12 REPORT ON THE 



trade who have done so, and on behalf of the Committee I beg 

 to tender to them our very sincere thanks for the efforts and 

 exertions they have made to make the Conference and its show 

 a success. 



The Eoyal Horticultural Society has for many years been 

 under a debt of gratitude to members of the horticultural trade 

 who have at all times supported it to their utmost ability, and 

 who have largely contributed to this show, and to the interest 

 connected with it. (Hear, hear.) Under the somewhat new 

 aspect which the horticultural trade in the neighbourhood of 

 London has assumed, several of the principal nurserymen are at 

 the present moment very much occupied with shows of Orchids on 

 their own premises, and therefore we could hardly expect 

 them to denude their premises for two days of the principal 

 attractions they possess. Therefore, while we are veiy con- 

 siderably indebted to the horticultural trade for the help they 

 have given us, there is no doubt that the great bulk of the show 

 is made up of the contributions of amateurs round London. I 

 hope, however, that on another occasion we may have help 

 from amateurs all over the kingdom. We should very much 

 like to see more of those magnificent Orchids, which a great many 

 of us have heard of and some, perhaps, know, from the neighbour- 

 hood of Liverpool and Manchester, and I have reason to believe 

 that the visitors who have come to the Conference from those 

 parts are fired by a spirit of emulation, and will on another 

 occasion do all they can to show that they ca.n cultivate Orchids 

 in the north of England as well as, if not better, than we can 

 in the south. As regards the merits of the show, I think 

 I may be allowed to quote the authority of no less a person than 

 Sir Joseph Hooker. He expressed to me, and to other 

 persons, his very great admiration for the show and his great 

 appreciation of its value in promoting the cultivation of Orchids. 

 Inasmuch as I think that Sir Joseph Hooker, like a great many 

 persons who are devoted to scientific botany, is not, as a rule, 

 very enthusiastic on behalf of shows, this testimony, coming from 

 him, is of the more value. Eeferring to Kew Gardens, I think 

 it is very much to be regretted that, mainly owing to the 

 excessive economy with which money is given to that very 

 valuable institution, there is no sufficiently representative col- 

 lection of Orchids there at present. I believe the authorities at 

 Kew are fully alive to the great interest that is taken in Orchid 



