20 



THE GABDENEB.S' CHRONICLE. 



[July 7, 1888. 



to the Institution. The Institution did not do 

 anything which was at all extravagant. It 

 simply gave to the men who were pensioners 

 £20 a year and to the women £16. Surely 

 it would be impossible to do less than that. 

 It had got on its lists a very considerable 

 number of gardeners, and he was glad to see that it 

 was enabled to add to the comforts of the old age 

 of a considerable number of them. The average 

 age of pensioners, he found, was seventy-four, and 

 the oldest pensioner was a hundred years of age. 

 Therefore gardening did not appear to be an un- 

 healthy occupation. The number of applications 

 was larger than the charity was able to help. The 

 total expenditure was only £2250, and when he 

 recollected the enormous interest which the people 

 of this country took in gardening, he must say it 

 was a reflection upon the wealthier people of the 

 country that they did not support the Institution 

 more largely. The Institution had made it a rule to 

 help those first who helped themselves, and that 

 preference was given to those who had been on 

 the books of the Society for fifteen clear years 

 before any help was given to others. He 

 venture to think that they ought to work the 

 field of gardening and the interest the people look 

 in their gardens more largely than was done in the 

 interest of the Society. Gardeners often found 

 themselves in the position of having very little for 

 their declining years, and he could not believe that 

 the people who got enjoyment out of their gardens 

 would not be prepared to provide for the maintenance 

 of that admirable institution. He coupled with the 

 toast the names of Mr. Lee, the father of the Insti- 

 tute, who had missed only one dinner ont of forty- 

 five, and Mr. H. J. Veitch, the Treasurer. 



Mr. John Lee in response thanked the company 

 for the enthusiastic manner in which they had 

 received his name, and went on to say that he owed 

 a great debt of gratitude to the Chairman for having, 

 at a moment's notice, consented to preside that 

 evening, and to those gentlemen present for the 

 generous support they had given to the Insitution, 

 as it was through their generosity that it had been 

 raised to a high pitch of excellence, and had been 

 placed on a solid ground which he, and he knew they 

 all, hoped it would maintain for many years to 

 come. 



Mr. H. J. Veitch also responded, and having 

 returned thanks for the hearty reception accorded 

 him alluded, as Treasurer, to the financial position 

 of the Institution, which he said was managed as 

 carefully as it was possible to manage any institution. 

 He would again like to remind them that the 

 interest on the money subscribed all went in 

 benefiting their pensioners. They had no 

 large buildings to keep up and no expensive staff to 

 maintain, but they were obliged to have a Secretary, 

 whom they paid as little as possible ! With that one 

 exception the whole of their money was devoted to 

 the purpose for which it was given. They had 126 

 pensioners, but at present they had only one election 

 a year, and at the last election they were obliged to 

 leave out fifteen unfortunate candidates for want of 

 funds. That was a sad thing for either men or 

 women, but one case was particularly sad, as in that 

 instance the applicant lost by only nine votes, after 

 having secured 700. Another election would not 

 take place for a year, and who could tell 

 how many more candidates there might be then? 

 The present bad times affected gardeners even 

 more than most other servants, as they were the 

 first to be discharged in times of scarcity. He knew 

 of cases where gardeners had been out of employ- 

 ment for three and four years, and they were com- 

 pelled to spend what little savings they had put by 

 for old age. This Society tried to meet those cases, 

 and he was bound to say they made the funds at 

 their disposal go as far as they possibly could. Un- 

 fortunately for the Society they had lost fifty guineas 

 a year by the conversion of the Three per Cent. 

 Consols. In conclusion, he said, if they could only 

 see the tears of joy in the eyes of the recipients 

 they would not fail to continue their liberal support 

 to the Institution, and they might rest assured that 

 the money they gave was well deserved. 



Dr. Masters proposed the " Health of the Chair- 

 man."' 



The Chairman in acknowledging the toast, which 

 was enthusiastically honoured, said, in allusion to a 

 remark of Dr. Masters, he agreed that the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society ought to interest itself in all 

 that concerned gardeners and gardening ; he thought 

 the Society had done something to show that it 

 was ready to open its doors to all who desired to 

 enter. 



The Secretary then announced that the night's 

 subscriptions amounted to nearly 1000 guineas. 



The Chairman proposed the " Health of their old 

 friend, Mr. Cutler." That gentleman having re- 

 sponded, 



Mr. B. S. Williams responded to the toast of 

 " The Committee ; " and the proceedings, which had 

 been enlivened with music, then terminated. 



The Weather. 



[Accumulated temperature indicates the combined amount and 

 duration of the excess or defect of temperature above or 

 below 32° F. for the period named, and is expressed in Day- 

 degree — a "Day-degree " signifying 1° continued for 

 twenty-four hours, or any other number of degrees for an 

 inversely proportional number of hours.] 





Temperature. 







Accumulated . 









8 B 



" a 





Above or 





g 



s^ 



§f? 



Districts. 



below the 













Mean for 













the week 



*|S 



'£ 









ending 





%, ra rt 



%, ra rH 





June 25. 



3- 



s* 



la 





Principal Wheat pro- 





Day- 



Day- 



Day. 



