REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1903. vii 



8. New Garden. — Meanwhile several influential Fellows, who 

 preferred the establishment of a New Garden as the celebration of the 

 Society's Centenary, had been urging their views in certain quarters, and 

 on August 4, 1903, Sir Thomas Hanbury, K.C.V.O., having asked for an 

 interne w with the Council, offered to purchase the late Mr. G. F. Wilson's 

 famous Garden and Estate at Wisley, comprising sixty acres of land, and 

 to place it in trust for the use of the Society as a Garden as long as the 

 Society desired to retain it. 



9. It is needless to say that the Council accepted this timely and 

 generous offer, which came as a complete surprise both to themselves and 

 to the general body of the Fellows. It had the signal advantage of 

 affording a solution of the rival claims of a New Garden as against a New 

 Hall as the Centennial Celebration of the Society. 



10. Wisley is some distance from a railway station and two miles 

 from the village of Ripley. Full directions for reaching it will be found 

 at page 15 in the Society's Book of Arrangements for 1901. 



11. The Garden has no glasshouses upon it, being at present only 

 a very beautiful and well-placed Wild Garden, stocked with a large 

 number of rare plants. It will therefore be necessary to build a couple 

 of small dwelling-houses for the Superintendent and Foreman, a room 

 where the Council and Committees can meet, and suitable ranges of 

 glasshouses and pits. The Water Supply and Drainage will also require 

 careful attention. By limiting the glasshouses as far as possible at 

 present, the Council estimate that the necessary equipment of Wisley 

 can be carried out within the means of the Society, supplemented by the 

 aid which they expect to obtain from the relinquishment of the Chiswick 

 lease. 



12. There are many other objects which will hereafter be desirable 

 at Wisley, such as a Scientific Department with residence for a Professor 

 and Laboratory attached, Bothies for young gardeners, Rooms for 

 Students, &c. But the Council feel it imperative to allow these matters 

 to wait until the New Hall is paid for and furnished and its upkeep 

 expenses provided. 



13. Increase Of Fellows. — The exceedingly rapid increase in the 

 number of Fellows (1,412 having been added during the last twelve 

 months), gratifying as it is as a proof of the appreciation of the Society's 

 work by the lovers of gardens, appears nevertheless to the Council to 

 contain an element of danger, inasmuch as it is becoming more and more 

 difficult at times for Fellows to see the Flowers, &c, without serious 

 discomfort from crushing and crowding. 



14. New By-Law. — After very grave consideration the Council 

 have decided to advise that the minimum rate of Fellowship should in 

 future be raised to 2/. 2s. except in the case of bona fide gardeners, persons 

 living abroad, and journalists writing for provincial or foreign newspapers. 

 The existing 1/. Is. Fellows will of course be under no compulsion to 

 change the rate of their subscription, though it is hoped that not a few 

 will voluntarily do so. The Council have therefore directed a new by-law 

 to be drawn up and submitted to the Meeting for approval, the effect of 

 which will be, if carried, to make the lowest subscription for Fellows 

 in future 21. 2s. except in the cases mentioned. 



