ANNUAL MEETING. 23 



If cither agriculture or horticulture can be properly said to have had a place 

 in the original programmeof the exposition, it is certainly true that their im- 

 portance relatively to other interests was, at the first, greatly underrated by the 

 projectors. That such was the fact was abundantly evinced by the circum- 

 stance that when the plans for the buildings had been adopted, and they were 

 well advanced toward completion, agricultural hall was found totally inadequate 

 to the wants of the department, and to supply the lack the commissioners were 

 compelled to greatly increase its capacity, and even after this had been done it 

 was found necessary to provide as many as four subsidiary buildings, viz., the 

 American Dairymen's exhibit of farm products, the farm wagon building, 

 the penological building, and the brewers' building, besides which many States 

 made extensive agricultural and horticultural displays in buildings provided by 

 themselves. It is certainly true that this exposition in many of its departments 

 greatly outgrew the calculations of its managers, but it is nevertheless true that 

 this deficiency is more observable in the agricultural department than in most 

 others. 



In such original programme horticulture seems to have had no part, except 

 as a merely incidental subdivision of the agricultural department. Not till the 

 questions of laying out and beautifying the grounds came to be considered, did 

 there appear to be in the minds of the commissioners adequate conception of 

 the importance of this specialty as a means of adding to the attractiveness of 

 the exhibition ; and not until then was the horticultural taste and talent of the 

 country invited to a representation in the councils of the management. 



One of the first bodies called upon to provide for this emergency was the 

 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which promptly and earnestly responded to 

 the call, giving the benefits of the wide experience of its members and the pres- 

 tige of its position as one of the oldest and wealthiest societies on the continent, 

 to the development of this department and the dissemination of a wider interest 

 in this branch of the enterprise. To this society, as we understand, is due the 

 organization and development of the plan for the beautiful hall of horticulture, 

 and its tasteful elegant surroundings; the development of such surroundings 

 having been secured by inviting the cooperation of a large number of the lead- 

 ing horticultural establishments of this country to whom plats of ground were 

 assigned, to be planted and cared for by them as an advertisement of their bus- 

 iness, subject of course to such restriction as must be requisite to secure the 

 needful harmony and appositeness of the various plantations. Even from 

 Europe imported contributions were supplied to add to the interest of this ex- 

 hibit, of which, one especially, — the Rhododendron collection of Mr. Watterer, 

 of England, — is reported to have been one of the most notable and interesting 

 objects of its class during the season of bloom. One of the most beautiful 

 views upon the entire grounds was that from the front of horticultural hall ; or 

 perhaps we should rather say from the galleries above, from which could be had 

 a bird's-eye view of several acres of ornamental grounds, included within a net- 

 work of fully three miles of walks and drives, giving access to all its parts, and 

 supplying the finest possible opportunity to study the peculiarities of almost the 

 entire flora of our country, both indigenous and exotic; or, at least, that of the 

 nurseries and green-houses of the country, in one or another of which we are 

 quite sure to find stored up nearly or quite everything of this character that has 

 been found susceptible of being appropriated to ornamental purposes. 



It is to be regretted that while the ample space included in horticultural hall 

 contained many interesting specimens of rare exotic plants, some of them of 



