THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



87 



Conference," "Daffodil Conference," "Carnation Conference," 

 " Fern Conference " ; 1891, " Conference on Hardy Summer 

 Perennials and Small Hardy Fruits " ; 1892, " Conifer Confer- 

 ence " ; 1893, "Begonia Conference"; 1895, "Conference on 

 British-grown Fruit," " Primula Conference." The Society has 

 also published an admirable monograph on " Bulbous Irises," by 

 Professor Michael Foster, F.R.S., and a list of the plants certifi- 

 cated by the Society from 1859 to 1893, extending to 266 pages. 



Few words are necessary in dealing with the present position 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society. If it has done anything to 

 retrieve the errors of the past, and to inspire confidence in the 

 future, it has been by sticking resolutely to its last ; by bearing 

 constantly in mind that the function of a horticultural society 

 is to promote horticulture ; by a successful attempt to clear off 

 all outstanding liabilities, and a fixed determination to avoid 

 debt. 



In reducing the minimum subscription to £1. Is. in 1888, 

 the Society was actuated by a desire to enrol amongst its 

 Fellows as large a proportion as possible of the vast number of 

 their fellow subjects who are interested in gardens. The result of 

 this and other changes has been, on the whole, eminently success- 

 ful, the average annual net increase in the number of Fellows 

 being 280, the total number 3,300, against a maximum of, so far 

 as can be ascertained, about 2,500 in the old Chiswick show days. 

 The Journal is published with regularity, thanks to the unre- 

 mitting labours of the editors, the Rev. W. Wilks, secretary, 

 and Mr. John Weathers, assistant-secretary. The Committees of 

 the Society include in their several departments a large number 

 of the principal horticultural experts in the kingdom, and their 

 certificates and awards are eagerly sought for, and practically 

 meet with unanimous acceptance. The great shows of the 

 Society, held now for several years in the gardens of the Inner 

 Temple by the continued kindness of the Benchers, have been 

 in many respects the finest ever seen in Great Britain. The 

 Fortnightly Shows are now largely attended, and attract such 

 a number and variety of exhibits as to make it increasingly 

 difficult to find room for them. They are rendered additionally 

 interesting by the valuable papers read before them. The 

 Society's Fruit Show at the Crystal Palace bids fair to become 

 an important annual event. The shows in 1894 and 1895, 



