Fobrnary 11, 18C9. J 



JODBNAL OP HORTIOULTURR AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



09 



hail only a deficit aniountiDg to i'lOOO. And if Mr. (iodaon in a 

 spirit of fairness had lookud at the receipt side of tho accoont, ho 

 would SCO that thu amount of annual subsi'iiptiona was £701)1) and 

 rather more, while in former years, if he referred to tho statement of 

 accoants, he would find it had been rather over £8000 [ hear, hear ]. 

 That fully acronntod for tho deficit of £1000; and ho (the speaker!, 

 could only point uut to the meeting that if the Society had been as 

 Inchy last yar as tbey had been in previous years, they would be out 

 of debt, a Btato of things which most certainly did not exist when Mr, 

 Godson waB on tho Council [hear]. But even if tho Council had not 

 stated tho actual condition of thinpg, were tliey to be ao blamed an 

 tlioy had been V It might well ho that the Council did not wish to tell 

 tho public that tho Society was altogether in snch a bad state, when in 

 reality it was not so bad as Mr. Godson seemed to desire to make out. 

 But ho (tho siieaktr). malutained that tlic Council had stated the 

 facts truly — "" that tiltlion^'h the Society still sniTors from tho effects of 

 the coramercinl calamities of iSGti," yet that they only regarded that 

 *' depression as tempnrai-j-." That tho Council had stated iu theii* 

 Report, and what could they do more '.' [hear, liear]. 



Mr. GoDsox wished to say one word in explanation. When ho 

 sent in his resignation as a member of the Council, there was tho 

 sum of £10,000, which went like chaff before the wind. 



Mr. KiNTs'EAU called the attention of the Council to tho difference 

 of pi'ivileges which the two-guinea snbBcribors enjoyed as compared 

 with tho four-guinea subscribers, the latter having two transferable 

 tickets, whilst the former had one ticket not transferable. He thought 

 that if the two-guinea tickets were made transferable, considerable 

 benefit would accrue to the Society. He knew a great many who 

 would subscribe, and would bring in others if the privileges were ex- 

 tended. He hoped the Council would give the matter their best con- 

 sideration. 



Mr. G. F. WiLSOX, F.R.S., said in reply to the gentleman who 

 had just spoken, that the subject had been several times before the 

 Conucil, and they had given it their very best and most careful con- 

 sideration. As far as the Council could ascertain there was no doubt 

 that any alteration of the existing rules as to the privileges would 

 cause the loss of a gi-eat many four-guinea flubseribers, who would pay 

 the two guineas only if the privileges were made so nearly equal, and 

 that loss of subscribers the Society could not at present afford. 



Mr. KiN'NEAR could only say that he knew they lost a great many 

 two-guinea subscribers they would otherwise have. 



The Chaiemax said, that before he put the resolution which had 

 been moved by Mr. Dale and seconded by Mi*. Plambc, "■That the 

 Report be received and adopted," he wished to make cue or two 

 remarks. '^^'hen at the opening of the meeting he (the Chairman) 

 said, that the meeting was not so important, it was judging from 

 the paucity of the attendance, which was generally veiy much greater 

 or less according to the amount of importance attached to the subjects 

 which were likely to be discussed by the members. If the Society 

 was supposed to be in diiliculty, or in hot watei-, or schism existed, 

 then there was sure to be a very large attendance [cheers and hear, 

 Tiear]. He (Mr. Batemau), was not awai'e when he took the chaii- 

 that their friend Mr. Godson was present, and they had been favoured 

 with similar remarks from him which they were accustomed to have 

 when he came amongst them before. He had renewed on that oc- 

 casion the annual strictures which were certainly at times most ex- 

 ceedingly painful, but at the same time very useful. Many of them 

 undoubtedly had given a form to the views of the Council, and led 

 ■them into a direction which they would not otherwise have gone into. 

 The meeting over which he (Mr. Bateman), now had the honour of 

 presiding would be able to form some estimate of the sort of difficulties 

 which the Council had to contend with. On the one side their fiiend 

 Dr. Masters found fault with their Journal, and desired to have 

 that done which would involve a verj- large additional cost, because 

 one of their chief difficulties arose from the opposition their Journal 

 experienced in the skill with which Dr. Masters conducted his paper. 

 They could not pretend to have the intelligence flashed from every 

 quarter of the globe from agents scattered through the length and 

 breadth of the land. If the Society were to strive for such information 

 they would have indeed to dispense their funds with a liberal hand. 

 On the other hand, they had Mr. Godson rebuking them for a too lavish 

 expenditure. All that the Society could do was to steer an even, an 

 independent, and a prudent course. All that he (the Chairman) could 

 say, and he was entitled to say, was that the Society had made steady 

 progress, and it was only the money question which was the gi-eat 

 difficulty. The Council had not been unmindful of the interests of 

 the Fellows, and as he (tho ChaiimanI believed, the members had not 

 withheld their confidence from them. That such was the fact would 

 he found in the circumstance that the three additional members of 

 Council recommended by the Council, as proposed to be added, had 

 been elected unanimously by the General Meeting [hear, hear]. The 

 Chairman then referred to the honour conferred on the Society by 

 having the name of his Serene Highness the Prince Teck enrolled in 

 their Council, and if his Serene Highness had only half the love for 

 flowers which the illustrious lady whom he had been fortunate enough 

 to win for his wife had always shown, and the same interest in the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, it would be a glad day for them when 

 liis Serene Highness had been made one of their Council. He (the 

 Chairman) must also refer to the election of Lord Londesborough, 

 and could not avoid mentioning a small circumstance which he had 



obsorvod recorded in a newspaper. Having taken up JieU's Life., be 

 there saw Lord LoudoRhorough referred to, and they referred to the 

 growing taste tiio noble lord had exhibited for tiowors and gardening 

 regretting and fearing that one who had Ijecu fio zealous a sportspjftn 

 would soon take moru interest in his Orchids than his horses [hear]. 

