, and all wood that indicates weakness, cutting the plant
back to the plumpest bud, and all weak shoots should be taken
out, so that none shall cross each other. It is the top bud that
will grow first and in the direction in which it points, and we
should cut back to a bud that points outwards. If we w^ant to
get rid of a misplaced shoot, cut it out to the bottom. It should

1891.] ESSAYS. 73

l)c our endeavor every year to get rid of as much of the old wood
as possible, keeping the centre clear, cut with a ruthless hand,
particularly with old plants. The question is often asked how
many buds shall be left to a shoot ; our answer is, " more buds
can be left on each shoot in proportion as the })lant, both as a
variety and as an individual, is strong, and less in proportion as
it is weak." That is, in the case of " Mme. Isaac Pereire," for
example, which is a plant of remarkable vigor, the shoots should
be left much longer, with a much larger numl)er of buds, than
in such a variety as "Horace Vernet," which is a weakly
grower, giving perhaps but a single shoot and that one very
weak, and perhaps not more than two buds; therefore the gen-
eral habit of the variety must determine how far to cut back,
and how many buds to leave. " Prune to an out-looking bud ;
as a general rule the more a shoot is cut back the longer will be
the growth from the bud left at the top." We frequently find at
the end of the season, "an extra well-ripened shoot, almost as
firm as the old wood, with large buds. This is valuable, and
})lcnty of space should be allowed for its development, less ripe
shoots being removed to make room for it." All intersecting
shoots should be cut out, so as to leave the centre of the plant
with a free exposure to the air and sun, for it is among these
short stems that the red spider and other pests harbor in the
summer.

Pruning for exhibition should be done differently, as in this
case our growth is for the best development of size and form.
As but few blooms can be expected from a single plant, the
number of plants of a single kind should be increased, all new
light wood should be cut away, and a few shoots only left of
extra strength and but few buds to a shoot.

Another important point for exhibitors to remember, a few
weeks later in the season, is that for growing large flowers, a
certain amount of disl)udding must be practised. Around the
central flower bud, will be noticed two or three smaller buds,
which must be removed to throw the entire strength into the cen-
tral bud ; then if properly cultivated the single stem will carry
a splendid flower. Several applications of liquid manure not
too strong (about the color of weak tea), to the root of the

74 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

plant a few weeks before the bud opens, will have an invigor-
ating effect upon the flower. This application should be made
again after the first crop is over, to give increased strength to
the autumn bloom. But we cannot have good blooms without
fine foliage and this can only be secured by early and constant
attention. As soon as two or three leaves are formed in the
spring, we must dust or sprinkle them with hellebore, and watch
for the worm that ties the tender leaves together, to destroy him,
for he will soon be ready to nip the delicate bud. He is easily
found by a little attention at the riglit time, and after overcom-
ing his advances we may expect to gather a harvest of beautiful
flowers. Later on, the rose-bug will be the next invader, and
must be picked off as soon as he appears. The green fly must
also be looked for, and hellebore is useless for it, whale-oil soap
and tobacco steeped together being the remedy.

An exhibition of roses is not always the best place to select
varieties for general culture, as the exhibitor is forced to take
whatever is at hand on the required day ; it might be a single
bloom of Horace Vernet, and the only one of the season, or
perhaps Gloire de Bourg la Reine,or Mile. Marguerite Dombrain.

The chief })urpose of my paper, however, is to select and
name a list of twelve, twenty-five and thirty-six kinds the most
suitable for general cultivation.

Selection of the best twelve Remontants :

Alfred Colomb, Charles Lefebre, John Hopper, Hippolyte
Jamain, Mrs. John Laing, Merveille de Lyon, Mile. Annie
Wood, Mme. Gabriel Luizel, Mme. Victor Verdier, Ulrich
Brunner, Victor Verdier, Prince Camille de Rohan.

For the best twenty-five, to the foregoing add the following :

Anna de Diesbach, La France, Baroness Rothschild, Dr.
Andry, Mabel Morrison, Marquise de Castellane, Duchesse de
Valloml)rosa, Mile. Eugenie Verdier, Dupuy Jamain, Mons.
Boncenne, Jules Margottin, Paul Neyron, Prince Arthur.

For the best thirty-six, to the foregoing add the following :

Camille Bernardin, Fisher Holmes, Catherine Soupert, Coun-
tess of Roseberry, Duke of Edinburgh, Elienne Levet, Francois
Michelon, Louis Van Houtte, Maurice Bernardin, Pierre Notting,
Thomas Mills.

1891.] ESSAYS. 75

As a desirable selection of Moss Roses I would suggest : —

" Common, or Old Moss," vigorous free grower, color pale
rose, tine double flower ; the best of all.

"Crested," next best, of vigorous growth, flowers very large
and double, buds beautifully crested, color light rosy pink.

'* White Bath," a good grower, flower large and full, buds
well mossed, pure white.

" Laneii," vigorous, upright grower and moderately free
bloomer, color deep rose, round handsome bud.

" Baronne de Wassenaer," color deep rose; perhaps the
strongest grower of all ; wood very dark and spiny, blooming in
large clusters of buds, not as mossy as some others.

"Celine," hardy, moderately vigorous, spreading, foliage
dark colored, leaves rather small, a profuse bloomer, bud rather
soft, not very double, color purple and crimson, pretty in bud.

'* Marie de Blois," rosy lilac, large and full.

A few perpetual Mosses which are good : —

Blanche Moreau, a strong grower, the bud quite mossed ; the
expanded flower is large, full and fragrant ; color pure white ;
the growth is upright ; one of the best of this class.

James Veitch, a plant of good habit; color of flower dark
violet shaded with crimson ; fragrant, well mossed.

Salet, a very strong grower of spreading habit ; color bright
rose, blush edges, large and full.

Soupert et Notting, a plant of medium growth, flowers beauti-
ful bright rose ; large, full, and of perfect globular form ;
scented like the Cabbage Rose, rather uncertain.

Tea Roses.

A bed of Tea Roses should accompany the Hybrid Perpetuals
in every garden, for the purpose of prolonging the blooming
term, as the Teas are the only true perpetuals. They should be
planted in beds in a rather dry position, somewhat shaded from
sun, and in regular rows so that the plants can be covered with
soil and leaves or litter for winter protection. I should here
add a word of caution ; in placing the soil and leaves about the
plant, it should be an alternate layer of soil and leaves. These

76 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

freeze tojjether and make a solid barrier against the inroads of
moles or mice. Such treatment will repay the trouble by a
magnificent display of flowers, coming into bloom quite early,
and continuing until late in the autumn. One of the hardiest of
this class for bedding is Gloire de Dijon. Sunset is an admirable
variety for this. ,Also Souvenir d' un Ami. Another is
Homer, a little gem and quite sturdy in constitution. Marie
Van Houtte is an admirable rose. Perle des Jardins, Mme. Lam-
bard, Mme. Berard, and Papa Gontier are also tine. We must
bear in mind that it is in this class that we find our yellow roses,
in which Hybrid Perpetuals and all Remontants are lacking.
When Gloire Lyonnaise was sent out in 1884 as a yellow hybrid,
it was hailed with eagerness as the missing color in that class,
but, alas ! it was a fraud in color. It is an exceedingly pretty
rose, of a pale lemon color with a tea fragrance. Some of the
Noisettes should be included in a bed of Teas, such as Celine
Forestier, pale yellow, fine and fragrant; and Mme. Caroline
Kuster, globular flower, pale yellow, and free.

If the grounds devoted to roses are large enough, and one
portion is dry, and another is moist or stronger soil, the chances
of a o;ood summer and autumn bloom are far more certain. A
friend in Lexington who has a large collection of roses, with one
bed planted on high ground, where the soil is rather dry, cuts
his early crop of flowers from this bed, while from another bed
located on rather moist, tenacious soil, he had fine flowers late
this season, among them some of the finest blooms of "Ulrich
Brunner" I have ever seen. Frequent transplanting is also nec-
essary for successful culture. Plants that have stood in one
location for six or eight years, if lifted, the root and top cut
back severely, and replanted a little deeper than before will
soon come into fine condition again.

We now come to the worst drawbacks to satisfactory rose
culture, viz. : Mildew, a peculiar disease caused by fungus,
Sphaerotheca pannosa, which, if neglected for a single day,
increases with wonderful rapidity. If the mildewed leaf of a
rose is put under a microscope, it will, says Mr. Worthington
G. Smith, be seen to be covered by thousands of threads of
mildew, each of which consists of eight or nine spores, which as

1891.] ESSAYS. 77

they ripen are carried off by the wind. The spawn threads are
here and there dotted over with little black grains, each grain so
small as to be invisi1)le without a common magnifying glass.
Under a strong hand lens, the dots look like minute but perfectly
round grains of gunpowder. Each dot is seen as a round black
box with a number of curious, brown, sinuous, radiating appen-
dages. Each globular box is no larger than the point of a
needle. There is a comparatively thick outer coat to this box
made up of minute pieces, spliced or dove-tailed together like
the shell of the tortoise.

One infected rose leaf will in the autumn bear hundreds of
these black boxes, each with its contained air-tight bladder of
eight living spores ; the precious boxes are quite impervious to
drouth, frost, or water.

Another of the worst diseases of the rose, is the Orange Fungus,
Goleosporiwn pingue, which in its earlier stages is pale yellow,
then becomes orange, vermilion, brown, and at length black.*

Mildew does not seem seriously to atfect the life or strength
of the plant, as being a surface disease it does not strike to its
marrow. For instance, the rose Comtesse de Serenye is one of
the worst for mildew I have ever known, and yet it is a rose
that grows with great vigor from year to year. In fact, mil-
dew does not claim as its victims the weakest s^rowers, but takes
the strongest, such as that splendid variety Mme. Gabriel Luizet,
and others of a like character. The last of July and August is
the time to be on the watch for it, when cool nights follow warm
days. You must then be ready the next morning with your
sulphur bellows, for the enemy will surely be there ! If all
affected leaves could be gathered and burned (which would be
quite possible in a small collection) the chances of transmitting
the disease would be greatly lessened.

Orange Rust or Fungus, is the reverse in its action of mildew,
coming from the inside of the leaves and stem. jNIr. G. Baker
says, "Orange Fungus chiefly attacks the lower leaves of the
smooth-wooded class of rose plants, such as Victor Verdier,

* The Rose Mildew is described and figured in tlie Journal of IJorticulture and
Cottage Gardener, Vol. 72, pages 478, 479; in the Rosarian's Year Book for 1886, pp.
4-14. and in Paul's Rose Garden, 9th edition, pp. 146-148. The Orange Fungus is de-
scribed and figured in the Gardeners' Chronicle, Vol. 26, New Series, pages 76, 77; iu
the Rosarian's Year Book for 1887, pp. 4-lo, and in Paul's Rose Garden, pp. 151, 152.

78 AVORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

Countess of Oxford, Hippolyte Jamain, and the like, while it is
worthy of remark that Mme. Clemence Joigneaux, William
Warden, Edouard Morren, and those of the same character of
foliage, etc., are seldom subject to these forms of fungoid dis-
ease." Cutting off the affected branches and burning them is
the best remedy ; cut freely as is done for the hre blight on the
pear, but be careful to prevent the rusty powder on the under
side of the leaf from being scattered to disseminate the disease,
and keep the decaying leaves raked up and burned.

Black spot on rose leaves is another form of fungus, caused
undoubtedly by atmospheric changes. Prof. Humphrey, of
the State Agricultural Experiment Station, in Bulletin No. (i,
of the Hatch Experiment Station, October, 1889, says: —

"This is probably the commonest and most troublesome disease
of cultivated I'oses, whether of out-door or green-house cultiva-
tion, in both Europe and America. It first appears in the form
of dark discolorations of the upper surfaces of the leaves, which
spread outward and often show a yellow band surrounding the
dark spot. The centres of the spot frequently become dry and
brown, indicating the complete death of the tissue. The spores
germinate promptly on a moist surface, and readily infect fresh
leaves. It is probable that this parasite of the rose is merely
an imperfect stage in the life history of a fungus. In the lack
of definite knowledge on the subject, however, we can deal only
with the parasitic form.

" In combatting the disease it is essential to begin early,
for leaves once penetrated by the mycelium of the fungus are
irretrievably lost. All effort must be directed towards prevent-
ing infection, by the application of some protective compound.
For this purpose it is recommended that the bushes be sprayed
shortly l)efore the unfolding of the leaves, again as soon as they
are fairly opened, and at intervals of three or four weeks until the
flowers begin to open, especially after heavy rains, which may
wash off the protecting substance from the leaves, with blue-water,
prepared as follows : Dissolve 1 pound sulphate of copper in 4
gallons warm water; when cool, add 1 pint commercial ammo-
nia and 18 gallons of water. Any leaves on which the spots
may appear should he promptly cut off and burned."

In conclusion, my advice to a beginner in rose culture is to
plant a few kinds at the start, thoroughly acquaint himself with
their character, and gradually plant more ; practical experience
is the best guide.

5th February, A.D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

S. T. MAYNARD,

Professor of Horticulture in Massachusetts Agricul-
tural College, Amherst.

Theme: — The Use of Insecticides in Fruit Orchards.

[The local report was so imperfect that application was made to Professor
Mayuard for leave to use the copy published by the Massachusetts Horticul-
tural Society, engaged like ourselves in the laudable attempt to find out the
truth; and equally desirous of its widest dissemination. His courteous reply
will provide an apt preface to the essay. — E. W. L.]

Amherst, Mass., Feb. 16th, 1891.
E. W. Lincoln, Esq.,

My Dear Sir :
My talk before your Society was very similar to that before
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. I spoke in Worcester
on some other insects and diseases than in Boston ; for instance
the Peach yellows and borer, or the apple borer, the currant
worm, etc., but the matter other than these exceptions was
substantially the same, and you are at liberty to make such
notes as you choose from the copy. I enjoyed my visit to your
Society, and hope the subject discussed will be taken hold of by
your practical fruit growers in such a way as to settle the
matter of the practical and economical use of insecticides and
fungicides. One great difficulty with our fruit growers is that
they do not make careful records of their work when experi-
menting, and it takes a long time for them to get at the truth
of such matters. We hope to have a series of experiments
made in different parts of the State under one general plan the
coming season, and have the results reported next fall.

Very truly yours,

S. T. MAYNARD.

At this season of the year fruit growers, market gardeners
and farmers are making their plans for the work of the coming

80 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

season, and in their estimate of the income they hope to derive
from their crop, they reason, perhaps, something like this :
One has one hundred apple trees or one thousand grapevines.
If the apple trees are twenty years old they should yield at
least three barrels per tree ; or the vines if five years old or
more should yield ten pounds per vine or 10,000 pounds, and
reckoning the prices at the average for a decade he gets upon
paper very satisfactory returns.

But how many of us make our plans for the coming year with
any degree of certainty that the results will give us even a fair
return for labor and interest on the capital invested ?

We know too well from bitter experience the chances the
crops must run with frosts, with storm and wind, with drouth
and wet, and above all with insects and the many blights, rusts,
mildews, rots and smuts, that feed upon and destroy the plants
we cultivate.

We have the authority of the Entomological Bureau of the
Department of Agriculture at Washington for the statement,
that the loss to the farming interests, including all its branches
for the past year amounts to four hundred millions of dollars
($400,000,000). This almost inconceivable amount of money
from the destruction to our crop in one year. Yet who that has
experienced the loss of his grape crop by mildew or rot, his apples
by the scab, his pears by the scab and blight, his plums by the
black wart and rotting of the fruit, his cherries and peaches by
rotting of the fruit, his strawberries by the leaf blight, his
potatoes by the potato rot and his oats and grasses by the rust,
his cabbage crop by the club root, his celery by the leaf blight,
his lettuce by the mildew, and his cuttings and plants under
glass by damping off, will doubt that our losses are often as
great if not greater from parasite or fungus plant growths than
from insects.

It is seldom we get a crop of any kind without a valiant fight
for it.

Fortunately we have learned to feel that we are greater than
the foes that assail us, and that with each new insect or fungus
pest soon comes a remedy with which we ma}"^ protect ourselves
if we will.

1891.] ESSAYS. 81

When the Colorado potato beetle first made its appearance
among us we thought we must give up this important crop ;
but now we find that by proper vigilance the crop can be suc-
cessfully grown.

So when we are almost discouraged in our attempts to grow
fruit or other farm or garden crops, relief seems near us and
we feel sure that we shall be able to combat all foes.

It is to the consideration of some of the most destructive
insects and fungus enemies that I invite your attention.

Perhaps we can best get at the most desirable methods of
using them by considering each fruit by itself.

The Apple. The codling moth lays its eggs in the blossom
end of the apple soon after the blossoms fall, and continues to
lay them for a period of perhaps two weeks to a month.

