82 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



would so soon and suddenly be taken from earth to his mansion in heaven. 

 We shall ever regard him as one of the bright lights of our Society. He 

 served us in almost every capacity, in the standing committees and other 

 important offices and trusts, and, when he retired from the presidential 

 chair, — which he filled with great ability for a succession of years, — he 

 still continued to labor for the Society, being placed on most of the promi- 

 nent special and important committees, and died at last in working order, 

 with the harness on, an example to us all. It is but a few weeks since he 

 sat in the chair at my right hand, as deeply interested in the welfare of the 

 Society as in his younger days in the flush of health. I do not feel com- 

 petent, nor is it necessary to speak more particularly of him we so much 

 loved, as it is but a few weeks since able and touching tributes were paid 

 to his memory by our esteemed associates, Messrs, Wilder and Rand. 



We mourn the loss of our companions and friends, and may well ex- 

 claim, Who shall fill their places in the Society ? They have finished 

 their work, they have gone to their rest, and " the places that have known 

 them shall know them no more forever." 



But, gentlemen, if we are mortal and must one after another pass away, 

 we are to remember that our Society is to be perpetuated, and, as we hope, 

 flourish for ages to come, when we shall sleep in the dust with those who 

 have gone before us. As we are now among the living, we have our 

 appropriate work to perform, and must, for the year to come, stand in our 

 respective places, ready to discharge the duties which devolve upon us, 

 bearing up the institution upon our shoulders, until others succeed and 

 follow us in our labors, who will again in their turn be succeeded by others 

 to the distant future. 



In noting the operations of the Society for the past year, there is nothing 

 of marked interest to communicate, other than what will be found in the 

 reports of the various committees, which will soon be printed and placed in 

 your hands for perusal. 



The transfer of the head-quarters of our Society from the building we 

 owned and occupied in School Street to the present place, is a change 

 which I believe is acceptable to a great majority of the members. This 

 room, for business and the accommodation of the library, far surpasses, in 

 convenience, the room in the old building used for the same purposes. We 

 have here light, air, comfort, and every convenience. Thanks are due to 

 our Librarian for the neatness and order in which we always find the place ; 

 and as it is open every business day of the week, in certain hours, it affords 

 good opportunities for the members who have leisure to pass a few hours, 

 to connilt the numerous periodicals with which our reading desk is so 

 abundantly supplied. The hall we now occupy has been found to answer 

 all its requirements for the weekly exhibitions through the summer, and 

 might have accommodated many more than have generally been in attend- 

 ance to witness the brilliant displays of the season. The rooms for the 

 reception of fruit preparatory for exhibition in the hall, and the room for 

 the Fruit Committee, are both convenient. Taking all the accommodations 

 together, I believe we have never been more pleasantly situated than we 



