A course of lectures on Botany and Entomology was given, 

 however, during the summer, by Professor John L. Russell, of 

 Salem, who generously gave his valuable time and services. 



The school is under constant care and' supervision of the 

 Directors, one or more of whom take charge of it each month, 

 visiting the school regularly and reporting fully at the monthly 

 meeting of the Board, at which all matters relating to the 

 welfare and management of the Institution are fully consid- 

 ered. 



We are aware that in offering this short history of our first 

 year, we are not relating a brilliant tale or presenting any 

 striking results as the fruit of our labors. But we did not 

 expect to be able to do this. All beginnings are difficult 

 enough, and we have had to work under special disadvantages. 

 We suffer from want of funds, and consequently from want of 

 pupils and inability to engage all the teachers we should like, 

 and are hampered in all our undertakings by lack in these 

 essential points. 



We feel confident that in time the school will become to a 

 considerable extent self supporting; but no small outlay is 

 needed at the start, for procuring the land, erecting* green- 

 houses, stocking them, providing tools, books, etc., and a very 

 complete outfit is needed in these directions that the school 

 may have a fair chance. We desire more, even than these 

 however, the means to establish free scholarships, if not to 

 make the whole tuition free. In the present state of public 

 opinion, we can hardly expect that many young women will 

 wish to make Horticulture a profession, unless obliged to main- 

 tain themselves by their own exertions, and in that case they 

 rarely have the means to pay the amount needed for their edu- 

 cation, and, too often, not the time to devote to unremunerative 

 work, even for the sake of obtaining thorough training in their 

 business. We admit that we are trying an experiment, but we 

 shall not feel that the experiment has had a fair trial until we 

 are able to open free scholarships, for which, at present, we 

 have not the funds. Of the present pupils, several have adopt- 



