'J2 Marshall Pinckney Wilder. 



plum, veiled with silvery bloom, over robes of azure, purple, or cloth of 

 vegetable gold." And more of equal beauty and eloquence. 



In the course of his address before the same society at Boston, in 1862, 

 Mr. Wilder uttered these characteristic words : "Oh! let me be remem- 

 bered in some beautiful flower, some graceful tree, some luscious fruit. 

 Oh, yes ! far better than storied monument or sculptured urn, let me be 

 remembered as one who labored to adorn and improve the earth, to pro- 

 mote the pleasure and welfare of those who are to follow me." 



At the Exhibition of the United-States Agricultural Societ}' in 1855, 

 Ex.-Gov. King of New York remarked, in reference to Mr. Wilder, "I have 

 served with the president of this society ; and I am here to saj', that I 

 know no abler, more efficient officer for this distinguished post. At home 

 and abroad, the same man, the same power, the same vigor, the same intel- 

 lect, are brought to bear on the great cause we are here assembled to 

 celebrate." 



It is Col. Wilder's custom to rise early, to devote the morning to books, 

 and to the superintendence of his garden and nursery ; the middle of the day 

 to mercantile business in Boston; and the evening to his family and study. 



During his leisure hours, he has filled several large folio volumes with 

 his own sketches, delineations, and descriptions of fruits proved under his 

 personal inspection. This has been the work of a long life. He continues 

 these investigations daily; and it is to be hoped that the public may have 

 the benefit of these studies. He has made the pear a speciality. His 

 collection of pears embraces every variety, foreign and native, of note; to 

 which he adds the novelties of every year. Having a correspondence with 

 the most distinguished pomologists of Europe and America, he receives 

 annually all such as are worthy of notice. His collection embraces twenty- 

 five hundred bearing-trees; and he has had, during his life, more than 

 eight hundred varieties of the pear on his grounds. Among plants, the 

 camellia has been his speciality. He has had many hundreds of varieties, 

 thousands of plants, and more than a thousand seedlings, some of which 

 bear the names of himself and family, which he secured by hybridization, 

 of which he has given a published account. 



Enough has been written to give the chief points in Col. Wilder's life. 

 He has performed the work of several ordinar)' men during a long life. 



