January 22, 1898. 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



47 



Royal Gardeners" Orphan Fund.— We have much pleasure in announcing 



that C. E. Ktyser, Esq., of Aldermaston Court, Reading, late of Stanmore, will 

 preside at the festival dinner of the Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund, which is to 

 be held at the Hotel Metropole on April 20. 



R.H.S* Lectures.— The lectures to be given at the afternoon meetings of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society during the current year are as follows : The Rev. 

 George iHenslow, V.M.H., who has been appointed Professor of Botany to the 

 society, on %i Some of the Plants Exhibited," March 8, May 10, June 28, October 11, 

 November 8, and December 13 ; Mr. J. J. Willis, " Soils, 1 ' March 22 ; Mr. J. 

 Enock, "Blight and Blessing," April 12; Mr. F. W. Burbidge, V.M.IL, 

 "Sweet-scented Leaves versus Fragrant Flowers," April 26 ; Mr. J. O'Brien, 

 V.M.H., "Hybrid Orchids," June 14; Mr. N. N. Sherwood, V.M.IL, " Edible 

 Peas/' July 12 ; Mr. A. B. Freeman-Mitford, C.B., " Economic Uses of Bamboos," 

 July 28 ; Mens. Latour Marliac, "Water Lilies," August 9 ; Mons. Henri de 

 Vilmorin, " Perpetual Strawberries," August 23 ; Mr. T. W. Birkenshaw, "The 

 Disa," September 6 ; Mr. W. Roupell, " Fruit Growing in Suburban Gardens, 

 September 20 ; Mr. George Gordon, Y.M.H., "Experimental Horticulture," 

 October 26 ; and Mr. A. D. Hall, Principal of the South-Eastern Agricultural 

 College, Wye, "Artificial Manures in the Garden," November 22. The after- 

 noon meetings will, as usual, commence at three o'clock. 



The Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution is being steadily built 



up in a most substantial manner, for its invested funds are now bringing in an 

 annual income of over ^"850. It will be of interest to many, especially in view of 

 the annual meeting and election of pensioners, in progress as we go to press, to 

 know how and what are the funds invested. They are as follows : Two and Three- 

 quarters per Cent. Consolidated Stock, ,£5,000; India Three per Cent. Stock, 

 ^2,664 195. iod. ; London and North-Western Railway Three per Cent. Debenture 

 Stock (cost .£5,363 Ss. 6d.), £5,000 ; Midland Railway Three per Cent. Deben- 

 ture Stock (cost ^5,865 4s. 9d.), £"5,414 2s. ; Great Indian Peninsula Railway 

 Five per Cent. Guaranteed Stock (cost ,£5,062 195. gd.), ^*3,oco ; Manchester 

 Corporation Three per Cent. Stock (cost .£4,133 6s.), ^4.0^4 12s. 9d. ; Midland 

 Railway Three per Cent. Debenture Stock (cost ,£500), Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. 

 Veitch's Special Fund, ^479 10s. 4d. ; Liverpool Corporation Three-and-a-Half 

 per Cent. Stock (Wm. Thomson Memorial Fund), (cost £257 3s. 5d.), ^£195 14?. ; 

 Cardiff Corporation Three per Cent. Stock (cost £535 1?.), £ 500 ; and Liverpool 

 Corporation Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Stock (cost ^"409 10s.), £"312 195. gd. 

 The new investments are: (J. M. Thomson legacy) India Three-and-a-Half per 

 Cent, (cost ^457 5s. nd.), £"389 10s. 9d. ; and Victorian Era Fund, Great 

 Western Guaranteed J ive per Cent, (cost £"4,075), .£2,128. 



Technical Education.— At the close of an interesting lecture on the 

 subject of edible stemmed plants for food, delivered by Mr. A. Dean, one of the 

 horticultural lecturers to the Surrey County Council, before the members of the 

 Chiswick Gardeners 5 Mutual Improvement Society, on the 6th inst., there 

 being a large attendance, one member referred to the energetic action of the 

 Surrey County Council in providing able lecturers for that county, whilst the 

 Middlesex County Council, so far at least as horticulture is concerned, did 

 nothing. Mr. Dean, in replying, said it was a grave matter that the large sum 

 paid to the Middlesex County Council by the State for essentially technical 



Royal Horticultural Society. 



Summary of Annual Report. 



