60 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



It is sad and disheartening to have new diseases appear, so discouraging to 

 the labors and hopes of" the horticulturist, when we have already such numer- 

 ous hordes of insects, and so many diseases to tliwart our efforts and disap- 

 point our expectations. 



It will be thirty-four years on the 29th day of June next, since my name 

 was registered as a member, and which was also the date of the Act of Incor- 

 poration of our Society. During this time it has been one great source of 

 happiness to be engaged in the active pursuits of horticulture, either with my 

 hands, my pen, or in performance of the various duties which have fallen to 

 my lot in the Society. It has been a great privilege to be associated with so 

 many kindred spirits, whose aim, with my own, has been to contribute to the 

 happiness of the community in which we live, as well as to extend to our 

 whole country a taste for the refining and elevating science of Horticulture. 



The review of the past third of a century, in relation to the rapid progress 

 of the art we so much love, is indeed most cheering and pleasing to contem- 

 plate. From the day of small things and humble beginnings, we have grown 

 to a large and richly-endowed Society. To have some conception of the in- 

 fluence of our Society upon the country, we have only to spend a few days in 

 journeying through our suburban cities and towns ; enter some of the number- 

 less gardens, and take note of the rich varieties of fruits and flowers to be 

 found in every quarter ; to witness the wonderful profusion of everything 

 grateful to the palate, or pleasing to the eye, — fruits and flowers unknown 

 among us until introduced by the members of this Society ; — then we may 

 begin to realize what has been accomplished within the last thirty years. Mul- 

 tiply these improvements five hundred or a thousand times, which we find in 

 our immediate neighborhood, and we may have some conception of the influ- 

 ence this Society has exerted over our whole country. With this view we 

 may all be justly proud in being associated together as members and 

 co-workers in a Society, whose objects are so elevating, refining, and useful 

 to mankind. 



Most of the gentlemen who had the honor of laying the foundation for the 

 present flourisinng condition of the Society, have passed away. All honor to 

 the eminent men who early associated themselves together, and who with so 

 much energy, zeal, and enthusiasm, accomplished so much for future genera- 

 tions ! The names of Dearborn, Cook, Vose, French, Manning, Downing, 

 Walker, Winship, and many others, now sleeping in the dust, will be held in 

 grateful remembrance by generations to come, and ever be esteemed as bene- 

 factors of mankind. Let those now upon the stage of action, build wisely 

 upon the solid foundations which have been laid with so much wisdom and 

 forethought by the fathers, that the next generation may rise up and call them 

 blessed also. 



My duties while in office have not been oppressive, yet it is with feelings of 

 relief that I am now about to relinquish the honors and cares of the office to 

 my successor, and return again to the peaceful and quiet position of private 



