1865.] secretary's report. 105 



siderable amount of money is annually sent out of the city of Worcester alone, 

 to purchase wreaths and festoons of the Ground Pine and Creeping Jenny, to 

 use names that will at once be comprehended. Much effort, labor and expense 

 are lavished to collect that pride of our forests — Kalmia latifolia or Spoon 

 Wood— of which it is questionable whether the gorgeous splendor of its bloom 

 in summer or the shining verdure of its foliage amid the deep snows of winter 

 are its crowning charm and glory. Is it absolutely necessary to send to the 

 far-off woods of Maine for these appropriate and seasonable adornments ? It 

 would surely seem that the fair hands of the feminine floriculturists, in 

 Holden, Paxton, Leicester and Millbury might be no less agreeably than profit- 

 ably occupied in plaiting together, after the snow has fallen, what had been 

 previously gathered in by themselves or their younger brothers, and kept fresh 

 by exposure to the external air. The market for which they would literally 

 manufacture constantly enlarges. The suggestion of the Secretary costs those 

 to whom it is addressd absolutely nothing. If his advice is followed, he does 

 not expect that Christmas decorations will therefore be provided gratuitously. 



In concluding this Report, the Secretary takes the opportunity, of which he 

 intended to avail himself last year, but which can never come amiss, to express 

 his profound sense of obligation to Mr. Edwin Draper for his constant kindness 

 and unwearied co-operation. The inappreciable services of this gentleman 

 have been elsewhere the subject of indirect allusion. But so highly are they 

 valued by the Secretary that he desires to impress all the members with his 

 individual estimate of their worth. 



All which is respectfully submitted. 



EDWARD W. LINCOLN, 



Secretary and Librarian. 



Horticultural Hall, Worcester, Jan. 4, 1BG5. 



