ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 347 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 



PROF. W. M. HAYS, ST. ANTHONY PARK. 

 (Written from London, England, in July, 1899.) 



The Royal Horticultural Society of England, being: very old and 

 most favorably located, is very strong. There are now about five 

 thousand members. These pay in membership fees and in special 

 funds about $30,000, or $6.00 apiece yearly; something like $15,000 more 

 is realized as receipts at their shows, making an annual income of 

 $45,000. 



Amateur science is a great fad in England. Many wealthy men 

 take up science for science's sake and make much out of it. Numer- 

 ous men of comparatively small incomes also make a specialty of 

 some line. Preachers, bankers, merchants and even prominent 

 brewers have their specialties, in which they have gained more or 

 less of eminence. Many of these men have been interested in botany, 

 entomology or some other line associated with horticulture, and 

 they naturally sought the congenial atmosphere of the horticul- 

 tural society and of the various gardener's clubs, which abound in 

 England. While these scientific men form a very interesting group 

 of the membership, the society is made up largely of growers of 

 flowers, fruits and vegetables. 



There are not so many professional scientists in England as 

 one would expect to find, especially in the sciences related 

 to industries. Private enterprise having assumed to develop, 

 direct and control things scientific, parliament and the lesser legis- 

 lative distributors of the moneys accruing from public taxation 

 have not undertaken to build up great governmental schools, ex- 

 periment stations and scientific laboratories. We, coming after 

 them and seeing the great need of scientific development, have 

 begun to push these institutions with public moneys. While our 

 people are still in the stage of hastily getting riches, and individ- 

 uals are not ready to take up all the burdens of higher education 

 and of research, our states' taking hold of these affairs has tended 

 to curb private enterprise. I wish we might do more to encourage 

 amateur scientific research of a high class. Numbers of these 

 English amateurs have done wonders in making new flowers. What 

 could some of our bright young business men or professional men 

 do to make their spare moments pleasant and of use, better than to 

 work up something useful? The country homes of these wealthy 

 amateur scientists are places of joy to the visitor. 



We have much to learn from English life. They live more. They 

 are not in such haste to leave the country for the city. I trust that 

 the entrance of girls into our superb agricultural high school is a 

 most important step looking towards better living in our farm 

 homes. 



Besides holding meetings and shows, the Royal Horticultural 

 Society issues many reports and does much to promote the work of 

 horticultural scientists. It has trial grounds where new things are 

 tested, and if found of superior merit given certificates. Certificates 

 and prizes are awarded at the shows also. Horticultural schools 



