inhabitants to provide sufficient funds, as all then available was £3,000, which left £2,500 to be collected.
The proposal was received with enthusiasm, but the appeal for subscriptions was not so successful, so after considerable delay a wooden building of more modest design was erected, which still remains at the corner of High and Manse streets.
Horticultural excellence was one of the earliest aspirations of the Dunedin settlers. A society for the furtherance of this was part of the programme laid down for the community at its very first existence; it was not, however, until the town was in its eleventh year that an attempt at a Floral and Fruit Show was made. On Anniversary day, 1859, the first show was held in the schoolroom, and of course the room was beautifully decorated and the exhibits far beyond expectation in number, quality, and variety. A special feature of this first show was that professional gardeners (and there were a goodly number of first-class hands) abstained from entering into competition, leaving the contest altogether to amateurs. The appreciation by the general public of this useful institution was shown by the fact that over 400 visitors paid for admission during the afternoon. The number of competitors was 11, and exhibitors 24. Grapes, peaches, melons, pears, apples, gooseberries, vegetables, native ferns, besides flowers in bloom, cut and in pots, in collections and in devices, were staged in splendid order. A second show, held on the Queen's Birthday was equally successful, speaking volumes in favour of the quality of the soil and the mildness of the climate; the depth of winter presenting but few checks to vegetation. The schoolroom was found far too small for the exhibits and visitors, and it was resolved to apply for a piece of the Botanic Garden reserve for the use of the society, on which by erecting a large tent, or some other device, to make a place suitable for the exhibition, whereby a very desirable impetus would be given to the operations of the society.
In both the following years this society continued in active existence, holding their public shows and more private meetings, at which specimens of native and introduced plants were exhibited and their merits discussed, and useful horticultural knowledge disseminated. A very large amount of enthusiasm existed, and it was all needed, because the attention of people was more