The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society state in their report to be presented 

 to the annual general meeting of Fellows to be held at the society's offices, 117, 

 Victoria Street, Westminster, on Tuesday February 8, that the year 1897 will long 

 be remembered as the Diamond Jubilee year of Her Most Gracious Majesty, 

 patron of the society, remembered too, for the innumerable projects set on foot in 

 celebration of the event. ^ In the report for 1896 the Council announced that they 

 had no intention of adding to the number of projects by starting any ambitious 

 horticultural celebrations, which would lay any strain upon the resources of indi- 

 vidual Fellows. They stated that they proposed to establish a medal of honour in 

 horticulture, and they had obtained the sanction of Her Majesty to call it the 

 Victoria medal. This proposal has been duly carried out; the medal has been 



art 



Majesty's 

 It is more- 



prepared, and conferred on sixty recipients distinguished in various ways in our ar 

 and science ; and it it believed to be the only medal associated with Her Maies'v' 

 Diamond Jubilee, with the exception of the one founded by herself. 



over the only horticultural distinction in this country that is conferred for personal 

 merit only, and is entirely unconnected with prize-winning. By their action in 

 this matter the Council consider they have commemorated ller Gracious Majesty's 

 Jubilee in a becoming and enduring manner : in a manner absolutely distinct from 

 all celebrations ; in a manner that lays no tax upon the Fellows of the society ; in 

 a manner distinctly to the advantage and encouragement ol horticultural skill and 

 effort ; and lastly, in a manner which will carry down to all future generations of 

 horticulturists, the memory of Queen Victoria's long and happy reign. 



Under the head of ordinary expenditure at Chiswick ,£1,850 has been spent on 

 the general work and maintenance of the gardens. Amongst other work. House 

 No. 11 has been partially, and No. 10 entirely rebuilt, whilst No. 5, devoted to 

 peaches, has been raised in height and a new roof put on. All this work has been 

 done by the society's own staff of men. The receipts by sale of surplus produce 

 amount to £357, making the net ordinary cost of the gardens ,£1,493. 



At Westminster, twenty fruit and floral meetings have been held in the Drill 

 Hall, James Street, Victoria Street, and fifteen committee meetings have been 

 held at Chiswick, besides the larger shows in the Temple Gardens on May 26, 27, 

 and 28 ; and at the Crystal Palace on September 30, October 1 and 2. Lectures 

 have been delivered at seventeen of the meetings, exclusive of those given at the 

 Crystal Palace. The number of awards granted by the Council, on the recom- 

 mendation of the various committees, has been as follows : Gold Medal, 14 ; 

 Silver-gilt Flora, 55 ; Silver-gilt Knightian, 18 ; Silver-gilt Banksian, 35 ; Silver 

 Flora, 132; Silver Knightian, 50 ; Silver Banksian, 153; Bronze Flora, 16; 

 Bronze Knightian, 4 ; Bronze Banksian, 54 ; First Class Certificate, 54 ; Award of 

 Merit, 346 ; Botanical Certificate, 31 ; Cultural Commendation, 46; total 1,008. 



The Council must again express their opinion that there still appears to be a 

 tendency to multiply unduly the awards recommended, and they earnestly request 

 the several committees to consider seriously whether there is not a real danger of 

 impairing the value of these distinctions by such increase of their number ; and 

 whether it would not be possible, as well as politic, to be somewhat less generous 

 in the recommendation of awards during the ensuing year. This is a question 

 which the Council cannot but regard with solicitude, and they hope that every 

 member of the committees will consider that he has a real individual responsi- 

 bility for the welfare of the society in this matter. 



On Wednesday, July 14, the Council invited all the members of the several 

 committees to lunch with them at Chiswick, and to examine the Gardens. After 

 the luncheon an address was delivered by Dr. Maxwell Masteis, F.R.S., on the 

 possibility of an extended usefulness of the Gardens. 



The Council desire to draw the attention of all Fellows of the society to the 

 more extended use which the Scientific Committee might be to them if they 

 availed themselves more freely of their privileges in submitting instances of dis- 



education purposes, should not be fully applied to that object. It was so in eases of > or in j uries to plants, caused by insects or otherwise. ^ The Scientific 



almost every other county in the kingdom, only a few councils failing to realise 

 the importance of secondary education. It was particularly noticeable in 

 Middlesex, because that county was probably more than any other, for its area, 

 dependent for its prosperity on gardening, especially for market purposes. He 

 suggested that the committee of that society should send to the county council a 

 copy of their present season's lecture-list, which was an admirable one, and at the 

 same time ask for a grant from the technical education subsidy in aid of their 

 objects. It would be a good thing did every similar society in Middlesex make 

 similar demands on the county council, as that would help to instruct the members 

 as to their duty in relation to technical education. It would equally be well did 

 gardeners' mutual improvement dissociations all over the kingdom make similar 

 requests from their respective county councils. In the course of the discussion a 

 member drew attention to the recent award of scholarships by the London County 

 Council, to be utilised at the Regent's Park Botanic Gardens. This evoked 

 some criticism, as these gardens, it was pointed out, could not instruct in 

 complete practical gardening, but only in that of a decorative character. In 

 returning thanks for a cordial vote given for the lecture, Mr. Dean strongly urged 

 the young members present to sit as candidates at the forthcoming examination of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society in April next. X 



