HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 49 



The Hon. Daniel Needham, Secretary of the New Eng- 

 land Agricultural Society, spoke in behalf of that Society as 

 follows : — 



Mr. President, and Gentlemen, — It gives me 

 great pleasure to be present on this occasion, and 

 give utterance to a word of testimony commemo- 

 rative of the eighty-fifth anniversary of the distin- 

 guished guest who sits at your right hand. I have 

 long had the honor of the acquaintance of Marshall 

 P. Wilder ; and as I have studied his labors of useful- 

 ness and beneficence, I have grown into an admira- 

 tion of the man, which has been shared, as I well 

 know, not only by a few friends, but by communities 

 of men limited by no geographical lines. The name 

 of Marshall P. Wilder is historic ; his labors in Agri- 

 culture and Horticulture, two great industries which 

 underlie the prosperity of States and Nations, have 

 made his name immortal, and indelibly inscribed it 

 upon the scroll of great and distinguished men in all 

 nationalities. Well may we, as his neighbors and 

 friends, come together to give emphasis to our 

 admiration ; and well might we, as citizens of a 

 great nation, even were he not our personal friend, 

 come together to emphasize the honor which his 

 name and his labors have conferred upon our coun- 

 try and the world. Sir, his name is as imperishable 

 as the granite hills among which he was born. 



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