In some seasons and in some sections a second brood of eggs
is laid by the perfect insect of the first brood.

The tent caterpiller and the canker worm feed upon the
foliage, beginning their work as soon as the leaves unfold, while
the plum curculio feeds upon the foliage and perhaps the
fruit, laying its eggs in the crescent-shaped cut it makes in the
skin.

These pests may all be destroyed by the use of the arsenit,
Paris green.

To accomplish this we must make the application just as soon
as the leaves unfold, to destroy the tent caterpillar and the
canker worm : and as soon as the petals drop, for the codhng
moth and the curculio.

These applications must be made at intervals of from one
week to twenty days, according to the weather. If there should
be no rain after the first application for the tent caterpillar and
canker worm, another application will probably not be needed
until the one made to destroy the plum curculio and the codling
moth, and then the applications should be made at intervals of
from ten to fifteen days until July 1.

During this time we also combat the fungous growths, which
under favorable conditions may begin work very early in the
season. The apple scab is a minute plant that grows upon the
surface of the apple-leaf and fruit, and while not penetrating

82 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

the tissue very deeply, stops the growth at the point attacked,
and we have the distorted or gnarly apples resulting from its
early attack, or scabby spotted apples when it appears later in
the season.

Its eifect upon the leaf is, if in large numbers, to destroy the
functions, and it soon falls, or if only a few are found on the
leaf, it simply looks a little yellow, and the whole tree has an
unhealthy appearance. The past season it was so abundant
that those trees that blossomed and set a large crop of fruit
were so injured by it that they could not perfect their fruit.

Upon a large tree in front of the house I occupy, so much of
the scab appeared that the leaves were constantly dropping
nearly all summer, and the lawn had to be raked several times
to get rid of the litter.

To destroy this parasite, solutions of copper have been found
effectual, either in the form of the Bordeaux mixture, ammoni-
acal carbonate of copper, or simple carbonate of copper
mixture.

While alone, the ammoniacal carbonate of copper has proved
the most efiectual. It cannot, however, be used with Paris
green or other arsenites ; and if we wish to reduce the cost of
the. remedy for both insect and fungous pests to the lowest
figures (and all know how little margin for profit we have
even when we do not have this difficulty to contend with)
we must combine the two remedies and apply both at one
operation.

With the Bordeaux mixture and with the simple carbonate of
copper solution we can do this without fear of injury to the
foliage. It has been found, by experiments made at several of
the State stations, that Paris green and copper solutions can be
used with lime mixtures at the rate of from one pound to fifty
gallons of the mixture to one pound to one hundred gallons
without injury, some even claiming as concentrated as one
pound to twenty-five gallons. We also know that neither Paris
green nor sulphate of copper can be safely used upon the
foliage of our fruit trees in the required degree of concentra-
tion to destroy the above-mentioned foes, without serious injury
to the foliage.

1891.] ESSAYS. 83

I am confident that the reason why the use of Paris green has
been so unsuccessful in many cases for the destruction of insect
h'fe is from the fact that we have been unable to use it in a form
concentrated enough to reach all parts of the plant without
injury. This will also apply, in a measure, to the fungicides.

For the purpose of destroying both insects and fungous
pests, we must make an application of simple solution of sul-
phate of copper, called by the French eau cdeste, to the twigs
and branches before the leaves appear to destroy any germs of
the scab that may be lodged in the crevices of the bark ; then
as soon as the leaves have unfolded the lime and Paris green
mixture must be applied for the tent caterpillar and the canker
worm. Then as soon as the petals have fallen, a second
application should be made for the codling moth and plum
curculio.

This application must be repeated at the proper intervals of
from one week to twenty days, according to the weather, until
July 1. After this, the Paris green not being needed, the am-
moniacal carbonate of copper may be used. The latter appli-
cation is to be preferred, from the fact that it does not disfigure
the fruit, while if the Bordeaux mixture is used late in the season
it adheres to the fruit in such a manner as to injure its sale
unless washed.

No substance has been found that can be used in this way,
and at the same time, as the above fungicides and insecticides,
owing to the apple maggot, a little insect that is doing, in many
localities and upon some varieties, more injury even than the
codling moth. The destruction of the fruit before the maggot
escapes is the only remedy yet suggested that promises to be of
any value.

The Pear. The insects attacking the pear that can be de-
stroyed by arsenites are the codling moth and the plum curculio.
The fungi that can be killed by copper solutions are the pear
leaf blight and the pear scab or pear fusicladium.

The pear leaf blight is another minute parasite plant some-
what like the apple scab, but perhaps working deeper into the
tissues of the leaf, causing all the leaves often to drop from the
tree, and which also causes the scab and cracking of the fruit so

8.4 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

common on the Flemish Beauty, White Doyenne and some other
varieties.

For the insect, Paris green is effectual and the Bordeaux
mixture has proved as efficient as for the apple scab. While
the " fire blight," so called, is not of such a nature as to be
aifected by the outward applications of fungicides after it has
attacked the tree, we believe that this mixture will destroy any
germs that may come in contact with it, and that by attention
to the proper condition of the soil, manuring and cultivating,
we may very largely overcome this most destructive disease.

The PlUxM. The plum curculio and the black wart, also the
rotting of the fruit, have been found to succumb to the Bordeaux
mixture and Paris green.

The only trees on the College grounds upon which the fruit
was not stung by the curculio, or that did not' rot as soon as it
approached maturity, were those treated with the above com-
))inations, and as other stations report similar favorable results,
we feel warranted in urging its general use. The sulphate of
copper solution should be applied to the branches to destroy
any germs or spores of the leaf blight or plum wart that may be
present before the leaves unfold. After this, from the time
the blossoms fall until July 1 the combined mixture should be
used. After this time, either the Bordeaux mixture or the
ammoniacal carbonate of copper may be used. The latter will
probably be the more satisfactory, as it does not disfigure the
fruit.

The plum wart we feel sure was largely prevented from de-
veloping by this treatment, but the few that may secure a hold
on the branches may certainly be destroyed by the kerosene paste.

The Grape. In the College Vineyard the past season the
l)enefits derived from the use of the Bordeaux mixture, and we
have similar reports from others whenever used, were such that
there seems to be no doubt that this is a reliable remedy for
about all of the fungous diseases of the vine. The great objec-
tion to it is the adhesion of the material to the fruit if applied
late in the season, but after the work of the rose bug has ceased,
I see no reason why the ammonia carbonate of copper may not
be used with equal effect.

1891.] ESSAYS. 85

In our experiments the destruction of the rose bug by the use
of Paris green was not fully demonstrated, but from reports re-
ceived from other (|uarters and the light we did gain from our
work we feel sure that by the concentrated form in which it has
l)een proved it can be applied with the Bordeaux mixture, it
must succumb to this treatment.

The sulphate of copper solution was applied to the vines
before the leaves unfolded, and the Bordeaux mixture at inter-
vals of from one to three weeks up to July 28. Paris green
was used only up to about July 1, or about four weeks from the
time the rose bugs began to appear.

The Strawberry. During the spring and early summer our
strawberry leaves in some localities are seriously injured by a
little brown beetle that feeds upon them. This little beetle is
the crown borer, the larvae of which are at w^ork during the
summer eating the crown and main roots. Soon after the fruit
has ripened, and sometimes earlier, the leaf blight attacks the
leaves, and when both of these enemies appear, it is a diflScult
matter to get rid of them. It is believed, however, that Paris
green will destroy the crown borer, and it is certain that it will
prevent the leaf blight. An application of Paris green should
be made as soon as the new leaves begin to unfold in the spring,
and another a little while before the first blossoms open.

Neither the Paris green nor copper solutions can be safely
applied after the blossoms open ; but as soon as the fruit is
gathered the Bordeaux mixture should be used alone up to about
August 1st, when the Paris green should be added to destroy
the beetles which again appear at this time.

The cutting and burning of the leaves, or their destruction
with the blight spores at the same time, with dilute sulphuric
acid, as has been recommended, is undoubtedly of some value,
but the Bordeaux mixture is thought more effectual, and what
foliage is preserved will add strength to the plants.

If one fears to use Paris green, hellebore will undoubtedly
prove successful in the destruction of the crown borer, which
feeds on the strawberry foliage.

I give now formulae for making the fungicides that I have
recommended.

86 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, [1891.

Bordeaux Mixture. — Six pounds of sulphate of copper are
dissolved in 2 gallons of hot water, and 4 pounds of fresh lime
are slaked in water enough to make a thin lime wash. When
both are cooled, pour together, mixing thoroughly and dilute to
22 gallons. Strain before using.

Ammoniacal Carbonate of Copper. — Three ounces of precipi-
tated carbonate of copper are dissolved in one quart of ammonia,
strength 22° Baume. Dilute with 22 orallons of water.

Eau Celeste. — One pound of sulphate of copper, dissolved in
25 gallons of water.

Modified Eau Celeste. — Two pounds sulphate of copper, 2i
pounds carbonate of soda and IJ pints of ammonia (22° Baume).
Dilute with 22 gallons of water.

Kerosene Emulsion. — One pound common soap dissolved in
hot water ; 1 gallon kerosene. Stir or churn together until a
smooth, butter-like substance is formed. Dilute with 25 to 50
parts of water.

Kerosene Paste. — Mix kerosene with any fine, dry material or
pigment forming a thin paste or thick paint. Apply with a
small brush.

Insecticides. In the discussion of insecticides I have
mentioned only Paris green among the arsenites, from the fact
that reports from all sources agree that it is less injurious than
London purple, and that white arsenic is too dangerous a
material to have about where it might easily be mistaken for many
harmless substances of a similar color.

Spraying Pumps. Many forms of pumps are now to be
found in our markets adapted for the application of the fungi-
cides and insecticides. Of those most in use perhaps the best
known are the "Field's Perfection," made by the Field Pump
Company, Lockport, N. Y., the Gould pump, made at Seneca
Falls, and the Mixon, made at Dayton, O., all of which can be
attached to casks and placed on a stone-boat or wagon.

The knapsack pumps which are serviceable for small garden
plots and small vineyards would be more useful if some means
were provided for filling them without removing them from the
back every time. The Excelsior Knapsack Pump, made by
William Stahl of Quincy, 111., is made after a design, I under-

1891.] ESSAYS. 87

stand, that was sent out from the Agricultural Department last
spring.

The French use such pumps very largely ; but Americans will
make little use of them where much work is to be done, when
the horse can be made to draw the liquid for them.

NozzLKS. A nozzle to distril)utesuch liquids as the Bordeaux
mixture must have an adjustable opening at the end. Among
those to be found in our market are the " Perfection," the
" Nixon," the " Cyclone," the " Vermorel," and many others.
Professor L. H. Bailey of Cornell University has contrived a
clamp which is attached to the end of a common rubber hose,
by the pressure of which the size of the opening is quickly ad-
justed. Whatever the nozzle used, it must be attached to a
long pole to distribute the liquid most evenly at the top of high
trees.

Many interesting facts have been brought out in the work of
the many experiment stations of the country which could not be
referred to in the previous discussion, and I have therefore
introduced them here.

It seems pretty well settled that of the arsenites, Paris green
gives the best results as an insecticide.

That the longer the mixture containing the arsenites stands
the greater the injury from soluble arsenic.

That the foliage of the peach, plum and cherry is more sus-
ceptible to injury than that of the apple and pear.

That the injury varies with the varieties, some being more
susceptible than others.

That young leaves are less injured than those fully developed,
and are more injured on weak trees than on those that are
vigorous and healthy.

That Paris green cannot be used alone with safety stronger
than one pound to three hundred gallons of water, but with the
lime mixture it may be safely used at one pound to from fifty to
two hundred gallons.

That the foliage is most injured when kept constantly wet l)y
light rains or foggy weather, but that heavy rains lessen the
injury.

88 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

That the least injury is done when the liquid dries off most
rapidly.

That the time of day when the application is made is un-
important.

The conclusions of this paper I have arrived at after a careful
summary of the experiments made at the college and a careful
study of those of all of the other stations of the country and I
feel confident that as soon as we master the details of the appli-
cation of the two great remedies, Paris green and copper solu-
tions, so as to understand the exact time and quantity to apply
under varying conditions, we shall be able to control the insects
and fungi attacking our fruits as well as we now control the
potato bug.

I2th February, A. D. i8gi.

ESSAY

IJY

GEORGE AUSTIN BOWEN, M.D., of Woodstock, Conn.
Theme: — Rural Homes; their Comforts and Embellishments.

The homes of a people are the index of a nation's civilization.
They are the creators of sentiments and ideas, the growth of
which show in civil governments, and broader, more advanced
conditions, which we term civilization, a word grown from the
old Latin cives a citizen, and means simply greater freedom and
comforts for him.

In these days of astounding scientific discoveries and mechan-
ical developments, which we term progressive developments of
the times, we find many accessory questions coming forward
which are mainly engendered by these wonderful advances ; ques-
tions affecting the social life of the people, questions which the
law cannot solve, custom cannot suppress or powerful armies
remove. They are, however, amenable to the silent, unseen,
but all-powerful influences of home and the home life, the truest
educator, the best school, the most powerful elevator of the
world, if its own conditions are right. If wrong, the most
depressing and damnable. These questions Avill follow the
home teaching. What i)etter subject than this for us to discuss,
and what better place for us to consider them, than in this very
spot, in the heart of .New England, for here are the best homes
of any section of our country, and are in themselves an illus-
tration of the truth of my statements.

It is the practical, the comfortable and the economic features
of our home construction, that must claim our attention at this
time, but I cannot pass the opportunity of emphasizing the fact
that the mental growth of a people is coincident with their home

90 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

comforts and embellishments. Statesmen, divines, poets, men
of letters, inventors, mechanical constructors, musicians, artists,
directors of armies and civil governments, have never sprung
from the dissolute and degraded, and from what we term the
poverty-stricken abode. Many and many a time have they
sprung from the home of the poor, but could we enter these
homes we would find a refining influence somewhere within its
walls, or that a previous generation had possessed them in
abundance. We shall never see a reformer of morals, a Martin
Luther, advancing from the adobe structure of the Southwest ;
a poet or musician from the Georgia " Cracker," or the moun-
taineer hut of Tennessee ; nor a statesman from the abode of
the French Canadian ; but from them are more prone to come
the gambler, the desperado, and the licentious.

The word home is one of the most vital in the English lan-
guage, of good Saxon origin, and it has a dominating power
equal to that of the Anglo-Saxon himself, who to-day dominates
the earth. The Anglo-Saxon has a true home wherever you find
him. The Gaul, the Spaniard, the Latin races, have no homes
in the real sense of the word, and it is largely due to the home
influences inherited through a thousand generations, that have
placed this race at the head of the human family.

I have stated that the homes of New England are the best of
our whole country, but we cannot regard them as perfect — on the
contrary, far from it. There is much that we can criticise about
them. Their location has not always been selected with the
greatest discretion, their style of building is oftentimes hetero-
geneous enough to give delirium tremens to a well-studied
architect. Their sanitary conditions are not in accord with mod-
ern ideas of h3'^giene, and the artist shudders and hurries by lest
the inharmonious colors contaminate his well ordered ideas.
Town homes and country homes as far as the house is concerned,
are quite different things, and I am thankful, very thankful,
Mr. Chairman, that you gave me the subject of Rural Homes,
and not those of the city ; for where land is valued by the square
inch, and Mammon is the only God worshipped, my descrip-
tions, criticisms, and exhortations would be of as little value as
a minister's, but let us study a country home, what it can be.

1891.] ESSAYS. 91

what it should be, and then like good reasoning souls compare
our own.

Let us start at the beginning, and present an ideal home as
we would build one. We will commence where? At the foun-
dation? No, that is too premature. At the location? That is
secondary. The first consideration must be what, not where, we
will have it.

First, we must make what ministers call a self-examination ;
if from their standpoint it is good for the soul, from ours it is
good for the vanities of life which have always been the under
dog, in a New Englander's reasonings, and now ought to have
our sympathy. God Almighty placed them in our nature, I
believe for a good purpose, and it will take more theology than
New England has yet produced to change my ideas. A home
should be for comfort, for happiness, and for health. For com-
fort we look to warmth and shelter, a dry soil, an easy access
to the highway, etc.

For happiness, to views, cheerful surroundings, a suitable
arrangement of rooms, to give personal seclusion when neces-
sary, and the companionship of friends when we are so inclined,
pictures, music, plants, open fires, piazzas for summer, heating
for winter, and the hosts of little luxuries we all crave.

For health, to ventilation, good drainage, a full and pure sup-
ply of drinking water, and the proper arrangements of the out-
buildings, the plumbing, sewage, etc., etc.

