Febrnary 22, 1K7 ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



133 



solntion of Giehnrst componnd of the nsnal Etrengtb, and 

 with, I am happy to Bay, the best result, for none of those bo 

 treated show any tign of the blight, nor are they now any 

 worse for the remedy. 



I am afraid this pest is likely to be a sonrce of annoyance to 

 Anricnla growers, as I hear of it in more than one collection, 

 and I know of one grower who, having jnst detected it, is 

 treating his plants with Gisburst. I have also heard of it 

 among CamelJias and Yines. Have any other of your readers ? 

 — W.,tS., York. 



KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETT. 



Mant letters have been written and suggestions made for 

 the better government of this Society. Some of the letters 

 have been temperate, others intemperate. Some writers have 

 arrived at " lame and impotent conclusions," and others have 

 advocated a destructive policy. In fact it is only by a stretch 

 of charity that we can believe that all who have endeavoured 

 to " assist " it are really desirous of seeing the " old Society " 

 prosper. Some of the letters, if one is to be curious enough 

 -to read between the lines, almost reveal a fear lest after all the 

 patient should recover ; but these are only a few and are not 

 worthy of discussioa, the majority having evidently been 

 .prompted by good intentions. 



Probably no one has worked harder and with a better motive 

 thin Mr. G. F. Wilson, but, so far at least, the results have 

 be5n "impotent" indeed and extremely disappointing. Who 

 are there in tbe horticultural world who have read the many 

 " encouraging " letters which have appeared in the press, who 

 were not struck with amazement on reading the speech of Mr. 

 H. J. Yeitch as delivered at the meeting of the l:Uh inst. ? 



More than half of the horticultural world had begun, as it 

 were, to acquiesce in the destructive policy on the faith of 

 the tacit understanding that four thousand or five thousand 

 " would-be guinea Follows " were ready to hoist " the flag of 

 freedom " and march in dignity to the goal of glory ; but when 

 these four thousand or five thousand dwindle down, ai Mr. 

 Teitch showed, to 373, and one-third of them are already 

 Fellows of the Society, " what a miserable falling-off is here." 

 I regret this exceedingly, for the best of all reasons— that I 

 was a believer in the guinea scheme. I do not hesitate to say 

 that I am deceived and almost humiliated. Mr. Veitch has 

 brought me from the clouds to my humbl>i level on mother 

 earth, and I will not again listen to exclamations about '■ dig- 

 nity " until I know that there is meaning and money attached 

 to it. 



I have again read Mr. Wilson's appeal and still think it good 

 in principle ; but after the tone of the meeting on Tuesday 

 last, and the apparent utter inadequacy of the expected guinea 

 response, I think the appeal would be greatly improved by 

 taking oat of it one sentence in parenthesis, yet very important 

 —namely, " that the guinea fellowsbipa do not come into force 

 until the SDciety is free from K-nsington." After having con- 

 sidered the matter in conjunction with the various statements 

 and expressions of opinion which have come before the public, 

 I think the removal of that condition would enable Mr. Wilson 

 to do more substantial good to the Society which he desires 

 to see prosperous than he can possibly do by its retention. 

 Mr. Wilson has more than once expressed his confidence in 

 the present Council, and has discountenanced by anticipation 

 any change ; he knows also that it is imnossible for them (how- 

 ever strong their desire might be to do so) to leave Kensington 

 for a considerable time. It savours, therefore, somewhat of 

 a dog-in-themanger policy to be able to render aid and yet 

 withhold it, at the same time that such aid cannot be effec- 

 tively applied in another manner. That the Council also enjoys 

 the confidence of the horticulturists is abundantly evident, or 

 they (the Council) would not have the liberal and gratuitous sup- 

 port which has been so spontaneously rendered by all the leading 

 metropolitan nurserymen. The Council are evidently a body 

 of trusted ofiicials ready and anxious to promote the interests 

 of horticulture to the utmost of their power. Then why re- 

 strict any sources of aid ? L'jt the guineas come in as fast as 

 they will from the country horticulturists ; and as the Council 

 have clearly expressed that " the manner in which the Ken- 

 sington garden? are kept depends on the subscriptions of the 

 Kensmgtoniang," there is no fear that the country guineas 

 will be spent in mere town parade. 



