LIBRARY committee's REPORT. 65 



of the day, has, as above stated, been kept in action by the continued supply 

 of current magazines and journals. Useful as these are, they do not super- 

 sede the more permanent and systematic works, of special or general bearing, 

 by an intelligent use of which, the practical horticulturist can add to his own 

 experience the experience of numberless other men devoted to the same pur- 

 suits, and by the aid of which alone can horticulture ever take among us the 

 character of a progressive art. 



To despise the aid of books, is no evidence either of practical skill or of 

 good sense ; and it is especially true of horticulture, that those of greatest 

 practical eminence in it have been, without a single exception, among those 

 who have largely availed themselves of the recorded knowledge of their pred- 

 ecessors or contemporaries. It is an art based on broad principles of science, 

 and has never found its most successful cultivators among those who have 

 blindly ignored those principles. The Committee, therefore, hope that the 

 customary appropriation will again be made, to be used, if in their opinio" it 

 can be used with advantage to the Society. 



The Committee would recommend that a safe and convenient provision be 

 made for dropping books, pamphlets, letters, parcels, etc., at the library door, 

 in the absence of the librarian. Loss and inconvenience have resulted during 

 the past year from the want of such a receptacle. They also recommend 

 that a tin or wooden plate, indicating the hours when the librarian is in atten- 

 dance, be placed at the door, for the guidance of members and persons having 

 business at the library. This would prevent great annoyance, as well as other 

 consequences, often arising from unexpectedly finding the library closed. 



The following American periodicals have been taken during the past year: — 



The New England Farmer. 



The Gardeners' Monthly. 



Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture. 



The Horticulturist. 



The Farmer and Gardener. 



The Working Farmer. 



The Country Gentleman. 



The Boston Cultivator. 



The Massachusetts Ploughman. 



The Genesee Farmer. 



The American Journal of Science and Arts. 



The following foreign periodicals have been received : — 



The Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener. 

 The Farmer's Magazine. 

 The Floral Magazine. 

 The Florist and Pomologist. 

 Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 

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