Attraction of Flowers for Insects. — A summary of Professor Plateau's 



~s, after numerous experiments, with respect to the conditions which induce 

 insects to visit flowers, is given in Nature. The professor states that in seeking 

 lor pollen or nectar, insects are guided only to a subsidiary extent by the sense of 

 sight. They continue to visit scented flowers after the coloured part* have been 

 almost entirely removed. When flowers of the same species vary in colour, they 

 exhibit neither preference nor antipathy for one colour over another. Incon- 

 spicuous flowers hidden among foliage attract large numbers of insects. Artificial 

 owers made of paper or calico, even when brightly coloured and closely 

 mng real flowers, are not visited by insects ; but they are when made of green 



anHV i! a ve S etab,e scent - ^ fl °*' ers which have little or no nectar, 



: n ° t are theref °re habitually neglected by insects, are smeared with honey, 

 ects are attracted in large numbers. On the other hand, if the nectary is 

 emoveci from flowers habitually visited, their visits cease at once. M. Plateau has 



from uT • aUention to entomophilous flowers, and finds that their exemption 

 Frnm „ ™ lt * of lnsect * « due mainly to their not pro ving them wilh honey, 

 rrom all these facts M. Plateau draws the conclusion that the guiding sense to 

 ects in visiting flowers must be chiefly the sense of smell. 



resem- 



Committee is composed of gendemen qualified to give the best advice on all such 

 subjects, either in respect to the prevention or cure of disease. The committee is 

 also g'iad to receive specimens of any subjects of horticultural or botanical interest. 

 The Council wish to express their thanks to the Director of the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, for allowing them to consult Mr. Massee, F.L.S., on the fungoid diseases, 

 &Cr, brought before the Scientific Committee, and to that gentleman for his readi- 

 ness in giving them the advantage of his knowledge and advice. 



That Fellow's, whether near or at a distance, may derive as much benefit as 

 possible from their connection with the society, the Council have recently appointed 

 Dr. T. Augustus Voelcker, M.A., consulting chemist to the society, and have 

 entered into an arrangement with him whereby all Fellows who are amateurs or 

 bona fide gardeners, may obtain at very small cost analyses of manures, soils, &c, 

 or advice as to what description of chemical manure will be most suitable and 

 profitable for application to any particular soil. The Council wish to draw par- 

 ticular attention to two points, viz. : — 



(i.) That Fellows desiring an analysis must follow explicitly and exactly the 

 directions laid down in the Book of Arrangements, 1898 ; and 



(ii.) That Fellows who are in any way commercially inteiested in any 

 artificial manure trade or horticultural business cannot claim Dr. Yoelcker's 

 assistance as Fellows, but if they wish to consult him must do so in the 

 ordinary way of business. 



The society's great show held (by the continued kindness of the Treasurer and 

 Benchers) in the Inner Temple Gardens, was as successful as ever, and it is a 

 matter of satisfaction to the Council to find that this meeting is now universally 

 acknowledged to be the leading horticultural exhibition of this country. The 

 best thanks of the society are due to all who kindly brought their plants for exhi- 

 bition, or otherwise contributed to the success of this show. The exhibition of 

 British-grown fruit held by the society at the Crystal Palace on September 30, 

 October 1 and 2, was, considering the season, eminently satisfactory. A certain 

 amount of dissatisfaction has arisen from the fact that whereas classes have been 

 provided specially for amateurs and gentlemen's gardeners, and also for nursery- 

 men, there have been no classes in which growers for market could properly ex- 

 hibit. This will in future be avoided by the addition of a division for growers for 



market only. 



As an object-lesson in British fruit cultivation this annual show stands un- 

 rivalled, and is of national importance. The Council invite Fellows and their 

 friends to support it, for it cannot be too widely known that the continuance of 

 the show is absolutely dependent on at least j£ioo being raised by subscrip- 

 tion each year towards the Prize Fund. The show involves the society in a 

 very large, expenditure without the possibility of any return. The Council have 

 therefore established the rule that they will not continue it unless sufficient in- 

 terest in it is taken by Fellows and their friends to raise ;£ioo towards the Prize 

 Fund. Subscriptions for this purpose should be at once sent to the Secretaiy, 

 117, Victoria Street, Westminster, and if the list pro /e sati> r ac' ory the sch^du e 



