DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



389 



probably, that would have been made had the so- 

 ciety offered liberal premiums, for ihe best con- 

 duoted, must productive and economically ma 

 establishments. I would therefore recommend 

 that premiums be offered, and gratuities be given 

 l>v the society, under the direction of a comi 

 appointed for i hat purpose, whose duty it shall be 

 to visit and examine such places as the proprie- 

 t »rs thereof shall invite them so to do, at Buch 

 tunes, and as often as they may deem proper j 

 without any previous notice having been given to 

 the gardener, superintendent or other person, 

 having charge of the same; that the committee 

 mav be aide to form a correct judgment, as to the 

 general management and state of cultivation on 

 the premises, and to report to the society the most 

 successful cultivators at home, as the other com- 

 mittees report the finest products exhibited in the 

 Hall of the society. 



The Hall of the society is well located, and in 

 every way adapted for the present weekly and 

 minor exhibitions of the society; but it is al- 

 ready found to be entirely too limited for the 

 larger displays. I would therefore suggest that 

 an arrangement be made to have the annual ex- 

 hibition, in September next, under a tent or tents 

 of ample dimensions, in some suitable place, as 

 near the centre of the city as possible. Such a 

 show would probably <_ r ive a new impulse to the 

 pursuits of horticulture, and in iuine mi 

 meet the increasinir demands of the public for 

 more information on that subject. The eye, the 

 mirror of the tablet of memory, will ever be, in 

 my opinion, the pioneer in horticultural science; 

 it should be first consulted, by being brought in 

 contact with the useful and beautiful, — that the 

 impressions made might be contemplated, car- 

 ried away and acted upon. For this purpose a 

 larger hall will soon be necessary; permit me 

 therefore to suggest that our present resources 

 should be husbanded with as much economy as a 

 liberal and progressive management of the affairs 

 of the society will permit, to enable it at no dis- 

 tant day to erect a temple, which shall be an or- 

 nament to the city, and in every way adapted 

 to the wants of the society and the public. 



When the society shall be provided with a suita- 

 ble place for all its exhibitions, then, as soon as 

 its funds will permit, the purchase of a piece of 

 land for an experimental garden, so much needed, 

 will. I have no doubt, occupy the attention of the 

 society. Such an establishment would extend the 

 sphere of our labors, and gratify the members 

 by placing at their command further means of 

 usefulness, 



The third number of the Transactions of the 

 Society will be published as soon as practicable. 

 This number will complete the first volume, and 

 I have the pleasure to state that a concise history 

 of the society from its commencement to the pre- 

 sent time, may 1»' expected in its pages from the 

 pen of its first President, General Dearborn. 



Gentlemen : It gives me great pleasure to em- 



brace this opportunity, which your kindness has 

 L r iveu me, to presenl these suirLjestions for your 

 consideration and action, and to assure you of my 

 wishes to co-operate with you in all your endea- 

 vors t" promote tin 1 usefulness of the society and 

 the advancement of horticultural knowli 



Upon the conclusion of the address, Mr. Hovey 

 moved its reference to a special committee of 

 seven, who should consider and report what steps 

 oughl to he taken in regard to the suggestions 

 therein contained. The motion was adopted, and 

 the following gentlemen were appointed on the 

 committee: Messrs. J. S. Cabot, C. M. Hovey, 

 Cheever Newhall, Joseph Breck, Capt. Win. R. 

 Austin, Rev. Daniel Leach, and S. W. Cole. 



The Critic Criticised — Dear Sir — I am 

 glad to find that a spirit of criticism is awakened 

 among your correspondents, in relation to archi- 

 tectural designs, and I hope to see it followed up 

 by both dilletanti and professors ; and let the re- 

 flecting part of the public sanction or condemn, 

 weigh and digest. The result must be wholesome, 

 and the Horticulturist will be looked up to as sage 

 authority. But let the critic beware he lay not 

 his foundation for censure upon the quick sands of 

 superficial examination ! 



In remarking upon the cottage of Mr. Rotch, 

 (Jan number, page 310) the hipped roof is pro- 

 nounced "• objectionable, — cutting off one third of 

 the chamber room, and giving to the elevation, a 

 squat appearance." This appearance is precisely 

 what I have been taught to consider as desirable 

 in a rural cottage residence, though rarely found 

 in country houses. May I say they do not suffi- 

 ciently spread themselves ? To me no form is 

 more character than a flat ceiling to a cottage 

 bed room, — and no more pleasing shape than the 

 peak tent-like form, growing out of the construc- 

 tion of a roof ;* also contributing as it does to the 

 " convenience and pleasantness of the apartment," 

 by ventilation, — the confined air rising along the 

 upward-sloping sides of the ceiling, and passing 

 through a ventilating register into an air chamber 

 in the peak, still above, and thence to the outward 

 air. The infinite variety which may be niven to 

 such a surface, the open timber roofs and groined 

 work of the middle ages sufficiently evince. Lou- 

 don questions whether a perfectly unbroken fiat 

 ceiling, is in any case admissable. It would be no 

 question with Mr. Ruskin. [See " Seven Lamps 

 Architecture," chapter on Truth.] 



The critic would have a gable spanning the 

 whole breadth of the house, (instead of the hipp- 

 ed roof.) 4 1 feel at each end, — totally at vari- 

 ance in the anele, with the gableshown in the en- 

 graving, being twice as broad, and only two-thirds 

 as high. What could be more barn-like ? (See 

 Scientific English Architect's publications, where 

 ei/iml angUi are insisted upon, with due subordi- 

 nati ni of one to another.) 



•Running up 12 or 15 ft. high in the highest part of ihe room. 



