FIELD MEETING AT BRADFORD. 41 



suckles, lilacs, pieonies, hollyhocks, larkspurs, phloxes, 

 bulbs in variety, etc., and he looked forward to a day not 

 far distant when much greater attention would be given to 

 the cultivation of shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants, and 

 when, with the knowledge of hybridization now possessed, 

 many new varieties could reasonably be expected to appear 

 if scientific florists were encouraged in their cultivation 

 and production. 



Dr. William Cogswell of Bradford said he had not ap- 

 preciated the usefulness of such organizations as the Essex 

 Institute until recently, for he had lately been engaged in 

 l)reparing an article for the forthcoming History of Essex 

 County, and to know just where to find the material for 

 such work was of the greatest convenience to him. The 

 common things and every-day occurrences of to-day were 

 materials for the history of the future. As an instance of 

 this Dr. Cogswell produced the old diary of Parson Ste- 

 phen Peabody for the years 1786-89, in which he found an 

 almost complete history of the town of Atkinson, N. H., 

 for these years ; the minutest occurrence Avas noted, and 

 from these records kept by one careful and methodical man 

 he had gleaned facts of infinite historical value. 



Vice President Goodell was then introduced. After ex- 

 pressing his pleasure at being able to attend this meeting 

 he added that, in conformity to the established practice 

 at the field-meetings of the Institute for each member to 

 bring in the results of observations made by him during 

 the day in the line of inquiry in which he was specially 

 interested, he had passed most of the morning in the of- 

 fice of the town-clerk, looking over the old records of the 

 town. 



He had found there some items of the Revolutionary 

 period, which he would make the theme of a few remarks 

 that he hoped might prove of interest to the meeting. 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XX 3* 