Day- 



ducing Districts. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



0. Scotland, N. ... 



2 below 



6S 







— 70 



+ 201 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



3 below 



72 







— 163 



+ 157 



2. England, N.E. ... 



6 below 



62 







— 181 



+ 73 



3. England, E. 



3 below 



104 







— 160 



+ 154 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



3 below 



101 







— 200 



+ 150 



5. England, S. 



1 below 



112 







— 249 



+ 204 



Principal Grazing, &c, 













Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



2 above 



109 







— 136 



+ 107 



7. England, N.W.... 



1 below 



106 







— 166 



+ 117 



8. England, S.W.... 



1 below 



112 







— 242 



+ 254 



9. Ireland, N. 



1 above 



US 







— 141 



+ 67 



10. Ireland, S. 



1 above 



117 







— 137 



+ 113 



— Channel Islands 



3 below 



105 







— 208 



+ 154 





Rainfall. 



Bbight 

 Sunshine. 



DlSTEICTS. 



■a o 



1* 



>. 



So 









Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





L. 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



6 less 



117 



18.5 



50 



31 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



5 less 



96 



12.8 



57 



32 



2. England, N.E. ... 



3 less 



87 



10.1 



42 



28 



3. England, E. ... 



(aver.) 



88 



9.0 



38 



29 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



2 more 



79 



9.5 



21 



27 



5 Ensland, S. 



3 more 



82 



10.6 



27 



28 



Principal Grazing, &c. , 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



6 less 



86 



18.8 



62 



31 



7. England, N.W.... 



5 less 



89 



9.1 



51 



30 



8. England, S.W.... 



3 less 



88 



13.1 



29 



34 



9. Ibeland, N. 



6 less 



92 



14.7 



66 



30 



10. Ireland, S. 



5 less 



85 



16.5 



48 



35 



— Channel Islands 



1 less 



105 



12.9 



32 



38 



MEAN TEMPERATURE OBSERVED AT CHISWICK DUR- 

 ING THE WEEK ENDING JULY 14. (AVERAGE OF 

 FORTY-FOUR YEARS.) 



July 8 ... 



... 63°.2 



July 12 



.. 63°.3 



„ 9 ... 



... 63°.2 



„ 13 



.. 63°.3 



„ 10 ... 



„ 11 ... 



... 63°.3 

 . ... 63°.3 



„ 14 



Mean for the week 



.. 63°.3 

 .. 63°.3 



Accumulated temperature indicates the combined amount and 

 duration of the excess or defect of temperature above or 

 below 32° F. for the period named, and is expressed in Day- 

 degrees — a "Day-degree" signifying 1° continued for 

 twenty-four hours, or any other number of degrees for an 

 ely proportional number of hours.] 







Temperature. 







Above or 

 below the 

 Mean for 

 the week 

 ending 

 July 2. 



Accumulated. 



Districts. 







8 d 

 S a oo 



sa 



S2 



1.5 oo 



if 



Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 





Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 



deg. 



o. Scotland, N. ... 



1 below 



75 







— 79 



+ 201 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



3 below 



78 







— 196 



+ 157 



2. England, N.E. ... 



5 below 



75 







— 222 



+ 73 



3. England, E. ... 



4 below 



104 







— 186 



+ 154 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



3 below 



102 







— 226 



+ 150 



5. England, S. 



3 below 



108 







— 275 



+ 204 



Principal Grazing, &c, 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



(aver.) 



104 







— 144 



+ 107 



7. Engl and, N.W.... 



2 below 



101 







— 184 



+ 117 



8. England, S.W. ... 



3 below 



103 







— 259 



+ 254 



9. Ireland, N. 



2 below 



99 







- 150 



+ 67 



10. Ireland, S. 



1 below 



111 







— 141 



+ 113 



— Channel Islands 



2 below 



112 







— 216 + 154 





Rainfall. 



Bbight 



Sunshine. 



DlSTEICTS. 



•a o 



^a' 





p.a^ 



fj 





Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





Ins. 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



6 less 



118 



18.7 



36 



31 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



7 more 



99 



14.1 



32 



32 



2. England, N.E — 



3 more 



92 



11.0 



17 



27 



3. England, E. ... 



10 more 



93 



10.5 



20 



29 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



7 more 



81 



10.8 



26 



27 



5. England, S. 



9 more 



88 



12.0 



23 



28 



Principal Grazing, &c, 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



8 more 



90 



20.1 



38 



34 



7. England, N.W.... 



17 more 



91 



11.5 



27 



30 



8. England, S.W.... 



11 more 



94 



14.8 



29 



34 



9. Ibeland, N. 



6 more 



97 



17.0 



23 



30 



10. Ireland, S. 



8 more 



90 



1S.0 



26 



33 



— Channel Islands 



6 more 



111 



14.0 



35 



38 



THE PAST WEEK. 



The following summary record of the weather for 

 the week ending July 2, is furnished from the 

 Meteorological Office : — 



" The weather has been very unsettled and rainy 

 except in the extreme north of Scotland. Sharp 

 thunderstorms have prevailed in almost all districts, 

 and in some localities the rainfall was exceedingly 

 large. At Rothamsted, on the 26th, 3'24 inches of 

 rain fell between 7.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. 



" The temperature has just equalled the mean in 

 ' Scotland, W.,' but has been below it in all other 

 districts ; in ' England, E.,' the deficit was 4°, and 

 in ' England, N.E.,' 5°. The highest of the maxima 

 were recorded generally on the 26th, when the 

 thermometer rose to between 80° and 85° in most 

 parts of the kingdom, but over the south and south- 

 west of England and the south of Ireland it ranged 

 from 71° to 76°. The lowest of the minima (which 

 were registered during the last few days of the 

 period) were unusually low for the time of year ; at 

 most of the inland stations the sheltered thermo- 

 meter fell to between 34° and 39°. 



" The rainfall has been considerably less than the 



