TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

BUSINESS MEETING.

SATURDAY, January 5, 1895.

A duly notified stated meeting of the Society was holden at eleven o'clock, the President, NATHANIEL T. KIDDER, in the chair. This being the commencement of the term of office of the new board of officers and standing committees, the President delivered the annual address as follows:

ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT KIDDER.

It is a custom of long standing for the President of this Society to say a few words at the first meeting in January. A pleasant custom, for then is an opportunity given to state what has been the tone of the year passed, and to express hopes and plans for the year just beginning.

We have just had a period of unusual anxiety. So well is this known, alas, that I need not have mentioned it. A good deal of daring would have been necessary to recommend any radical measure in the way of getting our long-coveted more commodious quarters. There seems at present very little promise of a material improvement in financial matters, and careful and cautious should still be our actions.

I told you last year that your Chairman needed a year to find out what the Society wanted, and that after that a second year was not any too much for carrying out what he found it desirable to do. It was gratifying to me to learn that you wanted me for another term, and I take this opportunity to thank you for the confidence you have shown in me.

In a matter of such moment as increasing the capacity of a Society like this, for that is what we want to do- not merely to

carry on the routine business, deliberation is, it seems to me, as important as push. We might easily buy a piece of land larger than this we now own, put up a building which we should find much more convenient than this, and at the end of two or three years find that we were not in the right place, and had not enough room after all.

This summer it became necessary to replace the boiler, and this was done as thoroughly as if we were to stay here forever. The entire cost was, however, but little over eight hundred dollars. Very few other repairs have been needed. This coming summer it will be necessary to do a great deal of repairing to the roof.

Perhaps my remarks have sounded as if I did not favor our moving, but I do most emphatically believe we should move, only not until we find the right place. And I think your Committee will find it yet.

On motion of Ex-President Spooner, it was voted, that the President be requested to furnish a copy of his address for publication.

The appropriations for Prizes and Gratuities, recommended by the Executive Committee on November 3, and then laid over until this meeting, came up for final action and were voted, as follows: For Prizes and Gratuities:

For Plants,

For Flowers,

For Fruits,

For Vegetables,

For Gardens,

And a special appropriation of one hundred dollars for prizes for Palms, etc., at the meeting of the American Carnation Society, in the Hall of this Society, February 21 and 22, 1895,

Total for Prizes and Gratuities,

$2,000

2,500

1,800

1,150

500

100

$8,050

The President, as Chairman of the Executive Committee, reported from that Committee a recommendation that the Society make the following appropriations:

For the Committee of Arrangements, this sum to cover
all extraordinary expenses of said Committee,
For the Library Committee, for the purchase of maga-
zines and newspapers, binding of books, and inci-
dental expenses of said Committee,

For the same Committee, to continue the Card Catalogue
of Plates,
For the Committee on Publication and Discussion,
including the income of the John Lewis Russell Fund,
For the Committee on School Gardens and Children's
Herbariums, this sum to cover all incidental expenses
of said Committee, and to be paid through the usual
channels, .

For the salaries of the Treasurer and Superintendent of
the Building, and the Secretary and Librarian,
These appropriations were unanimously voted.

$400

400

100

300

250

3,000

The President also reported that the Executive Committee had appointed Charles E. Richardson to be Treasurer and Superintendent of the Building, and Robert Manning to be Secretary and Librarian for the year 1895.

The President further reported from the Executive Committee that they had voted to recommend to the Society the payment of $50 to William Castleton of East Boston, for his efficient services in extinguishing the recent fire in the Society's Hall. This appropriation was also voted by the Society.

The President reported in regard to the subject of a course of lectures by William Hamilton Gibson, referred to the Executive Committee at the last meeting of the Society, that they deemed it inexpedient to make any appropriation for that purpose.

On motion of William C. Strong, it was voted that the President appoint a Committee on School Gardens and Children's Herbariums for the year 1895. The President appointed as that Committee, the following named persons:

Mrs. Henrietta L. T. Wolcott, Chairman.

Henry L. Clapp,

George E. Davenport,

Mrs. P. D. Richards,

William E. C. Rich,

Miss Katharine W. Huston,
T. Otis Fuller.

J. D. W. French, Chairman of the Committee on Publication and Discussion, announced that the Schedule of Prizes for 1895 had been printed and a copy mailed to every member of the Society; and that the series of meetings for Discussion would commence on the next Saturday, with a paper entitled "A Day with our Birds," by Mrs. Kate Tryon, of Cambridge.

John G. Barker, Chairman of the Committee on Gardens, read the Annual Report of that Committee, which was accepted and referred to the Committee on Publication.

William C. Strong moved the following vote:

That a Committee of three members be appointed by the Chair, to consider the expediency of placing the property of the Society in the hands of a Board of Trustees, with authority to consult with legal counsel in reference thereto; and to report to the Society such recommendations as may appear desirable.

The motion was seconded by J. D. W. French, and carried in the affirmative. The Chair said that he would announce the Committee at the next meeting.

Mr. Strong moved that the Report of the Committee on the Revision of the Constitution and By-Laws, be taken up. This motion was carried, and the amendments proposed were, after two readings, approved by a majority vote, and ordered to be entered on the records, for consideration at the Stated Meeting on the first Saturday in April.

The Report was as follows:

The Committee to whom was referred the consideration of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society, with special reference to Section VI, submit the following report:

A difference of opinion arose at the outset, as to the scope of the work to be done by the Committee. The prevailing opinion obtained, that we should review the entire code, and submit such suggestions as might seem desirable. Accordingly your Committee has held numerous sessions and given careful consideration to the various articles.

It does not appear to be necessary, or desirable, to make any radical changes in the present code. There are, however, some duties of the various officers, which it seems desirable to specify more distinctly. Some condensation and rearrangement of the articles, and a change of phraseology would also, in the opinion of your Committee, tend to more clearness.