164 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



On the 31st of March, 1863, Charles O. Whitmore 

 offered for the acceptance of the Society a marble bust, 

 by Henry Dexter, of Marshall P. Wilder. In the letter 

 conveying this offer, Mr. Whitmore recounted the ser- 

 vices of Mr. Wilder to the country and the Society, 

 the latter then extending over a period of thirty years, 

 and especially his services upon the committee which 

 arranged the separation between the Society and the 

 Proprietors of Mount Auburn, when Mr. Wilder pro- 

 posed the terms of settlement ultimately adopted. It 

 was these last mentioned services which the bust was 

 particularly intended to commemorate. 



Although these rooms were in many respects so con- 

 venient, they were further south than was desirable ; 

 and at every meeting and exhibition all the members, 

 and all the articles shown, were obliged to ascend two 

 flights of stairs. Indeed, they were never thought of as 

 a permanent home for the Society ; and an effort in 

 which the Society had engaged before leaving the 

 School Street Hall, to obtain from the Commonwealth 

 the grant of a reservation of land on the Back Bay, 

 on which it might erect a building suitable to its pur- 

 poses, was continued after its removal. This movement 

 was made in connection with the Boston Society of 

 Natural History and other scientific and educational 

 associations. It was believed, that, if these various 

 institutions could be congregated together, it would be 

 not merely for their own benefit, but for the advan- 

 tage of science, education, agriculture, and commerce 

 throughout the Commonwealth and the Union. The 

 Horticultural Society pledged itself, if the grant was 

 obtained, to take possession of the land when filled 

 and graded, and prepare the same for immediate plant- 



