470 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



its formation in 1872, and remained Chairman until his death thirty- 

 nine years afterwards. Fig. 116 is from a photograph of a plaque 

 placed in Westminster Abbey last year to his memory. 



National Diploma in Horticulture. 



The establishment by our Society under a scheme approved by 

 the Board of Agriculture of a National Diploma in Horticulture 

 has been already referred to several times. Two examinations are 

 imposed upon candidates, both of a practical nature, a preliminary 

 and a final, and only those with at least six years' practical experience 

 in the garden are eligible for admission to the final examination. 

 The first final examination was held in June 1915 (see p. 330), and 

 the Diploma, of which a photograph is given at Fig. 117, has been 

 awarded to the sixteen successful candidates. 



Preliminary Recognition Certificate. 



The need has often been felt for some sort of recognition to plants 

 which, though they have not yet proved themselves worthy of an 

 Award of Merit, or a First-Class Certificate, yet bid fair to be useful 

 garden plants. With this in mind, the Council has established a 

 Certificate of Preliminary Recognition (Fig. 118) to be given to plants 

 over their probationary period, and to be replaced by a higher award 

 later, if and when their early promise shall have been fulfilled. 



