27 a 



extended to our Society has largely assisted in creating, 

 guiding, and helping this valuable national asset. 



We take this opportunity of expressing our enduring 

 obligations to Your Majesties for the many and gracious visits 

 you have in years past paid to our Society's shows, visits 

 which have done much to encourage us in our efforts to foster 

 and maintain in the highest efficiency the science and art of 

 horticulture. And in thanking Your Majesties for your 

 presence here to'day and for the warm interest you have ever 

 shown in the Society, we desire to assure you that the 

 valuable help the illustrious Prince Consort gave the 

 Society in days of serious difficulty — now some fortyfive 

 years ago — has never been forgotten. 



