MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



BUSINESS MEETINGS. 



Saturday, Dec. 'J.'S, 1848. — President Wilder in the chair. 

 Tise Chninnaii of the Committee of Publiciitioa presented 

 tiie report of tlie Puhliihin? Committee, and stated that there 

 might ho some-lew Ijills wliich may liave been omitted, and 

 may varv the same some few doUars. 



Vvttd, To aceept the report; and that the Treasurer be 

 authorized and directed to pay such bills as may be pre- 

 sented by saiil Committee. 



Vuifd, The t'.ianks of the Society to the Committee of 

 Publication, for the very acceptable maimer in whicli they 

 liave discharged the arduous duties which devolved on 

 t.iem. 



Vdied. That the President, (M. P. Wilder,) the Treasurer, 

 (Sam'l Walker.) the Chairman of tlie Finance Committee, 

 (Jo.'iah Stickney.) and F. W. JVIacondry and Otis Johnson, 

 be a committee to settle with the Treasurer of iVIt. Auburn 

 Association. 



Tiie Puljlisliiiiff Committee laid on the table copies, enti- 

 tled •■Report of the Twentieth Annual Exliibition of the 

 Mass. Horticultural Society," and it was thereupon 



Voierl. Tliat the Librarian cause to be prepared, directed 

 and mailed, a copy to each member of the Society; and 

 that lie also, under direction of the Corresponding Secre- 

 tary, forward copies, in like manner prepared, not exceed- 

 ing twelve, to each and every horticultural and agricultwal 

 society that may be deemed advisable, and that the Libra- 

 rian charge and be allowed a reasonable compensation for 

 said duty. 



Saturday, D'c 30.— Tlie President, M. p. Wilder, Esq., 

 in the cliair. Reports were received from the several Chair- 

 men of Awarding Committees on Fruits, Flowers, and Vege- 

 tables, containing detailed lists of all the premiums and gra- 

 tuities awarded by the Society during the year 1813. toge- 

 ther with the names of the persons receiving them. (These 

 reports have been sent to us for publication ; but their great 

 length precludes tlieir publication this month.] 



The following gentlemen were, on recommendation of 

 the Executive Committee, elected Honorary Members : 



Hon. .James K. Polk, President of tlie United States. 



Gen. .Tames Tallmadge, Presiilent of the Am. Institute. 



Hon. Rob't C. Wiiithrop. Speaker H'se of Representatives. 



Hon. Joel Parker, LL. D., Royal Professor of Law at Har- 

 vard College. 



Caleb Cope. Esq., President of Penn. Horticultural Society. 



Lawrence Young, Esq., Pres. Ky. do. do. 



Col. Joel Rpthbone. Pres. Alb. and RenssePr Hort.. Society. 



Tiiomas Allen. Esq.. President St. Louis do. 



Janus W. Thoinsmi. M. D.. Wilmington, Delaware. 



H. W. S. Cleveland. Esq.. Burlington, N. J. 



Professor A. Agassiz. Cambridge, Mass. 



Rev. James Means, Dorcliester. Mass. 



Hon. Edmund Burke, Com'rof Patents, Washington. D. C. 



Siitvrdai/. Jan (i. — The first stated meeting, for the year, 

 WIS held at Horticultural Hall tliis day. 



Col. Wilder to.)k the Chair, and introduced his succes- 

 sor, Samuel AValker. Esq., wth the following happy and 

 very appropriate remarks : 



Geritlemen of the Missarhusetts Hnrticultitral Society : — The 

 duty of introducing my successor, your President elect, de- 

 volves on me under very happy auspices. Your suffrages 

 have fallen on a man who is worthy of the office, and well 

 qualified for it — on one who has served the society in vari- 

 ous capacities, with fidelity and ability ; and whom you now 

 reward vidtli the highest honor in your gift. 



Gentlemen, I rejoice with you in this event, and in the 

 prosperous condition of our as.sociation — in the friendship 

 and unanimity that prevails among us, and especially in an 

 opportunity, before taking final leave of the cliair, to thank 

 you once more, most sincerely, for tlie distinction ^vhich you 

 have bestowed on me — a distinction for wliich. at my first 

 election. I had not presumed to hop,?, but which having 

 been so often conferred, and by those whose approbation I 

 highly appreciate, I shall ever regard as above any earthly 

 preferment. 



