10 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



am] our funds permitted. The conveniences for using tlie lihraiv 

 have, notwithstanding our crowded condition, been much improved ; 

 the increased though still very insuMicient shelving has made books 

 more accessible ; the presence of an accomplished Librarian has 

 helped the inquirer for knowledge to the more direct and shorter 

 roads; the card catalogue of plant pictures, thanks to the chair- 

 man's perseverance, has also been of material service. 



As the result of these improvements, there has come an enlarged 

 use of the books. This may be seen in two ways ; by the greater 

 number of books recorded as borrowed, and by the more numerous 

 readers here. The record-book (though it does actually show in 

 the past year more books taken out) is not a conclusive test, for 

 the following reason, to which I think all familiar with great 

 libraries will assent : — that an increase in the conveniences for con- 

 sultation will diminish the number of books taken out. Most of 

 us come here to obtain information upon some limited subject, — the 

 identity of a specimen, the question of a name, — if we can ascer- 

 tain these facts without taking a large and costly volume home 

 with us, we are glad to do so ; and care very little if the register 

 does not show that we have been here ; and observation does show 

 this increase in the number of readers. It is also said that there 

 are books not taken from the shelves from one year's end to an- 

 other. Possibly this is so ; and 3'et these very books, when wanted, 

 ma}- be of the greatest service. It is one of the functions of great 

 libraries to store the books that the individual cannot afford to 

 keep. It is also true that many books are in foreign languages. 

 With regard to these 1 will quote Lord Bacon's sa3ing — "Some 

 books also may be read by deputy " — and I am very sure that 

 any information so gained will, in this Society at least, come to 

 the surface for the benefit of us all. 



The Committee of Arrangements, to whose judicious and active 

 care so much of the success of the exhibitions has been due, state 

 forcibly the necessity for larger lloor accommodations ; and 1 feel 

 sure that all present at the Annual Exhibition will agree witii 

 them. It was much to be regretted that the finest collection ever 

 brought together by the Socidty should not have been more suit- 

 ably displayed. A slight experience has brought forcibly to my 

 attention tlie labor, the expense, and, more than all, the injury to 

 plants, caused by the carrying of them to the upper hall. It can 

 easily be understood, then, what serious damages an exhibition in- 



