vi THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Mutual Life Insurance Company for nearly the same length of time, to say nothing of 

 prominent positions in other similar institutions. 



But Colonel Wilder was never wholly absorbed in the pursuits of trade, or the 

 acquisition of wealth. His early tastes, and his love for rural pursuits, led him in 1832 

 to remove to Dorchester, and devote his leisure hours to the fascinating study of horti 

 culture, and to experiments and investigations upon the land. His house, originally built 

 by Governor Increase Sumner, was surrounded by extensive grounds, which he has brought 

 by skill and taste to the highest state of cultivation, sparing no expense in the importation 

 of seeds, plants, and trees, endeavoring by his example, as well as by precept and practical 

 instruction, to instil into the public mind a love for labor upon the soil, and to elevate the 

 standard of rural taste. His garden, his green-houses, and his forest trees and shrubs, 

 filled up the time to be spared from other business, and gave ample scope for his favorite 

 investigations, which he has continued, year after year, for half a century. 



Soon after the formation of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1829, Colonel 

 Wilder was associated with General H. A. S. Dearborn, its first president, and from that 

 time to the present he has been one of its most active and efficient members. The society 

 early purchased the lands now known as Mount Auburn, for a cemetery and ornamental 

 garden. Upon the separation of the cemetery from the society, in 1835, a change 

 suggested by Colonel Wilder, committees were appointed, consisting of Judge Story on the 

 part of the cemetery, and of Colonel Wilder on the part of the society, and though there 

 were many difficulties to overcome, such was the skill and conservatism of Colonel Wilder, 

 they were finally surmounted, and as a result, the society was soon able to erect an elegant 

 hall on School Street, and subsequently the splendid building on Tremont Street, the most 

 magnificent horticultural hall in the world. Chosen president in 1840, he held that 

 responsible office for eight successive years. The hall on School Street was erected during 

 his presidency. In his capacity as president, he headed a circular for a convention of fruit 

 growers, to be held in New York, October 10, 1848, when the American Pomological 

 Society was formed and he was chosen its first president, an office which he has held to 

 the present time. 



In February, 1849, the Norfolk County Agricultural Society was formed, chiefly 

 through the influence of Colonel Wilder, and he was chosen president, and delivered his 

 first address upon agricultural education, the first general effort in that direction in this 

 country. He held the position of president for twenty years. Soon after his first election 

 to the office he issued a circular requesting a meeting, in convention, of delegates from the 

 agricultural societies throughout the State to be held in September, 1851. This convention 

 organized a Central Board of Agriculture, of which he was elected president and held the 

 office till 1852, when it was organized as a department of the State, known as the State 

 Board of Agriculture, of which he is still a member. 



In 1863, the legislature incorporated the Massachusetts Agricultural College, in accept 

 ing the grant by Congress of public land scrip for the purpose, and Colonel Wilder was 

 named first as one of its Board of Trustees. In 1852, chiefly through his influence, the 

 United States Agricultural Society was established at a meeting held in Washington, and 

 he was elected its president, a position which he held till the breaking out of the rebellion, 

 when its annual exhibitions were necessarily discontinued. 



Colonel Wilder took an interest, at an early age, in military affairs, and at sixteen was 

 enrolled in the New Hampshire militia. At twenty-six he was commissioned Colonel of the 

 Twelfth Regiment. This interest led him, soon after coming to Boston, to join the Ancient 

 and Honorable Artillery Company. In 1856 he was chosen commander of the corps. 



Though not a persistent aspirant for political honors, Colonel Wilder has not held him- 

 self aloof from public service. He was first elected a member of the legislature in 1839, as 