This self-examination will tell you what you want in these
three categories, and if you also discover any little pet hobby or
folly of your own you had better indulge it, and make your plans
in accordance therewith, for the sense of comfort you will get out
of it will more than counterbalance and be more satisfactory
than the sense of " mortifying the flesh," as the old divines
called it. Having discovered what we want in a home, the next
step should be to secure the location. A gentleman of my
acquaintance was once asked why he did not build his house on
a level piece of land, rather than on a rough, uneven hillside.
His answer was, that he " didn't propose to move out of New
England, in order to find a building site." When a Western
man builds a house, it makes no dilference where he puts it. It

92 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

is like a ship at sea ; one latitude is as good as another, as far as
beauty, convenience, or sailing capacity of that ship is con-
cerned, and a house on a prairie, is only a house on the prairie,
and it cannot be made anything else. But New England has
the finest building sites of the world. Healthful of location,
cheapness and ease of construction, and picturesque views of
hills, valleys, lakes and streams. An ideal location is not on a
level piece of land, but upon a gently sloping hillside, with a
rugged, uneven top, backed by a piece of wooded land. They
abound everywhere.

When selected, adapt the house to the contour of the land,
but don't grade the land to make it level for the house. One
great advantage of such a location is, that you can get a cellar
above ground, — if that does not seem a misnomer to you. A
cellar under a house on level ground is a nuisance from begin-
ning to end. This is a radical view of my own. I possess
them on other matters as well.

For building material take that which the Iiishman does when
he goes into a fight, whatever comes most handy. What is
more incongruous than a frame house painted a blazing white,
set in a field where gray stones predominate? What is more
beautiful than those same stones used in the construction of the
house, their gray hues preserved, and presenting a harmony
with the whole landscape? In New England we reject the
best building material of the world, its granite and cobble stones.
In New Jersey unhewn blocks of red sandstone are used almost
exclusively in some localities, and blend in perfect harmony with
the red soil of that locality. Wood should be used only in a
region where trees abound, and are most accessible, and the
house when built should not be painted, but stained some of the
beautiful shades of brown, or gray, that harmonize so well with
nature's coloring.

My chief criticism of house building has always been the im-
perfect foundations, and little or no care given to the soil and
surface draina2;e. How seldom we find a good foundation laid
in cement, and those foundations protected from the settlings
and heavings of frost by complete drainage. Are your own
buildings constructed that way, and how many of your neigh-

1891.] ESSAYS. 93

bors'? A dry wall of flat surface stone is almost universally
used in the construction of foundations in the country ; such a
wall is subject to displacement occasioning an uneven settling of
the building. In a brief paper of this kind, intended simply to
head a discussion, we cannot mention all the various materials
used in the construction of buildings that pertain to the modern
system ; should we attempt it, it would immediately grow to a
volume.

The old-fashioned lath and plaster walls, to be covered with
cheap paper made bright with poisonous minerals, has given
way to more solid walls, painted or tinted, or made to look still
more solid by the use of that sceptre of feminine authority, a
house broom. The cheap flooring to be covered with an expen-
sive carpet, has given way to a handsome substantial floor,
whose beauty and healthfulness cannot be questioned. The nar-
row window screened with blinds on the outside, and heavily
screened with curtains within, has gone, I hope, no more to
return ; the modern window is broad and ample, oftentimes of
tinted glass which softens the rays of the too ardent sun, yet
robs them of none of the life-givinof influences. What is more
comfortable than such a window slightly projecting from the
room and furnished with easy chair or stationary seat?

I am not a builder, if T was I should be an enthusiast in this
modern art of house construction, with all its details of work-
manship and finish, the decorative castings for hinges and locks
of doors, the various styles of ornamental wood-turning, carv-
ing, and stamping, which are now being used, and are so rich
and tasty and withal so cheap. In fact, while it has assumed
a more artistic form, giving a house an air of almost regal luxu-
riousness, it has actually cheapened the cost thereof, from one-
fifth to one-quarter according to location.

The architecture of a country home is its chief consideration.
I have but one word to say about that. Do not follow the present
style and sacrifice the comfort of the interior for the appearance
of the exterior. A friend told rae a short time ago of an artist
friend who had bought a country house and refitted it. In de-
scribing it to her he said " From every window I can look out

94 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

two miles and in any direction I see neighbors, but thank God,
Miss Lily, not one Queen Anne house."

But shall we stop here in our ideas of an ideal home ? by no
means, for our house in its beauty of location and charm of
modern construction is but a part of a home. The surround-
ings are equally essential, and what should these be? Statuary,
bronze lions, dogs and deer, lying in impossible positions? by
no means, they are terribly artificial if I may use the expres-
sion, and so are rows of sea shells and pebbles and hand-made
rockeries. There are no greater ornaments for the house sur-
roundings than trees and shrubbery, screening paths, breaking
off the wind from driveways and much frequented parts, and
always giving a change to the outlook as the seasons progress.
Trees should not be too near the house but so placed that their
shadows as they oppose the sun may pass over or near it.

Group the shrubbery in accordance with color, a Cut Leaf
Birch with its beautiful white trunk and branches against a dark
Evergreen, Purple Beech against the light green of the Junipers,
etc. With the pathways and roadways filled with the surplus
stone giving dry passage at all seasons of the year, with lawns
following the natural contour of the land, still preserving the
rocks and ledges, now ornamented with vines, which should
also adorn the house, we have our ideal rural home. Although
not expensive, displaying taste and elegance. Who would not
be content in such a home ? Especially if the interior corres-
ponded therewith, and presented attractions for the mind by
books, pictures, music, and furniture that was made to be used
and not looked at. Would boys be anxious to leave such a
home, and girls delighted when they had severed their relations
therewith.

But I was to treat»of the practical part of the subject, and
house building is perhaps not pertinent to our individual condi-
tion. Because we are already supplied with a house, we may
be like the little four-year-old boy, who was asked if he did not
want a new papa, who answered " yes ! but what in thunder can
I do with the old one ? " When we deal with the realities of
life we have got to recognize one fact, that however desirable
other scenes may be painted, we are fettered from the com-

1891.] ESSAYS. 95

mencement by the deeds of our predecessors. Our mental
tastes and aspirations by hereditary transmissions, and our
homes by the tastes and aspirations of some other person.
The majority of us are not house builders, but are like hermit
crabs living in the shell of another fellow, and the question that
comes home to all is, how can I take this shell that was intended
for a mollusk without an^^ ambition than that of living and feed-
ing, and fit it up, so as to give a dandy crab such as we the
comforts and pleasures of a home.

Now this brings up the subject of the remodelling of old houses,
a very important one in these days, and has become a special
business with many men, some architects devote their whole
time to it and receive handsome incomes therefrom. Now
handsome incomes to them, must have a reverse side, and I
judge that it reads a handsome outgo from the property owner.
Therefore my advice to you who live in old houses and desire to
remodel them is identical with Punch's advice to those about to
marry. Don't!

Holy Writ cautions us against repairing an old garment with
new cloth, and intimates that the rent will be made worse. If
you are not a householder but hire your dwelling, you will find
that your landlord will verify this text, at the close of the very
first quarter.

I dwell in an old house . It is more than a hundred years of
age. A large house, built not for modern wants but old-time
necessities, and was bare of all ornament. It was a country inn
and has a history linked with every old character that the town
has known. General trainings made it famous. The old stage
coaches added to its renown, and as it goes down farther in
future, I think it will gain more yet as the only tavern in New
England that Washington did not stop at. When it fell to me
it needed repairing. One friend earnestly advocated transform-
ing it into a Swiss chalet ; another said raise the south roof one
stor3% carry that left-hand corner up into a tower with an out-
look and a flag-staff, and put a mansard roof on the rest of it ;
another suggested many changes in the interior, removing the
huge chimneys with their open fireplaces that had caught and
echoed the frolic and fun that had transpired around them, as

96 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

ancient worthies quaffed their flip and merry country dancers
heeded not the fleeting hours, and suggested in lieu thereof a
hot-air furnace, and, I added, an illuminated motto, God bless
our register.

I wanted a rural home, and so I set about making one. A
carpenter put a rustic porch, over three doors, a simple little
structure, at a cost of less than fourteen dollars for all. The old
sash had to come out, for they and the frames were as far apart as
the representatives and senators of the Connecticut legislature,
and the wavy old glass gave such distorted views of outer life
as would transform a philosopher into a cynic, and as I was not
much of the former, I feared that I should be very much of the
latter if I allowed them to remain. A lower sash with large
lights and an upper sash with small lights have taken their place.
By letting my man and team, they earned the paint that trans-
formed the glittering white monstrosity into an unobtrusive
brown house, and my friend Mr. Hadwen — of whom some of
you may have heard — sent me climbing plants that have now
covered it all and made it a leafy bower in summer. Whether
it was friendship for me that prompted the deed, or a sympa-
thetic tendency to keep green the memories of the hot toddy of
the days of yore, I will leave it for those who know him best
to say. So my old home has been transformed, not modern-
ized ; when we attempt to modernize an old structure we find
our work a failure, and that we have destroyed the charm that
always clings to an ancient abode ; we should strive to still
further develop those charms, by simply intensifying the l)est
features of the age to which it belonged.

The interior of a house should receive more attention than the
exterior, for in this climate we are obliged to pass more time in
doors than out, and here is the true home. And this is my idea
of the general feature ; large rooms, well lighted with broad
windows, studding eight or nine feet which admit of uniform
warmth and good air, and arranged to connect by wide sliding
or folding doors, so that in summer they can be all thrown
open, and have almost the appearance of one. " Le grande
salon," as a Frenchman would term it. A broad hall running
somewhere through the house, not necessarily plumb in the

1891.] ESSAYS. 97

middle, as the dude parts his hair, but wherever the arrange-
ment of the rooms will best allow ; the chief feature of this hall
should be a broad staircase of easy ascent, and I much prefer
that it should not be one straight ascent, but possess a couple of
broad stairs and turns at right angles. These broad stairs are
like " thank ye marms" on a long hill, and rests those whose
powers are feeble, besides being more pleasing to the eye. Our
old houses can many of them be improved in this way, by sim-
ply opening partitions and hanging portieres over them, such
rooms can l)e furnished according to our fancy, and here comes
in the charm of a home ; we show our individuality in this ; we
can make the pleasantest of houses stiff and formal, or we can
take rooms naturally a little forbidding and make them bright
and genial, if we are gifted by what is generally termed taste.
Expensive furniture is not necessary, but it must possess a cer-
tain degree of artistic taste, and must be appropriate to the
uses of the room. There are three decorative features that are
always attractive to all classes of people and lend an air to a
room that nothing else will. Books, pictures and plants.
These are not expensive and are within the reach of nearly all
our people. When Massachusetts equalizes her taxes, as I
understand she is trying to do, taking one-half the present bur-
den off the rural dweller, the farmer will have a little money
each year to invest in books; just think what twenty-five dol-
lars a year judiciously invested in books would do in furnishing
a house and furnishing the minds of the occupants. I fear it
would produce a mental earthquake in numerous instances, so if
you report anything about this paper breathe this gently. Pic-
tures are but reproductions of real life or nature, and the nearer
they come to the actualities thereof the more pleasing. The
picture of a home scene, groups of horses, sheep, or cattle, are
always admired ; so also of a quiet lake, reflecting shades of
hill and woods with cattle on the shore, or deer feeding on the
lily pads in the shallow ; year after year they attract our
attention ; and such pictures ready framed can be purchased for
a very small outlay. How much better to give such presents
for Christmas gifts, than to spend twice their money value in
worsted materials and develop an artistic monstrosity, which

98 WOKCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

when framed and 'hung on the walls half the callers read, "No
T, no teapot," when the designer intended it for " No Cross, no
Crown."

And so with plants, they need not be costly green-house speci-
mens, which always disappoint, by the extra care demanded,
and the lack of necessary conditions. A few packages of seed,
a little fertile garden soil reinforced with a dash of ground bone,
and a little loving care, and lo ! the wooing of Flora is done and
she graces the home with her showy and perfumed presence.

No art of social life, has attracted more attention of late years
than the construction of dwellings ; the time and thought of an
army of intelligent men is devoted thereto ; numerous journals
serve to convey their ideas from one to another, and have com-
pletely revolutionized the whole building trade. This condition
supplemented by the taste and skill of the landscape gardener,
will in a few decades make the ordinary dwelling of to-day as
obsolete as the log house of a century ago. In no one direction
has this improvement taken place more than in the methods of
heating. The old stone fireplace with all its charms was an
expensive, imperfect and laborious method, and it is well for our
health and comfort that it has passed away. The latest systems
of heating by steam are wonderfully complete, are satisfactory
in their results, giving a uniform temperature night and day, at
a very moderate cost, and I am glad to note that they are being
rapidly introduced into rural homes, one firm in my own vicin-
ity placing two hundred and eighty during the last year.

I know of no greater comfort of a country home than this, or
one more conducive to health and longevity. I have noticed a
gradual betterment of the conditions and surroundings of rural
life within my own memory.

There has been a steady improvement in the appearance of the
buildings themselves, and especially in their furnishings. With
the broadening of New England ideas — and God knows they
needed it — there has been a result shown in the dwelling ; less
inclination to hedge oneself in with high walls either of preju-
dice or actuality. The front fence is an indication of it ; in
many villages not one is to be seen, and with it has gone the
narrow prejudice and feeling of sect and denomination, adding

1891.] ESSAYS. 99

thereby years of comfort to our existence. You may tell me
that the popular cry is, that rural life is declining in its condi-
tions, and cite the everlasting statement of abandoned farms.
All I have to say is that they ought to be abandoned, most of
them. I will leave the development of this to your own
thoughts.

I hope to see the comforts of rural life increasing, especially
farm life, there has been so little in the past. Our life here is a
short one. I believe that it was never intended to be one of
labor and hardship, but of mental growth and development,
which must have certain bodily comforts as necessary conditions.
The subject your Committee gave me also included home embel-
lishments, which I have cteveloped but very little ; it is a great
one, and requires much thought, more than my limited time will
allow. If you desire to see it promoted, I will suggest a trans-
fer of the pocket-book to the good wife, who rules the home, and
she will exemplify it for you, and prove that a good wife is in
herself the greatest embellishment of a rural home.

igth February, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

JOSEPH JACKSON, Principal of Woodland-street

School.

Theme: — Native Plants (ind Fl outers.

Years ago we used to read, mark, learn, if we did not
inwardly digest, in one of our school reading-books a little piece
by Miss Roberts, " The Voice of the Grass," the mellow cadence
of which is merely a type of the multitudinous voices of the
native plants which are everywhere about us, but crowded from
the paths of cultivation. While the vital interest of this Society
lies in the cultivation of an exotic flora of a?sthetic value, or of
plants which have some economic value, the fact that such
plants are native somewhere while our own are exotics else-
where, should tend to prevent the native flora from becoming a
matter of indiff*erence . If we cannot rise to the feelings of
Tennyson in " Flower in the Crannied Wall," we do not wish to
sink to the depth of unsentimentality of Peter Bell, when

" A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more."

Somewhere between these two extremes we can find a place
in which we can take a rational interest in the common every-day
flora that surrounds us — an interest that will contribute to our
pleasure and our intellectual profit.

Situated as we are, about half-way between the Equator and
the North Pole, in one of the most highly favored latitudes, it
is not strange that our flora should be a varied one, partaking of
both a northern and a southern character, containing species of

1891.] ESSAYS. 101

world-wide distribution, genera related to tropical and polar
kindred. One never realizes how varied and abundant it is
until some special opportunity or interest leads him to investigate
carefully.

The native flora is that which is associated with most of our
recollections of nature. Fields of buttercups and daisies belong
to memories of spring always, wild roses and wild berries to
the summer, asters and golden-rods to the autumn. These are
a perennial delight. They have been from of old ; they are
ever new.

From the sixteenth edition of Tracy's Manual, which covers
the territory reaching southward to the 37th parallel and west-
ward to the 100th meridian, we learn that the number of native
genera of flowering plants is 761 ; of introduced genera, 128 ;
of native species, 2651 ; of introduced species, 404. In addi-
tion to these there are 29 genera and 102 species of vascular
cryptograms, represented mainly by ferns. Of this number it
is safe to say that 400 genera and 1000 species may be found
within a radius of a dozen miles from this city.

Some of our most common wild flowers have been introduced
from Europe. Most of them, however, have kindred among the
native genera and have here found a congenial soil. After the
Old World competitions and survival of the fittest, they find
themselves well adapted to hustle the more tender and less
aggressive natives aside. They crowd into the domain of culti-
vation, and hence mostly take rank among the weeds. They
belong largely to a few orders, — the cruciferee, leguminoste, com-
positse, umbelliferee, the labiatse and the grasses. They often
preempt the roadside and take possession of the abandoned or
neglected garden. The bulbous and the tall buttercup are the
two varieties with which most persons are alone familiar. The
native species, less numerous in individuals and more retiring in
habit, are mostly overlooked. The barberry is really a beautiful
shrub, both in flower and fruit.

