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gard to such praiseworthy examples and the power oi 

 association, he gave as illustration the establishment 

 and influence of the early Agricultural and Horticultur- 

 al associations of our country. The first Agricultural 

 Society of our land was established at^^ Philadelphia in 

 1785, and of which your own Timoth}^ Pickering was 

 Secretary. His example, acting through his corres- 

 pondents and friends in Massachusetts, soon led to the 

 formation of the Massachusetts Society for^the Promo- 

 tion of Agriculture. Then the desire for Ornamental 

 Culture came as a natural sequence, and the Pennsylva- 

 nia Horticultural Societ}^ was formed in 1827, and as in 

 the former case the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 followed the example, and was established in 1829. 

 From these Societies went forth the first emanation 

 which culminated in the formation of similar societies 

 now spread over our country, and of which, as it appears 

 by the records of the Department of Agriculture at 

 Washington, there are now more than thirteen hundred 

 societies whose object is to promote the culture of the 

 soil. 



Such is the power of association, in which your own 

 Essex Society has ever held a prominent standing. Ma}' 

 it go on, prospering and to prosper, rising higher and 

 higher in the scale of intelligence and usefulness, and 

 may its future be as glorious as its past has been hon- 

 orable. 



REMARKS OF JOHN KEELEV, ESQ., 



And Resolutions of respect on the decease of Hon. James 

 H. Duncan, of Haverhill. 



Mr. President: — Since this Society last met we 

 have sustained a great loss in the death of one of its 



