58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The President made the formal announcement of the decease of 

 Dr. Asa Gray, for many years- Professor of Natural History in 

 Harvard University — a man honored b}^ this Society, which in 

 1847 elected him a Corresponding Member. He filled the office of 

 Professor of Botany to the Society from 1860 to 1862 inclusive. 

 His fame as a botanist was world-wide, and this Society may 

 justly claim some share in his renown. But beyond his scientific ■ 

 attainments rose the man, whom all who knew him loved for his 

 amiable disposition, his kindness of heart, and especially for his 

 readiness to assist the humblest seekers after a knowledge of the 

 science which it was tne work of his life to advance. 



Francis H. Appleton moved that the President appoint a Com- 

 mittee of three persons to prepare a memorial of Dr. Gray, which 

 motion was unanimousl}' carried, and Francis Parkman, Charles 

 S. Sargent, and H. H. Hunnewell, were appointed as that Com- 

 mittee. 



The following named persons, having been recommended by 

 the Executive Committee as members of the Society, were upon 

 ballot dul}- elected : 



William H. Elliott, of Brighton ; 

 Charles A. Learned, of Arlington ; 

 Augustus Hemenway, of Canton. 



Adjourned to Saturday-, February 11. 



MEETING FOR DISCUSSION. 

 The Cultivation and Diseases of the Peach. 



By J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Conu. 



Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : — The subject that has 

 been assigned is rather too broad for me to talk intelligently upon, for 

 while I know, from general observation, something of peach cul- 

 ture in the more favored sections of our country, I have not made 

 the peach a special study except for New England, where its 

 profitable culture requires more care and thought than in any 

 other part of our country I know of where it is possible to grow 

 it at all ; and for that matter, it has been said by many during 

 the past twenty-five years that it is impossible to grow them here. 