The first signs of returning spring are given us by the blossom-
ing of the alders and the willows. The catkins of the alders
have been hanging nearly full formed all through the previous
summer and autumn and winter, ready to open when the first

102 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

warm days come. Their beauty will endure but for a moment,
but that moment will be sufficient for its vital purpose. Many
of the spring flowers are comparatively inconspicuous, and in
the case of the trees and shrubs are mostly in catkins. The
latter belong to the group of wind-fertilized flowers, those in
which the pollen is carried by the agency of the wind from
stamen to pistil. Here belong the alders, willows, hazels, the
hornbeam and hop-hornbeams, oaks, the walnuts, the sweet fern,
sweetgale, bayberry, butternut, poplars, nearly all of which are
among the early spring flowers. But the most general interest
does not lie in such flowers as these.

Year after year the pale pink blossoms of the trailing arbutus
allure us to some favorite and well-remembered nook, where the
sweet and quiet eyes are opening under the last year's dead
leaves. Not so well known, but equally attractive, is the
hepatica, whose pale blue or white peering among its tri-lobed
downy leaves is the prize of the searchers for beauty. Fleeting,
evanescent, dropping its two sepals before the petals are fully
expanded and dropping its petals while you are carrying it home,
the white -flowered, yellow -stamened bloodroot by many a
brookside makes one more thread in the living garment of the
Deity.

In the deep woods it may be that we shall find late in April
one of our rare shrubs, which is more abundant farther north,
leatherwood. Coming so early, the clusters of small, yellowish
flowers naturally precede the leaves, as is also the case with
others found in similar situations. The speaker then enumer-
ated a large number of flowering plants, many familiar, telling
something of the season in which they occur.

The speaker continued : Whatever can be found anywhere of
botanical interest can be found in some form in our local flora
represented in some degree. Does " the wild marsh marigold
shine like fire in swamps and hollows gray" in English countries?
If so, it shines under another name, cowslip, in our own
meadows and lowlands. Do insectivorous plants attract the
attention of naturalists ? Nearly two-thirds of Darwin's work on
Insectivorous Plants is devoted to the consideration of our
common sun-dew. During several years that I had an oppor-

1891.] ESSAYS. 103

tunity to keep a record of tlie first appearance of each of our
native tiovvers, the beaked hazel and the common hazel were
among the earliest, the fringed gentian and the witch-hazel were
the last. Between them came about six hundred species, the
territory covered being quite small and only a limited time being
allowed to devote to it.

Some of our native plants have an especial interest, from the
fact that they have played an important part in the history of
botany. Three illustrations must suffice. The first, pipewort,
the only European representative of an especially American
order, attracted the attention of Robert Brown, the most dis-
tinguished botanist of the first half of this century, and caused
his life to be devoted exclusively to the service of botany. The
discovery of that somewhat rare and curious moss, buxbaumia
aphylla, directed the attention of Sir William J. Hooker, the
organizer of Kew Gardens on its present high basis, toward
botany and fixed the bent of his long and active life. It was
the Spring Beauty that Asa Gray, who studied medicine, early
watched.

An account of our native flora would be incomplete without
some reference to those plants which produce edible fruits.
About 24 species produce edible berries and 40 inedible berries.

Our flora is rich in the number of its forest trees and shrubs.
Counting the evergreen plants that form a part of the forest
flora, we have about 140 species, a noble list. Our knowledge
of the local flora can scarcely be said to be ever complete.
New species are being introduced in manifold ways, and many
escape even watchful eyes.

Al)out seven years ago the Worcester Natural History Society
published a preliminary catalogue of the plants of the County,
giving 812 species. I remember distinctly this circumstance
connected with it. I often used to walk along the road from
Millbury to Sutton. A slightly longer walk than usual one day
resulted in the finding of two species not there recorded, arabis
canadensis, sickle pod and water parsnip, then referred in the
manual only to Pennsylvania around the Pocono mountains and
to Connecticut. The additions to the flora since 1883 amount
to 150 species, contributed by a considerable number of inter-

104 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

ested persons, and it is safe to say that more are interested in
this subject than ever before.

Much yet remains to be done. There is an opportunity for
some one to make a list of our common plant names, after the
fashion of Holland & Britten's Dictionary of English Plant
Names.

Our publishers, too, have an opportunity to popularize our
native flora by issuing cheap editions of works, with colored
illustrations. A picture is wonderfully helpful as a means of
identification.

In concluding, the speaker warned people against destroying
species, and said, " With a truer love for the beautiful, there
will be no danger, and, with a greater knowledge of our native
flora, will come the truer love."

After the lecture Mr. Jackson exhibited about a hundred
mounted specimens of foliage and blooms of local flowers and
plants, and President Parker, as he put the motion to give the
speaker a vote of thanks, said that ]\Ir. Jackson had spoken of
giving the collection to the Horticultural Society. An interest-
ing general discussion followed, O. B. Hadwen, S. H. Record,
Arba Pierce and James Draper being among the participants.

26th February, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

E. W. WOOD, OF Newton.
Theme: — Orchard Fruits.

In considering the subject of fruit culture, it is well to con-
sider its relative commercial value compared with other leading
agricultural and horticultural products of the State, also what,
if any, are the local advantages for its production in this
vicinity. The Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, in
his report for 1887, gives the following estimates for a single
year : Fruit, $3,000,000 ; Market Garden, $2,500,00 : Butter,
$2,700,000; Corn, $1,000,000; Potatoes, $2,500,000; and this
does not include the larger amount grown in private gardens
and on small estates for domestic use.

The advantages of location are, first, in being situated in
almost the centre of what may be termed the apple belt of the
country. The northern portion of the Middle States, the New
England States and a portion of the British Provinces produce
the best apples, especially the later varieties known to com-
merce. And second, the opportunities for disposing of the crop.

With a constantly increasing home market and nearer the
foreign market than any State having equal shipping facilities,
with railroads running to every part of the State affording
quick and cheap transportation, with simply a reference to
the favorable opportunity offered to those wishing to engage in
fruit culture by the large quantity of land running up with a
growth of wood of little value but admirably calculated for
growing the tree fruits and which can be purchased at a nominal

lOfi WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

price I pass to consider the question proposed by your Com-
mittee.

Orchard Fruits. This term is applied to our tree fruits and
consists of the Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry and Quince,
named in the order of their importance as New England fruits.
The apple enters more largely into consumption and is more
widely disseminated in commerce than any other of our fruits.
From 1870 to 1880 the export of apples to foreign markets
very largely increased, reaching in some years in round numbers
one million and a half barrels, and some of our prominent
horticulturists hailed the increasing output as the solution of
the question how an abundant crop could be disposed of at a
profit. Since that time a new industry has appeared in the
Middle and Western States calling for large quantities of apples,
mainly for export trade. It is estimated that within a radius
of forty miles around the city of Rochester in New York State
in some years more than five millions bushels of apples are con-
sumed by evaporation. If these estimates are correct there are
more apples consumed within this limited area than all the
green fruit exported from this country and the British Provinces
combined.

The apple is continually becoming and must in the future
continue to become more exclusively a farm product. The tree
requires large space, and the land in our cities and near the
centres of the larger towns is being divided into small estates
where only the smaller fruits can be profitably grown.

The most desirable land for an apple orchard is not the most
suitable for the ordinary farm crops, especially the cereal and
root crops : the rocky hillsides with strong soil, if not too rough
for cultivation, are the best locations for an apple orchard.
The advantages of a slope over a level plain are that the trees
are more open to the sun's rays necessary to give color and
flavor to the fruit, and there is less danger from stagnant water
in the soil.

If the land is under cultivation and in condition to produce
sixty bushels of corn to the acre it is in good condition to
receive the young trees. In selecting young trees secure

1891.] ESSAYS. 107

those making a fairly vigorous growth, three years from
the bud, with straight trunk and budded on seedlin"- stocks.
Many of the trees now grown in the nurseries are root grafts,
these grafts are set during the winter months and planted out
in the Spring and in order to bring the root up near the surface
are usually set on an inclination of about forty-tive degrees,
thus throwing the roots out upon one side. In planting out
young trees it is much more important to secure an evenly
distributed set of fibrous roots reaching in all directions than
any particular shaped top as you can easily form the latter as
you wish after the tree commences making growth, but over the
direction of the roots after the tree is planted you have no
control.

The care of the orchard while the trees are making their
growth will depend upon circumstances, but if the best results
are to be obtained the ground must be kept under cultivation
at least as far as the roots extend around the trees. If in a
location where there is a near market for the small-fruits they
may all be successfully grown among the trees ; the currant is
especially adapted to cultivation under such conditions and will
continue longer than any other fruit to return a profitable crop
as it thrives best in partial shades. As the growth of the trees
is the primary object fertilizers must be applied in proportion
to the crops taken from the land.

The small growing fruit trees may be grown among the
apple trees ; the peach, plum and quince set in rows each way
at half the distance between the apple trees, which should be at
least thirty feet each way, will not during the average lifetime
of these trees interfere with the main object in view. A more
economic method may be followed, as follows : Set currant
bushes a distance of four feet apart one way between the trees
and seed the ground with grass, keeping under cultivation a
strip five or six feet wide the first year and turning under every
year a furrow of the grass turf upon each side of the grass
plat as the tree roots extend and require the room ; the hay
and currants if properly cared for should make a satisfactory
return for the use of the land while the trees are making their
growth .

108 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

The care of an orchard after it comes into bearing is light
compared with any of the cultivated farm crops and it is safe
to say it will make a larger average return in proportion to the
expense for labor and fertilizers. As no crop of any consider-
able value can be grown in a close set orchard after the trees
substantially shade the ground the trees should have the full
benefit of the soil either by clean cultivation or by frequently
cutting whatever growth there may be and leaving it upon the
ground.

Poultry may be kept to advantage in the orchard ; with fifty
hens to the acre in a bearing apple orchard no other care will
be required for the soil than to run the cultivator occasionally
for the triple purpose of stirring the soil, turning up the grubs
and furnishing food for the fowls ; no other fertilizer than that
furnished by the fowls will be required to grow first-class
fruit.

In setting an apple orchard the selection of varieties will
depend upon the object in view : if to grow fruit for the whole-
sale or export trade few varieties will be re(]uired. A few years
since an effort was made to ascertain the quantity of each of the
different varieties exported and from the best data that could be
secured it appeared that between eight and nine tenths were
Baldwins. For an orchard for the above purposes, however
large, the following varieties will be found sufficient : Graven-
stein, Hubbardston, Rhode Island Greening, Baldwin and
Roxbury Russet. If a home market is to be supplied the
above list would be extended by adding any well-known local
varieties and a limited number of Astrachan and Williams' Favor-
ite. There are many other excellent apples fully equal in qual-
ity to those named but not as reliable for a crop under ordinary
conditions. The Tompkins King is an excellent apple and, well
grown, commands the highest price in market, yet it often fails to
give satisfaction. The Northern Spy has high quality and a
reputation that sells it easily in market, but its frequent failure
prevents its general cultivation. The list might be indefinitely
extended by varieties that under favorable conditions might be
desirable which can only be proved by trial.

1891.] ESSAYS. 10!)

The ai)plo tree is less subject to disease than any of tlie tree
fruits and its principal enemies are the borer, canker worm and
codling moth. Many young trees are destroyed by the borer ;
the eggs are deposited in the bark, generally at or near the
ground ; they hatch from the middle of July to the last of
August. Various washes are recommended for destroying this
pest which may prove more or less eftectual, but a sure remedy
is in a careful examination of the trees the last of July and
again the first of September ; as soon as the eggs hatch the
young borers commence operations and cause a moist spot and
discoloration in the bark easily seen and they may be quickly
removed with the point of a knife. If any have escaped the
previous year they will have eaten through the bark, and tho
dust or chips made in their progress through the wood will
be seen at the base of the tree, which betrays their presence ;
they usually ascend the trunk and if their course has been
straight they may be easily removed with a small wire ; if the
course is irregular and they cannot be reached with the wire,
the track should be followed with the knife or small gouge
until they are found. If undisturbed they will remain tenants
three years ; it is a case where eviction is not only justifiable but
desirable.

The arsenites have been found the most eftective means of
destroying the canker worm, either Paris green or London
purple is generally used ; as the latter is more soluble in water
it is more easily applied ; mixed with water at the rate of one
pound to two hundred and fifty gallons, one application
thoroughly wetting the leaves has been found sufficient, but if
the application is soon followed by rain it will be necessary to
repeat it ; the application is made with a hand pump having a
hose attachment having a nozzle throwing a fine spray. Ex-
periments by Prof. Cook seems to prove that the same mixture
applied to the trees as soon as the blossoms have fallen has
destroyed a large portion of the codling moths.

The apple under ordinary conditions is a biennial crop the
trees bearing in a fruitful year so profusely that they make
little growth and few if any fruit-buds. The bearing year for
10

110 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

the apple in New England is the even calendar year, this has
been changed in some localities by late frosts in the Spring
and in others by the canker worms. The bearing year may be
changed by picking the blossoms from the young trees for three
or four years on which they would naturally bear their fruit.

Many of the advantages of location claimed for the apple
may with force be claimed for the pear. Nowhere is the pear
grown with more uniform success or of better quality than in
this State. The pear in its wild state is hardier and longer
lived than the apple. There are trees on record abroad of large
size and known to be near four hundred years old. The
Endicott pear tree in Peabody imported in 1630 is still standing
and continues to bear fruit ; there are several trees in Salem
more than two hundred years old. The Bartlett grown in
England in 1767 under the name of Williams' Bonchretien
was imported into this country by Thomas Brewer in 1806 ;
before the tree bore fruit it came into the posession of Enoch
Bartlett, a gentleman much interested in horticulture and one
of the founders of Massachusetts Horticultural Society ; and the
name having been lost he gave it his own name by which it
has since been known in this country. At the last meeting of
the Pomological Society in Boston three dozen specimens of
fruit grown on this tree were shown ; though there were some
larger specimens grown on younger trees there were none more
perfect on exhibition.

The young trees sold from the nurseries are about equally
divided between standards and dwarfs and while the soil neces-
sary to secure the best results with the latter will prove suitable
for the former, the standard will do fairly well in soil where the
dwarf will utterly fail. The quince requires a rich, moist soil
and budding upon it the pear does not change the wants of its
roots. If set in a light soil with sand or gravel subsoil it will
not succeed, yet the dwarf is an important factor in growing
this fruit. The amateur with his limited space must depend
upon its early bearing to grow some of the desirable varieties
that would look dim in the distant future if obliged to wait for
them on the standard.

1891.] ESSAYS. ni

If it becomes necessary to set the dwarf in a light soil tiie
conditions may be much improved by mixing a liberal quantity
of marl or peat mud with the soil to retain the moisture.

In selecting dwarf trees select those budded close to the
crown of the roots and in setting let the soil cover the junction
of the pear and quince stocks, and as the pear is of larger
growth than the (|uince it will overlap forming a calhis from
which the more vigorous growing varieties will throw out roots,
eventually becoming standard trees ; and where it is desirable to
continue the dwarfs for a long time this may be more satisfac-
torily accomplished after the trees have become well established
by removing the soil in early summer around the trunk and
with a narrow gouge or knife raising narrow strips of the
bark in the callus and pressing in a little earth between the
bark and the wood, replacing the earth around the tree and
mulching to prevent the soil becoming dry ; the descending sap
later in the season will throw out roots from the lips, thus form-
ing a well distributed set of pear roots. By this process the
early bearing of the dwarf is secured and the longer life of the
standard, though smaller in size ; the growth being checked by
the early fruiting.

As the pear is largely used as a dessert fruit (though the de-
mand is constantly increasing for canning purposes) a wider
range of varieties is desirable than of the apple. For market
the Bartlett, Seckel, Sheldon, Bosc, Dana's Hovey, Clairgeau,
Angouleme, Anjou and Vicar will be found desirable varieties.
For the amateur the above list with the exception of Clairgeau
to which may be added Summer Doyenne, Gifford, Clapp's
Favorite, Rostiezer, Urbaniste, Hardy, Louise Bonne of Jersey,
Comice, Lawrence and Josephine of Malines. There are many
other varieties of excellent quality and desirable under favor-
able conditions but the above list will be found reliable under
ordinary cultivation. The Angouleme, Clairgeau, Louise Bonne
of Jersey, Urbaniste and Vicar should be grown on the quince
stock.

The pear suffers less from insect pests than any of our fruits,
there is a slug that occasionally appears on the leaves between

112 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

the middle of June and the middle of July but may be de-
stroyed by scattering ashes or dry dust from the road-bed over
the leaves.

