238 Horticultural Society and Garden. 



have caused much expense and waste of time, without producing adequate 

 advantage. 



Some dissatisfaction has arisen from the garden regulations, as to distri- 

 bution of cuttings, seeds, &c. ; and some allusion has been made to a sup- 

 posed partiality in the selection of Fellows, to whom such distribution has 

 been made. The Committee, however, although their attention has been 

 directed to this point, have received no satisfactory proof that there is any 

 ground for such an imputation, saving that a preference, according to the 

 rides of the Society, has been given to those Fellows who have contributed 

 to the funds exclusively applied to the formation or maintenance of the 

 garden. 



The orchard has been universally acknowledged to deserve great praise, 

 and is admitted to be a most useful and important experiment for the pur- 

 pose of ascertaining the different sorts of apples and pears, their various 

 synonymes and relative merits, and by affording the means of obtaining 

 grafts of any particular sorts that may be wanted without risk of mistake. 



It is incumbent on the Council to take the most efficient means for cul- 

 tivating the garden in future in the best possible manner, so that it may be 

 a pattern for neatness, regularity, and proper arrangement ; and may afford 

 the best opportunities for instructing young men, of comparing different 

 systems, of trying new improvements, encouraging usefid and ornamental 

 productions, and of introducing, preserving, and even acclimatising new 

 flowers, fruits, and plants. 



The Committee are of opinion that the cultivation of plants which can 

 only be considered as botanical curiosities, was not one of the original 

 objects of the Society ; they therefore recommend that such plants should 

 be disposed of, and that the future cultivation of them should be dis- 

 continued. 



The Committee report that, notwithstanding the great number of clerks 

 employed in Regent Street, much of the material business of the Society 

 has fallen greatly into arrear. Neglect has taken place in the correspond- 

 ence of the Society, in the transmission of medals and diplomas, in regis- 

 tering resignations, and in recording in proper time the minutes of the 

 Council. 



The Committee are unwilling to refer to any of the circumstances relat- 

 ing to Mr. Turner's defalcation : but they feel themselves compelled to state 

 that, by evidence taken before them, it appears that, before the transaction 

 took place which caused Mr. Turner's dismissal, a deficiency in his accounts 

 to the amount of 500/. had been discovered ; and that, on the amount being 

 repaid by his friends, no notice of the fact was communicated either to the 

 Council, the Auditors, or the General Meeting, and Mr. Turner was con- 

 tinued in the service of the Society. 



The Committee trust that hereafter the greatest care will be taken in 

 selecting the papers to be printed in the Transactions, and that the more 

 economical plan of publication recommended by them to the Council will 

 be adopted. 



The whole cost of Transactions appears up to the present time to have 

 amounted to about 25,250/., and the amount received back for copies sold 

 to have exceeded 19,000/. ; so that the cost of about 15,000 copies deli- 

 vered gratuitously in the last ten years has not exceeded 6000/., the particu- 

 lars of which account are inserted in the Appendix. 



Mr. Sabine having signified his intention of retiring from the office of 

 Honorary Secretary, the Council communicated to the Committee their 

 intention of recommending an officer with a salary, who should perform the 

 united duties of Secretary and Assistant Secretary. 



The Committee highly approve of a salaried officer performing all the 

 executive duties of the Secretary, and that he should be required at every 

 Meeting of the Council to lay before them a detailed account of the finances 



