REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1918. ix 



* 



are : Nottingham University College, Birmingham University, The University 

 of London, Gresham College, Bishopsgate Institute, Sheffield, Manchester, 

 Norwich, etc. 



A popular lecture on " Potato Growing (Spring Work)," promoted by the 

 Society and delivered at the Mansion House on February 13, - by Mr. W. 

 Cuthbertson, J. P., V.M.H., was an unqualified success. The Right Hon. 

 the Lord Mayor was in the chair, and the Egyptian Hall was crowded from 

 end to end by an attentive audience. A companion lecture was given by 

 Mr. Cuthbertson on " Summer and Autumn Work in Potato Growing," at the 

 Caxton Hall, Westminster, on June 19, when the Rt. Hon. Lord Bledisloe 

 (Sir Charles Bathurst) was in the chair. 



To all these gentlemen — to Mr. Cuthbertson, to Mr. Chittenden, to the 

 Special County Lecturers, and to the Members of the Society's Panel of 

 Advisers, the President and Council desire to accord their heartiest thanks 

 for the good work they have done and for the able manner in which they have 

 one and all helped to maintain the Society's prestige. 



The Society's printed lectures with lantern slide illustrations, have also 

 been most useful. They were first circulated in the autumn of 191 7, and 

 consisted of a series of 21 printed lectures and more than 100 sets of illus- 

 trative lantern slides. During the winter of 191 7-1 8 they were utilised by 

 no fewer than 639 Societies, and were the means of instructing upwards of 

 50,000 people. 



Four Members of the Council, Lord Lambourne, Messrs. W. A. Bilney, 

 A. W. Sutton, and James Hudson, have for the last three years inspected the 

 gardens of the London Children's Garden Association, and have been greatly 

 pleased at the evidence of diligent cultivation which the gardens displayed 

 in most of the localities they visited. 



5. R.H.S. Travelling Exhibit. — As the Society's Food Production work 

 grew and developed, a need was felt for models, specimens, charts, etc. These 

 were required for the many Food Production Exhibitions which have been 

 held all over the country by Educational Authorities, Public Schools, Horti- 

 cultural and Allotment Societies, Horticultural Instructors, Lecturers, and 

 others. The work of preparing models was accordingly taken in hand, with 

 the result that early in the year a highly instructive exhibit was available. 

 It was first shown at the Exhibition of the Institute of Hygiene in Devonshire 

 Street, London, and has subsequently travelled to many parts of the country 

 in charge of the Society's Representatives, Mr. C. H. Curtis, Mr. W. H. Divers, 

 V.M.H., Mr. W. Stewart, N. D. Hort., and Mr. C. R. Fielder. Twenty-six 

 exhibitions, lasting from a week to a fortnight, have thus been visited, and 

 many thousands of people have benefited thereby. The exhibit includes 

 models of various garden operations, such as the right way of digging and 

 trenching, the planting of potatos, the making of a potato clamp, the testing 

 of seeds for germination, specimens of diseases, and sixty museum cases of 

 insects (both helpful and harmful) met with in the garden. This collection 

 of specimens is one of the best in the country, and it has proved highly attrac- 

 tive. The exhibit was inspected on October 26 by the Queen at the Caxton 

 Hall, Westminster, when Her Majesty was graciously pleased to express her 

 appreciation of the work the Society is doing, and to wish it every success in 

 its efforts for furthering the increased production of orchards, gardens, and 

 allotments throughout the country. 



The Society has spent over ^2,500 during the year on its Food Production 

 work, for which a grant is being given by the Treasury through the Food 

 Production Department. 



6. The Future of Allotments. — The preceding paragraphs will have 

 shown to the Fellows what a vast amount of work the Society has done in 

 these various directions to encourage and assist the Allotment Movement, 

 which, % du ring the War, has spread so happily from one end of the country to 

 the other. The President and Council have rejoiced to see it taken up with 

 such enthusiasm, and to hear from their County Representatives, Lecturers, 

 and Panel, how excellent the cultivation of these allotment gardens has 

 generally been, and what an enormous amount of vegetable food they have 

 produced. 



It remains only to say — (1) that anything the Society can do in the future, 

 with the very limited means at its disposal, it will do, to help this excellent 

 movement to continue and prosper ; and (2) to express a hope that the new 

 Parliament may be able to provide that in future every man who is willing 



