S92 »-\IassachuseUs Horticultural Society. 



tributors were so numerous, and the variety of pears, &c. so great, 

 that it was impossible for us to draw up a correct account in time. 

 ^^'e therefore defer this till our next, and in its place offer the fol- 

 lowinsr account of the dinner given by the Society, on the occasion 

 of its thirteenth anniversary.] 



On Friday, the 24th, the members celebrated the thirteenth anni- 

 versary by a dinner at Concert Hall. The arrangements were made 

 by a special committee, and the whole was got up in good style. 

 The tables were decorated with a profusion of flowers, and a large 

 table in the centre of the hall, between the two dining tables, was 

 loaded with all the finest and most beautiful fruit which had been 

 displayed during the three days of the exhil)ition. The President, 

 D. Ha22er5ton, S. Pond. A. McLennan, F. W. Macondrv, O. John- 

 son, E.M. Richards, S. Sweetser, P. B. and C. M. Hovey, V>'. H. 

 Cowan, and B. V. French, were the principal contributors^ and a 

 more rich repast was never set before the Society. 



About a huncired members of the Society sat down to the dinner. 

 Among the invited euests were President Quincy, of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, Hon. Levi Lincoln, President of the Worcester Agricultural 

 Society, Gen. Dearborn, first President of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, and Mr. Grattan, the British Consul. M. P. Wil- 

 der, Esq., President of the Society, presided at the head of the table. 

 Messrs- Jonathan ^Vinship, Benjamin V. French, and Cheever New- 

 hall, acted as vice-presidents. A blessing was invoked by the Rev. 

 Dr. Codman. After the cloth was removed, the following resular 

 toasts were announced from the Chair, the intervals between being 

 eidivened by music from a band engaged for the occasion: — 



1. Onr Country — A sapling, descended from a good stock: -n-hose vigor- 

 ous growth, watered by the blood of thousands of patriotic hearts, now 

 waves its branches over millions of freemen. 



2. Good old Massachusetts — Always in the field, when there is any good 

 rrork to accomplish — what she undertakes she does rrell — the fruits of her ex- 

 cellent institutions have been liberally distributed among her sister states, 

 and she has yet enough left to garnish her own table. 



3. The City of Boston — With her industrious and enterprising popula- 

 tion — her schools and her churches — her noble harbor — her ships on every 

 sea — her Iron roads, East, West, North, and South — how glorious is her 

 prospect for the future. 



4. Horticulture — The art which strews our paths with roses — loads our 

 tables with luxuries, and crowns our labors with the rich fruits of content- 

 ment and happiness. 



5. Intellectual Cultivation — That mighty agent to which ever}- science is 

 indebted for its most wonderful improvements. Its importance to the horti- 

 culturist may be estimated by the valuable labors of Knight and Van 3Ions. 



6. Capital Stocks — The stocks most wanted, and sure to yield the largest 

 dividends, are Fruit Stocks. 



7. EngHsh Florists and American Amateurs — The first have furnished us 

 with superior vaiieties of fruits and flowers — the latter now reciprocate 

 their favors, and return them productions equalhng their own. 



8. The increase of glass structures for horticulture — They perpetuate 

 spring, summer, and autumn — they spangle the whole year with flowers. 



9. Practical Cultivators — Physiologists may study the causes of vegeta- 

 tion, and chemists may analyze soils and manures — but the skill of the 

 practical man is required to test the value of their speculations. 



