50 THE GARDENER. [Feb. 



Floral Director of the Royal Horticultural Society, the passage 

 might fairly be considered as constituting a kind of semi-official declara- 

 tion — thus stated the principle which has usually governed removals 

 from, and appointments to, the Floral Committee : " It has been 

 customary — and we think it a proper custom, to make a slight 

 change annually, so as to admit some three or four new members ; 

 and in order that this may be done without injustice or invidious- 

 ness, we believe the plan of selection has been to strike off those 

 whose attendances have been fewest during the year." On Tues- 

 day, December 21st last, the Floral Committee met for the last time in 

 18G9, and, singular to state, no list of attendances of members during 

 the year was read as had been usual ; no mention was made of striking 

 off a single name in consequence of infrequent attendance ; a few 

 nominations were made ; and the Committee broke up, wondering why 

 the customary procedure was not followed, the majority of the mem- 

 bers of that body severely censuring such a state of things as involving 

 much personal uncertainty, not called for, and certainly not assuring. 

 The letter of the Assistant-Secretary, conveying to Mr Dean the noti- 

 fication of his expulsion from the Floral Committee, made no mention 

 of the reasons for the departure from the usual custom observed at the 

 last meeting of the Floral Committee in the year; and yet, with two 

 exceptions, Mr Dean had attended the whole of the meetings of the 

 Floral Committee at South Kensington during the year, and he 

 therefore could not have been dismissed for non-attendance ; hence the 

 necessity for departing from the customary rule, which regulated dis- 

 missals from the Floral Committee. An appeal was made by Mr Dean 

 to the Chairman of the Floral Committee, in order to learn the nature 

 of the reasons assigned for his removal from that body, and by that 

 functionary he was referred to the Council. The next step was to wait 

 on Colonel Scott, the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, in 

 the hope of gaining the information sought; but Colonel Scott stated that 

 he knew nothing of the matter, not having attended the meeting of the 

 Council on the 21st of December. On the 30th of December, Colonel 

 Scott wrote as follows : — " I find that the report of the Sub- Committee 

 appointed to consider the revision of the Floral Committee list was con- 

 sidered and approved by the Council at their last meeting, at which, 

 as I told you, I was not present. Had I been present, however, I could 

 not but have concurred at once in the propriety of receiving the recom- 

 mendations of a Sub-Committee of five gentlemen, of whom three were 

 members of the Council, and one of these three the President of the 

 Floral Committee." A postscript to this communication stated that 

 " the gentlemen who go off with you are Messrs Jackman, Ivery, and 

 Veitch." Now, in regard to these three gentlemen, it may be stated 



