The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of Dorchester was celebrated on the 14th of July, 1855. The orator of the day was Edward Everett. The central tablet of the great pavilion bore the inscription "Marshall P. Wilder, President of the Day. Blessed is he that turneth the waste places into a garden and maketh the wilderness to blossom as a rose."

Mr. Wilder was a member of many horticultural and agricultural societies in this and foreign lands. He was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Horticultural Society of London; a corresponding member of the Société Nationale d' Horticulture de France, at Paris; an honorary member of the Société Centrale d' Horticulture du Département de la Seine-Inférieure, at Rouen; a corresponding member of the Society for the Promotion of the Useful Arts and Auxiliary Sciences, at Frankfort on the Main; an honorary member of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain; and an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy, at Pisa, Italy. In 1877 he received the degree of Ph. D. from Dartmouth College and in 1884 that of LL. D. from Roanoke College. Mr. Wilder's eightieth birthday was celebrated by a dinner given him at the Parker House, and on his eighty-fifth birthday a larger company met at the same place to testify their respect and love for him. An account of this celebration was published in book form. On his eighty-eighth (and last) birthday a similar gathering was held at "Taft's," at Point Shirley, at the invitation of Benjamin C. Clark, Secretary of the Massachusetts Agricultural Club, an occasion which will long be remembered by all who had the good fortune to be present.

Mr. Wilder received all the Masonic degrees, including the thirty-third, the highest and last honor of the Fraternity.

As a writer and public speaker Mr. Wilder was fluent, forcible, and popular. His published writings consist largely of agricultural, pomological, and historical addresses. On the 2d of March, 1878, he presented to the library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society a handsomely bound volume of addresses and speeches relating to agriculture and horticulture, which form a most interesting memorial of him. Other similar memorials in the library have been already mentioned in this sketch. One of his most important literary productions was a sketch of "The Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity," prepared for the fourth volume of the Boston Memorial Series," the materials of which

he collected and arranged when eighty-three years old. It was also published in pamphlet form, and a copy was presented by him to the library of the Horticultural Society.

But we must bring this brief memoir to a close, for if we were to pursue the subject and chronicle all Mr. Wilder's labors for the advancement of agriculture and horticulture, all the manifestations of confidence reposed in him in public and private relations, and all the honors bestowed upon him we should not have a page for other matter.

As might have been foreseen, Mr. Wilder died in the harness. Until within a short time no man enjoyed life more than he or clung to it more strongly, but after the death of his wife in November, 1885, he desired to depart and be with her. On Saturday the 4th of December, 1886, he attended the meeting of the Horticultural Society and afterwards presided at the dinner of the Agricultural Club. He was somewhat fatigued and during the next week a cold causing rheumatism confined him to his bed for a day or two. After this he improved, and on the morning of Wednesday, the 15th, the librarian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society called and talked with him about the annual address which Mr. Wilder was to deliver before that society the next month, and which he had already finished. The next morning he felt still better, rising at his usual hour and taking breakfast with the family. He transacted a little business with his son Edward, signed a letter, and talked cheerfully with the physician when he came. The doctor inquired in regard to his rheumatism and Mr. Wilder replied that it was all gone, then pressed his hand to his heart and in an instant was dead.

"Thus with no fiery, throbbing pain,

No cold gradations of decay,

Death broke at once the vital chain,

And freed his soul the nearest way."

The funeral was at the Second Congregational Church in Dorchester, on Sunday, the 19th of December, at 2 o'clock. Until within the last two or three years Mr. Wilder had been a regular attendant at this church, and in 1883 he presided at the seventyfifth anniversary of its organization and delivered an address. For twenty-five years he was Chairman of its Board of Assessors, and for nearly half a century presided over meetings of various

kinds in connection with the parish. The central part of the house was reserved for the funeral party and for the representatives of the numerous organizations with which Mr. Wilder had been connected. Besides the Committee appointed by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society to attend the funeral other members were present, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Hamilton National Bank, the Home Savings Bank, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Masonic fraternity were represented. Almost every individual in the large assembly had known and loved him as a friend.

