Excerpt from Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for the Year 1878, Vol. 1 The character of our exhibitions may be taken as the best measure of our progress. In many respects they have distinctly improved. In the ornamental departments, the improvement has been, at some points, a very marked one. Such superb specimens of pot-grown plants as were seen last September in our Hall, were never seen there before. There has been great zeal, on. The part of both amateur and professional cultivators, in the introduction of new and rare varieties. Much, too, has been done in the raising of seedlings. But nowhere has there been more improvement than in the Show of roses, which has far surpassed that of former years, both in the perfection of single flowers, and in the specimens grown in pots. This last is a feature of our exhibitions, which till re cently, could hardly be said to exist. What are known as gen eral displays have held a less prominent place than formerly, and the Flower Committees have shown a just sense of the interests of high culture by rewarding quality rather than quantity. The culture of fruits, and vegetables, being far better developed in this country than that of flowers, does not afford the same scope for improvement. In some particulars, the farthest progress seems to be reached already. In pears, for example, it would be hardly reasonable to expect any conspicuous improvement from year to year. In grapes, again, the case is different; and let us hope that our exhibitors will not rest content till they have equalled, at least under glass, the highest results of European culture. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.