Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-09-19
Remarks of George jacques, Esq,

of this city.
Remarks OF George jacques, Esq,
On the occasion ofthe awarding Of the premiums of
the Worcester County Horticultural Society, on
Thursday evening, the 18th inst
Ladies' and Gentlemen of the Worcester.
County Horticultural Society The hour
Tor the reading OF the reports of the several
committees has arrived. But before the
chalrmen OF these committees make known to
you the results of their examinations, | avail
myself OF tile opportunity to congratulate you
on the success of the present annual exhibit
tlon. were to pronounce this display of
fruits and flowers to be one of the most chaste
and beautiful to which the society has ever
invited the public, should but repeat what
have several times heard to-day. But as a
comparison between one OF your exhibitions
ana another is not always easy to be made,
thlnk 1t better to say that there is now III this
| nan fuller representation Of all the most val
liable fruits and vegetables. with "A smaller
proportion OF the worthless sorts, than there
ever was before. That the floral department
ottlns exhibition Surpasses'what we have had
on any former occasion, is quite beyond dis
pute.
1t Is now twenty three years since the pre-
llminary steps were taken toward the torna-
| llOi Va liIlo SOClely. lnOSe VINO remember
the condition of horticulture in central Mas
sachusetts then, in 1910, contrasted with what
we may well be proud of now. in 1868, will
hardly accuse me of extravaganza in asserting
| that the progress which we have made in less
| than quarter of Il century is greater and of
| more value than all that horticultural science
| and industry had previously accomplished
here since the wolf and the savage prowlcd
over the grounds where all this proiusion of
beauty around you was gr0wng
Leaving out Of the account the pears and
the flowers which were contributed by gentle.
men OF Boston and its vicinity, the one solita-
ry dish OF peaches presented by am enterpris-
ing individual, and a very few quite ordinary
vegetables, your first exhibition comprised
lection OF apples and pears, of which only
very small number were designated correctly
| 10y name.
Without including the splendid products Of
| green house cultivation before you, your tables
are now laden with most beautiful specimens
of almost all the valuable varieties of fruits
and flowers which are known in the world and
| which our climate or the season OF the year
| will admit of being here. These genealogical
| and floral attractions no longer crafty the eye
| merely; but, AS they are now exhibited, la
| belled with their true names, any one desiring
| the information can ascertain all he wishes to
know about them, by consulting the publica-
tons to be found in your library or elsewhere.
Your first effort, in so far as the articles were
contributed from your own resources, was but
meagre and meaningless show; your more
recent annual exhibitions have been not only
among the most brilliant and interesting en-
tainments that our beautiful inland city can
boast of, but they have come TO be hOrtlcul-
tura schools, rich in useful instruction, which
| "a Str par rips homo Nyifh him a lnn1rp1
miles away.
The prize fruits so much admired, upon
your tables, are now no longer, as formerly,
regarded as special gifts which nature be-
slows upon her lucky favOrites. On the con-
trary, these beautiful productions, like any
other good crop, are the legitimate results Of
a certain adaptation of means to the desired
end The process has ceased to be a mystery,
and our intelligent cutivatOrs, SO far from
feeling their way in the dark, almost laugh at
the possibility of failure. For example, L
think might name half dozen gentlemen
now in the hall, who would not fear to put
themselves under bonds to produce, in rea-
sonable time as good specimens as the ''Best
twelve Bartlett pears" which you honor with
twenty-five dollar premium. Directions how
to take such a prize indeed might be written
| out as clear and as straightforward as those
| which traveller reads upon guIde-board.
What is essential is mostly comprised under
the heads of a rich Solt, of four or five times
the depth of ordinary civilizations; Hnder-
drainage, where the subsoil requires it; cut-
tication on mulching Of the Su,Jace thinning
out Of the fi'uit; shelter from the acind, and
1udiciouS pruning. That the process smells
of money, is not strange; for great deal of
what is valuable in this world emits the same
odor.
Since the removal of the library to one of
the ante-rooms of the hall, in the spring of
1862, we have held here, on the days when
the library was open, informal weekly exhibit
| tons, and we have thus brought under criti-
cism most Of the products OF our gardens and
| orchards, which are out of season at the time
of our annual fair Combined With these we
have had two series Of pleasant social con-
versations on the subject of fruits. Elaborate
reports Of the d0ings Of these meetings
thanks to the graceful pen of our ac COM
plished and efficient secretary-have been
published, both in the daily and weekly ed-
tons of the Massachusetts Spy to the no in.
considerable benefit of the community. 1t is
well known that there are considerable
number of cultivated fruits which succeed
well in one section of the country, while
proving worthless in other sections, even at
no great distance, and in the same latitude
|, therefore, consider the names of the fruits
which have stood the test Of your discussions,
of sufficient Importance to justify their repe-
ttiOn on this occasion:-
The Worcester County Horticultural Soeiety's Seec
List Of Fruits.
APPLES.
Early-Red Astrecan, Sweet Bough, Duchess oil
oldenburg, Williams, Worcester Spy, Summer
Pippin.
Autumn- Gravenstein, Porter, sShepards Sweet
ing, "Leland's spice, "Fameuse, Hubbardston one
| such.
Winter and .Spring-M Mother, r. /. Greening tYel
| low Bellhower, tJewetts Red Baldwin, smashing
ton Royal Ladies' Sweetiug, Northern Spy, TAI
, man Sweetiug, Roxbury Russet.
, varieties recommended as promising we'll"
Varieties recommended for 'amateur cultva
tom
PEARS.
Early-B. Giffard, Rostiezer, Dearborn's Seeding
a Bartlett, st. Ghisain.
Autu,nn-BelIe Lucrative, Paradis dAGtomne
Flemish Beauty, Marie Louise, l.. b. de Jersey