The Council, too, it appears, are willing to accept guinea 

 Fellows, admitting each to the full privileges of the Society 

 «icept voting, and some, in fact, I think have already joined. 



I fully expected that some opposition would have been ex- 

 pressed at the meeting on the voting question as restricted by 

 the Council, but so far as I can learn not one voice was heard 

 against the Council's decision, although the meeting was 

 largely composed of horticulturists, and included the editors 

 of the gardening journals, and even also Mr. G. F. Wilson. 

 Not one word in opposition to the official views was heard, but 

 there was a really unanimous approval — the approval of silence. 

 And after all what does the voting of guinea subscribers amount 

 to? A long journey to vote on a matter which not one in ten 

 would care to vote about, or at least would not incur the 

 expense of the " privilege." I am sure I should not, and I 

 am as willing to pay my guinea as a countryman without 

 having a vote as in possessing that which I should not incur 

 the trouble or expense of exercising. 



So long as there is a distinction in Fellows' contributions so 

 long must there be a distinction of privileges. It is so in all 

 societies, and if the privileges are to be equal so also must be 

 the contributions. If guinea Fellows, or whatever they are 

 called, have a right to every privilege of the Society, everyone 

 must command the right of being a guinea Fellow. 



The Council are engaged in an onerous and thankless task; 

 and what is their object ? The establishing of the Society and 

 the advancement of horticulture. What is their reward? The 

 hpped-for aid of all who are as anxious as they are. Country 

 guineas alone cannot save the Soeif ty. Country people have 

 local societies to support, and only a small proportion will 

 render aid to a national society also ; but why should they be 

 unable to do so on account of arbitrary restrictions? As an 

 earnest of the Council to extend the infiuence of the Society, 

 their last effort to incorporate local societies, giving them pri- 

 vileges and granting them medals, etc., affords ample proof. 

 I ask that the unmerited distrust may cease, and that aid from 

 all sources — local and general — be permitted to come in, for 

 according to those who are best able to ju.lge it is only by such 

 united aid that the Eoyal Horticultural Society can flourish. 

 — A Guinea Man. 



The following letter has been sent to the Pall Mall Gazette 

 by Sir Charles W. Stri';kland, Bart. : — 



" Sir,— I am sorry to see thut such a paper as the Pall Mall 

 Gazette should advocate the breaking up of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, because it has unfortunately made the blunder 

 of becoming a partner with the Commissioners iu the making 

 and management of the gardens at South Kensington. In 

 the article :u jour number for last Thursday it seems to be 

 assumed that the Society exists wholly, or at least chiefly, for 

 the maint-nance of this miserable tea garden. The writer of 

 that article appears to ba wholly uaawjre that the Society 

 still does a good deal of valuable work in its proper sphere — 

 that is, in the promotion of horticulture, and that if it could 

 get rid of South Kensington, or could entirely separate the 

 South Kensington account and its management from that of 

 the Horticultural Society proper, it soon would do much more 

 of its own work, and that it is for the sake of this work that 

 I and many more of the older members of the Society continue 

 to belong to it. I have invested four guineas a-year for many 

 years in the Society, and consider that I have a vested interest 

 in it, and that it would be an act of injustice and robbery to 

 break up the Society. And let no one delude themselves with 

 the idea that they could set up a now Horticultural Society in 

 the place of the old one. If 1 were to see all that I have spent 

 upon the Horticultural Society thrown away, do you suppose 

 that I should be such a fool as to begin over again and invest 

 in a new Society ? and I have no doubt that a large part of 

 the members of the Society would feel and act as I should do." 



CELERY CULTURE. 



Yery soon preparations must be made for a supply of Celery 

 for next autumn and winter. Celery is seldom wanted before 

 October or November, and the beginning of March is a very 

 good time for sowing the seed. If want.d earlier than the 

 period named, of course the seed must be sown earlier ; but it 

 should be remembered that the plant is really a biennial, and 

 would under natural conditions flower the second year, but 

 under a course of artificial treatment it is started into growth 

 mnoh earlier than would be the case in La'ure, and when this 

 happens it has a tendency, like many other biennials, to 

 flower the same season. 



The seed shonld be Eown thinly in pans or boxes and placed 

 in gentle beat, and as soon as the phnts appear they should 



