M.\y 25, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



357 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 



TISIT OF THE KING AND QUEEN. 



The King and Queen, accompanied by Prin- 

 cess Mary, Princess Victoria, Princess Henry of 

 Battenberg, Princess Christian, and Princess 

 Mary Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, visited the 

 International Horticultural Exhibition at Chel- 

 sea Hospital at 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday last. 



The Koyal party was received by the Duke of 



Portland and the Directors of the Exhibition. 

 Among those present were the French, Russian, 

 Japanese, Italian, Austrian and United States 

 Ambassadors, and the Swedish, Netherlands, 

 Belgian, Chilian, and other Ministers, the Duke 

 -and Duchess of Somerset, the Rt. Hon. Walter 

 Runciman, President of the Board of Agriculture 

 and others. 



The King and Queen were attended by the 

 Countess of Minto, Lord Willingdon, Sir Charles 

 Cust, and Captain Hunloke. Their Majesties 

 shook hands with the foreign diplomats and 

 many other distinguished personages, and then 

 made a tour of the exhibition. 



On passing through the Dutch section, the 

 Queen was presented with a bouquet of Lilacs, 

 •and before leaving her Majesty also graciously 

 accepted a bouquet of Orchids. 



Their Majesties were escorted round the ex- 

 hibition by the Duke of Portland, Sir Geo. Hol- 

 ford, Mr. Gurney Fowler, Chairman of the Ex- 

 hibition Committee, Sir Jeremiah Colman, Mr. 

 Harry J. Veitch, Mr. Edward White, and others, 

 including Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., Mr. and * 

 Mrs. Leopold de Rothschild. 



Duke of Portland's Reception. 



On Tuesday evening the Duke and Duchess of 

 Portland gave an "At Home" at 3, Grosvenor 

 Square, to welcome the representatives of foreign 

 countries and the Colonies. There was a very 

 large gathering, and the guests spent a most de- 

 lightful time amid beautiful flowers and charm- . 

 ing music. 



The Judges' Luncheon. 



After the departure of the King and Queen 

 from the Exhibition on Wednesday, the judges 

 were entertained to luncheon in a large marquee. 

 The Duke of Portland presided, and the coun- 

 tries represented were Hungary, Austria, Bel- 

 gium, Bulgaria, China, Chili, France, Guate- 

 mala, Holland, Luxembourg, Panama, Portugal, 

 Russia, Sweden, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil, 

 •Columbia, Canada, British Columbia, New 

 Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, South Aus- 

 tralia, Queensland and New Zealand. 



After luncheon, the President proposed 

 toast of -The King and Royal Family." 

 said they all realized the great honour 

 Majesty had conferred on that stupendous 



hibition by the gracious manner in which , 



accompanied by Queen Mary, had performed the 

 opening ceremony. They felt nothing but loyalty 

 and devotion for their Majesties. The Presi- 

 S en1 j ' touchingly alluded to the great grief suf- 

 fered by Queen Alexandra in her bereavements, 

 and said they all extended to her Majesty their 

 neartfelt and respectful sympathy in her great 

 *nd grievous losses. 



