COMMENCEMENT OF THE LIBRARY. 185 



the recurrence of errors which flow from inattention, or 

 from the want of some established system of opera- 

 tion." And it was well remarked in the report of the 

 Library Committee for 1860, that "the store of knowl- 

 edge gained by experience, though perhaps the most 

 useful, is necessarily but small; while that gleaned 

 from the writings of others spreads over a larger 

 ground, is much more varied, and often available at 

 once for our own use." 



The library is not mentioned in either the Constitu- 

 tion or By Laws adopted by the Society in 1829 ; but at 

 the meeting of the Council on the 7th of April, besides 

 committees on fruits, flowers, and vegetables, a Com- 

 mittee on the Library was chosen, " to have charge of 

 all books, drawings, and engravings, and to recom- 

 mend from time to time such as it may be deemed 

 expedient to procure ; to superintend the publication 

 of such communications and papers as may be directed 

 by the Council ; to recommend premiums for drawings 

 of fruits and flowers, and plans of country houses, and 

 other edifices and structures connected with horticul- 

 ture ; and for communications on any subject in rela- 

 tion thereto." This is the first action which we find 

 towards gathering a library. The first committee con- 

 sisted of H. A. S. Dearborn, John C. Gray, Jacob 

 Bigelow, T. W. Harris, and E. Hersey Derby. 



The first books placed in the library appear to have 

 been a donation from one of the founders of the Soci- 

 ety, Eobert Manning, for which the thanks of the 

 Society were presented to him on the 12th of May, 

 1829. They consisted of Forsyth's Treatise on the 

 Culture and Management of Fruit Trees, with Notes by 

 William Cobbett ; New Improvements of Planting and 



