with the List of Library Accessions a list of books, etc., wanted, the last having been in 1883. It has every year since then been my desire to print another, but it has been omitted because the time required to prepare it would delay the publication of the Transactions. But with the publication of the Library Accessions in a separate pamphlet this objection no longer existed, and accordingly such a list was included in that pamphlet, and many of the books in it have already been procured, especially the publications of the United States Department of Agriculture, making our set of those publications complete with very few exceptions. The extension of the usefulness of the Library among members of the Society and others has been kept constantly in mind, and a circular, intended to promote this object, signed by the President, was sent to every member of the Society and a large number of its correspondents, and still wider circulation was given to it by some of the leading horticultural and daily newspapers. No special appropriation for the work on the Card Catalogue of Plates was made this year, but it has been carried on as far as possible by those regularly employed here. One of the most vital portions of the Library, which makes us sharers in the horticultural progress of the day, is the periodicals supplied by the Society's appropriation, and by exchange for our own publications. These, which are ever growing in number, not only keep us informed as to the latest discoveries in horticulture, but when bound form a valuable, and not inconsiderable, permanent part of the annual accessions; indeed, with other publications received by donation and exchange, they constitute the bulk of these annual additions. Another most valuable class of books is supplied by the Stickney Fund, but the interest of the Society in this fund expires with the present year, and it is much to be hoped that among the members and friends of the Society there may be found one possessing the means and disposition to establish a fund for the increase of the Library, which shall take the place of the Stickney Fund, and shall be a perpetual possession. The fact that only three weeks after the organization of the Society a Committee on the Library was established to collect books, drawings, engravings, etc., relating to horticulture, shows the estimate attached by the founders of the Society to the importance of a library. After a time, however, the interest in the Library seemed to flag, but later, owing to the diligent labors of the Library Committee and the gift of Mr. Stickney, it was revived, and the Library may now claim to be of fully equal importance with any department of the Society; indeed, as an educational influence, it may justly claim greater importance than any other department. The Library and the annual courses of lectures, only, can give the Society any claim to be considered a scientific institution. No more beautiful sight is afforded anywhere, or at any time, than the specimens of plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables contributed in such perfection to the various exhibitions of this Society; but though they may excite in the beholders a desire to go and do likewise, in themselves they afford no information how to do it. The money spent in prizes and gratuities for these beautiful productions is doubtless productive of much good, but its permanent benefit, both to individuals and to the Society, is but small-compared with that derived from a well stocked and carefully selected library, for that benefit is permanent and continually increasing. 66 The Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew, is thought to be the best botanical library in the world, and there can be no better judge of such a library, both from a practical and scientific point of view, than Mr. George Nicholson, the Curator of the Gardens, author of the Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening," and a Corresponding Member of this Society. When looking over our Library a few years ago, he exclaimed, "It is wonderful -- it is wonderful - it is something that not only the State, but the whole nation, should be proud of!" DECEMBER 18, 1897. ROBERT MANNING, Secretary and Librarian. |