CENTENARY OF THE SOCIETY. 241 



The first offices of the Society — very humble ones — were in 1805 in 

 Gerrard Street, but in 1820 a large house was purchased in Regent Street, 

 where the meetings were held, and attracted considerable public attention. 

 A humorous skit upon them appeared from the pen of George Cruikshank, 



Fig. 47.— The Hogg Memorial Medal, 1898. 



which is interesting from the fact that, though obviously more or less 

 caricatures, the portraits were at the time easily recognisable. (Fig. 45.) 



After the death of the Prince Consort, the Society gradually drifted 

 away to a certain extent from Horticulture pure and simple in the direc- 

 tion of what might be called " Tea Gardens for the upper classes of 

 London Society." The Society never fell quite so low as this description 

 suggests, but it was drifting in that direction, and at the same time falling 



Fig. 49. — The Affiliated Societies' Medal, 1901. 



deeper and deeper into debt, until in 1887-8 all true friends of the 

 Society and of Horticulture saw that a radical change must be made. 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence, our present President (long may he reign), took 

 the lead, supported by Baron Schroder, Mr. Harry Veitch, Sir William 

 Thiselton-Dyer, F.R.S., Mr. George Paul, Sir Michael Foster, F.R.S., 

 Dr. Masters, F.R.S., Mr. T. B. Haywood, Mr. G. F. Wilson, Sir Edmund 

 Loder, Mr. Geo. Deal, Dr. Hogg, the Earl of Ducie, Mr. Courtauld, Colonel 