A private service was held at his residence, and at the close the casket was borne to the hearse by four men who had been in his employment for many years. At the church the exercises consisted of singing of some of his favorite hymns, reading of the Scriptures, prayer, and an appropriate and appreciative address by Rev. Edward N. Packard, pastor of the church. Besides the points which we have mentioned in this sketch, he spoke of Mr. Wilder's strong religious bent, inherited from a godly ancestry, and of his constant and generous support of the Gospel and of all good works to which the church lent her hand. In his horticultural pursuits he sought Nature and listened and watched for the footsteps of the benevolent Deity, walking still in the garden in the cool of the day.

The interment was in Mr. Wilder's lot at Forest Hills Cemetery, where his last two wives and several of his children had been buried.

The life of Mr. Wilder is a striking instance of what an individual may accomplish by industry, indomitable perseverance, and the concentration of his intellectual powers upon one great object. With him, it was that of raising the standard of terraculture to a higher rank among the great pursuits of a nation. No ordinary tallent, no turn of mere good fortune, could ever have placed him in the high position he attained as a public benefactor. But back of all his mental endowments he had a strong constitution and sound physical health, the foundation of which was doubtless laid while working on the New Hampshire farm. Without these he never could have performed such labors as he did.

Among his qualifications for usefulness his executive tact was

remarkable. As a presiding officer over deliberative bodies he was the right man in the right place. At all times and places but especially in such public positions, his dignified and commanding presence aided essentially in enabling him to effect the objects which he desired to attain. His personal influence has been sufficient to magnetize many a half-dying form into active life. And this strong personal characteristic was especially remarked among his friends. No one approached him in doubt, in despondency, or in embarrassment, and left him without a higher hope, a stronger courage, and a manlier faith in himself. It is impossible that any man should perform, single handed, the various labors we have recounted, but Mr. Wilder's magnetic personal influence was such that he drew to his aid men who were surprised and pleased at the quantity and excellence of the work they came to perform under his leadership, and which without him would have remained undone. And such coadjutors were always rewarded with his hearty appreciation of their services. That he himself loved the praise of men his friends all know, for he admitted it with a freedom which disarmed all criticism, but while desiring the approbation of his fellow men he sought it only by seeking to deserve it. There are benefactors of their race whose usefulness is not discovered until they are gathered to their fathers. More fortunate than these, Mr. Wilder lived to be appreciated. He was surrounded with prosperity; his path was one of peace; sweet odors were on every side. It was a pleasant sight to behold this patriarch at the rooms of the Horticultural Society on Saturdays, receiving the tributes of affection and respect of his friends and returning all their love, and it is pleasant now to recall it.

His instincts were conservative. At his eightieth birthday festival his pastor, Rev. James H. Means, D.D., testified that he was always a peacemaker, and we trust that he has received the blessing promised to such. A striking trait of his character was prominently exhibited in always discovering something to admire, to cherish, and to encourage in everybody and everything. He did with his might what his hand found to do, and inherited to the full the family trait of not leaving unfinished what he had begun. While cultivating his grounds and introducing new seeds, trees, and plants, he was doing all he could to instil into the public mind a taste and love for rural labors, and to elevate the rank and position of those engaged in the honorable employments of the farm

and garden. He spared no expense, he rested from no labors, in his desire to effect this object. He not only by his zeal, industry, and ability conferred lasting benefits on his native country, but by his careful researches in hybridization and fruit culture he laid the horticulturists of all nations under obligations to him. Through the institutions which he founded his service to men becomes selfperpetuating, but the world which he made a different one to us is different to us since his departure.

BUSINESS MEETING.

SATURDAY, January 8, 1887.

An adjourned meeting of the Society was holden at 11 o'clock, Vice-President BENJAMIN G. SMITH in the chair.

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

Francis H. Appleton, Chairman of the Committee appointed at the last meeting to nominate a candidate for the vacancy in the Executive Committee caused by the death of Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, reported the name of Edward L. Beard. The report was accepted and Mr. Beard was unanimously elected.

Edward L. Beard moved the appointment of a committee of members of the American Pomological Society, to coöperate with the Committee of Arrangements of this Society in regard to the meeting of the former Society in this city in September next. The subject was postponed until the next meeting.

Adjourned to Saturday, January 15.

MEETING FOR DISCUSSION.

THE PROPAGATION, PLANTING, AND GROUPING

OF NATIVE TREES.

By LEVI W. RUSSELL, President of the Franklin Society, Providence, R. I. It will be my endeavor in this paper to present some of the more important observations, facts, and impressions which my recreations among the native forest trees of New England have