THE CONFERENCE. 



This meeting was held on Wednesday, April 21st, 1886, in one 

 of the crush rooms of the Royal Albert Hall, adjoining the 

 Conservatory. J. T. D. Llewelyn, Esq., presided. Dr. Masters 

 acted as Secretary, and the numerous auditory comprised a large 

 number of gentlemen and ladies interested in the culture of the 

 various species of Primula. 



The Chairman, said : I will introduce the business of the 

 meeting by first of all referring to the pleasure we experience in 

 having such a capital show, and by expressing my conviction 

 that the public, who came here to see the florists' flowers, as 

 well as the wild species we have been able to bring together, 

 appreciate, not only the beauty of the exhibition, but the scientific 

 part of it as well. You must have observed how some lovers of 

 flowers devote their attention to the florist sections, while others 

 take up the wild originals ; but there is ample room for us all, 

 florists or botanists, to admire what we like. Many people have 

 been first of all attracted to the study of flowers by seeing to 

 what a degree of beauty and development they can be brought 

 by the art of the florist. This leads them to examine the wild 

 originals from which these developments have come. 



On the other hand, there are the botanists who have seen the 

 originals growing in their native habitats, and who have seen what 

 nature does in the way of hybridizing these plants and in the 

 production of forms which are intensified in beauty. In either 

 case I can say there is ample room for all classes of flower-lovers, 

 both for the florist and for the botanist. I am one of those who 

 think we have a great future before us, and that we may yet 

 develop forms of beautiful primroses from the Himalayan Alps, 

 and elsewhere, and which may furnish the florist flowers of the 

 future. I do not in the least think that we have yet arrived at 

 finality in our standard of beauty. Further progress may be 

 made by a little careful work and observation on the part of 

 hybridizers and gardeners. I think that by means of these 

 Conferences, in which we meet together and compare notes, we 



