SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. 449 



The meetings for discussion commenced in 1871, 

 and continued with increasing interest every year since 

 then have done more to bring out and diffuse the 

 knowledge of horticulture gained by the experience of 

 the members than any other measure ever adopted by 

 the Society ; and the publication of the reports of the 

 discussions in the Transactions of the Society has not 

 only preserved them for future use, but has added much 

 to the reputation of the Society abroad. 



The season of 1878 was the fiftieth of the Society's 

 existence. The semi-centennial anniversary was cele- 

 brated on Friday, September 12, 1879, the last day 

 of the annual exhibition, at three o'clock in the after- 

 noon. The first constitution of the Society provided 

 for the observance of the anniversary on the third Sat- 

 urday in September of each year ; and accordingly 

 the first celebration was held on the 19th of September, 

 1829, but six months after the organization of the 

 Society, and the anniversaries and annual exhibitions 

 held at the same time have been numbered from this. 

 It was intended to celebrate the semi-centennial anni- 

 versary in connection with the rose show in June, almost 

 exactly fifty years from the incorporation of the Society ; 

 but a severe accident to Ex-President Marshall P. Wilder, 

 who had been invited to deliver the address, necessi- 

 tated a postponement, and hence it occurred that the 

 fiftieth anniversary was celebrated in conjunction with 

 the fifty-first annual exhibition. 



The arrangements for the celebration were in charge 

 of a special committee, consisting of the President, 

 William Gray, jun., chairman, Ex-Presidents Marshall 

 P. Wilder and William C. Strong, and the Committee 

 of Arrangements for the annual exhibition. Invitations 



