VOL. LV.— No. 3,011. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK. 



vv 



dt.l 



regard 



A Splendid Record. 



society at 

 glance at 

 ci ent to show that 



to the position of the tage to the progress of horticulture were 



A mere those retsponsible for the management of 

 suffi- horticultural societies generally to s.liow a 



the present time. 



the balance-sheet 



during 



IS 



the 



past 



similar degree of prudence in the adminis- 



In 



tration of the finances, it is necessary to 

 remember that a new hall has been built 

 and furnished at a cost of upwards of 



prosperity ; but in the majority of cases a 

 moderate reserve fund will enable the so- 

 ciety to tide over an unfavourable period, 



proceed with 



and 

 its Avork 



agani 



task of rehabilitating 



the 



soc.ety^ and phicing it in a 

 position worthy of its tradi- 

 tions. 



and of 



that 



as a 



a country 

 centre of hor- 



ticultural enterprise, has no 

 superior in any part of the 

 world. There is no occasion 

 to recount the history of the 

 Royal Horticidtural Society 

 during the quarter of a cen- 

 tury that immediately pre- 

 ceded its quitting the South 

 Kensington Gardens, 

 discuss 

 when 



necessary 

 ful results. 



with the vigour 

 obtain use- 



to 



There has 



The report that will be presented by the twenty-five years the Council have heen traction of the funds at their disposal. 



Council of the Royal Horticultural Society ahle to invest £52,383 10s. 9d. ; hut to be the case of local societies it is not a^lways 



to the Frflows assembled in annual meet- ahle to fully appreciate the care and judg- possible to avert disaster by building up 



ing on Tuesday next will he found of quite ment that has been shown in the adminis- a substantial reserve fund during years of 



exceptional interest, not Oinly to those who 

 are more or less closely associated with 



the work that has been accomplished at 

 Westm inster and Wisley , 

 but to all who are in any 

 way concerned with horti- 

 cultural progress. It is now 

 many j-ears since the annual 



reports of the society have 

 been otherwise than of a 

 sat'sfactorv character : but 

 the report to which refer- 

 ence is now being made is 

 especially gratifying from 

 the fact that it marks the 

 completion of the first quar- 

 ter of a century of a strictly 

 horticultural regime, and 

 affords ample evidence that 

 the policy initiated in 1887 

 has been an unqualified suc- 

 cess. The success achieved 

 by the society during this 

 period has indeed been so 

 great that it can hardly 

 have failed to far surpass 

 the anticipations of the most 

 sanguine of those who un- 

 hesitatingly engaged in the 



been no lack of vigoui* in 

 the manner in which the 

 work of the society has been 

 conducted during the past 

 year, and there are to be 

 new developments during 

 the present one. The first 

 of these is the exhibition of 

 daffodils, which will be held 

 in April, and the second the 

 exhibition of orchids in 

 November, this latter being 

 arranged for the purpose of 

 demonstrating beautiful and 

 highly interesting plants. 

 The bulb, fruit, and 



table shows 



vege- 

 which formed 



ME. JAMES PULHAM. 



or to 



such usefid and interesting 

 features during 1911, will be 

 repeate<l, and there will 

 consequently be no lack of 

 competitive gatherings at the 

 Royal Horticultural Hall, 

 apait from those that will 

 he held by special societies. 

 There will not be any show 

 in the gardens of the Inner 

 Temple, owing to the great 

 International gathering tak- 

 ing place in Maj^, but the 

 summer show will again be 

 held in the grounds of Hol- 

 land House, and will extend 

 over three davs instead of 

 two, as on former occasions. 

 The Fellows, and, indeed, 



it was 



the position in which 



made Westminster its head- has heen expended 



£43 000 and that a sum of nearly £12,000 a'l who are interested in the welfare of 



' ? _ . ll "1 '111 1 



Suffice to 



It 



quarters. 



history of the period mentioned, how- 

 ever lightly told, would not be particu- 

 larly pleasant reading, and it lias not yet 

 been forgotten that when the society ob- 

 tained a new home its fortunes were as low 

 a-s they well coaild be. Remembering how 

 gieat were the difficulties that had to be 

 contended with in 1887 it is pleasant to 

 tiini to the report and balance-s,heet for the 

 yeai- ended December 31 last for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining official information 



the equipment of the the society, will be much gratified in learn- 



know that" the Wisley Gardens. Not less satisfactory is it ing that the loss on the Olympia show in 



to know- that there were, at the end of last 

 year, 12,839 Fellows, associates, and so- 

 cieties in affiliation, or a gain of 796, as 



coniparetl with 1910 and that the annual could not w.-!l have been less favourable, 



.ub^scriptions amounted to £17,965 I'is., or for the temperature was abnonnaJly high, 



an increase of £1 336 13s. Possibly some of and the sunshine so mten.e as to spoil the 



our friends miffht be of the opinion that the beauty of the cut flower.s by the close of 



July last was but trifling. The conditions 

 und*M* which the experiment was made of 

 holding a summer exhibition at Olympia 



the first day, and to prov-^ trying to visi- 

 tors. Much good work has been done at 

 Wisley during the year, and of special im- 

 weTeel that^i^ be an immense advan- portance has been the coustruction of the 



Council are investing too large a proper 

 tion of the ineonu^ anntially, but, so far 

 from being in agre(>ment with such opinion, 



