REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1912. xi 



kindly, genial, and yet firm guidance of the Committee over which he 

 has presided for a long course of years. The Council have created a 

 new office, that of Honorary Chairman of the Floral Committee, in 

 order to keep still in touch with a name so long identified with the 

 best traditions of the Floral Committee's work. 



The Council also desire to express their sense of the constant 

 willingness to assist them at all times, to the utmost extent of his 

 power, shown by the Hon. John Boscawen, as well as for promoting 

 the interests of the Society in Cornwall, and they greatly regret that 

 distance from London makes him unable to continue to attend the 

 meetings of the Council with the necessary regularity. 



26. V.M.H. List. — It is with great regret that we have to record 

 the death of three holders of the Victoria Medal of Honour, viz., the 

 Rev. F. D. Horner, of Burton in Lonsdale — the great authority on 

 Auriculas and Tulips ; Mr. R. Fenn, of Sulhampstead — the early 

 hybridizer of Potatos ; and Mr. Alexander Dean, the Vegetable 

 specialist, of Kingston-on-Thames. Mr. Dean's long and active 

 career in horticulture, and his constant work for the Society and 

 regular presence at its meetings, renders his loss widely felt. 



To fill the three vacancies, the Council have bestowed this dis- 

 tinction upon Mr. Divers, of Bel voir Castle Gardens ; Mr. Whytton, 

 of Glasgow City Parks ; and the Rev. W. Wilks, for 25 years Secretary 

 of the Society. At the beginning of the year the Council bestowed 

 the V.M.H. upon Lt.-Col. Sir David Prain, C.M.G., CLE., F.R.S., of 

 Kew, and Mr. E. H. Wilson, the celebrated plant collector, to succeed 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, F.R.S., and Mr. James Douglas, the Carnation 

 specialist, whose deaths are recorded in last year's annual report. 



27. Pocket Diary.— The R.H.S. Gardeners' Pocket Diary has met 

 with a far greater sale than was ever anticipated for its first year of 

 publication, and many have been the letters received testifying in the 

 kindest terms to its usefulness as a pocket companion for Gardeners, 

 both Amateur and Professional. It is hoped that the issue for 1913 

 will be found to be an improvement on that of last year and may 

 meet with an equally wide circulation. 



28. Affiliated Societies Certiflcate Cards.— At the request of 

 several of the Affiliated Societies, the Council have had the Certificate 

 Card (issued some years ago for the use of Affiliated Societies) 

 beautifully coloured, and it will be available in March. The un- 

 coloured Card will still continue to be issued at the old prices, and the 

 new coloured Card at 8d. a single copy or 10 for 5s. post free. 



29. Obituary.— The Council regret, amongst others, to have to 

 record the death of the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, the Right 

 Hon. Lord Llangattock, a constant exhibitor at the Society's meetings, 

 Lieut. -Gen. Lord Calthorpe, K.C.B., Viscount Peel, the Hon. William 

 Lowther, The Hon. John Ashburnham, Lady Saville, Lady Hamil- 

 ton, Lady Brownlow, Sir Charles Whitehead, Sir Robert Pullar, 



