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When the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society was organized, it was confidently anticipated, that, at no very distant period, a Garden of Experiment would be established in the vicinity of
Boston; but to arrive at such a pleasing result, it was deemed expedient that our efforts should first be directed to the accomplishment of objects which would not require very extensive pecuniary resources; that we should proceed with great caution, and by a prudential management of our means, gradually develope a more complete and efficient system for rendering the institution as extensively useful as it was necessary and important.
Public favor was to be propitiated by the adoption of such incipient measures as were best calculated to encourage patronage, and insure ultimate success.
With these views, the labors of the Society have been confined to the collection and dissemination of intelligence, plants, scions, and seeds, in the various departments of Horticulture.
An extensive correspondence was therefore opened with similar associations in this country and in
Europe, as well as with many gentlemen who are distinguished for their theoretical attainments, practical information, and experimental researches, in all the branches of rural economy, on this continent, and other portions of the globe.
