ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

Had the Massachusetts Horticultural Society never accomplished anything but this, it would stand pre-eminent in its work, and its name would rise to heaven as a sweet incense of hallowed memories to the thousands who have in these many years laid beneath that consecrated sod all that was mortal of those they had loved and lost. In subsequent years a Cemetery Association was incorporated which took the management of the grounds, while the Society continues to receive annually a liberal sum from the proceeds of the sales of lots.

The Society has gone on with unvarying success. It owns the handsome granite building where all its exhibitions are held, which it built in 1865, and has also a large income, a great part of which is expended in premiums.

This building, however, is not large enough for the Society's increasing requirements, and it is highly probable that before another century opens it will be in the occupancy of much larger and more elegant rooms in a more commodious part of the city.

The Society holds weekly meetings every Saturday during the winter months, at which is usually read an essay, either by some one of the very competent members or by some scientist invited from abroad. Following this is a discussion on the subject of the lecture, full of interest and instruction, as is also the animated talk that arises on an infinity of subjects among an assemblage of experts in the special matters that are constantly called up by curious, or by superior specimens of cultivation.

There is nowhere in this part of the country such a source of horticultural and arboricultural knowledge and information as springs from these weekly meetings in the Society's rooms, and I should suppose that any person in Boston or its vicinity who has any interest in fruits and flowers, or, I should more properly say, their production and cultivation, would, if admittable, join this Society and attend its meetings.

The Society has also during the year, four most interesting public shows for the display of fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Some of these cannot be equalled in any city of the United States. The premiums offered for all these articles are on a most liberal scale, amounting annually to over five thousand dollars.

The Spring Exhibition is in March, when are largely shown greenhouse and pot plants, with such fruits and vegetables as may then be in season.

Late in June is held the Rose and Strawberry Exhibition, where is such a magnificent display as well justifies the title of Queen of Flowers to the rose, and also intensifies our faith in the opinion of old Dr. Butler, who, according to Izaak Walton, said that "doubtless God could have made a better berry than the strawberry, but doubtless God never did."

The Annual Exhibition in September is a very grand show of hot-house plants, flowers in pots, cut flowers, and bouquets, fruits of all kinds, and vegetables perfect in their varieties and in their forms. These, as a collection of object lessons in the school of horticulture, should be visited and studied by every one who has or can make the opportunity.

The fourth great exhibition occurs in November, especially for the exposition of that very popular flower, the Chrysanthemum, of which there were hundreds of every variety and known hue. Splendid specimens of apples, pears, and vegetables were also exhibited.

There are also prize exhibitions of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, every Saturday in July, August, and September, until the Annual Exhibition.

These frequent meetings and exhibitions develop to the full all the skill and energy of these growers about Boston. They criticise each other's operations,-approve and adopt, or reject, they communicate each to the other their modes of cultivation-or if one does not, and only shows results the others set themselves to find the secret of his success, and to surpass it.

Every one strives to excel in whatever he undertakes. He has to, to live. They make their living by the most careful, intelligent, skilled labor in their profession.

If farmers were so situated as to have such gatherings, the character of much of their farming operations would change greatly to their profit. The splendor of these shows is greatly enhanced by the free-handed liberality of wealthy gentlemen living not only in Boston, but in some cases miles away, who willingly send by wagons and by cars the most costly and splendid productions and ornaments of their greenhouses, often at no small hazard and loss. Nor should those skilled and painstaking gentlemen who produce and care for these rare and gorgeous plants be passed without a most honorable mention.

The influence of this Society has been extended and far reaching

beyond that of any similar association in this country. It has been largely instrumental in surrounding Boston with elegant gardens and pleasure grounds, surpassing the suburbs of any American city. It has stimulated the growth, introduction, and refined cultivation of the choicest and most useful trees, plants, flowers, and vegetables, and has accomplished more than any other agency in improving the markets, not only of Boston, but of all Massachusetts and New England. Its library, the most complete in this country if not in the world, as a specialty, is a perennial mine of agricultural learning.

Its publications have exerted a most wide-spread influence in the cultivation throughout the country of the best and most useful of all things growing out of the earth for our health and our enjoyment. Its members and correspondence extend throughout all refined countries, even to China and far Japan.

As citizens of Massachusetts we may well be proud of such an institution. As farmers and cultivators of the soil we should appreciate the benefits we have received from it, directly and indirectly. As members of this board we are happy in seeing it represented among us.

