August 24, 1876. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



165 



ance. Aa it appears to me, tbe Royal Commissioners have in 

 trust the welfare and keeping of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, and they have endeavoured to carry out that trust, 

 but from (it may be, and probably is) no fault of their own 

 have failed to guide (in conjunction with horticulturists), the 

 Sooiety to a prosperous position. Now when the horticulturists 

 in a united body conclude that the Royal Horticultural Society 

 will be benefited by a separation from their responsibility at 

 South Kensington, it seems only just and equitable that they 

 should have the aid of the Royal Commissioners in carrying 

 out what was the fundamental object of the union of Chiswick 

 with South Kensington. Doubtless it was considered that the 

 Sooiety would have flourished, and the gardens at South Ken- 

 sington would have been perfeoted for the promotion of horti- 

 culture generally, and for the enjoyment of the dwellers in the 

 " Court suburb " particularly ; but when it is found that this 

 double function is not attainable, the question is arrived at, 

 Is the welfare of the horticulture of the nation to be sacrificed 

 for the pleasure of the community of a district ? Surely there 

 can only be one reply to that question. 



For some time past the dwellers in the country have felt 

 that they did not possess a Society worthy of their support, 

 seeing that the funds subscribed for the advancement of horti- 

 culture were in a great measure devoted to the keeping of the 

 gardens of South Kensington. Those gardens are doubtless 

 an attractive feature of "the district, but beyond affording con- 

 venience for meetings and shows they have not, and it appears 

 to me cannot, benefit horticulture or strengthen the Society. 

 Since the late meetings and the financial statements which 

 have been submitted, it is more than ever certain that country 

 horticulturists will not Bink their subscriptions in South Ken- 

 sington. 



Had the Council of tbe Royal Horticultural Society only the 

 cost of the gardens of Chiswick to provide for, and possessed 

 rooms in London for the committee meetings (which are most 

 important), their Bhows could be made moveable, having them 

 in different parts of London, and occasionally in the country (a 

 guarantee fund being duly provided) ; then would the Society 

 be regarded aa -a real Royal Horticultural Society, and funds 

 would be forthcoming for the promotion of the art in which so 

 many are interested. The suggestions on this point which 

 have been made by Mr. G. F. Wilson are highly worthy of 

 notice, for it is not by the patronage of a select few that the 

 Society can be made prosperous, but by the great body of hor- 

 ticulturists casting their mites together into a common fund for 

 a oommon purpose will adequate support be provided. These 

 I know are the views of more than one— Hopeful Countktman. 



COTTAGE GARDENING. 



The annual Show of the Hawarden Amateur Horticultural 

 Society was held on the 15rh at Hawarden, and the prizeB were 

 distributed in the evening by Mrs. Gladstone. 



In responding to the vote of thanks to Mrs. Gladstone for pre- 

 senting the prizes the ex Premier said— The trouble is that the 

 circle of topics opened up by a flower show is not a very large 

 one, but at the same time it is one which anybody may be very 

 weli contented to treat. There is not a better nor a more whole- 

 some and salubrious village institution in the whole round that 

 can be named than a flower show. In the first place, it is one 

 of thoBe independent institutions which teach the people to 

 exert themselves, and you may depend upon it that man is not 

 a passive and mechanical being. Tou don't train a man as a 

 plant; he is a moral agent, and if any good is to be done to him 

 or to any woman or child — and I am delighted to see how many 

 young b iys and girls have come forward to obtain honourable 

 marks of recognition on this occasion — if any effectual good is 

 to be done for them, it must be done by teaching and encouraging 

 them and helping them to help themselves. As to the people 

 who pretend to take your own concerns out of your own hands 

 and to do everything for you— I wo'n't say they are impostors — 

 I wo'n't even say they are quacks, but I do say they are mistaken 

 people. The only sound healthy description of countenancing 

 and assisting these institutions is that which teaches indepen- 

 dence and self-exertion. There is no better kind of exertion 

 than this. It is good for your health, good for your indepen- 

 dence, because, though a garden is not a very large thing in the 

 life of a cottager, it is a very considerable element of indepen- 

 dence, as well as of comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction, when 

 well managed and of proper size. It makes a sensible addition 

 to his means of living, and for my own part I sometimes hope 

 you, many of you, may live to see the day when there will be 

 no such thing in this country as a cottage without a garden. I 

 rejoice to think that gardens are increasing. We have said 

 before, and I may Bay now, on my son's part aB well as on my 



own, that it is our desire to see them increase here. It is not 

 always a very easy thing to make new divisions of land, because, 

 unfortunately, when a bit of land is given to one it very often 

 is taken from another. Land is not a thing that can be manu- 

 factured. If we could manufacture it we would make larger 

 gardens, and have gardens for everybody ; but as opportunity 

 offers I am glad to think there is every disposition to make them 

 universal. Your independence, your health and comfort, will 

 be thus promoted, as well as neighbourly assistance, good fellow- 

 ship, and pleasant meetings of this kind, where we are all met 

 in good humour. We come to know one another better, and I 

 hope we come not to like one another worBe. 



