ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WALCOTT. 9 



appointed our just confidence in tlieir integrity — there comes into 

 existence a certain local quality, which leads even the honest man 

 to adhere to the established views of things simply because they 

 are the regular fashions of thought ; to get into ruts ; to award a 

 prize to plants or flowers or fruits because they are as good as 

 similar specimens formerly' exhibited. I think we should insist 

 upon improvement if possible ; the giving of a prize to a certain 

 degree of merit this year should not be allowed to be, in any 

 sense, a guarant}' for such recognition in a succeeding year. The 

 conditions of cultivation remaining the same, let no first prize be 

 awarded except for distinguished merit. Give to our awards that 

 critical quality that shall make a certificate of merit valuable in 

 commerce, as is that of the London Society. It is a complaint in 

 these days that exhibitors care for nothing but the money prizes ; 

 may it not in some instances be true that this award has become 

 the only one with a real value ? The small sum that goes to the 

 making of a silver medal can be made more worthy of competition 

 than our highest mone}' prize ; let us strive to make it so. 



At our last annual meeting I called your attention to the fact 

 that our larger exhibirions had outgrown the capacity of these 

 halls. The experience of the past season reenforces all the argu- 

 ments then used in behalf of some better provision for these more 

 important shows. A committee of members eminently well quali- 

 fied to consider this subject have, after mature deliberation, rec- 

 ommended to the Society that an effort be made to procure an open 

 piece of ground of at least fifteen thousand square feet, in a 

 convenient situation, for the purpose of erecting thereon a tent or 

 some structure convenientlj- arranged for the reception and exhibi- 

 tion of large plants ; a smaller permanent building in connection 

 with the above to be used for the general purposes of the Society 

 and the smaller exhibitions. If the Societj' were obliged to pur- 

 chase this amount of real estate, while it would under existing 

 laws be relieved from taxation, there would still be a heavy bur- 

 den imposed upon funds devoted most unselfishly to the public 

 education and enjoj'ment. I sincerely hope that some plan may 

 be devised for helping this Societ}^ to enlarge to the utmost its 

 useful work of bringing into the crowded city the refining influences 

 of horticulture. 



The Society has made a most generous provision for prizes to be 

 awarded at the Annual Exhibition of this year, which is to be held 