REPORT FOR 1886.

BY JAMES P. LYNDE, M. D., OF ATHOL.

The report of the Hon. James S. Grinnell upon the Horticultural Society last year was so comprehensive and exhaustive, covering its history, methods, work, and financial standing, that it is only left for me to review the past year's transactions and consider their influence upon progressive agriculture.

The sum appropriated for premiums was over $6,000, distributed through four exhibitions held in March, June, September, and November, covering a period of from two to four days each, to which an admission fee was charged, and thirteen weekly prize exhibitions from May 8, to October 2, open from 12 to 3 o'clock, on Saturdays, which were free to the public.

Thirteen meetings for Essays and Discussions, free to all interested, were held during the winter and spring, at which the following topics were considered.

Jan. 16. A Trip to the Tropics, by Joseph H. Woodford, Newton.

Fruits that Promise Well, by E. W. Wood, West Newton. Jan. 23. The Forest Interests of Massachusetts, by William C. Strong, Newton Highlands.

Jan. 30.

N. H.
Feb. 6.

Forestry, by Rev. J. B. Harrison, Franklin Falls,

The Gladiolus, by William E. Endicott, Canton. Feb. 13. Bulbs and Tubers for Out-door Culture, by Mrs. T. L. Nelson, Worcester.

Feb. 20. The Food Question, by Edward Atkinson, Boston. Feb. 27. Vegetable Growing, by Warren W. Rawson, Arlington.

March 6. The Progress of Orchid Culture in America, by Edward L. Beard, Cambridge.

March 13. Homestead Landscapes, by Dr. G. Austin Bowen, Woodstock, Conn.

March 20. The Care and Embellishment of Cemeteries, by John G. Barker, Jamaica Plain.

March 27. Nitrogen: Why the Crops Must Have it and Where They Must Get it, by Professor C. G. Caldwell, Ithaca, N. Y. April 3. The Nomenclature of Fruits.

April 10. The Ripening and Preservation of Fruits, by Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Dorchester.

This is a brief outline of the year's work. The essays and discussions are embodied in the Society's publications, and are of great value. Vegetables, fruits, and flowers are the specialties that receive attention.

The four principal exhibitions are held in the two large halls in the Society's building in Boston,- fruits and vegetables in the lower, and flowers and plants in the upper hall. At these exhibitions the display of flowers and plants completely filled the upper hall, presenting a scene of enchanting beauty, especially in the evening under the mellow radiance of the electric light. The weekly shows are held in the lower hall.

Who can describe a rose,- the queen of flowers,- an orchid, a chrysanthemum, a rainbow, a glorious sunset, or the glittering sapphires and rubies, painted by a morning sunbeam in a drop of dew? The pen of another must record the beauty and perfume of these floral collections. Every specimen was an object lesson

in itself, many of them of great value and of absorbing interest to all beholders. The mystic goddesses of horticulture, Pomona and Flora, held high court, displayed their rich treasures, and received the homage of their votaries.

We have stood before the statue of one we have known, honored, and loved; so faithfully had the artist wrought, that the cold insensate marble seemed instinct with life, and to our imagination the inarticulate lip and sightless eye would almost seem to move in recognition of our presence.

We have looked upon a picture of the great Nazarene, painted by the hand of an old master with such perfection that the countenance seemed so illumined with an expression of grace, pity, and love that we could almost feel the influence of His personal presence, and we have looked and turned away, only to return spellbound with tender admiration.

Who has not felt the mysterious influences and been moved in the profound depth of consciousness by the "divine art" of Mozart, Handel, and Beethoven? What an inspiration to deeds of heroic self-sacrifice for real or supposed good! And what a source of comfort, pleasure, and happiness to mankind, holding its power through the ages over all races of men!

Can we not properly claim a place as a companion of high art for skilled Horticulture, which, directing the forces of nature, evolves from the lifeless clod objects of utility and beauty, crowned with blessings and delights far excelling in perfection works of sculpture and painting, speaking to human hearts through a silent language as suggestive and uplifting in influence and culture as the finest music? Therefore is she not entitled to at least honorable mention and high rank among the so-called Fine Arts?

"Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers,

Each cup a pulpit, every leaf a book,

Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers
From loneliest nook.

"Were I in churchless solitudes remaining

Far from all voice of teachers and divines,
My soul would find in flowers of God's ordaining
Priests, sermons, shrines."

- HORACE SMITH.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »