1870.] secretary's report. 25 



The Cottage Gardener's Dictionary; Third Edition ; London, 18G1 ; 1vol. 

 octavo, society. 



In the report of the Committee, upon whose recommendation the Library of 

 the Society was finally located in Horticultural Hall, occurs the following pas- 

 sage : 



" The value of this Hall as a place of public assemblage, and patronage depends, in 

 some measure, upon the manner in which and the purposes for which it is used. The 

 valuable Library of the Society, deposited here, if bringing with it weekly or even 

 casual meetings of the members, could not fail to influence, in some degree, the general 

 estimation of this property by the public." 



Had the Committee been endowed with the gift of prophecy, they could not 

 have predicted the effect of the measure then advised upon the prosperity of the 

 Society, with keener perspicacity. From the 27th day of February, A. D. 18G2, 

 when the removal of the Library was consummated, such weekly meetings of 

 the members have been continued, down to the present hour, without the inter- 

 mission of a single day in that entire period of almost nine years. There 

 have been seasons of prosperity or discouragement, as there have been also 

 alternations in which profusion contrasted with paucity of display. But, 

 throughout every vicissitude, thanks to a zealous co-operation which was never 

 appealed to in vain, a triumphant issue of the experiment was at no time 

 doubtful. There are probably few, if any, members of the Society who have 

 formed an exact, scarcely even an imperfect estimate of the aggregate attained 

 by these apparently insignificant weekly contributions. And yet, within the 

 nine (9) years, the sum of the articles exhibited upon our tables, exclusive of 

 the display at the annual autumnal exhibition, has amounted to fourteen 

 thousand two hundred and two (14,202). In addition, a convenient and ap- 

 propriate place of resort has been afforded, in which new acquaintances have 

 been formed and enlarged, and useful information gathered from diverse 

 sources to be again widely disseminated. Here the committee on nomenclature 

 have found and improved an extensive field of labor. No pains nor expense 

 should be grudged which may promise to develop yet further the beneficent uses 

 inevitable upon even the slightest increase of the time within which our halls 

 are open to the public. In a future, not remote it is to be hoped, the Library 

 may be kept open throughout the week, thereby copying the wise and profitable 

 example of the Massachusetts Society. 



The customary com; arative statement of entries at the exhibitions, other 

 than the annual autumnal, is herewith furnished for your more precise infor- 

 mation : 