Durins- my administrntion, it has been my desire and en- 

 deavor to discharge tlie duties of my office with impartiality, 

 and witli a view to the best iiitere.sts of the society. How 

 well I have succeeded I leave for others to judge ; bat 



whatever success may have attended these efforts, for you? 

 my official associates,' with whom I have had such long and 

 pleasant intercourse, and iVoin I have received uniform and 

 cordial support, I shall ever entertain an affection next to 

 that for family and home. 



Gentlemen, may a kind Providence bless you, in your 

 persons, in your families, and in all your laudable efforts t» 

 extend the usefulness, and to increase the resources of this 

 institution ; and may he wlio is now to occupy tiiis chair, 

 prove more worthy of tlie confidence and respect you have 

 so liher:dly bestowed on me. 



Mr. Walker replied in the foUowring very appropriate 

 address : 



Gentlemen of the Society: — Tiie very kind manner in which 

 iny friend. Col. Wilder, has introduced me, and his determi- 

 nation, if it wjre pos.sible, to lay me under t'urtiier obliga- 

 tions by his courtesy, and his avowed approbation, of my 

 pa.st services, happily afford me an opportunity to state how 

 much I value his friend.sliip — the pleasure it has given me 

 to serve the Society under his administration, and to ten- 

 der to you, gentlemen, my thanks for the honor you have 

 conferred upon me. 



I cannot plead that I am ignorant of tlie duties, or the re- 

 sponsibilities of the office to which you have elected me, 

 but, in the same spirit of frankness permit me to say, that I 

 have many inisgivings as to my ability to discharge tliem, in 

 snoh a mtinner, as may be acceptable to you, gentlemen, 

 or that I should be able, in any way, to aid, or promote, the 

 progress and prosperity of the Society. 



Wlien I turn to the records of the Society to read the 

 doings, and remember the talents of tiiose who have hereto- 

 fore occupied this chair, and more particularly the eminent 

 practical services of my immediate predecessor, I have good 

 reason for fear as regards my owm servicts. But, with you, 

 gentlemen, I have been accustomed to labor ; it is therefore 

 almost unnecessary for me to say, that for the future I shall 

 hope and expect to receive the same indulgence you have 

 so often and so kindly extended to me, during a period of 

 nearly twenty years. With these expectations I enter upon 

 the duties assigned to me, with a determination on my part, 

 to co-operate with you in as liberal an administration of the 

 Society, as may be consistent with strict economy and its 

 tuture interest. 



I shall take an early opportunity to submit for your con- 

 sideration and action, an outline of such measures as shall 

 appear to me calculated to promote the further consolidation 

 and usefulness of the Society. 



United as ^ve now are as members, still encouraged by 

 the co-operation of friends, and enjoying the liberal bene- 

 factions of our iionored donors. I trust our future will be full 

 of usefulness, and that our efforts may advance the object 

 for which we are a.s.sociated. 



Genttemen : — When the time shall arrive that these new- 

 relations, ^vhloh are forned to-day, shall be dissolved, may 

 it find us the sime united and prosperous Society— strong in 

 mutual friendship and esteem. 



Tiie meeting was then organized by the appointment of 

 Rev. Daniel Leach, as Secretary pro tern. 



Hon. B. V. French. Vice President, presented the follow- 

 ing resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : 



Whereas. Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., has, during a pe- 

 riod of eiglit years, discharged the duties of President of this 

 Society to tlie satisfaction of its members : and 



Wlierens, Mr. Wilder's administration has been marked 

 with energy and zeal in disseminating horticultural science ; 

 and 



Whereaa, AVe believe the interest of the Society has been 

 greatly advanced by his services, and its influences extend- 

 ed by his practical skill, and the many specimens exhibited 

 by him from his garden and conservatory, of almost all the 

 varieties of Fruits and Flowers; and 



Whereas, We also fidly believe that the public, as well as 

 the members of this Society, are indebted to him for his 

 practical and successful labors; therefore 



Voted. That the thanks of this Society be tendered to Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, Esq., for his services during the period 

 he was Resident thereof; and also 



Voted, That a committee of three be appojnted by the 

 Chair, to purchase a piece of plate, not exceeding in value 



