282 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Early in the year a special committee was appointed by the 

 Trustees to consider the matter of the proper treatment of the 

 special trust funds of the Society. There are 23 of these funds 

 aggregating $51,000.00. The committee reported that it would 

 be desirable to print annually in the Schedule of Prizes and Exlii- 

 bitions a brief enumeration of these various funds, mentioning 

 the same by name, together with a statement of the purposes which 

 the donors provided as to the application of the income from such 

 funds. This has been carried out in the Schedule for 1912 and 

 hereafter an itemized account will be kept showing in detail how 

 the income of all these funds has been expended. 



By this plan a greater publicity is attained and it is hoped that 

 in calling attention to these funds and their objects the number of 

 them may be from time to time increased. 



Another important matter has been the revision of the By- 

 laws of the Society in numerous details which the experience of 

 the past eight years has shown to be of advantage. These amend- 

 ments were all duly ratified by the Society at its annual meeting 

 in November. By an Act of the Legislature of the State the 

 Society has been benefited the present year by an increase in the 

 annual appropriation for the encouragement of agriculture. The 

 State's appropriation is now $1000.00 a year and of this amount 

 $200.00 is to be expended in premiums to children under 18 years 

 of age for the products of gardens carried on by them. 



Through the generosity of Mr. George Robert White a further 

 contribution of $1000.00 has been made to the fund for the award 

 of the George Robert White Medal of Honor. The Medal for 

 this year was voted by the Trustees to Mr. Michael Henry Walsh, 

 the noted rose grower of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, an award 

 which has been received with approval by horticulturists generally. 



The annual course of lectures on subjects of horticultural interest 

 was given as usual in January, February, and March. The lectures, 

 especially those devoted to the subject of fruit growing in New 

 England, were largely attended and attracted wide attention 

 through their publication in the newspapers and in the Transac- 

 tions of the Society. 



Two corresponding members and thirty-four life and annual 

 members have been added to the membership of the Society during 



