98 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



importance, increased interest and activity on the part of those who 

 make up our list. 



It M'ill be noticed, by the report of the Treasurer, that our floating 

 debt has been reduced about $8,500 the past year. We hope that, within 

 a year or two, the whole may be extinguished, leaving nothing to pro- 

 vide for but the mortgage on the land and building, wiiich has a long 

 time to run. A wise policy will suggest that, after our floating debt is 

 paid, a sum be put aside to meet the mortgage when it shall become 

 due, so that if it shall be deemed desirable by those who are wise in 

 financial matters, the Society shall, at no very distant day, be entirely 

 free from debt of every kind, and find itself the fortunate possessor of 

 an unincumbered estate of great value. 



I desire to express my thanks to all the officers associated with me in 

 the management of this Society. The committees who have so faith- 

 fully performed their duties the past season, especially at the annual 

 exhibition, in awarding the prizes so promptly and equitably, are fully 

 entitled to our highest regards. 



I cannot bring these brief remarks to a close without a word in com- 

 mendation of our faithful Superintendent and Treasurer, to whose good 

 management, with the advice and cooperation of our able Finance Com- 

 mittee, we are largely indebted for our liberal income; all is done that 

 can be done, I am quite sure, to promote our interests, and the Society 

 is very fortunate in having the right man in the right place. 



If we have done well in the past, let us here, one and all, on the 

 threshold of a new year, pledge ourselves to do even better in the fu- 

 ture, that the Society may be even a greater power for good than it has 

 been hitherto. Let us labor to bring into our Society live, energetic 

 men, who do already, or may be led to take an interest in the cause we 

 so much love, and to which we have dedicated these Halls. All around 

 our city, in every direction, we find pleasant homes, with their green 

 lawns, fragrant flowers and rich fruits, where reign peace and plenty, 

 each an earthly paradise, kept by the hands of those, it may be, whose 

 faces are familiar within these walls. 



If great results have been produced in the past, may we not reasona- 

 bly hope for still greater in the future, with the increased interest that 

 is felt, and attention that is being given to the cultivation of the useful 

 and beautiful all around us. 



In closing, I again thank you all for your kind consideration and sup- 

 port in the past, and express the wish that I may be fortunate enough 

 to receive it in like manner during the year upon which we are now 

 just entering, and that the ties of friendship and brotherhood that now 

 bind us together, may be more strongly cemented, that we may dwell 

 together in unity and peace, and that the year before us may prove a 

 happy one indeed. 



