REPORT OF THE TRANSACTIONS 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



FOR 1843-44-45, 



The great benefits to be derived from the pursuits of Horticulture, have 

 in all ages been acknowledged and commended by the intelligent and 

 refined in every rank and condition of life, from the monarch on his throne 

 down to the most humble of his subjects. 



The cultivation of fruits and flowers was the first employment allotted 

 man by his great Creator. "To dress and keep the garden," has been an 

 occupation most congenial to the human mind, from the beginning of the 

 world to the present time ; and wherever a people have emerged from the 

 savage state, there is an instinctive desire to indulge in the soothing and 

 tranquillizing occupation of cultivating the earth. Where is the man in a 

 civilized state, having any claim to the common feelings of humanity, 

 who does not look forward to the time when he shall be relieved from the 

 perplexing cares and vexations incident to all who are struggling for a 

 competency or independence ; when he shall be enabled to retire to some 

 delightful spot, to spend his declining days, in the peaceful employments of 

 rural life, solacing himself under umbrageous shades, regaling his friends 

 on delicious fruits, marking the progress of vegetation, or watching with 

 intense interest the bursting bud or opening flower ; or, in other words, oc- 

 cupying himself in creating a paradise of his own, where he may enjoy his 

 houseliold friends in peace, surrounded by " all that is pleasant to the 

 sight or good for food" ? 



Horticulture has received a powerful impetus since the prevalence of 



universal peace in Europe, and more particularly since the application of 



steam power to navigation. The flowers and fruits of every climate have 



been interchanged and concentrated in many countries of the Old World; 



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