The greatest drawback in growing the pear is the disease
known as the pear-tree blight ; there have been various theories
advanced as to the cause of this disease but the fact that it has
appeared irregularly in most parts of the country, sometimes
in succeeding seasons and again after the lapse of several years
and run its course unchecked shows that the question of its
cause or cure is apparently as far from a solution as when it
first appeared. The most recent theory as to the disease is that
it is caused by bacteria which are said to be found in the dis-
eased wood, but whether the cause or effect, whether they pre-
cede or follow the disease, does not seem to be definitely settled.
The disease makes its appearance in the early summer and will
be seen by the leaves turning black ; if the tree is but slightly
afi'ected, by cutting away the diseased portion down to sound
wood it may disappear ; but if it appears generally through the
branches, showing the whole tree to be tainted, the loss of the
tree will almost invariably follow.

The fruit of most varieties of the pear requires careful
thinning to secure satisfactory results ; while no definite rule
can be given it is safe to say no two specimens should be left
to touch each other while making their growth. Among the
smaller varieties the Seckel and Dana's Hovey, and of the larger
varieties the Angouleme, Clairgeau and Vicar will require care-
ful attention. For the benefit of those left to grow it is desir-
able to do the thinning as soon as the perfect, well-formed
specimens can be distinguished, removing the smaller and any
that show imperfections.

The recent improvements in cold storage process have been
of great advantage to pear growers by extending the time dur-
ing which the fruit can be put on the market or the table in
good condition ; formerly the season for the Bartlett was limited
to two weeks ; now with a slight expense for storage it is ex-
tended over six weeks and the fine October varieties may be had
in good condition as dessert with the Thanksgiving and Christ-
mas dinners.

1891.] ESSAYS. 113

Only those of us who remember with what ease and abund-
ance the peach was formerly grown can fully appreciate the
loss we have experienced in the difficulty with which this fruit
has been produced in later years. Formerly the trees were
found in almost every garden ; they came up in the hedge rows
and by the roadside wherever the drifting soil by chance
covered the pits, grew rapidly, came early into t/earing and for
years produced annually an abundance of the most delicious
fruit known to the temperate climate.

The only insect enemy that seriously injures the peach is the
borer who commences work at or just below the surface soil in
the soft bark of the tree and if undisturbed will often com-
pletely girdle and destroy the tree. It is claimed that a mound of
leached ashes one foot in height around the base of the tree
from May till October will prevent their entering it, the same
treatment recommended for the apple will prove effectual.

The most serious difficulties in growing the peach are the dis-
ease called the yellows and the killing of the fruit buds during
the winter. The appearance of the former is indicated by the
growth of small wiry shoots on the trunk or branches near the
trunk, bearing small light-colored leaves ; it is also shown by the
fruit prematurely ripening, the flesh being higher colored and
inferior in quality. This frequently occurs on trees apparently
healthy ; but if allowed to stand the following year the fruit will
not attain more than half its natural size and will be of no
value. In speaking of the cause of this disease. Downing says :
"No writer has yet ventured to assign a theory which would
explain the cause of this malady." The disease is generally
believed to be contagious and it is recommended to remove and
])urn the trees as soon as the disease makes its appearance.

There have been various theories advanced as to the causes
of failure in growing the peach. It is said by some that the
peach being indigenous to a Avarmer climate will not endure
the low temperature of our winters, but the records do not show
that our winters are more severe than formerly when the peach
was almost a certain crop. Some go so far as to say they can
give the exact degree of temperature at which the l)uds are

114 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

destroyed, but reports from Michigan show that the peach trees
passing through a winter temperature of twenty degrees below
zero have produced a full crop the following season ; it is seldom
we experience so low a temperature in New England. In 1884
the peach buds were substantially all killed in Massachusetts
before Christmas and the thermometer had not indicated zero
weather at that time. It is said our more open winters exposing
the soil to more frequent freezing and thawing are the cause of
failure, in answer it may be said the buds are frequently killed
before these changes occur.

It is generally conceded that the continued perpetuation of
plants and trees by cuttings, budding and grafting tends to
weaken the constitution ; this is most readily seen in the suc-
culent plants, every florist knows that he must renew by grow-
ing seedlings his bedding plants if he would have healthy
vigorous stock ; the health}'^ life of some of them may be limited
to five or six years, deterioration becoming more rapid as the
stock becomes matured or diseased.

For the last forty years the peach growers have confined
themselves mostly to a few well-known varieties, viz. : the early
and late Crawford, Cooledge Favorite, Foster, Oldraixon and
Stump the World. The stocks have been grown from pits
gathered promiscuously, often from fruit grown upon diseased
trees and buds taken from trees in similar condition.

Under such conditions could we reasonably expect to grow a
fruit having its origin in a warmer and more equable climate ?
In alluding to this matter Downing says: "Every good
gardener knows that if he desires to raise a healthy and vigorous
seedling plant he must select the seed from a parent that is itself
decidedly healthy." Again he says : " Is it not evident that the
constant sowing of the seeds of an enfeebled stock of peaches
would naturally produce a sickly and diseased race of trees."
Lindley says : " All seeds will not equally produce vigorous
seedlings but healthiness of the new plant will correspond with
that of the seed from which it sprang."

The opinions of men who have made fruit growing a life
study, confirmed by our own experience, would suggest more

1891.] ESSAYS. 115

care in the selection of pits and a main reliance upon seedling
trees until healthy stocks may be secured from which buds may
be taken to continue desirable varieties. Some varieties of the
peach will reproduce themselves from seed if planted a sufficient
distance from other varieties so that the pollen will not be
transferred by the wind or insects to their blossoms.

There are three species of wild plum indigenous to this
country but the stocks from which have come our improved
varieties had their origin in Asia and the southern part of
Europe. The trees are perfectly hardy and make a strong,
upright growth and come early into fruit. Could we overcome
two difficulties in the cultivation of this fruit the trees would be
•found in every garden and the fruit would become a profitable
orchard product. The curculio makes his appearance soon
after the fruit is formed and deposits its eggs in a crescent-shaped
cut in the flesh of the fruit which soon hatch and the young
grub eats his way to the stone, when the fruit falls and the young-
larva enters the ground to reappear the following year. One
method of dealing with this pest has been to spread a sheet cut
to the shape of the tree and large enough to extend outside its
branches and spread upon the ground and with a mallet padded
with thick cloth give the tree a sharp blow which dislodges the
insects and they fall upon the sheet curled up as if dead and
may be gathered and destroyed. An easier way of overcoming
this difficulty or reducing it to a minimum has been found in
keeping fowls in the orchard and occasionally jarring the trees.
A more serious trouble is with the black knot ; so generally
prevalent has this become that few trees more than five or six
years in the orchard are not more or less aftected. Formerly
the cause of the black knot was supposed to be an insect but
recent investigation seems to prove that it is a fungoid growth,
and as it increases the spores become detached and are blown
by the wind from tree to tree, so that if unchecked all the trees
in the vicinity where it first makes its appearance become
diseased. The usual practice has been among growers of this
fruit to examine carefully the trees in the spring and cut away
every appearance of a knot, but this often results in the de-
struction of the tree in the course of two or three years. The

116 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

parts cut from the trees should be gathered and burned at once.
When the plum is grown on adjoining estates its spread can
only be prevented by concerted action, as one tree left uncared
for will keep the whole neighborhood busy. Some recent
experiments at the Agricultural College at Amherst with kero-
sene oil mixed with whiting to form a paste and spread over
the knots with a brush have destroyed the knots without injur-
ing the limbs of the trees. Among the desirable varieties of
the plum the Green Gage, though not as attractive in appearance,
stands at the head of the list in quality. The Washington,
Jeffierson, Coe's Golden Drop, McLaughlin, Lombard, Brad-
shaw and Niagara are desirable varieties. The fruit is liable to
rot before it is in condition to pick and as a preventive should
be carefully thinned.

The cherry tree combines the useful with the ornamental
in a higher degree than any of our orchard trees, especially the
heart-shaped varieties with their upright, vigorous growth ; sym-
metrical in form, with dark glossy foliage they are hardly excelled
in beauty by any of the shade trees grown on public or private
grounds. The cherry tree well established will continue to
thrive under wider conditions and requires less care than any
of our orchard trees. The fruit of some of the soft flesh
varieties is fine in quality and desira1)le for the table while the
firmer fleshed bigarreaus and the more acid varieties are desira-
ble for cookinoj and cannino;. Some of the best varieties are
liable to decay at the turn of ripening if the weather happens
to be wet, a shower sufficient to thoroughly wet the fruit follow-
ed by extreme heat will often result in total loss. Another
larger loss without special regard to varieties is by the birds,
among which the red breast robin plays a conspicuous part ;
they commence as soon as the fruit turns color and take an
unfair advantage by selecting the finest specimens. Among
the many desirable varieties of the cherry may be mentioned
Mayduke, Bigarreau, Black Tartarian, Gov. Wood, Coe's Trans-
parent, Hyde's Seedling, and Downer's Late.

The quince forms a small tree, rarely more than ten or twelve
feet in height ; it is perfectly hardy, though the tips of the
season's growth are sometimes killed during the following win-

1891.] ESSAYS. 117

ter. The tree requires a rich, moist soil for the best results,
hmd bordering running streams, if free from stagnant water,
otfers the most favoral)le situation. The fruit is desirable for
preserves, either alone or with other fruits to which it imparts
its peculiarly fine flavor. The variety most widely grown is the
Orange, but Mammoth and Eea's seedling more recently intro-
duced are both larger and finer in appearance. The only enemy
that seriously interferes in growing the quince is the borer, and
the trees require careful watching to prevent his getting a
lodgment.

The formers who are inclined to compare the advantages of
fruit growing in the New England States with some of the
more Southern States where the tropical fruits are grown, should
remember that they possess every advantage in producing some
of the most widely known and universally used fruits, and
they should not forget the advantage of a large and constantly
increasing home market, reducing the cost of transportation
and commissions to a minimum, with an export trade to absorb
the surplus of an abundant crop. Those who hesitate in grow-
ing the orchard fruits because the returns are more immediate
from assured crops can in no way add more to the appearance
or value of their farms or ofter stronger inducements to the
sons to remain on the farm than in the prospective revenue from
growing orchards which, combined with the small-fruits, may be
made a source of income every month in the year. The owners
of small estates can in no way add more to the enjoyment of
their families than by growing a liberal supply of the various
fruits in their season. Some of the pleasantest recollections of our
childhood are associated with the fruits of the field and garden.

As expressing the thoughts of one whose life was largely
devoted to the improvement of the fruits of the temperate
climate, I quote the words of Charles Downing: " Fine fruit
is the flower of commodities, it is the most perfect union of the
useful and the beautiful that the earth knows. Trees full of
soft foliage blossoms, fresh with spring beauty and finally fruit
bloomdusted, melting and luscious such are the treasures of the
orchard and the garden temptingly ofiered to every landholder
in this bright and sunny though temperate climate."

5th March, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

FRANK J. KINNEY, of Worcester.

Theme : — Garden Vegetables .

*' Garden Vegetables" is the subject given us for discussion
this afternoon, and it is a very appropriate subject at this season
of the year. The garden and the home are synonymous. The
first mention we have in history of man and woman was in a
garden, and who knows but that was a vegetable garden. Sure-
ly, we are told that " out of the ground grew every tree that
was pleasant to the sight and good for food."

One thing is certain, a home without garden vegetables is a
poor home, and the more space there is allotted to a garden and
the better it is cared for, the better it will be for the fiimily ;
in fact, in passing through the country one can judge somewhat
of its wealth and intelligence by the gardens of the inhabitants.
Whether they are floating gardens as we find in China, or gar-
dens on the roofs of buildings as are common in some of the
thickly settled countries of the Old World, or boxes on the
window-sill, or the large fields tilled as gardens by professional
market gardeners, or the cramped and weed-grown gardens of
the country farms ; all have their tale to tell the close observer.

No person can tell the amount of desirable vegetables that
can be grown in a small orarden unless he has had one to cul-
tivate. To get the best results one should have a sunny window
or a small hot-bed. In this climate, our seasons are very short
and there are many desirable vegetables that don't have long
enough time to grow if the seed is planted in the open ground.

1891.] ESSAYS. • 119

One of the most important garden vegetables is the Tomato,
and the history of its short life, well written, would read like a
romance. Since I was a full-grown boy 1 have found many
places in my journeyings where it was considered poisonous,
and a quarter of a century will cover its active existence. Any
of us can remember when the Boston Market and Keyes' Early
were the best; then came the Trophy, advertised as a. solid
tomato ; then Livingston gave us his seedlings so far in advance
of all others that they were almost universally grown for a
few years, but last year gave still others as good or a little liet-
ter. The tomato is conceded now to be a healthy vegetable,
either in its raw state or cooked ; and there are few tables on
which it does not appear nearly every day in the year in some
form. It is easy to raise and very productive.

If one does not care to grow his own plants he can buy
them. There are large fortunes made every year in handling
tomatoes, and there is no excuse for not having the fruit I'resh
from one's own vines for several months, if so situated as to
have a garden.

The next garden vegetable of importance is Spinach, and that
like the tomato has grown in favor very rapidly and has also been
greatly improved. It can be easily kept in the winter in-doors,
and lives over out of doors to cut early in the spring : or it can
be sowed in the open garden as soon as the frost is out of the
ground two inches deep, and is seldom injured by the frost.
It is a very wholesome vegetable, and easily prepared and
cooked.

Lettuce is an appetizing salad and easily grown, and by start-
ing in the window can be had quite early in the season ; and
there are varieties that can be grown all the season. The Dea-
con's and Hanson are the best summer lettuce.

Radishes, especially the turnip-rooted varieties, are easily
grown, grow very quickly and are a wholesome green vegetable.

Peas are one of the earliest green vegetables and quite easily

grown. There has been a great improvement in varieties withiil

a few years. Henderson's Early is a very good and productive

^smooth pea ; the best for early planting. The Stratagem is the

120 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

best wrinkled pea we have tested. There can be but little ex-
cuse for not having peas, for they are one of the easy vegetables
to can for winter use.

Beets are another garden vegetable that has been very much
improved in a few years, and can be had the year through with
little trouble ; are hardy, and like spinach and peas can be sown
quite early, and by making good selections and planting several
times in the summer, can be had fresh and tender. No dinner
is perfect without beets, and no vegetable hash for breakfast is
good without beet in it, in my opinion. It is one of the garden
vegetables not properly encouraged by our Horticultural Soci-
ety. The Eclipse and Edmands are the cream of the beet fami-
lies, of my acquaintance, for early and medium. Dewing's is a
nice winter beet when sown late and a good all around beet.

Parsneps need to be sowed early and are a garden vegetable
of great value in the family. The Hollow Crown is the best
flavored, but the Student, or some improved short variety, is
better for spring use if wanted to leave them in the ground.
There is a chance for improvement in parsneps, and a premium
ofl'ered by our Society for a half long seedling would be a wise
thing in my opinion. I heard one of our most conservative
members say he would pay fifty dollars for a pound of such
seed.

Salsify, or vegetable oyster, is a neglected vegetable ; is as
easily grown as parsneps and should be in every garden. There
are many months in every year that have no r in them, and our
Puritan or some other ancestors have long since prohibited the
use of real oysters in those months. I never have known a family
that some members did not wish oysters were good the year
round, and salsify comes in to fill the place. It is easily pre-
pared for the table, and universally liked by the people. It is
a rich, healthy garden vegetable, can be kept in the cellar or
ground over winter, and unfil the fresh grown roots are ready
for use.

Turnijps can be put into the ground early and are a vegetable
easily grown, and profitable to raise to sell if the grower is an
artist. There are some new varieties that come along very fast.

1891.] ESSAYS. 121

The Early Milan is the best early, and some of the glol)e purple
tops, and White Kgg varieties for late, to raise as a second crop
after early peas or potatoes. There is some demand for the
Golden Ball, also an English or fall turnip. The Sweet Ger-
man, French or Cape, and Yellow Rutabagas are winter turnips,
and need most of the season to [)erfect their growth ; but if one
has the proper soil and education they are a very profitable gar-
den vegetable to grow. No garden is complete without a few
Fall and Cape turnips.

For early CabhcKjef^ and Gaulifloroers the seed needs to be
planted in the window garden or hot-bed. There are many new
and improved varieties, of which Henderson's Succession Cab-
bage, and Snowball Cauliflower, are good enough for any one.
There are a few small pointed cabbages that grow very quickly.
The Express and Extra Early Etampes are the best ; but
unless one is very fond of cabbage, he can't afford to grow
them in a small garden. The Borecole, or Kale, is a species of
cabbage used by the German population as greens, is very
easily grown and kept, and when more of the community are
educated to eat it will be a profitable crop to raise. Brussels
Sprouts, another member of the cabbage family that is raised as
a profitable crop in some localities, is too aristocratic for com-
mon people to bother with.

