TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIKTY. 97 



but one basket of peaches, while, at the present exhibition, the family of 

 that lamented man have sent us two hundred and forty varieties of the 

 pear. And in a note that I received from him but a short time previous to 

 his decease, he stated that he had gathered into his own collection, from a 

 point of time but a few years antecedent to the formation of this institu- 

 tion, nearly two thousand varieties of fruits. 



Similar advances have been made by other members, and those whose 

 names were not then borne on its roll, and some who had not even com- 

 menced the good work, are now among its largest contributors, presenting 

 forty, fifty, and a hundred varieties, and the same success and correspond- 

 ing increase has been attendant on the productions of the floral and veg- 

 etable kingdom. 



Among the pleasing incidents of the present year, may be noticed the 

 completion and occupancy of our new edifice, in School Street ; but who 

 would have predicted, that ere the present exhibition closed, there would 

 still exist a demand for further and enlarged accommodations ? 



I congratulate the Society on the liberal and increasing patronage of the 

 community ; on the addition of more than one hundred new members to 

 its ranks during the last few months ; on the continued improvement in 

 the productions exhibited ; on the honorable and elevated standing our in- 

 stitution sustains, both at home and abroad ; and on the harmony and 

 union that prevail among us. 



We have assembled to commemorate its seventeenth anniversary. We 

 are met in this Temple of Liberty, whose time-honored walls have oft re- 

 sounded to deeds of patriotism and benevolence ; and we, too, have come 

 up hither for a benevolent object. We have not come to prepare by excit- 

 ing debate for the political contest, nor for the discussion of those subjects 

 that agitate society to its very centre. We are not here to share the spoils 

 of party, or to rejoice in the victories of the sword that has poured out the 

 blood of our fellow-beings like water on the earth. No ! we come for a 

 richer and nobler object. We come to celebrate the peaceful triumphs of 

 Horticulture ; to advance a science that tends to the preservation and hap- 

 piness of our race ; that adds to the enjoyments and refinements of life ; 

 that administers to the luxuries and comforts of our neighbor ; — a pursuit 

 that renders home still more lovely and attractive ; that invigorates the 

 body, tranquillizes the mind, chastens the affections, elevates the thoughts, 

 and, rightly viewed, should fill the soul with emotions of gratitude and de- 

 votion to that bountiful Creator, who 



" Sends Nature forth, the daughter of ihe skies, 

 To dwell on earth, and charm all human eyes." 



Amidst the array of beauty, intellect, and learning that I witness around 

 me, I have not the presumption to detain you from the rich intellectual re- 

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