Mr. Runciman proposed " Success to the Royal 

 international Horticultural Exhibition/' He 

 nrst extended to the visitors a cordial welcome, 



ih W.K 1 * he name of the Board of Directors of 

 ™« Exhibition, but in the name of his Majesty's 



^niment and the country as a whole, 

 ^neers.) They were greatly honoured by the 

 2 g en , tlem en of world-wide renown in the 

 tC' horticulture, who were a credit to 



all L ° Wn countr y> and of whose achievements 

 tW ?r \ proud / Their presence contributed to 

 hoL^ y and success of the exhibition, and he 

 f ac4nn • 6y .i W ? uld . find S^at pleasure and satis- 

 2° n V n if r visit * We in England, he said, 

 ■exh?fc?f & at of a11 international horticultural 

 we wt k S i hlS was the lar S est - (Cheers.) When 



Proceed^ aC \° Ve ^ th ^ lon * P eriod since 1866 > h * 

 turS Wu^ en the last International Horticul- 



an ennrln °, n was held here > we realis e what 

 hortS,?? * dvance ha s been made not only in 



*^ SSSS 7?? at h . ome and abroad > bu * in 



raining of those who are chiefly responsible 



the 

 He 

 his 

 ex- 

 he, 



for the growth of flowers and fruit. This great 

 Exhibition is large, not only in acreage, but in 

 variety, and I am sure anyone who has seen this 

 Exhibition will agree with me that there has 

 never before been so much skill and artistic 

 ability used on the display of flowers — an 

 Exhibition which has met with the praise and 

 approval of his Majesty himself. These 

 achievements have been the result of long 

 labour on the part of the Board of Directors and 

 the officials, and especially of Mr. Gurney 

 Fowler, who throughout two industrious years 

 has been laboriously working for the suc- 

 cess of this single week. The standards 

 which have .been reached in this Exhi- 

 bition are only evidence of the great extent to 

 which horticultural knowledge has developed 

 even within the lifetime of the youngest of us, 

 and that brings me to a point on which I wish 

 to say something with regard to our horticul- 

 tural work at home. In the long run, the suc- 

 cess of gardens, whether they produce vegetables, 

 fruit, or flowers, depends on the gardener, and, 

 as in so many other walks of life, the personal 

 element must be supreme. Here in England 

 — I fear I do not know what you have 

 achieved abroad in this respect — although 

 we have diplomas of horticulture, there 

 is not at present anything in the nature 

 of a diploma in gardening for our gar- 

 deners. In so far as diplomas tend to **aise 

 the standard of knowledge and skill of our gar- 

 deners, that is a serious blot on our Horticultural 

 Organization. A committee has recently been 

 sitting under the Chairmanship of Mr. Arthur 

 Dvke-Acland. The committee has made recom- 

 mendations in regard to diplomas in gardening — 

 recommendations with which, I may say, I 

 am in full sympathy. Although it is not 

 pofcsible here — for this is neither the time nor 

 the place to state what can be done in regard to 

 diplomas in horticulture in this country — I can 

 say that whatever is best in the interests of 

 horticulture, in the alloting, organizing, and ex- 

 amining for diplomas, shall receive full assist- 

 ance from the Department over which I preside. 

 In our Board of Agriculture here we have 

 not previously had a horticultural branch, 

 but I am pleased to announce that only within 

 the last few weeks I have succeeded, with the 

 help of my able officials, in setting aside a portion 

 of the work of our Board of Agriculture to 

 horticulture itself, and I have created a 

 horticultural branch, whose interests shall be 

 devoted entirely to horticulture land nothing 

 else. In such a learned assembly as this, I need 

 hardly point out that it is difficult to say exactly 

 where the limits come. We are not unconscious 

 of the large part which insects play in the in- 

 dustry of horticulture, and we therefore hope to 

 have near the head of the branch one of the 

 best entomologists our country can produce, and 

 we know the part those very useful creatures 

 the bees play in fertilising and beautifying our 

 country. We have received an impulse and 

 stimulus from your great Exhibition. And I, 

 in the name of my Department, express our deep 

 gratitude to you for the enthusiastic way in 

 which you have embarked on this tremendous 

 undertaking. Finally let me say how much 

 pleasure it gives me, as a Minister of the Crown, 

 to welcome here gentlemen of all nationalities. 

 However different may be our national ideals, 

 however far at times our interests may not be 

 identical with those matters in which we are 

 primarily interested, our intentions and ideals 

 are the same, and we join hands with 

 our friends who come to this island, in welcom- 

 ing them because they are enthusiasts, as we are, 

 in wresting from Mother Earth — the mother of 

 us all — the richest and most delicious blessings 

 which she can produce. 



Mr. Gurney Fowler responded. He said the 

 exhibition was started two years ago, and during 

 those two years he thought they had run through 

 the whole gamut of human feelings. They 

 started with enthusiasm and went on as far as 

 they could ; they then began to feel despondent ; 

 they then found the public supporting their 

 efforts ; they began to get enthusiastic again, and 

 they had now come to the time when he hoped 

 and believed they had achieved success. 

