STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 119 



brought together. It was a continuous ovation under the guid- 

 ing mind and hand of this great and good man; an event which 

 will be referred to by those present as a bright spot in the work 

 for the promotion of this great industry. I look back at the 

 banquet given as a parting compliment, at JM^usic Hall, at this 

 wedding feast of the silver anniversary of the society, celebra- 

 ted as its crowning glory, under the auspices of the most sump- 

 tuous hospitality, with this grand man the center of attraction, 

 occupying the ]3lace of honor on the platform, flanked on either 

 side by distinguished gentlemen and ladies, guests *of the associa- 

 tion from the North, the South, the East and the West. After 

 this sumptuous banquet was served President Strong, of the 

 Massachusetts society, made a ispeech of welcome and offered the 

 following sentiment: "Hon. Marshall Pinckney Wilder; pomol- 

 ogy and horticulture alike claim him as one of their most de - 

 voted and self-sacrificing patrons, and vie with each other in 

 doing him honor." 



To give an idea of his knowledge and research I read an extract 

 from his reply. 



President Wilder said: "The present occasion will be memora- 

 ble in the annals of American pomology, not only as marking an 

 important epoch in the history of our society, but for the large 

 assemblage of the best cultivated of our land and the remarkable 

 collection of fruits which has graced the exhibition of the week. 

 But the thought which engrosses my mind at the present moment 

 is the wonderful progress of fruit culture during the present cen- 

 tury. 



"True, our Puritan fathers in planting the seeds of empire did 

 not forget to plant some fruit trees. Gov. Endicott at Salem, 

 Gov. Stuy vesant at New York, and Peregrine White at Plymouth 

 planted their pear and apple trees. But during the first century 

 and a half very little attention was given to the cultivation of 

 fruit. It was not until after the establishment of the London 

 and Paris Horticultural societies, the former in 1808 and the lat- 

 ter in 1827, that any considerable progress had been made in the 

 improvement of fruits. In fact, there were very few horti- 

 cultural or agricultural societies extant until the beginning of the 

 present century. The first agricultural society established on 

 this continent was the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture in 1785, of which our own Timothy Pickering was the 

 first secretary. It is but just to state that a similar society had 

 been started in South Carolina a month previous, but I believe 



