Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-11-07

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and filling our horn with plenty, are we in
debted for the ample illustration afforded by our
exhibition that the old time promise of seed
time and iarTest is not falshed in our own day.
The display of AFPLEs, that most valuable
of all fruits, deprived Of which and the Shay
Bark we might as well adopt the advice Of
shrewd, if somewhat luckless politician, and
"Q0 lgeSt," was absolutely without precedent.
OF the three (3) leading competitors, one fur
nisbed iprIy-fourI l44.) another fifty, (5O,l and
the third sixty,seTen, t67,j varieties Almost
invariably the specimens were handsome, fully
developed, and free from traces of injury by in-
sects. Would not the time seemed 10 have ar
rived for the President of the New England Ag-
ricultural Society, in his rare intervals oflesure
from the cOngenial pursuits of the demagogue,
to revise his opinions. and, in a new edi-
ton of What | Know About Pomology,
inform the Farmers of Sterling and Bolton
whether he still thinks it best for them to fell their
orchards
The unusual number of entries of FRUIT, of
pears not less than dpples, under the head of
"NaHeleSs,H requires the application Of
prompt and efficient remedy. 1t is recon-
mended that, hereafter, all plates of varieties,
not identified when entered, be get ASIDE for
especial examination by the Committee on
Nomenclature. 1t is wholly indetensible to al
low general or limited collection TO be swollen
by the addition of any variety, whereof, the
name being doubtful, the quality must be
equdlly uncertain.
Grapes were neither in profuse supply, nor
ripe. Even the Rogers Hybrids, in the culture
and dissemination of which Mr.. Lowell of
West BoylstOn, has been so successful, failed
to mature their clusters. Or course, it was be-
yond the power Of any Committee to form Il
definite Judgment upon the newer varieties. The
mild weather has protracted so far into the
Autumn. however, that many kinds have
ripened since the dHnitGl Exhibition which, at
thatI do hut lifr In Nc
in experience aud knowledge Of the require
ments of the Pme, it becomes very manifest
that we shall soon have only ourselves to blame,
if we do not produce Il crop Of grapes as surely
as one OF Strawberries.
The display of pears, although far inferior TO
the unparalleled exhibition Of that flyorte fruit
in 1871, was yet of very decided and unexpected
excellence. In the department Of "Singe
Dishes" there was the usual manifestation Of
eager interest,-the same keen competition as in
former years. 1t is believed that the time will
soon come when the present absurd classified.
ton must give place to a more rational mode of
determining the merits of specific varieties
You can ascertain which Of two plates of
the HRter NetiS is the better by the scale il in all
other respects they are equal. But in weighing
the merits Of the "best ten varieties" each plate
in that ten must be compared with and pro.
nounCed superior to each and every other plate
of all the lots in the same class And, as indi-
vdual tastes differ, in default of any standard of
quality liked by the Society, the members of the
Committee become Il law unto themselves, ac-
cOrdiug TO their private palate and partiality.
The writer once entered, to test this point
in Glass ), the following: S9ckel Winter NeliS,
and Josephine de MdiiReS. He was beaten by Il
lot whereof the Doyennc Boussock was con-
stituent!
The argument for retention of the system
OF division by classes, or collections, has been
that encouragement was thereby afforded to
those who had the enterprise to introduce new
varieties. But more etfectual and higher
stimulus in that direction would be impaired
by the specific proposal of Premiums for any
kind, novelty being considered alone, or else
where combined with superior qualities. Al
though hopeless Of its present adoption, your
Secretary would yet urgently advise the uboli-
ton Of the existing system of classification, as
meaningless and Improbable, and the substitu-
ton therefor Of a direct competition between
the different lots OF the same variety.
