THE FLORIST. 



To take prominent places and obtain first class certificates in 

 such a prolific season for good flowers as 1855 has been, 

 testifies greatly in favour of the two varieties we have now 

 figured. 



HORllCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The late proceedings of this Society, in reference to its circular, and 

 subsequent sale of plants, have given rise to rumours, \vhich are rife 

 everywhere, that the Council intend to break up the Society. It is 

 therefore our duty to bring the subject forward, with the view of 

 eliciting some opinion from those of our readers who may be Fellows, 

 on the present critical position of the Society, and, if possible, to avert 

 so disastrous an end to this excellent institution. 



That the Society has been declining in public estimation for several 

 years past has been painfully evident to all who have watched its 

 course and are interested in the pursuits of horticulture ; and yet, on 

 looking at the state of that science in the British empiie generally, never 

 at any former period has it been so flourishing, or attained a posi- 

 tion to enable it more to support an institution calculated to assist 

 materially in developing the practical principles of horticulture, and, by 

 experiment and research, of showing the theory on which those prin- 

 ciples are founded. We think we are right in asserting that, as the 

 interest felt in all matters relating to gardening has never been stronger 

 than at the present time, a proportionate encouragement would have 

 been given to this Society, had not some cause existed which has pre- 

 vented that cordial co-operation of the horticultural body which in all 

 societies is necessary for successfully carrying out specific objects. We 

 may here notice the success which has attended the Koyal Agricultural 

 and other societies founded for the promotion of objects similar to those 

 of the Horticultural Society, as well as to the numerous local horticul- 

 tural societies which on the whole are well supported throughout the 

 country ; and yet, in the case of the London Horticultural Society, 

 commenced under the most favourable circumstances, and supported for 

 many years by all the rank and influence of the country, and professing 

 to carry out objects second to none in importance, whether regarded as 

 adding to the resources of the soil or furnishing examples of horticul- 

 tural skill, actually failing in the midst of ad\ antages such as never 

 presented themselves so favourably before. 



_We of course do not believe that any apathy exists in the public 

 mind in regard to tlie Horticultural Society as an institution ; on the 

 contrary, we believe that it would receive the cordial and energetic 

 support of every admirer of a garden, if the principles and objects of 

 the Society had been fairly carried out ; and we are therefore com- 

 pelled to look to the ruling body, as being partly, if not wholly, the 

 cause why this has not been done. It is no part of our present intention 

 to point out how, step by step, these fundamental principles of the 

 Society have been sufiered to become obsolete ; nor yet to give an 