 The speech of Mr. Runciman would be 

 welcomed by all gardeners throughout the 

 country. Thev had always pressed that the 

 diploma should be a State affair, and they were 

 glad to hear what Mr. Runciman had said on 

 that point. He would be remiss if he did not 



mention the names of those gentlemen who had 

 done so much for the Exhibition— Mr. Veitch 

 and Mr. May. Mr. Veitch was almost the only 

 representative present who was active at the 

 1866 Exhibition. His activity never failed 

 him, and on the present occasion it had 

 been as obvious as ever. Mr. Veitch had had 

 the management of the jury section and the 

 management of the schedules, and had always 

 given invaluable advice. To Mr. May they owed 

 a great debt of gratitude. He had been chair- 

 man of the Show and Site Committee, and they 

 would all agree that the site he had chosen was 

 certainly no discredit upon his judgment 

 and management. Other members of the 

 Board had worked enthusiastically, but those 

 two gentlemen had borne the brunt and 

 burden of the day. With regard to the de- 

 tailed work, he could point to their managing 

 director— Mr. White. That gentleman had been 

 a host in himself, always ready and able to solve 

 difficulties. Then their organising secretary, 

 Mr. Henslow, had had an exceedingly hard time, 

 and it was impossible to estimate the amount of 

 work he had done. To that gentleman he wished 

 to tender his best thanks. Then he must not 

 omit their friend Mr. Piggott, who would go 

 down the centuries as the tent-maker for the 

 great International Horticultural Exhibition. At 

 their desire, Mr. Piggott caused a beautifully- 

 designed tent to spring up everywhere with tele- 

 phone and telegraph complete. He had been 

 paid for his work, but his work had been a great 

 credit to him nevertheless. He again thanked all 

 who had so warmly drank the toast. 



Sir Jeremiah Colman gave the toast of " The 

 Jurors." He said the executive were to be con- 

 gratulated in getting together 400 such judges, 

 willing to undertake the responsible duty of 

 judging. The difficulties judges had to over- 

 come owing to all-round excellence were enor- 

 mous, and no one who had not gained a high 

 prize should be unduly disappointed, in view of 

 the excellence of all. He asked them to drink 

 the toast with enthusiasm. 



M. Jules Hye de Crom was the first to re- 

 spond. Speaking in French, he said he had 

 great pleasure in acting as interpreter of the 

 Belgian exhibitors, as well as of the members of 

 the jury from other nations friendly to England. 

 The Temple Shows had a universal reputation, 

 and distinctions which he and his compatriots 

 had gained during the past 27 years were par- 

 ticularly precious to them. As a member of 

 the jury, he had had sometimes to fulfil delicate 

 functions on account of the extraordinary im- 

 portance of their superb floral displays. He 

 had done the work with pleasure and pride, 

 because of the good relations and sympathy 

 which had rendered his task agreeable, and be- 

 cause he had met the elite of those who were 

 concerned in producing the most beautiful things 

 on earth. "I drink to the King of England/' 

 he sa,id in conclusion ; " I raise my glass to the 

 English people, to the good relations between 

 England and Belgium, and to the organisers of 

 your superb Exhibition." 



Herr Fritz Benary also responded. He spoke 

 of the wonderful display of flowers. Everything 

 showed the superiority of England in horticul- 

 ture and gardening, and all the jurors were 

 unanimous in expressing their conviction that a 

 similar floral Exhibition had never before been 

 seen anywhere. They would leave England full 

 of admiration, and they could never forget what 

 they had seen. 



Jonkherr W. T. C. Van Doom, Presi- 

 dent Netherlands Horticultural Council, pro- 

 posed "The Exhibitors." He expressed the 

 grateful feelings of his Dutch countrymen to- 

 wards their Majesties the King and Queen, and 

 went on to say that Dutch gardeners had learnt 

 much from English gardeners, and there was 

 much they could desire to imitate. 



Mr. Vicary Gibbs responded. He said they 

 were all proud to have seen such a show. He 

 knew that exhibitors, as a body, heartily dis- 

 liked one thing, and that was the judges. That 

 day he happened to be both an exhibitor and a 

 member of the jury, and a finer jury there never 

 was. As an exhibitor, he congratulated the 

 jurors, because he understood they had awarded 

 him one of the finest cups in the show. 



Sir Trevor Lawrence, president of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, proposed " The Presi- 

 dent." The toast, he said, would be received 

 with much warmth and pleasure by everyone, 

 and thev were all dad that the Duke of Portland 



