101 
Vernal Exhibition of Flowers, | of the | Brooklyn Horticultural 
Society, | On the Evening of April 11, 1855.| By | Francis Vin- 
ton. | Published by Order of the Society. | Brooklyn: | Hogan & 
rleighway, Printers. | 
In extending to Dr. Vinton their invitation to deliver this ad- 
dress, the Committee of the Horticultural Society made the fol- 
lowing statement : 
“We have secured a Horticultural Garden; for Thomas Hunt, 
Esq., would give to the society near sixty thousand dollars; fifty 
thousand dollars by subscription in money and one third of the 
ground which the garden would occupy. 
“Wm. C. Langley, Esq., would give one third of the land with 
five thousand dollars in money. 
“Henry A. Kent, Esq., would give the remaining third of the 
garden plot, subscribing besides twenty-five hundred dollars— 
making a total in land and subscriptions in money, of over eighty 
thousand dollars, from these three munificent citizens of Brook- 
lyn. Besides this grand endowment, thirty-thousand dollars have 
been subscribed by other liberal persons: requiring only about 
sixty thousand dollars more of the stock to be taken, when the 
great enterprise would be accomplished for the advancement of 
science, and for the promotion of the happiness of ourselves and 
our children.’’* 
It thus appears that, in addition to the gift of land, a fund 
amounting to eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($87,- 
500) was subscribed, and that the total sum to be raised was 
about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). 
In the closing paragraph of the address the speaker referred to 
“this Glorious Garden, which is to become Brooklyn’s pride and 
joy, (where I hope to see the Astronomical Observatory? rear- 
ing its tall form towards heaven, and in whose neighborhood I 
trust to behold the University established, that shall train your 
youth amidst its charms)... .’ 

* Pp. 7 and 8 of the printed address. 
+ It is interesting to note that an astronomical observatory was also in 
the minds of those who first conceived the present Brooklyn Botanic 
Garden, and the maps of the Garden show at the north end, adjacent to 
Mt. Prospect reservoir, an area “ Reserved as a site for an astronomical 
observatory.” 
