iv PREFATORY NOTICE TO VOLUME XXIX. 



In 1888 the Society was homeless and houseless, driven from 

 pillar to post, not knowing where to find shelter for either its 

 Shows or its Offices. It now has a magnificent Hall of its own, 

 superior for the purpose to any Hall in London, with most con- 

 venient and suitable Offices, Council Chamber, Library, Lecture 

 and Committee Eooms. 



In number of Fellows the Society has grown from 1,108 in 

 February 1888, to almost 10,000 in November 1905. The 

 Gardens no longer consist of about thirteen acres, in the smoke- 

 begrimed district of Chiswick, but exceed sixty acres, in the beautiful 

 open country and clear air and sky of Wisley, near Weybridge. 



In 1889 the Journal was recommenced. It was modestly 

 published in small octavo, and numbered 404 pages without any 

 illustrations. It has grown pari passu with the growth of the 

 Society's income and numbers, and in 1905 is published in large 

 octavo, and has more than 1,200 pages, with 234 illustrations and 

 six coloured plates. 



In 1888, as we said, there was a debt of £1,152 ; in 1908 we had 

 (and still have) a reserve fund of €16,536, which would have been 

 considerably increased had we not devoted all our surplus in 1904 

 and 1905 to paying for the new buildings, over and above the 

 subscriptions received. 



Such is a general outline of the work and growth of the last 

 seventeen years ; and when it is considered that the Secretarial 

 and the Editorial work was considered amply sufficient in 1888, it 

 can be easily imagined how it has long since grown beyond the fair 

 compass of any one person's powers. But in order to economise 

 and build up the Society on a thoroughly reliable basis, the 

 present Secretary-Editor has struggled to perform both duties in 

 one, until now, at last, it has become beyond human power, and 

 the result has been a slight (but entirely temporary) breakdown 

 with the Journal, which will quickly resume the even tenor of its 

 way under the able guidance of Mr. George S. Saunders, F.L.S., 