 However much that miglit grieve Jhll's Lif< and tho sporting frater- 

 nity, the Horticultural Society would have reason to rejoice [hear, 

 hear]. The Chairman then put the question, and the Ileport waa 

 received and adopted unanimously. 



The Chairman next announced tho result of tho voting to be, that 

 the fdllowiug were chosen to fill the ordinary vacancies in tho Council 

 (iu the room of Right Hon. Lord Henry (iordon Lennox, M.P., Mr, 

 B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, and Mr. Sigiemund Kucker, F.L.S.) :— H.S.H. 

 The Prince Teck, Lord Londesborough, and the Rev. Joshua Dix. 



The ballot for officers resulted in the, election of the following 

 gentlemen : — President, His Grace the Duke of Buceleuch, K.G. ; 

 Treasurer, Mr. John Glutton; Secretary, Tiicut.-Col. Scott, R.K. ; 

 Expenses Committee-men, Mr. John Glutton, Lieut. -Col. Scott, R.E., 

 and Mr. Henry Cole, C.B. ; Auditors. Mr. James Nicholson, Mr. 

 John Gibson, and Mr. Robert Hudson, F.K.S. 



The Chairman thon announced that the next meeting would be one 

 of the usual Tuesday meetings, and held on Tuesday next, the 16th 

 instant. 



Mr. Wilson said that before the meeting separated he wished to be 

 allowed to state to those Fellows who were interested in fruit-growing, 

 especially in pots, that an orchard house had been erected at Chiswick, 

 and it was not generally known that access co-ild be had, by one of the 

 new lines of railway Irom Kensington, to a station within ten minutes' 

 walk of the gardens. 



Mr. Edgar Bowhikg, M.P., then proposed a vote of thanks to the 

 Chairman, and congratulated the Council on tho position of the 

 Society. 



Mr. J. B. Redm.\n seconded the vote, which was unanimously 

 carried. 



The Cii.aRMAN in returning thanks expressed his gratification at the 

 kindness and appreciative feeling of the meeting. 



Report OF the Council to the General Meeting. 



1. The action of the Society during the past year has been gradn- 

 ally settling into the course which greater knowledge and experience 

 have shown it advisable to follow. Like their predecessors, the present 

 Council have felt that there were two prominent objects whicli it was 

 essential that they should keep steadily iu view. 1, The advancement 

 of the science of horticulture; and 2, The improvement of the 

 practical gardener. 



*2. For the improvement of the gardener, they have, as the Fellowa 

 are aware, established a course of practical tcachiag at Chiswick, 

 where, iu addition to the ordinary and higher branches of gardening, 

 the students or pupils are instructed in the elements of drawing, land, 

 surveying, and chemistry. In conjunction with the Society of Arts, 

 the Council have also instituted examinations for gardeners in botany 

 and horticulture, of the results of which they are happy to be able to 

 report favourably. The certificates gained at these examinations are 

 highly prized, and are eagerly contested for by gardeners from the 

 best establishments in the country, including the Royal Gardens at 

 ICew ; and it is gratifying to the Council to observe that the students 

 iu the garden at Chiswick have generally taken a creditable position 

 in these examinations. 



3. The advancement of horticultural science, although stillmore- 

 important, is a less tangible object. The best means which exist for 

 the purpose, and are available to tho Society, seem to bo the encour- 

 agement of free intercommunication of ideas between men interested 

 iu horticulture or in kindred subjects. Hitherto the efforts of the 

 Society in this direction have been chiefly limited to facilitating such 

 communication between those who are specially devoted to horticul- 

 ture. Fellows know that with this object the Fruit and Floral Com- 

 mittees have been established, Chiswick Directors, and a Botanical 

 Adviser appointed, and the Tuesday meetings with lecturettea held ; 

 and by these means a great amount of scientific horticultural work ia 

 done, and much useful information disseminated. It appeared to the 

 Council that a committee of a more mixed character might possibly 

 be of service to the other committees, and to horticulturists generally 

 — by eliciting information and suggestions from men who, with & 

 common love of plants, were yet more specially devoted to some oth,er 

 branch of science which had either a direct or indirect bearing on 

 horticulture. \Yith this view they organised a Committee consisting 

 of men of science generally, and "they have to report with satisfaction 

 that many men of the highest scientific eminence attend its meetings. 

 The Society has thus now, in addition to the special Horticultural 

 Committees and Staff, a Scientific Committee, in which systematic 

 botany, vegetable physiology, agriculture, chemistry, geology, meteor- 

 ology, and entomology are ably represented. ... 



4. This Scientific Committee sits on the same days as the Fruit anJ 

 Floral Committees; and, besides giving advice or opinions upon sub- 

 jects referred to it by them, it has discussed a number of important 

 questions, and suggested experiments for the elucidation of various 

 difficulties experienced by practical men. These experiments are now 

 in course of being carrie'd out at Chiswick, and it is anticipated that 

 the Fellows wUl find interest in obaerving their progress. They relate 