Endive is a vegetable but little grown in this vicinity, but is
worth a place in any one's garden, if a person appreciates good
salad, or wants a nice })lant to garnish with. The green curled
is best.

Parsley is another vegetal)le not much grown, but worthy a
place in all gardens. It is one of the good things that few
know about. For garnishing, or seasoning soups, it has few if
any equals. It grows slow at first, but has a root like the
parsnep, and when well started is easily managed. It may be
grown in a flow^er pot, or box, in the house in winter.

Of course all must have a small bed of Carrots; they will be
wanted for soups if nothing else. They are easily grown, are a
large family ; but some of the newer one-half long or short-horn
are best.

122 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

Celery is a garden vegetable that has made wonderful strides
in the past ten or fifteen years. Whether it has kept pace with
the education of the American people is doubtful, but it has
contributed more than any vegetable towards it, in my opinion.
It is a green vegetable for winter use, and is eaten in its raw
state. For the tired and over-worked American, it is a nerve
panacea ; and as it is not relished, or eaten, after it gets to be
!iecond-hand, it is a safe accompaniment of any meal. If people
don't sell their good taste to fashion, but place the stalks on the
table entire, with their beautiful leaves overhanging the dish, it
makes a bouquet that will cheer the weary, and stimulate all
the good there is in us. It is one of the vegetables when good,
and well grown, that is all that most appetites desire of itself.
Some will demoralize it, by eating it with salt ; others with
olive or some other oil ; but the large majority of people find it
good enough, as it comes from the garden, or storage pit, if it
takes a thorough bath on the way to the table. There have
been many new varieties introduced within a few years, and like
all other new vegetables some very few have proved better than
any we had before in some respects.

There is no celery that I have grown that is better than the
Boston Market when it is well grown ; but of late it requires
more skill than the ordinary person possesses.

The White Plume is easily grown, and for early is very pass-
able ; not quite so good as Paris Golden, another variety that is
easily blanched, and good for early. The Giant Pascal is the
best of the new-comers for late, more hardy than most of the
good varieties. Were it not for the vast amount of fungi in
the air and ground, it would be an easy matter to grow celery ;
but thousands of people, after working hard all the season to
get their celery grown, see it blight and rot. It seems too bad
that we are obliged to eat celery grown in Michigan, a good deal
of the year, but the fact remains. Celeriac or turnip-rooted
celery is more easily grown and kept than celery, and is better
for seasoning meat and soups.

Water-Cress is a desirable vegetable, can be grown in any
garden soil as easily as pepper-grass, and is a very nice plant

1891.] ESSAYS. 123

for salad. It is orowii under glass the same as lettuce, or in
the open ground.

Most people like to grow their own sweet herbs, peppermint,
thyme, sweet inarjorani, summer savory, sage, etc. It takes
but a small piece of ground, and they are ever so much better
than can be bought at the apothecaries.

Sweet Corn is a garden vegetable that is eaten by as many
people as any vegetable ; and if the variety is good, and it has
been well grown, it makes a vegetable that is nutritious and
wholesome. As a farmer's son T knew nothing of this superb
vegetable, but as a gardener I soon became acquainted with it.
We children used to boil and roast field corn, and thought it
was good ; it was, and the only green vegetable we had as
children. You think I was a child in some heathen land, per-
haps? but I was not. My birthplace was in a good farming
town in Bennington County, Vermont, and this statement is not
more than forty years old. I presume you might find many
good farms, next summer, were you to journey forty miles
across the country, in any direction from Worcester, where
there was not a hill of sweet corn raised, and never had been.
I feel proud to state that I raised the first sweet corn, tomatoes,
and celery ever grown in my native town, and that I learned
how to raise and eat them, in this city, on the farm of Stephen
Foster. There are many good varieties of sweet corn, but if I
were asked for the best three for early, medium, and late, I
should say Crosby's. Plant it once a fortnight, commencing
when the apple trees are in bloom, continuing till July 4, and
you will have good sweet corn all summer and until frost comes.
If you choose, you can dry or can it, and have sweet corn all
winter.

Beans are a sjood vegetable to have, either to go with the
corn for succotash, to eat cooked in the pods, as string beans,
or boiled and served with cream or butter as a vegetable for the
day. If you want a very nice dish in the winter, shell the beans
while they are tender and green, then dry them, and you can
have it. Canned green beans are better than ripe ones. The
wax beans are best for string, and the Horticultural, bush, or

124 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

pole, striped, and white, are the best we can raise for shell
beans. If our seasons were a little longer I should recommend
the Lima ; but unless some of the new Dwarf Limas prove of
value we can't many of us indulge in home-grown Lima beans,
except on Sundays, in the late fall.

Rhubarb is one of the connecting links. It is not a fruit, but
is used as a fruit ; and where sugar can be aflbrded there will
be found rhubarb sauce and rhubarb pies, Avhen it is the off
apple year. Some prefer it to apple any time ; for a change it
is certainly a nice thing to have. It can ))e grown in some
corner of the garden, and when once established is no trouble,
as it lasts many years. It is a good plan to take up the roots
and divide them occasionally.

Asparagus is another vegetable that can be had with but
little trouble ; it is one of the first, coming up so early that the
Spring frosts will kill it, if it is not covered on cold nights.
Planted in the garden, it will live and thrive with little care
for many years.

Of course you will have a small bed of Onions. White
Portugal are the best for early and medium, and Yellow Dan-
vers, the Globe varieties, for winter.

No garden is complete without a few Cucumbers, so we must
all try every year to grow some. There are a good many
reasons why we ought to — mainly, so we may know how much
trouble and vexation it costs. The white spine and long green
are the best varieties.

A few Squash seeds should be planted. If they come uj),
and we are very watchful, we shall see them ; but the chances
are we shall not. Some striped beetle, or platoon of beetles,
will charge on them as soon as they dare to leave their earth
covering ; if not, the vines may grow and run over and destroy
lots of our other nice things, living and rioting until the
squashes begin to gladden our hearts ; and then the black or
trout bug, as he is called in some localities, will attack them
and they will wither and die.

Melons are a most delicious garden vegetable, and will bear
a better acquaintance than most people have with them. The

181)1.] ESSAYS. ■ 125

vines have fewer enemies than cucumbers and squashes. By
using the unripe ones in the fall for sweet pickle — and they
make the best — are as profitable as any vegetable grown. It is
a good plan to plant the seed early in hot beds, in an inverted
turf: latter, remove turf and plants to the garden. The Emerald
Gem and Christiana arc the best salmon-fleshed, and Burpee's
Nettled Gem and the New Surprise are the best green-fleshed
Cantaloupes.

The Surprise is the cream of yellow-fleshed melons, when it
does well, but not so sure as the others.

I. have often wondered why our Horticultural Society did
not offer more and better premiums for Cantaloupe melons.
They are universally used for several months, and they are the
cream of the garden vegetables.

Watermelons are not as desirable for our climate, though
they can be grown with a little trouble. The Hungarian Honey
an<l Phinney's Early are the best.

Okra or Gumbo is a vegetable not much grown or used, but
is a desirable addition to our collection^ and should be set out
and grown the same as pejjpers.

Okra is a valuable vegetable, either green or dried for winter
use.

We must try to grow Egg Plant, shall probably fail, but
have got used to that by this time.

Never mind, we have a garden vegetable saved for the last, that
is universally grown and eaten. Of course anybody can grow
it, and it will be good every time, for its name is Potato. Its
pedigree dates back so far that for want of a better Christian
name, it was called Irish to distinguish it from the sweet or
southern potato. It belongs to one of the largest families of
any of our vegetal)le friends, and is both lowly and aristocratic
in its connections. I know of no other vegetable so plenty,
and so universally poor, as the potato. A large part of the
potatoes eaten in our city are brought from a long distance,
many of them across the ocean. There is no vegetable that
changes quicker from good to medium, or poor. As a proof,
expose a few nice potatoes to the ligJit for two or three days,
11

12(i WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

and then test them. I wonder how many of my hearers could
guess within hundreds of bushels how many potatoes are wasted
and consumed in our city every da3^ The swill gatherers could
judge best of the waste. Twelve bushels to a thousand inhabit-
ants, would be a fair estimate, and that would give the moderate
sum of 960 bushels at an average cost now of $1.20 a bushel,
making nearly $1200 a day for potatoes.

Now, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, in my opinion
there are but two other things used in large quantities in this
city, that are worthless to those who use them ; and those are
tobacco and rum.

No good farmer values potatoes at more than 20 or 25 cents
per bushel to feed stock ; but it is a fashionable habit we have of
using potatoes, so they must be grown. The very best variety
is the early Beauty of Hebron. There are a few of the newer
varieties, both early and late, that are worthy of a place in every
garden. The early Essex and Charles Downing are giving
universal satisfaction. According to government statistics, the
potato crop exceeds all other crops excepting fruit and butteF,
reaching more than $125,000,000 in a single year.

The question of the day will be incomplete without a word
on fertilization and vegetable hygiene. As great as have been
the improvements on vegetables in a quarter ol" a century, the
advance in the knowledge of fertilizing the soil, to grow them,
has been greater ; and we hope that the interest awakened in
the prevention of disease of vegetables will continue. There
was a time within the memory of the small boy, when it
appeared as though many of the vegetables we prize the most,
were doomed. The potato-rot seemed to have the grip of a
giant, and many people gave up raising them ; but thanks to
our experiment stations, preventives were found in the new way
of fertilizing with phosphates, and other special manure, and
spraying the vines with a copper preparation at the same' time
as they were sprayed to kill the voracious larvae of the potato
bug.

Just as celery came to be almost a necessity a species of
fungi attacked its leaves, and it disappeared from the gardens

1891.] ESSAYS. 127

by the thousands of dozens, in a short space of time. But
patient study will very soon enable those versed in vegeta-
ble h3^giene to counteract, or destroy, this new vegeta))le
enemy.

There was a vile looking slug appeared on some of my celery
ground two years ago, and he has defied all safe preventives as
yet ; but as we seem to have the entire stock in the country,
his da3^s of marauding will be short.

The pioneer who had the courage to say, that the quality of
a vegetable could be changed by feeding it, was considered a
crank if not a fool ; but those who are successful in raising
vegeta])]es that approach perfection, are the ones who understand
the art of feeding them. There are no two that require pre-
cisely the same fertilizing. Some need a great amount of
potash, as the potato, others almost live on Nitrogen, like
spinach, others on Phosphoric Acid, like' corn, and so on
through the whole list.

It may be necessary to follow a rotation in the cultivation of
garden vegetables, putting beans next year where we have
potatoes this, peas where we had parsneps, and strawlierries
where we had almost anything but potatoes. It is believed by
some that because strawberries are a potash plant one will not
follow the other to advantage. That has not been my experi-
ence. A good piece of land for any class of plants, can be
kept in condition to grow them, as long as the cultivator proves
himself smarter than the insects that infest them.

It is said that cabbages cannot be grown on the same land
two years in succession, but we have plenty of evidence where
many crops have been grown in succession without a failure.
Peter Henderson had a piece where he grew cabbage six years
in succession and had fine crops every year. I have seen fields
in New Jersey where cabbage and cauliflower had been grown
for 12 successive years without a failure. They used wood
ashes and marl for fertilizers, and trimmed the roots of the
plants when set out to avoid clul) foot.

I have given a short space to a few phases of this very
important question, and am in hopes that the discussion to

128 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

follow will stimulate the growing of garden vegetables in our
vicinity, so that every person can have fresh grown vegetables
every day in the season of them, for they are God's best gift to
man. Whittier says :

Give fools their gold ;

And Iviiaves their power ;

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall;

Who sows a field, or trains a flower,

Or plants a tree ; is more than all.

i2th March, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

Mrs. FANNIE A. DEAN, of Edgartown.

Theme: — The Columbian Discovery — Its Benefits To
Horticulture.

As we approach the four hundredth anniversary of the
Columbian Discovery of America, it may not bft unwise to
consider its direct and indirect benefits to that department of
industry in which you who are gathered here to-day, are
especially interested.

It is not our purpose to discuss any question as to who first
came to America, whether it was Heeli the Chinese, Ericson
the Norwegian, Madoc, the Prince of Wales, or Columbus the
Genoese ; but we do afiirm that it was through the voyages of
the last-named and distinguished individual, that our country
became well-known to the other nations of the earth.

The American or Indian had not much idea of horticulture.
History tells us that his wife dug a few roots, or cultivated a
little maize, the latter of which she prepared for food by
crushing with the stone corn-cracker, or pounding in the stone
mortar. The indolent and erratic disposition of the Indian
was not favorable to landscape gardening, nor to the less
ornamental work of the kitchen garden.

The forests, in all their stately grandeur were here ; the wild
flowers, in all their luxuriance, nestled at the bases of the grand
old monarchs of the forest, or trailed silently over meadow and
hill-slope ; the feather-like Bryopsis presented as beautiful a
green color as it waved under the blue sea, then as to-day,
and the porphyra or purple weed reproduced itself then by

130 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

dividing, just as now. Whether under sea or sky, the great
Continent of America, at that early day, contained tliose simples
and forces which have been combined and exerted within the
last four centuries, until the world has realized the vast
resources of wealth and beauty which she possesses.

From the depths of her mighty rivers, from her inexhaustible
mines, from the scenery of her natural parks and her thousands
of lakes, and from the grandeur of her remarkable canons and
the loftiness of her mountain peaks, come forth the questions —
Of what use has the American Continent been to the world?
Have its inhabitants gleaned any additional knowledge, or
received any benefits from us? In this paper, it is proposed, as
was intimated at its beginning, to answer these questions, in
regard to horticulture alone.

When we use the term horticulture, we consider it as mean-
ing the most perfect method of cultivating the soil either for
products of beauty or use. This art had been known to the
inhabitants of the Old World or Eastern Continent, for
thousands of years before Columbus had started on his voyages
of exploration. A love of the beautiful in nature had been
implanted in his soul, and the luxuriance of the tropical vegeta-
tion of the country he found so impressed him with its charm-
ing appearance that he made particular mention of it to Queen
Isabella, when he wrote to her the glowing accounts of the new
land.

Through the succeeding years, in the early unsettled state of
this continent, not much attention was paid to aught except the
cultivation of those cereals and vegetables which were required
for the sustenance of nature. Different nations were sending
colonies westward, each one desirous of acquiring a strong and
permanent foothold in some chosen corner of either North or
South America. To those lured hither first by a desire for
gold, the products of the soil held little, if any, attraction.
Like our own citizens of the eastern United States, who, in
1849, flocked, in so great a number, to the gold mines of
California, they little realized what a variety and amount of
flowers and fruit were possible to be developed from the glitter-
ing sands.

1891.] ESSAYS. 131

The Indians, as a race, have not progressed much in their
botanical knowledge since the days before the European dis-
covery of America. The aggregate knowledge of the doctors
or learned men of the Cherokee Indians, according to the state-
ment of Mr. James Morncy who has recently spent much time
in studying them, only embraces about eight hundred species of
plants, and no one doctor knows the names of more than three
hunch'ed species. They have no names for even the most
beautiful or noticeable flowers unless the pkmts are used as food
or medicine. They are, as four hundred years ago, without
sentiment for the fragrance or symmetry of the flowers, and yet
the Cherokee Indians have dwelt in the regions of western
North Carolina.

Whatever benefits may have resulted to horticulture, are
found to be due mostly to the researches, industries, inventions
and literature of the white men of the present century. The
experiment stations in the difierent States for testing the peculiar
conditions required for the growth of individual plants and for
conducting microscopical investigations in regard to the causes
which destroy them ; the careful studies made by such enthu-
siastic botanists as Drs. Asa Gray and John Torrey ; the exten-
sive researches of such interested men as Dr. J. Triana of New
Granada, who explored the flora of his native country for ten
years amidst so many discouragements from his own govern-
ment, and who then established himself in France for the
purpose of describing his collections ; and the experiments tried
by hundreds of horticulturists, show the awakening of this
American people to an earnest desire for acquiring knowledge
and then communicating it to the world at large. While we
may have imported plant specimens, other countries have been,
and are importing from us, until they have already naturalized
our elm, captured the Peruvian cinchona, adopted our Kalmia
as one of their most highly prized plants, and have even dis-
puted the Ainerican origin of the pine-apple.

Our facilities for research are constantly increasing. In a
late number of Lippincott's Magazine, a writer mourns that we
have no American Kcw, and earnestly insists that New York

132 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

City shall be the first to establish similar gardens here, and not
let Philadelphia, Boston or any other city get ahead of her in
this respect. He certainly could not have learned that, second
only to the Eoyal Botanical gardens at Kew, will be the
Missouri Botanical gardens begun by the late Henry Shaw, and
for whose completion and maintenance he has left a legacy of
three millions of dollars. These gardens if completed will give
a chance for study and research which will supply the long-felt
need of horticulturists.