But let me tell you one word more, something more grave 

 than serious, but I hope not sorrowful. When you cultivate the 

 plant that growB from the ground you cannot help thinking a 

 little who He is that makes that plant to grow. When I say 

 you Bhould help yourBelveB — and I would encourage every man 

 in every rank of life to rely upon self-help more than on assist- 

 ance to be got from his neighbours — there is One who helps us 

 all, and without whose help every effort of ours is vain ; and 

 there is nothing that Bhould tend more, and nothing that does 

 in the well-constituted mind tend more, to make us see the bene- 

 ficence of God Almighty than to observe the beauty as well as 

 the usefulness of those flowers, those plants, and those fruits 

 which He causes the earth to bring forth for our comfort and 



Now, as I have said before, it is unnecessary and hardly a 

 possible advantage to detain you any longer on an occasion of 

 this kind, but I am very confident that these few words I have 

 spoken are true words, and I believe they will find an echo in 

 your minds, for I must say that the best test of reception of 

 such sentiments is in the zeal and diligence with which the 

 people of this parish have supported this institution and have 

 come forward to claim these prizes. It is to my wife, to me, 

 and to all of us a matter of the liveliest, and I may say intense, 

 satisfaction to see how this institution, which we owe in a great 

 measure to the energy and judgment of Mr. Spencer, has taken 

 root/and is itself, I may say, one of the fairest and most flourish- 

 ing plants of all those that have sprung up out of the ground. 

 I hope that it will continue to flourish. It is still young. Let 

 it grow stronger and stronger every year. Let us have more 

 and more of the parishioners of this large and growing parish 

 coming forward and competing for these prizes. No enm ty 

 will grow out of it — everybody will rejoice in his neighbour's 

 success almost aB much as he would in his own. Tou will all 

 be better for the zeal and energy with which you give yourselves 

 to these useful and healthy pursuits and the support of this 

 beneficent institution. 



NEW BOOK. 



Botanical Beminiscences in British Guiana. By Richabd 

 Sohombuegk, Dr. Phil. Adelaide. 



This is a very amusing record of a journey in BritiBh Guiana. 

 It contains details of the manners of the people, but we shall 

 confine our extracts to some from the pages relative to the 

 botanical productions. 



" Having passed in the course of the day several small tribu- 

 taries of the Barima, its bed became narrower and more wind- 

 ing, so much that our progress was more slowly. The banks in- 

 creased in height, and. the vegetation became more luxuriant 

 until, with the appearance of that gigantic tree of the Mora 

 excelsa, Benth., which may be called the Oak of the tropics, it 

 reached it6 culmination. There is none of the European forest 

 trees which could be paralleled with it as a representative. Our 

 large Oaks would only seem dwarfs if. standing near one of these 

 giants, the Btem of which is overshadowed by the most beau- 

 tiful dark green foliage. The Indians give this noble tree the 

 name of the ' Chief of the Forests,' and this is the most appro- 

 priate name which could have been chosen. 



" We were often deceived by these giant trees when we sud- 

 denly rounded one of the bends of the river, imagining we Baw 

 before us in the distance a number of wooded hills, which, when 

 nearer, changed into single groups of Mora trees, towering high 

 above the surrounding vegetation. 



" No idea can be formed of a Mora forest; it is so thick that 

 the sight of heaven is denied to those who enter it. Every- 

 thing is drowned in a mass of shadows ; the eye can only behold 

 a labyrinth of trees of gigantic proportions which astonish and 

 overawe him, garnished with a dome of foliage that darkens the 

 atmosphere, and renders it intolerably heavy and gloomy. 

 Lianes of immense thickness entwine with giant arm these 

 trunks, and ramp to the highest branches, where they crown 

 these giants ; then again grow down from this giddy height on 

 to the smaller trees, the branches of which they entwine, and 

 so fetter one tree to the other with a network, and hold in their 

 strong arms those giants standing close on the banks of the 

 rivers, whose secure position is often undermined by the rapid 

 streams, thus preventing their sudden fall; but should such a 



