REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1912. xiii 



began gradually to drift away from the object of its first constitution 

 and into debt. The burden of this cannot be laid on the shoulders of 

 any one man, nor indeed of any Committee or Council, for the Society 

 has ever been served by most devoted men ; it was rather the 

 natural outcome of circumstances the result of which it was impossible 

 to foresee, and though the Council and Officers wrestled long and 

 bravely with adverse conditions, it became evident in 1887-8 that a 

 radical alteration must be made. 



All through 1887 plans for reformation and renovation were 

 discussed, and in February 1888 a new Council was appointed, with 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., K.C.V.O., as President, Sir Daniel Morris, 

 K.C.M.G., Treasurer, and the Rev. W. Wilks, M.A., Secretary. 



Ever since that time the President and Secretary have remained 

 unchanged. Sir Daniel Morris (who did such admirable work for 

 the Society's finances until 1891, when he was appointed by Mr. 

 Chamberlain, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the import- 

 ant post of Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture in the West Indies) 

 was succeeded by Mr. Philip Crowley, at whose death, in 1899, the 

 increasing burden of the Treasurer's office was taken up by Mr. Gurney 

 Fowler, to whom the Society owes much for his skilful conduct of the 

 finances during the difficult years whilst building operations were in 

 progress, and in more recent years with their increased financial 

 obligations. 



In 1888, as mentioned above, the appointment of the Rev. W 

 Wilks, then Vicar of Shirley, Croydon, as Honorary Secretary took 

 place. It would be a grave omission were the selection then made 

 passed over without record or remark. For it has proved a most 

 fortunate appointment in the interests of the Society, and of the 

 Horticulture of the Kingdom. The new Hon. Secretary was known 

 as a keen gardener, with a wide knowledge of many branches of horti- 

 culture. But it can scarcely have been anticipated that he would 

 develop into the ideal Secretary he has proved to be during the long 

 period he has served the Society, now a full quarter of a century. 

 During all these years he has shown a whole-hearted devotion to the 

 best interests of the Society. This has been coupled with an un- 

 flagging energy and zeal, a discretion, tact, and judgment rarely 

 at fault, and by an unfailing courtesy, which have endeared him to 

 the Fellows to a degree seldom met with. For years Mr. Wilks was 

 not only the Society's unpaid Secretary, but also the unremunerated 

 Editor of its Journal, which he has been largely instrumental in raising 

 to the position it now occupies. Later on, with the greatly increased 

 burden of the work of the Society, it became necessary to add a re- 

 muneration to the office of Secretary of the Society. But whether 

 honorary or remunerated, it is scarcely necessary to add that 

 Mr. Wilks enjoys, and always has enjoyed, the full confidence of the 

 Council, and they believe of the Fellows generally. 



TREVOR LAWRENCE, President. 



