March 2, 1876. 1 



JOUBNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



177 



geBtions made to them. What thoy hail to do was to attract 

 Fellows back again, and act with unanimity amongst themselves. 

 They must leave it to the Council to arrange the shows and 

 entertainments which would be attractive to horticulturists. 

 That, he contended, was the duty ol the Council, and not of 

 the Fellows, and he had no doubt it would be honestly and 

 properly discharged [hear, hear]. He thought the noble lord 

 in the chair came in a minute or two late to hear the most 

 gratifying statement ever made in that room. It was one suffi- 

 cient in its results to take the Society out of its pecuniary 

 difficulties, and, if they had no pecuniary difficulties, whatever 

 others they might have to contend with, they were to receive 

 that magnificent sum of money, for which ample security would 

 be given to tbo gentleman who had made this splendid offer of 

 assistance to the Society, and who deserved their warmest and 

 most sincere thanks [cheersj. He hoped the Council would not 

 hesitate to receive tnat money, and not entail the necessity of 

 having an adjourned meeting convened to consider the propriety 

 of accepting the offer or not. Ho thought they must assume 

 that, acting as they were on their own responsibility, they ought 

 to be satisfied with the noble offer made them, and honourably 

 and honestly accept the loan [hear, hear]. He hoped there 

 would be no further adjournment of the meeting, and that the 

 propositions placed by the Council before the meeting would 

 be agreed to [hear, hear]. 



Mr. West begged to offer a suggestion, which was, that they 

 should establish a band fund, and ask their friends to contribute 

 to it. 



Mr. Richard Redgkave expressed his opinion that the pro- 

 positions of the Council regulating the privileges of the Fellows 

 were far more liberal than they could have hoped for [applause]. 



The Pkesldest. — I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that 

 nothing but an overwhelming necessity could have prevented 

 me being here at the commencement of the proceedings. It 

 would, I can assure you, have been very pleasing to me to have 

 been present at the first ebullition of unanimity which the Society 

 has experienced for some time past [hear, hear], and which I 

 have, I think, well-founded hope will characterise its proceed- 

 ings in the future [hear, hear]. On the last occasion of our 

 meeting in this room I made as strong an appeal as I could to 

 the members of the Society to meet us with something like a 

 unanimous feeling. I wished to keep before the Society the 

 recollection of this fact, that ever since the dissensions three 

 years ago the Society has been going down, and that the first 

 step towards a better state of things is unanimity [applause]. 

 Well, the Council have issued new or amended rules ; but do 

 not suppose for one moment the Council think these rules con- 

 stitute a self-acting machinery. They hope these rules will 

 bring into the Society many who are holding back from it ; that 

 they will bring to us some persons who can help us in the 

 restoration or the raising of the necessary funds ; and that must 

 be done by a great deal of exertion on the part of the Couucil, 

 and by other persons interested in the prosperity of the Society, 

 taking the steps necessary in the case, and adopting those 

 measures which are likely to bring about the end we all have in 

 view — to place the Society on a sure and solid basis. I have no 

 doubt among those measures there will be an active canvass in 

 this district. I unite agree with the suggestion that a statement 

 of the affairs and prospects of the Society, carefully prepared, 

 should be issued ; and that there should be personal exertions 

 made in the district, which could be divided into sub-districts, 

 trusting the work to gentlemen who will kindly give us their 

 time and take the trouble to canvass those who are in a position 

 to assist us [hear, hear]. I anticipate a resolution with respect 

 to the funds which Mr. Bowring says Mr. Freake has so kindly 

 and so generously promised to place at our disposal. An observa- 

 tion was made by a Fellow as to our giving ample security for 

 that munificent loan. Well, really the Society can give no secu- 

 rity ; but the Royal Commissioners have offered to go security 

 [cries of "hear"] for the payment, not of the interest, but of 

 the capital [applause], at the end of three years, in order to put 

 the gardens and the whole concern into what may be called a 

 healthy and attractive condition [cheers]. We have first of 

 all to pay our debts, then to put our conservatories, &c., into a 

 proper condition, in order to enable people to see that they get 

 the value of their money. Let it not be supposed all this money 

 is to be laid out here, because we are bound to take into our 

 most careful and serious consideration the question of what can 

 be done for the extension and improvement of horticalture 

 [loud cheers]. Various suggestions have been made as to how 

 we can best gain an accession of members to the Society, and 

 that made by Mr. Wilson is especially worthy of attention, 

 because the machinery for making members throughout the 

 country is a still more difficult matter than that of making them 

 in the metropolis. We have made, we think, a considerable 

 concession in proposing to issue non-transferable tickets at half 

 a guinea per annum, admitting to all shows, scientific meetings, 

 and lectures of the Society (but not to promenades nor on re- 

 served occasions), and to the Chiswick Gardens on week days 

 to bona fide gardeners recommended by two Fellows. That I 



consider is a considerable concession [hear, hear]. If we see 

 our way to enlarging our constituents without unduly affecting 

 the receipts we expect to get we shall be very glad to do so; 

 but, at the same time, it is not a very easy thing to draw up 

 a distinction between these and the class of subscribers Mr. 

