HORTICULTURAL SOCLETIES AND THE ACT. 



54^ 



tins or so of each variety and ^ade and have 

 these reported on by some reliable English 

 house as to suitability and value. In this way 

 it is possible to obtain bulk orders for tins. It 

 must be remembered, however, that all canned 



goods sent to Great Britain are subject to ex- 

 amination on arrival for blown, burst or pierced 

 goods, and, therefore, the manufacturer should 

 be extremely careful regarding the quality of 

 the goods exported. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES WANT THE ACT CHANGED 



The representatives of the horticultural socie- 

 ties of Ontario are not satisfied with the Agri- 

 cultural and Arts Act. They would like to see 

 the act so changed that horticultural societies 

 will be placed on a footing of their own, sepa- 

 rate and distinct from agricultural societies. 



• This was shown at the convention of delegates 

 from the provincial horticultural societies held 

 in Toronto November 15-16 in connection with 

 the Provincial Fruit, Flower and Honey Show 

 when a deputation was appointed to wait on the 

 Hon. John Dryden, Minister of Agriculture, to 

 draw attention to the necessity for a change in 

 the act. 



H. R. FRANKLAND. 



The first vice president of the Toronto Horticultural Society, 

 Mr. H. R. Frankland, presided at the session of the recent horti- 

 cultural convention held in Toronto^ at which the advisability of 

 having the agricultural and arts act changed was discussed. The 

 convention appointed Mr. Frankland on the committee whi< h 

 waited on the Minister of Agriculture, and which is to meet tp con- 

 sider what changes should be made in the act. As a director of the 

 Fruit, Flower and Honey Show, Mr. Frankland was a faithful, effi- 

 cient worker, to whom much of the credit for the success of the 

 exhibition is due. 



The matter was brought up for consideration 

 by the address of Mr. H. B. Cowan, of Toronto, 

 the provincial superintendent of agricultural 

 and horticultural societies, who spoke on " The 

 Agricultural and Arts Act, How it Affects Horti- 

 cultural Societies." In his remarks Supt. 

 Cowan showed that under the act grants are 

 made to the agricultural and horticultural 

 societies of the province according to hard and 

 fast regulations which do not take into account 



the work the societies are doing. The grants 

 made by the Department of Agriculture to 

 societies amount each year to about $80,000. 

 Supt. Cowan stated that if the agricultural so- 

 cieties were spending their funds to as good ad- 

 vantage as the horticultural societies are theirs 

 there would be little need for a change in the 

 act. The yearly grants to horticultural socie- 

 ties amount to about $6,000. 



Three serious defects in the act were pointed 

 out. One is that district societies, by the act, 

 receive much larger grants than township socie- 

 ties, although there are a considerable number 

 of township societies which hold better agricul- 

 tural exhibitions than many district societies. 

 A second defect is that some societies, which re- 

 ceive large grants, do not expend nearly as 

 much for the cause of agriculture as other so- 

 cieties receiving much smaller grants. Many 

 societies are doing almost more harm than good 

 as they conduct horse races, which are strictly 

 against the law; allow gambling devices to be 

 operated on the fair grounds (which is also 

 against the law) and in some cases even permit 

 liquor to be sold. 



A third defect lies in the fact that where a 

 horticultural society is established its grant is 

 deducted from the grants of the agricultural 

 societies in that district. The result is that 

 agrlculural societies oppose the organization of 

 horticultural societies in their districts. There 

 are a number of sections in the province where 

 horticultural societies are needed but where it 

 has been found imposf^ible to organize them on 

 account of the opposition of the agricultural 

 societies. 



The suggestion was made, by Supt. Cowan, 

 that the horticultural societies should form a 

 provincial horticultural association similar to 

 the Ontario Association of Fairs and Exhibitions 

 which represents the agricultural societies. 

 Such an association could hold an annual meet- 

 ing for the discussion of horticultural matters, 

 issue an annual report, arrange for the sending 

 of speakers to the meetings of local societies 

 and in other ways increase the enthusiasm of 

 horticultural workers and add to the value of 

 horticultural societies. 



VIEWS OP THE DELEGATES. 



An animated discussion took place on the con- 

 clusion of Supt. Cowan's remarks. The views 

 expressed were in part as follows: 



Mr. Gilchrist, Toronto Junction: "I think 

 that Mr. Cowan's suggestion to form, a provin- 

 cial association is in the right direction. There 

 is ample scope for such an organization. Many 

 of our horticultural societies are not working 

 on any definite plan and might do much better 

 work. In many of the smaller towns and vil- 

 lages no horticultural societies exist. It is in 

 such places that they are most needed. The 



