CHAPTER 



THE EXHIBITIONS OP THE SOCIETY, 1829-1844. 



IN some respects the subject upon which we now enter 

 is more important than any yet treated. It goes at 

 once to the ultimate object of the Society, and brings 

 before us the products of horticultural science and skill 

 in the orchard, the garden, and the greenhouse, the 

 end to which the endowments, the halls, and the library 

 of the Society are but means. 



In treating of the exhibitions of the Society, it will be 

 convenient to divide them into three periods : the first, 

 from the foundation of the Society in 1829 to the erec- 

 tion of the first Horticultural Hall; the second, from 

 the occupation of that hall in 1845 to the erection of 

 the present hall in 1865 ; and the third, from that time 

 to the close of the year 1878. This will also be the 

 appropriate place in which to mention other measures 

 adopted to directly promote the objects of the Society, 

 such as the distribution among its members of plants, 

 seeds, etc., presented for that purpose; the offer of prizes 

 for gardens, greenhouses, etc., and for the discovery of 

 means to destroy noxious insects ; and lectures and dis- 

 cussions. Indeed, we may properly commence with the 

 first mentioned subject; for, as soon as the purpose 

 to form a horticultural society was made public, Wil- 

 liam Prince & Sons of Flushing, N.Y., announced their 

 intention of making a donation of fruit trees, which 



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