LONDON HORflCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



during the week beginning September 14th. 

 The tall trophy erected in the middle of the 

 Horticultural Hall, with its several stages 

 covered with rare and beautiful flowers, was 

 a great attraction to the throngs of visitors, 

 and received abundant praise from florists 

 who had come from other parts of the coun- 

 try. One visitor stated that this was " one 

 of the most attractive departments of the 

 Western Fair this year, and the artistic ar- 

 rangement of fruit and flowers, together in 

 the Horticultural Hall was an object lesson 

 of real value." 



During the year the customary distribu- 

 tions of bulbs were made to the members of 

 the society. In the spring half a dozen of 

 Grofif's famous Gladioli and some Montbre- 

 tias were given, together with several roots 

 of a choice Oxalis, the generous gift of Mr. 

 J. A. Balkwill. In the autumn each mem- 

 ber received seven bulbs of the Paper-white 

 and twelve of the Princeps Narcissus, and 

 in addition several Daffodils, the kind gift of 

 Miss Burris. One of the plants offered as 

 premiums by the Ontario Fruit Growers' 

 Association was also given to each member, 

 together with the monthly issues of its 

 magazine, The Canadian Horticulturist. 



At the request of the directors, Mr. R. W. 

 Rennie attended as their representative a 

 meeting held in Toronto on the 13th of 

 February, for the purpose of organizing a 

 Provincial Civic Improvement Society. The 

 meeting was well attended by delegates from 

 all parts of the country, and resulted in the 

 formation of a league with an influential list 

 of officers. 



On the 28th of August a meeting was held 

 in the City Hall here for the purpose of or- 

 ganizing a local Civic Improvement Society. 

 Mayor Beck acted as chairman, and after a 

 full discussion it was decided to form the 

 society, and a committee was appointed to 

 draft a constitution and to submit a list of 

 proposed officers. At a subsequent meet- 



ing the committee accomplished the first 

 part of their task, but nothing has as yet 

 been done regarding the election of officers 

 and the actual formation of the society. 

 About fifty persons, including many ladies, 

 have entered their names as members and 

 paid their subscriptions of a dollar each for 

 the year 1904. There ought, therefore, to 

 be no difficulty in launching the society at 

 once and placing it in a position to begin ac- 

 tive operations forthwith. The Directors 

 of the London Horticultural Society are in 

 full sympathy with the movement, and many 

 of them have, already shown a warm inter- 

 est in the undertaking. They anticipate a 

 hearty co-operation on the part of all our 

 members. 



The Mayor of the city, Mr. Adam Beck, 

 repeated this year his generous gift of $100 

 to be awarded in prizes in a garden competi- 

 tion. This amount was supplemented by a 

 grant of $50 from the City Council, and the 

 judges were thus enabled to offer a larger 

 number of prizes and to" increase the variety 

 of awards. The competition throughout 

 the city was well maintained, and the results 

 were very pleasing, not only in the care and 

 improvement of their own premises b ythose 

 competing, but also in the effect upon their 

 neighbors and the general interest excited. 



The Directors and the members of the so- 

 ciety in general have every reason to feel 

 pleased with the good work that they have 

 accomplished during the four years of its 

 existence. It is much to be hoped that there 

 will be no diminution of energy during the 

 coming year, and that all will unite in the 

 effort to improve our city and to encourage 

 all its inhabitants to make the surroundings 

 of their dwellings and their places of work 

 and business as wholesome and attractive as 

 possible. Much has already been ddrLe, but 

 there is still plenty of room for improvement 

 and ample scope for both individual and 

 united effort. 



