March 25, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



397 



BOSTON. 



We are satisfied that the particular interest which 

 the readers of these lines feel towards Boston just now 

 is horticultural in sentiment rather than statistical. 

 The guide books and other regular sources of local 

 information will supply all that the average visitor may 

 desire to know as to landmarks, antiquities, historical 

 spots, public buildings, industries, etc., etc., and so 

 we do not feel called upon to devote any space to these 

 matters in introducing our floricultural friends to the 

 New England metropolis, which, for the time being, 



occupies so 

 p r m i nent a 

 place in Ameri- 

 can horticulture. 

 Suffice it to say 

 that the real 

 Boston, or 

 "Greater Bos- 

 ton," iis general- 

 ly understood; is 

 a n aggregation 

 of some forty 

 cities and towns 

 with a popula- 

 tion according to 

 the last census 

 o f 1,423,421), 

 and of which 

 municipal Bos- ■ 

 ton, with a pop- 

 ulation of 670,- 

 585, is the busi- 

 ness centre. So 

 it will be recog- 

 nized from these 

 figures that the 

 Jletropolitan Di.strict, embracing an area geographically 

 comparable to tliat occupied by New York, Chicago or 

 Philadelpliia, follows these three municipalities as the 

 fourth in population among American cities. Boston's 

 preeminence in literature, art, music and education 

 generally, needs no argument here. 



As regards the horticultural position of Boston, how- 

 ever, we should say a few words. Among the foremost 

 institutions located here is the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society, an organization which for over eighty 



Chart ES W. Parker, 



President Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety. 



years has exercised a tremendous and far-reaching in- 

 fluence for the advancement of horticultural knowledge 

 and the encouragement of rural life. Mt. Auburn, the 

 first lawn cemetery, was instituted under the auspices 

 of this society. Through its agency many zealous and 

 liberal patrons of horticulture have worked and ex- 

 tended their benefactions. 



The history of this organization is in a large degree 

 the history of the progress of horticulture on the 

 American Continent. Encouragement of the most sub- 

 stantial charac- 

 ter has been 

 given the fiorist 

 and gardener in- 

 terests from the 

 earliests days of 

 the Society. For 

 over seventy 

 years it has been 

 holding floral 

 exliibitions — for 

 a considerable 

 portion of the 

 time, weekly. At 

 the dahlia show 

 in 1840, 3000 

 blooms were dis- 

 played. Its flrst 

 rose show was in 

 1849, but three 

 years before it 

 had awarded a 

 gold medal to 

 Samuel Feast, of 

 Baltimore, Md., 

 for meritorious 

 work in rose crossing. The first Horticultural Hall was 

 erected in 1845. Since that time the Society has made 

 several moves, each time making a substantial gain in 

 property value, which together with its income from 

 various donations and its interest in Mt. Auburn Ceme- 

 tery, has made it the wealthiest horticultural society in 

 America, if not in the world. Notwithstanding the 

 fact that it has distributed many thousands of dollars 

 yearly among exhibitors and has at all times been 

 ready to extend the use of its halls and other 



William P. Kich, 



Secretary Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety. 



HORTicui.TDRAL Hall, Bosto.n 



