MAY 1. 1848. 183 



5. Some is necessarily wasted by being allowed to hang upon the trees, 

 or to remain upon the shelves of the Fruit Room, for inspection, till 

 it is unfit for sale. 



6. Some fruit is grown for the purpose of obtaining seeds for distri- 

 bution. 



7. A portion is consumed in supplying the tables of the OSiceis of the 

 Garden. 



When these deductions are made, the produce of the Garden must ne- 

 cessarily be much diminished, even in years when the crops are abundant. 



But there are other reasons why the produce is unproductive of pecuniary 

 profit : — 



1. A large number of the Fruit Trees in the Garden are unsuited to 

 the London market, and their produce, if saleable at all, can only 

 realize the lowest price — such are Cider and Perry Pears, and all 

 those varieties of fruit which are necessarily retained in the Society's 

 Collection, because, although they may not be of value in the climate 

 of London, they are important in other parts of the kingdom. 



2. From the great variety of kinds of fruit cultivated in the Garden it 

 arises that only a very small quantity of each kind is ready for sale 

 at the same time. This is not worth the attention of a salesman ; and 

 the expense of sending such small parcels to London would be greater 

 than they are worth, even if it consisted with the character of the 

 Society to enter into petty sales. 



3. The inferiority of appearance in the produce of the Garden, owing 

 to the market-garden system not being adopted, is in the case of 

 Strawberries such as to render the produce scarcely saleable at any 

 price ; so that when the labour of gathering and the cost of baskets 

 and conveyance are deducted, the net return is smaller fhan the 

 expense. For this reason the Garden Committee found it necessary, 

 several years ago, to order the market sale of Strawberries to be dis- 

 continued, and the fruit to be left to be gathered by visitors. 



These are general facts, aifecting the results of all seasons, whether past 

 or future. In the year 184G, the money-produce of which was unusually 

 small, other causes came into operation unfavourably. The peach wall 

 having been entirely replanted, no fruit whatever was obtained from it; 

 nor can it produce any for the present. The crop of fruit of all kinds near 

 Loudon was almost destroyed by the late spring frosts, and the Society's 

 garden suffered in proportion. In addition to this the fruit-room was 

 broken open by thieves on the 25th of October, 1846, when a large quantity 

 of the finest fruit was carried oflf. 



The only great remedy for the unproductiveness of the garden in money 

 is to change its whole system ; to abolish all the privileges which at present 

 exist ; to sell everything as soon as it is marketable ; to stop experiments, 

 and substitute market-garden cropping and cultivation ; and finally, to ex- 

 clude from the garden everything which is not well suited for sale. If this 

 were done, the garden of the Society might perhaps become as productive 

 of revenue as the same number of acres of land in its neighbourhood, at an 

 expenditure considerably larger than at present. 



But in the opinion of the Committee this measure would be unjust to the 

 Fellows of the Society, whose privileges would be invaded, inconsistent 

 with the purposes for which the garden was instituted, and wholly destruc- 

 tive of the reputation of the Society, if not fatal to the Charter. 



The Society was established for the improvement of horticulture in all its 

 branches ; its garden was formed and is intended for experimental purposes ; 

 the funds of the Society are subscribed in order that these purposes may be 