The explorations of Mexican and other adjacent regions early
in this century, resulted in great additions to the number of
varieties previously shown in Europe, of one kind of tiower
alone — the cactus. In 1796, only twenty-nine species had been
found; in 1850, 670 species were known, and now over 1000
species are distinguished. Not only have our own botanists
made these reseaches but celebrated travellers like Kalm and
Michaux, Jussieu and Humboldt in earlier days, and Wright,
Brewer and Andre, in the present generation have made expedi-
tions to America for the sole purpose of collecting specimens of
the new plants, on this side of the Atlantic. Will such men as
these dare to say that America has accorded no benefits to the
horticulture of the world?

The herbarium of Humboldt alone which contained 3500 new
specimens shows that the discovery of the West Indies, in
1492, certainly opened new and rich l)otanical store-houses.

Horticulturists of the present day will not soon forget the
suflerings and hardships of the late Charles C. Parry as he
crossed the California Desert from San Dieoo to the mouth of
the Gihi River, and unfolded to the world the floral treasure of
the western and southwestern parts of the United States.

On authority, it is stated, that the number of species of
flowering plants and higher cryptogams indigenous to the
United States is twelve thousand, and that that is practically the
number for North America. Adding to these the known indige-
nous plants of South America, and imagining what may be
reserved for us to discover, in the future, we may not hesitate
to conclude that we have added no mean contribution to the
world's flora.

1891.] KSSAYS. 133

Not only have the results of the researches in America become
well known to the world, but still farther reaching are the
results of the industries of the American citizens. Brain and
muscle have united, and have succeeded in giving to the world
the fruits of our industries. The market gardens, adjacent to
our great cities, the fruit industries of the south, and even that
uni(]ue horticultural industry of southeastern Massachusetts
and New Jersey, cranberry growing, show, in a limited degree,
what is being accomplished ; but when we consider the horticul-
tural possibilities of California, how can we begin to realize to
what extent these industries may be carried?

In 1888, 1,250,000 boxes of raisins were produced in Cali-
fornia. Every year, the quality of these raisins has improved
until now they are considered to be sweeter than those sent
from Spain, and will keep so for twice as long a time. During
the last year alone, the value of the horticultural products —
wines, fruits, vegetables, and flowers — is estimated at thirty-six
millions of dollars, and it is affirm.ed that ten thousand tons of
fresh, dried and canned fruits have been sent from there by rail,
the past season, not including those sent by express. More
fruit trees were to have been planted there last winter than ever
before. The largest olive- oil factory in the world has been
built in Sonoma County, California, recently, at an expense of
a quarter of a million dollars, and the company are planting
seven hundred acres of olive trees. Now that the g-rowinof of
olives is to be engaged in as a special industry, and to so great
an extent, (,'alifornia is indeed destined to surpass the south-
land of Europe. Those who perform manual labor, are- apt to
ignore the thought labor, and often do not understand the phy-
sical exhaustion it produces; but there is an industry of mind,
without which there would be seen to-day but little improve-
ment upon the old ways in which our grandfathers worked. It
is by the industrious thought of the few progressive minds that
the work of the many has been wonderfully lessened. The
brain of the manufacturer who utilizes the products of the
great cotton gardens of the South, and the intelligence of the
members of a corporati(5n who establish in the West the greatest
flour-mill in the world, are potent factors in extending the

134 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

benefits so lavishly bestowed upon us. He who first thought
of adapting the gum of the rubber plant so well known in
South America, scarcely dreamed of the uses to which it would
be applied. To be sure, there were rubber trees and plants in
the East Indies, but it took the continued thought, for many
years, of an American Goodyear to discover the process of
vulcanizing. How could we do without this gum to-day?
The physician and the mechanic, the manufacturer and the
horticulturist alike use it. It assists in weaving our garments,
protects us from the storms, cans our fruits and files our busi-
ness papers. Its uses are too varied and numerous to be
recounted here. Its commercial value is great. When we
read of the gigantic schemes of capitalists to buy up the whole
rubber crop of Para alone ; when from three to five millions of
dollars are raised for this purpose by English and American
operators, we get a glimpse of the value of this plant which
has been made of so much importance by the unremitting energy
of an American mind. A simple illustration of the result of
industry can readily be seen as we note the diflference between
the old-time flower garden of our grandmothers, refreshing as
it was with its redolence of pinks, hearts-ease and roses and
the well-planned parterres of to-day.

Last summer, curiosity perhaps, prompted me to make a call
upon a lady one hundred and one years of age. As we drew
near her home, we saw her busy at work in her vegetable
garden. Clear in intellect, she soon recognized one of our
party as the grandchild of an old friend of her youth. As we
left, she took us to her flower garden, and gave us a few
blossoms as a souvenir of our visit. Here was horticulture in
its simplest form, but it rendered happiness to an old heart,
nevertheless.

On arriving at Boston, a day later, the public gardens were
decorated, in their holiday beauty, to greet the Grand Army of
the Republic. All that art and modern knowledge could con-
tribute were lent to give cheer to the thousands who should be
in the city on that week. In a few hours we were carried from
the early days of horticulture, in all their primitive simplicity,

1891.] ESSAYS. 135

to the present time so full of the results of the industry and
civilization of the people. What America had accomplished in
less than a century, was fully exhibited in these contrasting
gardens.

Some say carelessly that America has no gardens to be com-
pared with those which the Old World has possessed for cen-
turies ; but they do not just here allude to our comparative
youth in civilization. They forget that America has given
them, in all their wonderful beauty, natural gardens which they
would gladly be willing to equal. They forget the flowers of
Mexico which grow in such richness and profusion, and also
that every variety of the edible fruits of Europe grow spon-
taneously there ; they forget too that, owing to the fact of
there being more than one crop every year, every kind of the
garden vegetables known to Europe, can be found in the markets
of the capital of Mexico, throughout the year ; they do not
remember the magnificent gardens of Montezuma at Chapultepec,
nor the famous Dungeness garden with its twelve acres devoted
to tropical fruits and flowers which was so unfortunately burned
during the civil war, but which is now being reclaimed ; they
ignore the roses of California and the indescribable splendor of
the wild flowers of Guiana, including the gorgeous Victoria
Kegia.

The extensive gold, silver, copper, coal, diamond and other
mines of our great continent. North and South, are brina-ino'
to us the capital with which others, like Vanderbilt, will be
enabled to la}^ out landscape gardens, and besides these, gardens
especially for fruit and flower that shall excel in magnificence
the wildest dreams of the Eastern horticulturist. But it is to
be remembered, that it is by our industry that we shall collect
and cultivate plants, or chisel the marble or granite for their
ornamentation.

It is to the American men of the present century mostly,
that we owe those inventions which have made agriculture and
horticulture both, a pleasure rather than a drudgery. It took
a Robert Fulton to give us a steam-boat, l)y means of which the
products of one section of country can be transported easily

136 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

to another, or of our own country to foreign lands. By the
invention of the steam-boat, horticulture has been made a profit-
able as well as an ornamental occupation. Horticulturists of
different countries can now readily hold international conven-
tions where subjects of interest and importance can be dis-
cussed, and we can visit with ease, the far-famed gardens of the
East, while but few ventured to cross the ocean and seas, a
hundred years ago. The botanist, in a two months' vacation,
accomplishes more than could have been foreseen by Fulton
himself. The steamboat produced a revolution which has
shaken the whole civilized world : but American o^enius has
since condensed the steam and adapted the steam-engine in a
multiplicity of ways that have been of the greatest aid either in
the cultivation of plants, or in their manufacture into articles of
use.

Great philosopher as was Benjamin Franklin, he did not
anticipate the effects of his discovery, as he held the kite string
so that the lightnings of heaven, might flash upon it ; but a
Morse has invented a telegraph that enables us to interview an
authority on horticulture in France or England almost as readily
as we would converse with a neighbor. By the telegraph, we
can order our Sevillian oranges, or ascertain the price of Italian
olives ; in fact, the telegraph reports to us the prices current of
all our vegetables and ordinary fruits. Nothing has so united
the world as the telegraph, and placed the lovers of flowers and
fruits so near each other. With its 1,680,900 miles of wire on
land, and its 112,740 nautical miles of submarine cable, is
there any reason why we should not acquaint each other with
our latest observations and progress in this art of horticulture ?
There has been much discussion of late about the inventor of
the electric motor and nearly all concede the honor to Daven-
port, also an American, but give to Morse the credit of the
invention of the recording telegraph.

It has taken a Bell to construct the telephone that we might
gather from our own countrymen facts which may affect our
domestic commerce in fruit or vegetable. With the electric
light, we transform our landscape gardens, or our public parks

181)1.] E.SSAY8. 137

into a fairy-land more hcwilderino: and l)eautiful than tiie
fantasies of a Rider Haggard, or even the visions of a Don
Quixote, could have conceived to be possible. Not satisfied
with these, nor with the processes of forcing the growth of
phints, already known, we ex[)criment at Cornell University,
and other places to find how much power electric light contains,
and may be made to exert for this purpose.

Edison, the electrician, has recently devised a method by
which the utterances of a public speaker, together with an exact
representation of his bodily presence, may be given to an assem-
bly at any distant point. Let us apply this invention to horti-
culture, and we may see the photographs of plants at distant
points, and l)e saved the expense of a journey, to examine or
purchase them. It is yet an unsolved problem because of its
recent application how far electricity may benefit horticulture.
Should the motor supplant steam power, and electrical engine
supersede the steam engine, as some have prophesied, we shall
realize, more fully, its power over nature.

Those who are actively engaged in horticulture, have ob-
served the numberless inventions which tend toward lighten-
ing the work of the present century. Labor-saving machines,
in almost all departments of their work, are giving them an
opportunity for reading and recreation Which their ancestors
never enjoyed. These inventions have been sent to difierent
parts of the world, until machinery is an important ex-
port. Improvements in tools for the horticulturist, improve-
ments in greenhouses and methods of heating and ventilatin<r
them, improvements in fertilizers and methods of irrigation have
led to wonderful results. As a continent, we are not yet fully
developed, but we are progressive. As we read the histories
of many of the countries of South America, we find the fact
stated that one })lant or another would be of profit, were there
enough laborers to care properly for them, or more labor-saving
machines. South America then is full of resources and capa-
bilities, and when more of the inventions of North America
together with something of the Yankee energy shall l)e supplied
to her, time only will reveal the increased benefits she will

138 WORCESTER COUNTF HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

bestow upon horticulture. You who hve in a city like Worces-
ter, which may well boast of its variety of manufactures, and
from which so many practical inventions have been sent out to
the world, whose railroads diverge in every direction, and
which boasts of a Horticultural Society over half a century
old, are especially calculated to appreciate the influence upon
the world of the American aids to horticulture.

In comparison with the advantages resulting from the re-
searches, industries, and inventions of our country, our litera-
ture does not hold an unimportant place. It is said by those
competent to judge, that the works of foreign authors upon
sul)jects connected with the garden, or upon horticulture gene-
rally, are better than ours, but that our books upon special
subjects pertaining to, or connected with horticulture, are far
more thorough and practical than theirs. So we may conclude
from this, that we have, in a short life, benefited other countries,
in this respect, as much in proportion as they, in their longer
life, have aided each other. With these written volumes and
her publications devoted strictly to the subject, like "The
Garden and Forest "or " American Garden," with her scientific
works, many of which are so closely allied to this art, the
published records of horticultural societies and the bulletins
from experiment stations, America is giving a literature which
is of inestimable value both to the lover of the garden, or to
him whose living depends upon its products. Wise supervisors
of schools and far-seeing editors of children's magazines are
striving to interest the youngest readers throughout the United
States, in nature and especially in plants. Last spring, a child's
naper contained an offer of a reward to any boy or girl who would
collect, between the first of May and the first of September,
fifty kinds of native flowers, and send a list of their names.
Some of these children learned more than just the names ; they
found out when they blossomed and their habits. We cannot'
measure the extent of the influence that will be felt and exerted
by the children of our own country by their early education, and
this influence will extend to other lands as well.

Children like novelties ; and where will they find them more

1891.] ESSAYS. 139

coiitiimou.sly than in planting the seeds and watching their
growth and the beautiful blossoms and fruit which they produce?
As the child becomes a man, will he ever lose a love for the
beautiful pictures which the garden places before him, and
which are so great in number, and varied that a life-time is far
too short a time in which to view them all? With a Bryant to
sing of " The Planting of the Apple-tree," a Lowell to write an
ode to the dandelion, and a Whittier and Longfellow to charm
us with their inspirations drawn from the flowers, and a Mary
Dodge to remind us of beautiful "Blossom-time" when the
flowers are " wreathed on every bough and branch, or falling
down in showers," we give the influence of poetry, the
American poetry of horticulture to the world.

Not remotely connected with our literature, is the thouo-ht
that many of our greatest minds occupied perhaps in far differ-
ent business for the most part, have shown themselves lovers
of horticulture. Not unlike Luther who always kept a flower
in a glass upon his writing table, and when waging his great
public controversy with Eckius, kept a flower in his hand, was
the late George Bancroft. Historian that he was, and enijao-ed
also in public life, one can never think of him but that he
associates him with his roses at Newport. Nor can we think of
the sermons of a Beecher, without remembering his love of the
wild-flowers and particularly the trailing Arbutus.

Many of our greatest public men, like Washington, have
taken time to plant the ornamental trees, or look after the floral
adornments of their homes.

With North America containing 8,073,000 square miles and
South America with its 7,316,000 square miles, Columbus
bequeathed a garden large enough to satisfy the rapacious
yearnings of the Eastern World. Within its limits, are found
metals and minerals valuable enough to recompense its gardeners,
and native flowers and fruits in sufficient abundance for the
thousands of emigrants to our lands. How, in the exposition
so soon to take place, can we show to the world, what benefits
we have conferred upon her horticulture? Shall we show her
simply our herbariums and samples of fruits and flowers, with-

140 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

out giving an idea of the methods and aids used in producing
them? Shall we not take pains to exhibit, in some way, the
power of our modern inventions and their application to horti-
culture?

We are not disposed to discuss the political side of horticul-
ture, if it has one ; but we fail to see that any benefit will
accrue to horticulture when bills are passed which exact duties
upon plants, bulbs or seeds of any kind. If we cross to the
other side of the Atlantic and purchase a few plants, must our
trunks be seized and our smuggled flower-germs be held for
duty ? America can afford to be more generous to her citizens
than to let any country within her boundaries demand pay for
the importation of a rare flower.

A question now of moment to the horticulturist, is that con-
cerning the protection of the original growers of new varieties
of plants. Legislation upon this subject might result in practi-
cal benefits. As every man has a right to have his own inven-
tion patented, so, it would seem, one who has spent months in
studying the development of some new tint or form in a flower,
and in oriainating ideas which should culminate in that new
flower-creation, has a privilege to ask for protection in his rights.
In this way, more thought might be directed and from the
encouragement obtained, more zest imparted, to the studies
required in order to attain to perfection in the horticultural
art.

In this recent civilization of ours, we have overlooked, per-
haps, the fact that it is to the horticulturist that we are inde])ted
for much that beautifies the home, and refines and elevates the
character. The United States lavishly use the flowers ; some
maintain that flowers are used foi' more purposes and in greater
profusion than is known elsewhere. However that may be, the
fact is true that the home influence of America has been exerted
unreservedly for horticulture, in its commercial interests ; and
following in the footsteps of the adventurous Genoese, in his
admiration of flower or tree, we send back to the Old World
the messages of beauty which are borne in to our souls from
the petals of the flower, or from the leaves of vine or shrub.

1891.] ESSAYS. 141

The Columbian Discovery then has given to the world benefits
which (!aunot be overlooked. It has made of horticulture a
broad rather than a limited art, it has instructed the older
governments scientifically as well as practically. It has opened
wide her storehouses from Cape Cod to Puget Sound ; from
the Arctic shores to the Cape Horn of South America, we have
withheld nothing that would aid in research or industry. With
a record of but four centuries, we are fast approaching the hour
when no one will think of us as new, but as old, because results
have been attained so speedily, and so numberless have been
the benefits we have conferred upon the world's horticulture.

12

igth March, A. D. 1891.

ESSAY

BY

OBADIAH B. HADWEN.

Theme: — Hardy Flowering Shrubs and Plants.

