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present usefulness, and future success ; and of offering such suggestions as to him seems 

 expedient, in relation to its progress towards that high end which it has ever been the hopes 

 of its ardent friends to maintain ; and they would express the wish that hereafter, as now, 

 at the opening of each year, the members may learn, from the executive, the condition, 

 prospects, and wants of the Society, that these may be supplied, so far as its means and the 

 efforts of the members can aid in the good work. 



The flourishing state of the Society must be viewed with the highest gratification by its 

 members and numerous friends. From small beginnings it has, in the brief space of little 

 more than twenty years, attained to an eminent position, and exerted an influence in the 

 diffusion of horticultural information, which has been felt throughout the State, and, to 

 some extent, throughout the country. Its exhibitions, from the meagre show of a hundred 

 baskets of fruit, and scarcely half that number of varieties, have increased to thousands, 

 and of many hundred different kinds. Hundreds of showy and beautiful plants, unknown 

 and unintroduced in the day of its infancy, now ornament its weekly shows, and render the 

 Society's Hall one of the most attractive places of resort to all who appreciate beautiful 

 flowers and fine fruits. 



To foster this growing taste, to aid in ministering to its dissemination, which your Com- 

 mittee believe exerts so important an influence upon the welfare and happiness of society, 

 should be one of its principal objects, and in no way can this be effected with more advan- 

 tage than in rendering its exhibitions beautiful, attractive, instructing and interesting. 



And here your Committee cannot but view with pleasure the success which has attended 

 the change in regard to the admission of the public to its weekly exhibitions/ree, agreeably 

 to the report of last year. Whether or not it may have been with any pecuniary loss, — 

 and they believe it has not, — to the Society, is a matter of no material consequence, so 

 long as the main object of its exhibitions is accomplished. Once more a large and appa- 

 rently gratified assemblage of persons has weekly filled the hall, admiring the productions 

 of the Garden, the Green-House, and the Orchard ; affording a pleasing recollection to the 

 amateur, as well as the professional man. The objects over which they have spent so 

 much care and time, are not only seen, but duly appreciated. It is at once the best 

 reward and chief incentive to increased effort towards the perfection of their delightful art. 



The Committee are no less pleased at the complimentary manner in which allusion has 

 been made to Mount Auburn, and to Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, the first President of the 

 Society, to whose untiring zeal in its behalf it was placed upon the right path to secure its 

 future success. So long as the memory of this last resting place shall linger in the hearts 

 of those whose friends lie beneath its verdant turf, so long will the early efforts and the 

 early labors of Gen. Dearborn, in securing this burial spot, — and his subsequent exertions 

 in laying out and arranging the grounds in the tasteful style so creditable to his talents, — 

 remain fresh in the memory of every member of this association. 



But while we accord so much merit to those who have personally been with us, who 

 have shared in the duties of officers and members, there are others who, though making 

 no display of their taste and skill, have not been the less friends of the Society and the 

 science it was intended to promote, and who have manifested the most substantial tokens of 

 their interest in its behalf. How great, indeed, is our debt of gratitude to those who have 

 so liberally and nobly contributed to further its objects, and secure its highest success. 

 More especially, how deeply are we indebted to one who has bequeathed a fund so muni- 

 ficent, for purposes so general, and from which so much good will undoubtedly result. 



The establishment of a series of Premiums for Gardens, from the Lyman Fund, to 

 encourage home cultivation, and increase the attractions of the grounds of every amateur, 

 professional man, or lover of landscape beauty, which was first, though somewhat imper- 

 fectly commenced last year, has been attended with the happiest results. The occasional 

 visits which the Committee, appointed for that purpose, have made to the Gardens of the 



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