17G 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ Maroh 2, 1S76. 



question of FcieDce afc all, it was a question of money [hear, 

 and langhter]. Unless they could raise their income to i;iO,000 

 annually in three years' time the name of the gardens — horti- 

 cultural science and all, would be gone [cries of " never " and 

 some laughter]. Well, perhaps they would let him turn for a 

 moment to the privilepes which they either must pass or must 

 liquidate like any bankrupt society, and have their property 

 Bold, their iiowers sold, and their name destroyed. A great 

 deal had been spoken about the Royal Commissioners. He was 

 not himself a Commissioner, but they were told the Commis- 

 sioners bad not done this or done that, but the Commissioners 

 had given their ultimatum. The Commissioners were a public 

 body who would not sacrifice their property unless for the pur- 

 poses of advancement of Fcience and art. It could not be 

 tolerated that scientific horticulture was to be abandoned [cries 

 of "hear"]. The two must go together or cease to exist. Well, 

 what was the ultimatum of the Commissioners ? It was that 

 the Society was to raise its income to ^10,000 a-year. Why was 

 that? Because without that amount of income the gardens 

 must be given up. The fact was the Society was on the very 

 verge of ruin— on the very verge of bankruptcy [cries of "no" 

 and a voice " hear "]. They wanted to raise .£10,000 a-year, and 

 they wanted everybody to endeavour to persuade his friends to 

 help them in their very great and very palpable difficulties. 

 He must say that the Society, or at least the Council, might 

 have expressed an opinion that it was not intended by these 

 new regulations that people should give their next-door neigh- 

 bours tickets of admission to the gardens. 

 A Fellow. — Oh, not at all [hear, hear]. 



Sir Henry Teking. — Well, then there ought to be an honour- 

 able understanding that these tickets will be given only to those 

 people who cannot afford to pay for admission to the gardens 

 [oh, and symptoms of impatience] . In conclusion of his address, 

 which was listened to with manifest signs of disapprobation and 

 impatience, Sir Henry Thring said that if anjthing fatal hap- 

 pened to the gardens the splendid property of the neighbourhood 

 of South Kensington would be seriously damaged [hear, hear]. 



Mr. Shirley HrBEERD said the country Fellows of the Society 

 would undoubtedly be glad — in fact delighted, to hear that there 

 was at last a prospect of peace being restored [hear, and oh!] 

 — yes, restored to the Eoyal Horticultural Society [hear, and 

 cheers]. It was only with the case of the London Fellows that 

 any difference might be expected. It would be as well that they 

 should be all ready to join together, heart and hand, for the 

 benefit of the Society ; but it would be as well to know the con- 

 ditions or the considerations out of which the troubles arose, 

 and which brought about the amended summary of the privi- 

 leges for Fellows for the year 1876. 



Mr. Henby Liggins. — Bygones ought to be bygones [loud 

 cheers]. 



Mr. Shirley HiBBEHD. — I think so too [laughter]. He went 

 on to say, that while he should not criticise this amended sum- 

 mary, he would say that on the 9th of December when the 

 question of these privileges was discussed at some length — indeed 

 at very considerable length — not one of the country Fellows 

 offered any opinion upon it, and he was really very glad that the 

 ease was the same to-day. He had his own doubts as to the 

 policy of the paragraph lettered C, but the proper course was to 

 booe for the best and to let things take their course [hear]. 

 The members of that district might be sure of this, that the 

 country Fellows would sooner see this made a most beautiful 

 town garden, and that they would not object to the expenditure 

 of money upon it, than to have it in its present condition. As 

 far as he was concerned he should like to have the gardens so 

 beautiful and so well managed that the inhabitants of that very 

 district in which tbey then stood would feel themselves degraded 

 if they were shut out of them. He was prepared to provide 



Bome portion of money for that purpose and to 



A Fellow. — How mnch money ? [laughter.] 

 Mr. Shirley Hieberd, not taking the slightest notice of the 

 query addressed to him, went on to say that it would never do 

 lor that meeting to be allowed to separate, and to allow the 

 whole affairs of the Society to be ruled by the fortuitous arrange- 

 ment of circumstances, which might, and would probably, bring 

 about the result that next February they would find at the 

 annual meeting of the Society the condition of the latter mnch 

 worse than it was at present, and that perchance the Society 

 had disappeared altogether in the interval [cheers and laughter]. 

