152 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The documents and other articles mentioned as 

 placed in the corner stone were the Transactions, Ad- 

 dresses, etc., of the Society; a phial hermetically 

 sealed, and incased in powdered charcoal, containing a 

 great variety of flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds ; 

 various horticultural, agricultural, and political papers 

 of the day ; and a variety of the coins of the United 

 States. The whole were sealed up in a leaden box, 

 and deposited in the stone at the north-west corner of 

 the building ; and the large column designed to stand 

 upon it was lowered to its place. When the building 

 was sold and torn down, this box was reserved, and de- 

 posited, with another box, in the corner stone of the 

 present hall. The stone being firmly secured, the presi- 

 dent of the Society, Marshall P. Wilder, delivered an 

 address, in which he referred to the presence of gen- 

 tlemen whose names are borne on the charter of the 

 Society, and congratulated them and the members gen- 

 erally on the flourishing condition of the Society which 

 admitted the erection of an edifice for the promotion 

 and encouragement of horticulture. He adverted to 

 the approbation and favor so liberally extended to the 

 Society by an enlightened public ; to the signal favor 

 which had attended its almost every effort ; to its influ- 

 ence in creating and disseminating a taste for horti- 

 cultural pursuits and rural life ; to the introduction of 

 new and valuable varieties, and the unprecedented in- 

 crease and improved character of fruits and flowers 

 since its organization ; to the universal desire, diffused 

 by the zeal and labors of its members, for gardening 

 and ornamental cultivation ; and to the competition and 

 laudable emulation excited by its exhibitions and pre- 

 miums, all of which had greatly surpassed the highest 