 Wilson speaks of. I can assure the meeting I am delighted we 

 have at last met harmoniously ; and I believe when it is known 

 we are acting harmoniously, not only will we get the interest of 

 Mr. Freake'a money, but the Society, which for some time past 

 has not been spoken of with anything like respect, wiU recover 

 its high position [cheers]. We have been fouling our own 

 nests — that is the fact, and no wonder people take us at our 

 own words [hear, hear]. If we speak injuriously and con- 

 temptuously of the Society it is no wonder that this should be 

 the case [hear, hear]. However, we are on the verge of better 

 things, and I am truly delighted that these rules— these regula- 

 tions as to the privileges of Fellows, for which we are so indebted 

 to Dr. Pinches — meet with your approval [applause]. We are 

 also equally grateful to Dr. Pinches for the readiness with 

 which ho has given ua valuable suggestions, and it is impossible 

 for me to sit down without expressing my thauks to him 

 [cheers]. I will now put ic to you that these rules be accepted; 

 but I don't know if Mr. Hibberd perseveres with his motion. 



Mr. Shirley Hibbekd said that after the able and exhaustive 

 statement of the noble Chairman, and on account of the happy 

 unanimity which prevailed in the meeting, he should gladly 

 withdraw his motion [hear, hear]. 



The motion for the adoption of the "Amended Summary of 

 Privileges of Fellows for the year 1870 " was then put and 

 carried with one dissentient, in the person of Mr. Godson, sen., 

 who attempted to explain why he had voted against the motion, 

 but whose remarks were inaudible. 



The announcement by the President that the motion was 

 carried was received with loud cheers. 



On the motion of Dr. Pinches, seconded by acclamation, a 

 hearty vote of thanks to the President and Council was passed, 

 and then the meeting broke up. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Seed-sowing. — Doubtless one of the most important prelimi- 

 nary operations before committing seeds to the ground is the 

 proper preparation of the soil. Many seeds often fail to germi- 

 nate, or if they do germinate the plants refuse to thrive, through 

 the want of this precaution ; and how vexatious it is to have to 

 sow over and over again, and how difficult it is to keep up a 

 proper succession of anything when this is the case. See the 

 pains that is bestowed upon the working-up of a soil for small 

 and delicate seeds of many choice flowers, and the relative appli- 

 cation of heat and moisture to induce them to vegetate. Out- 

 doors we cannot apply artificially this necessary assistance, there- 

 fore I think it is the more necessary that the soil should be well 

 prepared. Villa gardeners would do well to study this more 

 than they do, and as a first step pay particular attention to the 

 drainage of the soil. 



The nature of the soil and the locality, whether naturally 

 porous or not, will govern the expense of draining ; but as 

 gardeners, whether amateur or professional, should use a good 

 deal of water for their growing crops, the matter of draining is 

 certainly important. Wherever draining is done, let it be so 

 systematic that outlets be provided in proper places so that the 

 pipes can freely empty themselves. We know what care is 

 taken in this particular matter by gardeners for their Vine and 

 other fruit borders in glass houses, and the advantages are well 

 known. A well-drained soil is warmer than an undraiued one, so 

 that such a soil would sooner become warmer in spring — a great 

 advantage for early-sown seeds. 



The next thing is the proper working-np of the soil. There 

 is a plan which many of our cottagers practise, but which 

 cannot be recommended, and that is not to dig-up the ground 

 till the time comes to sow the seed. It is much preferable to 

 make the soil permeable by digging and trenching in the winter 

 months, and then it would be found that at seed-sowing time the 

 soil would work down finely, and be in a proper condition to 

 receive the seeds. It sometimes happens that a stiff soil after 

 this treatment is not easily worked-down by the rake. Soils of 

 this nature should be improved by an addition of lighter soils 

 at every opportunity, especially at the time of working the 

 ground down for sowing. A little addition of lighter mould 

 would assist the seed to vegetate. 



Always choose a drying day if possible for seed-sowing, and 

 work the soil down as finely as is called for by the size of the seed. 

 For instance, the strong vegetating power of Peas does not 

 require such a finely worked.soil as that of Carrots or Lettuces. 

 A seed absorbs moisture before it can germinate ; and take it as 

 a rule, the smaller the seed the finer the soil should be, in order 

 that it may the better perform its functions through being 

 placed in closer contact with it. 



Next we come to the depth at which seeds should be sown. 

 In this matter many are likely to fall into error. If seeds are 