The unwonted prOluson OF PEACHES was a
marked and gratifying feature of the ANNUAL
AUTUMNAL EXHIBITION. There has been
nothing to compare with it since that period in
tue memory of the oldest inhabitant, when the
Peach was as common as the ChelTy, and
both were as plenty as Of late either has
been scarce. The abundance of this de-
Icious fruit, imported from lower lati-
tudes, may possibly iustify)th the neglect of its
extended cultivation in our own grounds. But
such is the superiority in flavor, Of any variety
grown among US, that no one who has once
appreciated it will fail to make room for one or
two trees Of kinds that have approved them.
selves best suited TO our climate and soil
The next BIENNIAL SESSION of the american
P0m0I0gtcdt Society is to be held in Boston, in
the Autumn of the coming year. May it not
be well Tor us so TO time the period of our An
NUAL AUTUMNAL EXHIBITION that we may be
1ii n tbn e. b,r+ .,
pericnce Of the famous Horticuturists who
will then and there assemble from all parts OF
the Republic. Our Society can furnish a dis
play, in any department, with a reasonably
propitiouS season, which we need not fear to
submit to the most critical inspection. His
mind must be indeed cast in narrow mould
who argues that Fruit or Vegetables must ne
ceSSarly be pre-eminent in the precise proper
ton in which one city surpasses another in
population. 1t is time that the PomOlogists
OF Worcester County sloughed off such proYin-
cIallsm; and no agency could be devised
so efficient to develop proper selEappreciatiOn
and relegate metropolitan snobbery to the back
ground, as free and social intercourse with
gentlemen whose position places them above
petty local preiudices. The expense of special
train and the cost of suitable entertainment
might doubtless be betrayed by subscriptions,
in the event of the society feeling too penurous
to extend open-handed hospitality. A flying
visit, as here suggested, could be made fruitful
OF happy recollectioGS, out from which would
continually loom the prospect of a session of the
congress itself, at some day not very remote, in
our own attractive and thriving city. Indeed,
by way of familiarzing the minds of delegates
with the idea, it might not be unwiSe to extend
an invitation to the american Society to favor
us with one of its stated sessions, as soon as
may be without the manifestation OF undue par
tiality for any particular section of the country.
The membership of our society is larger than
that of the Massachusetts. Our exhibitions, in
the opinion of thoroughly competent Judges, are
as whole fully equal to those held in the me-
tropolls. Possessing every convenience for the
proper accommodation Of the american Society,
why should we not exert ourselves to secure for
our fair city the manifold advantages to be de-
rived from one OF It's regular sessions? From
the very earliest organization of this H0rticuL-
tuFOt Society, its exhibitions have always been
SynchrOnouS with those of its Agricultural COM
peer. The question presents itself to the minds
oil many of your members, recurring each year
with constantly increasing force, whether it is
absolutely essential to our prosperity that we
should continue for all time to be tail TO the
bucoic kite! There never was more than a
single reason in favor Of this practice; and were
that allowed its full force, our exhibition would
be held, of very necessity, much earlier than at
present. For FtOlgerS would be far surer to es-
cape untimely froStS, while summer Pears and
Apples of the highest quality would not, as now,
have entirely disappeared. Our latter expert
ence should teach us that it is not always pru.
dent to challenge the untoward influences of the
equinox The propretors of the largest orchards
throughout the country allege, as their excuse
for not entering the lists in competition for our
munificent premiums, that the exhibition is fixed
for date altogether too early TO allow of their
Fruit attaining its proper size and maturity.
Here, in this city, we know with what compunc-
tOnS of conscience we nerve ourselves to Gull
the better specimens of Beurre d Anjou, Winter
Nelis and Lawrence, whenit is scarcely the mid
die Of September The inspection of collection
of half-growu and unripe Apples and Pears can
be Of the least imaginable benefit TO the COM
munity. What they wish to see is precisely
what ought TO be shown them; the perfection of
every variety, fully developed, its highest capa-
bilities illustrated and so completely and vet
exactly rpened, that the veriest novice may de-
tect its most latent favor.
Although your secretary has elaborated no
definite plan in the premises, as indeed the task
is not more incumbent upon him than upon any
other member, he is nevertheless of opinion
that some such scheme as one of which the fol-
lowing is an outline, will before long constrain
your appreciation and acceptance. Have the
exhibition of Roses and Strawberries, as here
tolore, late in June. Try the experiment and
continue it, if successful, of holding out induce.
ments for display Of Flowers together with
Summer Apples and Pears, during the last
week of August or the first week of Septem-
ber. And thereafter, say in the latter part
OF October, let there be a grand exhibition of
Fruits and vegetables in their prime. 1t would
involve trouble and expense; few things in this