On the London Horticultural Society. 413 



sown, unless indeed the government should fortunately be 

 disposed to grant a large annual allowance to make up the 

 great defalcation which must ultimately take place in the 

 finances of the Society without such assistance. I say fortu- 

 nately, not because I approve of accepting any such allow- 

 ance, as it would in my opinion totally~destroy the independence 

 of the Society, but because without such aid I believe the 

 garden cannot be proceeded with, at least on the present 

 extended, extending, and magnificent scale. Yet even this sup- 

 port, if attained, cannot be considered as permanent, as we 

 have already seen in the fate of the Agricultural Society. I 

 expect also that the finances of the Society will suffer by a 

 falling off in the sale of the Parts published, which may arise 

 from two causes, viz. first, from the increased number of 

 Fellows, many of whom, before they became so, were in all 

 probability purchasers ; and, secondly, the papers published 

 are by no means so interesting to the generality of readers as 

 they formerly were, when several persons were each contri- 

 butors of short -papers founded on their own personal know- 

 ledge of the facts therein stated, instead of which the Parts 

 are now principally filled with papers relative to the progress 

 of the garden, and of the fruits and flowers therein cultivated, 

 the major part of which may possibly be ornamental, but 

 certainly cannot be considered useful. So that instead of the 

 public drawing information through these publications from 

 every part of the kingdom on subjects of Horticulture, they 

 now obtain little more than observations and memoranda of 

 what has been done in the Society's garden. 



In making the foregoing observations, I have no sinister or 

 hostile views towards the Society ; on the contrary, I should 

 feel gratified by assisting to uphold it: but I must repeat that 

 I cannot by any means consent to do so, while I so highly dis- 

 approve of the regulations which have been introduced, appa- 

 rently to force the money from the pockets of the original 

 members ; for with no other view could the asterisk be affixed 

 to the names (in the List of Fellows) of those persons who 

 have complied with those regulations. I object also to the 

 great outlay which has so inconsiderately taken place in the 

 formation of the garden without funds to support it; and as it 

 never was originally intended to form a botanical collection of 

 plants, I do not, under any circumstances, approve of sending 

 botanical collectors to foreign parts, to search for what ? not 

 for the useful, but merely for the rare or beautiful. And you 

 are perhaps aware that doing this is entirely in opposition to 

 the opinion of the late highly esteemed and highly valued Sir 

 Joseph Ranks, who carried his partiality to the " useful" so 



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