REPORT OF THE SECRETARY AND LIBRARIAN. 375 



rneut of horticulture ; aud some of the results of these inquiries 

 were given. At the time these researches were made, the Report 

 for 1884 of the California State Board of Horticulture had not 

 been received ; but it has since been added to our library, and the 

 Secretary of the Board has called attention to the fact that the 

 amount appropriated by the State of California for the promotion 

 of horticulture is larger than in any other state. It seems there- 

 fore onh' just to add in this place, to the statement made last 

 year, that in each of the years 1883 and 1884 California's appro- 

 priation for this purpose was $5,000, and that for the present 

 year it is $10,000 ; while besides this the state appropriates $15,000 

 for the Viticultural Board, $5,000 for experimental and scientific 

 work in regard to viticulture, and $2,500 for the State Forestry 

 Commission. 



In addition to matters already treated of, the Secretary is 

 charged with the duties of Librarian, which he performs under 

 the immediate direction of the Library Committee. In the report 

 of that Committee, accordingly, may be found a more complete 

 treatment than here, of all matters involved in the use, present 

 condition, plans of enlargement, and future prospects of this most 

 valuable aud distinguishing possession of our honored Society. 

 Such is the rank which must be accorded to it in view of the 

 present extent and quality of its peculiar literary treasures, its 

 resources by way of endowment, and the estimation placed upon 

 it by those devoted to studies promotive of the special objects 

 of our Society. 



Statistics of circulation are out of the argument as regards a 

 library whose maintenance insures the preservation of the best 

 fruits of advanced research, in a repository accessible to scholars 

 and students. As has been well said by competent judges, treat- 

 ing of a " library for advanced students, or for persons making 

 researches of a learned nature" — "the benefit reaped from it by 

 the community cannot be reckoned by any method of statistics. 

 It is by means of such collections as this that some of the greatest 

 benefactors of the public are enabled to prosecute their researches 

 and to do their work." 



Decidedly the most valuable part of our library consists of 

 books by no means adapted or intended for general circulation. 

 We supply a fair, and, on the whole, a nearly indispensable part 