 He thought it was most decidedly necessary that tbey should all 

 meet shortly and hear something like a report from the Council 

 as to the manner in which this amended summary of privileges 

 had been received in that very district of Kensington [cries of 

 " no, no "]. Time was an element of the utmost importance to 

 bring the affairs of the Society to rights. If the Society lived 

 six months it would be a perfect miracle [laughter]. However, 

 let them hope that the Fellows would largely increase in number 

 through the action of what was now prutty well known amongst 

 the Fellows as the " Amended Summary of Privileges of Fellows 

 for the year 1876" [a laugh]. If they all met in two months 

 from the present time, and the Council told them that the 



number of Fellows of the Society had considerably increased, 

 then indeed they might entertain every hope that their income 

 would be augmented to the extent of £10,000 per annum [a 

 voice " hear "] ; but in the meantime they had an arrangement 

 to make with Her Majesty's Commissioners, they had also before 

 them the proposals for negotiations for a loan, and he was fully 

 persuaded that under present circumstances it would be prema- 

 ture for the Council to complete any arrangement with Her 

 Majesty's Commissioners, and that it would also be unwise to 

 negotiate a loan, or if such negotiation were on foot to bring it to 

 a completion. He confidently contended this, that the Society 

 ought not to increase its debts to the extent of one fartbing 

 [hear, hear J. Let them see what it was best and most judicious 

 for them to do. It would be most unjust, it would be most in- 

 decent, for them to borrow money at the present time from any 

 one who was willing to lend it ['* no," and murmurs of disap- 

 probation]. Well, he was of that opinion, and he should there- 

 fore move a resolution to this effect : — " That the Council of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society do report proci/edings to a special 

 general meeting to be held on Tuesday, the 25th, and that they 

 be instructed not in the meantime to complete arrangements 

 with Her Majesty's Commissioners, or to obtain a negotiation 

 for a loan of money " [loud cries of " no," and some interrup- 

 tion]. The object he had in view was that the Council should 

 call the members of the Society together at a certain time, so 

 that it could be decided whether they should be allowed to pro- 

 ceed as they proposed to do at the present moment [no, no]. 

 Well, but they knew the present moment was a dangerous time, 

 and that tbey were placed in very extraordinary and exceptional 

 difficulties. They had very little money in the bank, and in 

 two months hence there might be placed before them some 

 reasonable proposals which all of them could accept. 



The President. — That should be the matter of a separate 

 resolution. We are here to-day to decide upon — to consider the 

 Report agreed upon by the Committee and the Council with re- 

 spect to the privileges cf the Fellows of the Society. If there is 

 a common expression of a wish — if there is a desire — that the 

 propositions of the Council should be considered some months 

 hence I shall have to say something to that hereafter. I do not 

 kno\\" whether the adoption of the propositions of the Council 

 of the Society has been yet proposed. 



Dr. Pinches.— I have very great pleasure in moving that they 

 be adopted [cheers]. 



The President. — Dr. Pinches has moved the adoption of the 

 propositions with respect to the privileges of the Fellows for 

 the year 1876. 



Mr. Edg.\r Bowbino, C.B., was understood to second the 

 resolution. 



Mr. Wilson said he wished to say a word with respect to the 

 concessions which had been made by the Council. There was 

 a very great feeling in the country with respect to the fact that 

 a very large body of horticultural Fellows had not joined the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, but there was no doubt they would 

 join the Society if they saw they could come into it on the 

 former terms banging on to their subscriptions. If they could 

 come in for a guinea subscription as pure horticulturists they 

 would come. If they could canvass for members of the Society 

 when going through the country, he believed they would get a 

 larger number of members than they could get in the immediate 

 neighbourhood in which the gardens were situated. They were 

 very hard-up now, it was a matter he had thought over a great 

 deal, and he was of opinion that by getting a considerable 

 accession of country members they might largely recover the 

 position they had lost [hear, hear]. 



Sir Peter Pole remarked that discussions having taken 

 place there in public as to their Society having broken down, a 

 slur had been cast upon the Society in certain quarters. He 

 had supported the Society all through its difBcnlties, and bis 

 reason for rising on that occasion was to state he considered this 

 paper — this amended summary of privileges most liberal [hear, 

 hear]. He had reason to know there were several persons who, 

 from the knowledge that they should have to surrender their 

 privileges, had withdrawn their names from the Society ; and 

 he knew five who, by reason of the liberal scale of privileges 

 now offered by the Council, would become members of the 

 Society directly [cheers]. Letters had been written to him on 

 the subject of the Society, asking him whether it would hold 

 together or not; but he did not give his opinion in that sort of 

 way, but let people judge for themselves [hear, hear]. But, 

 this he would say, that after the meeting which had taken place 

 that day he honestly and sincerely believed that, instead of 

 their Society breaking down, it would rise to what it was before 

 [applause]. 



The President wished to observe that anyone who had paid 

 under the former regulations would have returned to them so 

 much money as was in excess of the amount they had now to 

 pay [hear, hear]. 



Mr. Henry Liggins said he had listened attentively to the 

 propositions placed before the meeting, and thought they ought 

 to be very grateful to the Council for having acted upon the sug- 