It is not to be expected that one who has devoted the major por-
tion of his life to the sturdy pursuits of the farm, can have found
time to become skilled in the knowledge or the cultivation of
flowers adequate to render an elaborate consideration of the
subject. But nature has signalized and cultivators have brought
out such an extensive variety and wealth of flowers, it has
seemed to me that they are not sufficiently appreciated and
enjoyed by the general public, and I venture to call attention to
the subject from what may be termed the intermediate standpoint,
in which every one having the slightest taste or love of flowers
may safely grow some of them in their respective homesteads or
premises by the way of embellishment or ornamentation. By
their cultivation we may find relief from daily cares ; we are
filled with novel sensations induced by each flowering plant. It
is by the thought and attention that is required that we draw
the charm from familiar flowers and these should be within our
knowledge, both of names and habits. It is useless for one to
expect the full rounded out luxuries of life without the love of
flowers, and their cultivation should be taught and obeyed as the
Ten Commandments.

In the avocation and pursuits of Horticulture we learn to pro-
duce flowers that are gratifying to both simple and cultivated
tastes, and which go far to fill up the enjo^auent of rural
life. To plant and grow a few flowers about the homestead

1891.] ESSAYS. 143

tends to educate and jrladden the eye, to refine our better
natures, and we ijrow to appreciate as our knowledge increases,
for they are equally gratifying to the young and old. They
soften the arduous day of toil in all pursuits of life, and crown
those who grow them plentiful and well ; broadening and im-
proving the mind and educating the eye to appreciate the more
beautiful in nature in its most comprehensive and delicate sense.
Flowers embellish, decorate and charm our homes and immedi-
ate surroundings in due proportion to the care and skill de-
voted to their cultivation. Of late years we have the world to
select from, giving variety adapted to all situations, either
climate or soil ; and with the hybrids annually produced by
skilled cultivators, our interests are ])eing constantly renewed
with new kinds and coloring to the already vast collection found
worthy of cultivation.

In attempting to speak of the hardy flowering shrubs and
plants particularly adapted to Central Massachusetts with an
area subject to the climatic conditions of an altitude varying
from one hundred to more than one thousand feet above tide
water, we find very many that are native and also of foreign
introduction worth}' of cultivation. It will be practicable at
this time to dwell upon only a portion of them even very briefly.
Perhaps in no period since the settlement of the country has
the growing of ornamental shrubs and plants in the public
parks of cities, on grounds adjacent to school-houses, at railway
stations, on the farms and gardens, and even in windows, ever
received so much intelligent care and cultivation as at present,
although our ancestors were not entire strangers to some good
flowering shrubs and plants, and even then flowers were not
"born to blush unseen;" they were cultivated by hands as
assiduous and delicate as those of the present age who are
instructed and first inspired by the worthy example of their
ancestors.

The Lilac, of late called Syi'inga, was well known and culti-
vated years ago ; the common lilac was then indispensable in
every garden. We have fifty sorts now that add very much
to the interest in this hardy and much esteemed class of plants —

144 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

always profuse in bloom and long-lived, and often growing
to half tree size. The new tree lilac of very recent intro-
duction comes from the most northerly section of Japan ; it
makes a straight, shapely, well-branched tree with large leaves ;
it blooms in mid-summer and has large clusters of white flowei;s,
and although but little known is regarded as a great acquisi-
tion and is justly termed the king of the lilacs.

The Philadelphus, sometimes called Syringa or Mock Orange,
is a valuable shrub for its profusion of sweet flowers. Of flf-
teen or twenty sorts flowering from early to late ; they are espe-
cially desirable, easily grown, long lived and hardy.

The Weigela, introduced within my recollection from Japan
or China, proves a very popular shrub, comprising more than
twenty sorts, most of them hardy, with white and rose-colored
flowers, and some with variegated foliage. It seems to adapt
itself readily to all soils and a wide range of latitude.

The Spiraeas, both herbaceous and shrubby, form an elegant
class of plants of easy cultivation, blooming in their variety
nearly all summer with a great diversity of form and color, and
they are very acceptable in all grounds.

The Prunus, or flowering almonds, are very charming, early
flowering plants, flowers both pink and white. The masses of
bloom are always attractive and easily grown, and they are
among the earliest shrubs to bloom.

Cydonia Japonica, or Japan Quince, in their variety hold a
favorite rank in all gardens. With proper pruning they form a
thick massive shrub ; when in bloom they are unequalled for
brilliancy ; the fruit is ornamental, but not edible.

The Deutzia is a very charming and beautiful class of plants,
flowering in June ; most profuse in bloom of white and pink.
There are several sorts and they are continually increasing.
In my grounds they grow from seed and prove very vigorous
and hardy plants.

The Exochorda Grandiflora is a comparatively new shrub from
Japan ; it attains half tree size and the latter part of May is
covered with larije white flowers. The flower buds are round,
and equally attractive as the open bloom. It is the most beauti-

1891.] ■ ESSAYS. 145

•

ful when in bloom of any shrub at the same time, and is a
decided acquisition.

The Halesia, or Silver Bell, blooms in May with white bell-
shaped flowers ; it forms a shapely shruli and has a pretty leaf.

The Viburnum, or Snow-ball, is an old and pleasing shrub
with a gorgeous wealth of white flowers. The Viburnum Plica-
tum, of quite recent introduction from Japan, is the most
ornamental of the family ; both the flowers and leaves are very
beautiful ; the shrul) is proving perfectly hardy, and thus far
free from insects, and is a decided acquisition.

Lonicera, or Tartarian Honeysuckle, are old and hardy
shruljs of a half dozen sorts, with a pleasing variety of flowers,
and when properly trained makes a beautiful bush, and thrives
in most soils and situations.

The Altheas are flne late flowering shrubs, sometimes growing
half tree size. They are kind enough to bloom when but few
other shrubs are in flower, and remain in flower for several
weeks ; they require but little care and often are very showy.

Calycanthus is a sweet fragrant shrub ; the flowers are not
pleasing to the eye, but quite agreeable to the smell. It is an
old shrub and when well grown is desirable.

The Hydrangeas as a class are late flowering shrubs, which
are very much esteemed. The Hydrangea Paniculata Grandi-
flora is the most desirable, and thrives especially well about
Worcester, where it is largely grown and much esteemed for its
very gorgeous display of large blooms varying in color from
white to pink. I have in my grounds the largest I have ever
seen, and when in bloom it forms a perfect bank of flowers. It
thrives best in a deep loam, retentive of moisture, and will bear
liberal treatment.

The Azalea in their variety are one of the most satisfactory
shrubs. The natives — commonly called swamp pinks — flower
in June and July ; when properly transplanted, in a moist,
peaty soil, make fine, large bushes, and when in bloom are very
fragrant.

The Ghent varieties afford an opportunity for a fine display of

diflferent colors of all shades ; they do best in a soil composed of
♦12

14(5 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

«

peat, sand, and loam, and bloom in the later part of May and
June.

The Azalea Mollis is comparatively a new species from Japan,
and, after ten years' trial in my grounds, is found hardy. It
also thrives and grows vvell ; it is the earliest to bloom and
makes large trusses of beautiful iiowers, of several shades of
color, and is destined, when more widely disseminated, to
become very popular.

Of the many flowering shrubs, both native and foreign, none
are more attractive the year round than the Rhododendrons.
This charming shrub, after many years' trial, is now fairly
established and recognized as hardy. The maximum is native,
and found growing wild in some sections of the State ; the
foreign, or catawbiense and hybrid varieties, are found to be
most satisfactory, many seedlings being brought out every
season. This class of plants, when nursery grown, are easily
transplanted. When planted in groups or masses nothing can
compare with the gorgeous eflect of their bloom in contrast
with their wealth of evergreen foliage. In the preparation of
the soil for the Rhododendron it should be trenched three feet in
depth, and the soil should be well mixed with peat and sand
and well-decomposed leaf mould, in equal parts ; a heavy mulch
of forest leaves should protect the plants in winter, to prevent
the ground from freezing, as the leaf undoubtedly derives some
nourishment from the roots during the winter season. A
northerly-sheltered situation contributes to the chances of suc-
cess. A most beautiful collection is found in Elm Park, thanks
to the untiring zeal and foresisjht of Edward Winslow Lincoln.

The Kalmia Latifolia, or the common Laurel of our hillsides
and pastures, is now receiving more attention and is proving
also one of the very desirable evergreen shrubs ; the magnificence
of these plants, when receiving good cultivation, can scarcely
be imagined in their glossy green leaves, shapely form, and
profuse trusses of unique and charming flowers. While they
are largely grown from seed in nurseries, they are also readily
transplanted in their wild state, during the period from August
to November. They should be taken up with a ball of earth

1891.] ESSAYS. 147

adhering to the roots, and planted in a well-prepared bed as
recommended for the Rhododendron. In the autumn of 1889 I
removed from the woods one hundred and forty-five plants and
lost hut six, and twenty-two bloomed in the following spring of
1890. Their deep-green leaf that never curls or Hinches with
heat or cold enlivens the grounds the whole season with their
summer bloom, and their green leaf in winter.

The Andromedas also prove a very interesting class of ever-
green plants. Andromeda Floribunda is a leafy shrul) of very
compact and symmetrical growth, with a profusion of flowering
spikes that form in the autumn and bloom in May. Andromeda
Polifolia is a beautiful little shrub, in leaf the year round. The
leaves are pinkish on the upper side, and white underneath ; its
flowers are white, tinted with rose ; they require a peaty soil,
and will repay a little space and care ; a deep mulching of forest
leaves applied in the autumn, to prevent the ground from freez-
ing, is one of the requisites to success, as the evergreen leaf
undoubtedly requires and receives some nourishment from the
roots during the cold season.

The foregoing embraces the best of the hardy flowering shrubs.
Any and all of them well repay for skill and care, and will
embellish any grounds. There are a large number of climbino-
or trailing shrubs. The Actinidia Polygama is a new one from
Japan, of very strong growth. The one in my grounds is more
than forty feet in height, it has both beautiful leaf and flowers,
and has for seven consecutive years borne fruit which is edible.
The Chinese Wistaria is much esteemed as a climbing shrub, and
in favorable seasons, when in bloom, is an object of charming
beauty ; it does best on buildings. The Clematis in its variety
has of late years received much well -deserved attention ; they
are all very showy, and need a deep, rich, and moist situation.
The Trumpet Vine is of very strong habit and is a good climber,
with a profusion of scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers. The Lon-
icera, Climbing Honeysuckle, has long been cultivated, givino-
a profusion of flowers of many shades of color ; it is delightfully
fragrant, many sorts are free growing, and very suita))le for
arbors or lattice work.

148 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

The Rose is the acknowledged queen of flowers, in its great

variety blooming from June until hard frost in autumn :

" And tirst of all the rose ; because its breath
Is rich beyond the rest; and when it dies,
It doth bequeath a charm to sweeteu death."

To grow Roses well requires more skill and the know-how than
is required by any other class of plants, and perhaps no flower-
ing plant better repays all care bestowed upon it. The old June
roses in former years were the only class of roses found in
gardens ; they made large stately plants, were free to bloom,
and long lived, and even now what rose can surpass the old
white, when well grown? But in later years the Hybrid Per-
petuals are popular, and are enHsting the ardent attention of
rose-growers. Their variety is numberless, and their forms and
shades ot: color is seemingly without end, more than enough to
satisfy the most particular and fastidious, and still they continue
to come. New ones are brought out every season to be tried,
approved, or condemned, and the list of the best twelve or
twenty-five will not remain the same more than one or two
seasons. The Rosa Rugosa, recently introduced from Japan,
of robust habit, its leaf free from insects ; its bloom, and seed,
are ornamental.

I now come to the herbaceous, bulbous, and tuberous flowering
plants, some of which are in bloom from spring until checked
by the severe frosts of autumn. Perhaps no class of plants
better repay for the care bestowed or add more beauty and
cheer to the garden. In their great variety are well adapted to
either large or small plantings, the most refined and fastidious
taste can be satisfied, with the large class to choose from, and
with a proper selection some are suited to all conditions, either
of soil or climate, aftbrding quick returns with their varied
bloom during the season.

The Tulip is one of the earliest to bloom and has been a
favorite for ages ; their fine form and almost endless shades of
color give them prominence wherever planted :

" Then comes the Tulip race, where beauty plays
Her idle freaks; from family diffused
To family, as flies the father dust.
The varied colors run; and while they break
On the charmed eye, th' exulting florist marks
With secret pride the wonders of His hand."

1891.] ESSAYS. 149

The Tuli[), when under favorable conditions, is of easy cul-
tivation, requiring re-setting every three years — in their great
variety, from early to late, covering a season of several weeks,
some new ones appearing every morning, keeping ever active
the interests of the cultivator. The large beds of tulips of one
color produce the strongest floral feature in public parks or
gardens, and the contrast of colors when in large masses always
enlist the warmest admiration and interest. For [)rivate grounds,
even a hundred will give a variety of bloom and charming etiect
during the month of May.

The Crocus is a bulbous-rooted plant of the earliest bloom
and of several sorts and colors ; are easily grown, and with an
occasional transplanting will last for years.

The Hyacinth, a showy flower, is not as well adapted to
garden culture as the tulip or crocus, as the force of the bulb,
after the first season, seems to diminish ; the" spikes of flowers
continue to grow weaker, but when new bulbs are used produce
fine spikes of flowers of intense colors and highly fragrant.

Following the earlier bulbous flowers the Pa^ony is the most
magnificent when in bloom of all herbaceous plants. It em-
braces a very large variety, giving the most gorgeous and pleas-
ing effect, is easily grown and perfectly hardy. The old Double
Crimson, more than two centuries old, is now and has been a
favorite sort, is found in all the old gardens, and has never l)een
equalled in its color. There are many shades of color in the
different sorts, running from white to dark, and often is very deli-
cately variegated. No flower is more conspicuous in the gar-
den, and the leaf is attractive during the season.

The Tree Pseony is another interesting class of plants, of
bushy habit ; it flowers earlier than the herbaceous sorts, and
when in bloom is one of the most beautiful plants of the garden.
There are two classes, the single and double ; both have fine
flowers with delicate tints of color. They appear to be long
lived l)ut in some winters sufler from extreme cold.

The Papaver, Oriental Poppy, is a favorite in many gardens ;
its large scarlet flowers grown on stems three feet high are when
grown in clumps very conspicuous.

150 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICtTLTURAL SOCIETY. [1891.

The Helianthus, or perennial sunflower, is a very desirable
plant, flowering in August and continuing in bloom for several
weeks ; they look like yellow dahlias, are profuse in bloom, and
hardy and desirable.

The Anemone Japonica of recent introduction from Japan, is
one of the finest of the late flowering plants ; they attain a
height of four feet, and are profuse with white and pink flowers
on long stems, and form a conspicuous feature in the garden in
autumn.

Perennial Phlox comprises a hardy class of flowers with the
greatest variety of bloom, covering a period of several weeks.
They require but little protection in winter, they grow readily
from seed and the varieties are constantly increasing, being so
easy of cultivation they are deservedly popular in every gar-
den. The grand and extensive display in Elm Park last season
was the most beautiful ever seen in Central Massachusetts, form-
ing a perfect blaze of flowers of most gorgeous colors.

Others worthy of cultivation are Yucca Filamentosa, Iris, or
Flower d' Luce, some are bulbous, others tuberous. Hollyhock,
Delphinium, Cimicifuga Racemosa, Pyrethrum, Lilies (day lily,
Lilium Longiflorum).

The advantage of planting hardy flowering plants wherever
there is room, and wherever ornamentation is desired, is recog-
nized by all people of any pretension to refined taste in the
effective lay-out of the garden.

Hardy flowering plants in their great variety constitute the
groundwork, upon which ornamental planting is chiefly based ;
both the shrubby, herbaceous and annuals, fulfil the mission and
scope so essential to the well ordered grounds, either of ex-
tended or limited area ; even a limited number judiciously
chosen render a place complete and finished, the admiration of
every one.

It is gratifying to notice in late years that a growing taste is
equally manifest in the suburbs of cities, towns and villages,
and even about farm-houses some ornamental planting is found
necessary to good order and pleasant surroundings.

To learn to appreciate the variety and beauty of flowers we

1891.] ESSAYS. 151

have an interesting study for a lifetime ; with each season
comes some new beauty of form or exquisite blending of
color, of all the varied tints known in nature, so widely ex-
tended is their seemingly never-ending variety, to adorn each
garden, affording the widest field for labor and taste, to beautify
and add charm to every spot fit for the habitation of civilized
man. Men and women of all ages have been devoted to their
cultivation, they prove not only a pleasure but a recreation to
those engaged in all pursuits of life ; they build up a sentiment
alike in the old and the young, and fortunate indeed is the one
who encourages the growth of sentiment and o?sthetic taste in
their love and cultivation, for even a few flowers, grown by
assiduous care up to the highest degree of excellence. Such
persons get the most out of life.

The foremost men of earlier times in our Society's history,
whose portraits adorn our Hall, have rendered their verdict
in favor of fruits and flowers, and in favor of the refining and
elevating influence in the practice of Horticulture. Let us find
opportunities by their example to carry forward the unfinished
work and the objects and interests of this Society.

II.

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