Cclx PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE CENTENARY, 



1804-1904. 



Pateons. 



All Fellows will be delighted to hear that His Majesty the King has 

 graciously directed that, in honour of the Centenary, His Majesty's 

 name should be added to that of the Queen as joint Patrons of our old 

 Society. 



The Society. 



The Past Reviewed. — The Royal Horticultural Society has now 

 been established exactly one hundred years, and on surveying the past 

 century of its existence we are confident that it is in great measure due to 

 the work done by the Society that British Gardening and Gardens now 

 by universal admission take such a foremost place amongst the Horticul- 

 ture of the whole world. It is unnecessary to dwell on the events and 

 history of the past one hundred years, for these are all readily accessible 

 in the Journal of the Society and elsewhere. The Society has passed 

 through many vicissitudes of fortune, it has had several homes and at 

 least three other gardens, but never has it had such a home or such a 

 garden as those into the possession of which it is now about to enter. 



It should be specially noted that the Society has worked throughout 

 the whole of its century of existence without any single subsidy whatever 

 from Government or from any other public source, although much of its 

 work has been, and is, of distinctly national character and advantage. 



The Council believe that the Society is now entering on a period of 

 peace and prosperity such as it has never known before, and that it has 

 both a record in the past and a mission in the future of which any society 

 may be most justly proud. 



The Present Position. — The table on the next page will show at 

 a glance the phenomenal growth of the Society since in 1887 it left 

 South Kensington and reverted to its original purely horticultural policy 

 and work. 



Much still remains to be done, and the Council, whilst themselves 

 doing their utmost, venture to call upon every Fellow also to do his best, 



(1) To still further increase the Society's numbers, 



(2) To help wipe out the debt on the Hall, and 



(8) To provide a properly equipped Horticultural Research Station for 

 the new Gardens at Wisley. 



The last is a pressing want for British Horticulture generally, but the 

 Council do not feel themselves justified in embarking on the expenditure 

 it involves out of the Society's general income until the new Hall and its 

 furniture are paid for entirely. 



A complete list of the present Fellows up to December 81, 1903, was 

 published in January last, from which Fellows will be able to see who of 

 their acquaintance do not already belong to the Society ; and forms of 



