8 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



azines have been perfected, as published, although some may 

 seem deficient to those who are not aware that their issue was 

 suspended because of inadequate patronage due to lack of 

 remunerative appreciation. Of this, the Floral Magazine and 

 the Florist and Fomoloc/i'st, are deplorable instances abroad ; 

 while Hovei/s Magazine and The Gardener s Monthly have left 

 a void not exactly filled, at home, by any of their more preten- 

 tious successors. Of State Reports, more precisely designated 

 as Agricultural, many series were discontinued during and be- 

 cause of the War of Secession, in several cases never to be 

 resumed. Some of you may be surprised to learn that even 

 the imperial State of New York felt so far constrained by neces- 

 sity as to put a stop to the issue of its excellent Agricultural 

 Transactions. For many volumes from different States we had 

 been under obligations to the State Board of Agriculture (Sec- 

 retary Russell notably), by whom they had been received in 

 duplicate. For years we had little to proffer in exchange ; and 

 perforce became deeply indebted for favors that it was impossi- 

 ble to repay in kind. Latterly, our position, in this respect, 

 has been greatly improved by the resumption of publication of 

 our own Transactions, in enlarged form and much enhanced 

 value. 



I assert deliberately, and of personal knowledge, that your 

 Library now comprises all Horticultural literature extant, of 

 sterling authority or worth, with a minimum of printed rubbish. 

 It was never the aim of the Committee to waste your substance, 

 or to lumber up space by a portentous load of mere black-letter. 

 If endowed with a " Stickney Fund," it might be practicable, 

 were it desirable, to accumulate works that are simply curious 

 because of age or rarity, and rare or old because there was 

 never enough demand for them to require a new edition. No 

 one can say that your Committee ever declined to buy a book 

 that commended itself to their judgment, when its purchase was 

 once suggested. 



In the specification of official short-comings, the incomplete- 

 ness of(7t»Viy.s Z^o^rt?u'c«? Magazine^ and equally of the Transac- 

 tions of the Royal Horticultural Society, is particularly noted. 



