NOTICES TO FELLOWS. 



Jxi 



7. STUDENTS AT WISLEY. 



The Society admits young men, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two 

 years, to study Gardening at Wisley. The curriculum includes not only practical 

 garden work in all the main branches of Gardening, but also Lectures, Demon- 

 strations, and Horticultural Science in the Laboratory, whereby a practical know- 

 ledge of Garden Chemistry, Biology, &c., may be obtained. 



8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS PLANTS. 



Some years ago the Council drew attention to the way in which the annual 

 distribution of surplus plants has arisen. In a large garden there must always 

 be a great deal of surplus stock, which must either be given away or go to the 

 waste-heap. A few Fellows, noticing this, asked for plants which would other- 

 wise be discarded ; and they valued what was so obtained. Others hearing of 

 it asked for a share, until the Council felt they must either systematize this hap- 

 hazard distribution or else put a stop to it altogether. To take the latter step 

 seemed undesirable. Why should not such Fellows have them as cared to 

 receive those surplus plants ? It was, therefore, decided to keep all plants 

 till the early spring, and then give all Fellows who had paid the current year's 

 subscriptions the option of claiming a share of them by Ballot. 



Fellows are, therefore, particularly requested to notice that only waste and 

 surplus plants raised from seeds or cuttings are available for distribution. Many 

 of them may be of very little intrinsic value, and it is only to avoid their being 

 absolutely wasted that the distribution is permitted. The great majority also 

 are, of necessity, very small, and may require careful treatment for a time. 



Fellows are particularly requested to note that a Form of Application and 

 list to choose from of the plants available for distribution is sent in January every 

 year to every Fellow, enclosed in the "Report of the Council." To avoid all 

 possibility of favour, all application lists are kept until the last day of February, 

 when they are all thrown into a Ballot ; and as the lists are drawn out, so is the 

 order of their execution, the plants being despatched as quickly as possible after 

 March I. 



Of some of the varieties enumerated the stock is small, perhaps not more than 

 twenty-five or fifty plants being available. It is, therefore, obvious that when 

 the Ballot is kind to any Fellow he will receive the majority of the plants he has 

 selected, but when the Ballot has given him an unfavourable place he may find 

 the stock of almost all the plants he has chosen exhausted. A little consideration 

 would show that all Fellows cannot be first, and some must be last, in the Ballot. 

 Application forms received after March I and before April 30 are kept till all those 

 previously received have been dealt with, and are then balloted in a similar way. 

 Fellows having omitted to return their application form before April 30 must 

 be content to wait till the next year's distribution. The work of the Garden 

 cannot be disorganized by the sending out of plants at any later time in the year. 

 All Fellows who have paid the current year's subscription can participate in the 

 annual distribution following their election. 



The Society does not pay the cost of packing and carriage. Owing to the 

 railways declining to deliver these parcels any longer, they must now be sent by 

 post, the postage being prepaid by Fellows. Directions as to the amount of the 

 remittance to be sent will be found on the application form for plants, which 

 kindly consult before sending it in. 



Parcels will be addressed exactly as given by each Fellow on the address label 

 accompanying his application form. 



Fellows residing beyond a radius of thirty-five miles from London are per- 

 mitted to choose double the number of plants to which they are otherwise entitled. 



Plants cannot be sent to Fellows residing outside the United Kingdom. 



No plants will be sent to Fellows whose subscriptions are in arrear, or who do 

 not fill up their forms properly. 



9. A NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN HORTICULTURE. 



Most gardeners have welcomed the initiation by the Society of a scheme 

 whereby a National Diploma in Horticulture may be gained by those who pass the 

 Preliminary and Final Examinations. The Diploma is thoroughly "National," 



