624 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE EOYAL HOETIOULTURAL SOCIETY. 



[The following appreciation of the Society's work by an anonymous correspondent 

 appeared in the Times for Saturday, February 11, 1911. The Editor of the 

 Times has courteously permitted us to reproduce it.] 



All the gardeners of England are indebted to the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society, whether they are Fellows of it or whether they are not. It 

 is at the present time one of the most prosperous and beneficent 

 societies in existence. It may be worth while therefore to relate a 

 few facts about its past history and its present condition and activities, 

 and we shall relate them, not only for their own sake, but also in the 

 hope that they may induce any readers who are not yet Fellows of 

 the Society to become Fellows; for it can only maintain its present 

 prosperity and usefulness if it has the support of those who ought to 

 support it — that is to say, of all gardeners in the country. 



It may be a surprise to many of the present members to hear that 

 its prosperity, though not its usefulness, is recent. In 1887 the 

 income of the Society was £2,894, and its expenditure £3,577. There 

 was also a debt of £1,152. The total number of Fellows was 1,329, 

 of whom 556 were life Fellows. They had paid their subscriptions 

 in a lump sum, and this sum was lost. There remained, therefore, 

 only 773 subscribing Fellows. Thus the Society had reached a crisis 

 in its affairs. Either its policy was wrong or it was not wanted. 

 Some members of the Council despaired, and there was a proposal 

 to make an end of it. But others thought that only a change of policy 

 was needed, and they prevailed. The first result of the change of policy 

 was the resignation of 221 subscribing Fellows, so that in 1888 the 

 Society began its new career with only 552 subscribing Fellows, a debt 

 of over £1,100, and an expenditure much in excess of its very precarious 

 income. The expenditure for 1910 was £17,488 and the income 

 £25,858. The number of Fellows had risen to 12,043, and the debt 

 had changed to investments of the value of £51,321. Besides this the 

 Society now owns a hall which, with its furniture, is worth £42,000, 

 and the gardens at Wisley with their laboratory and dwelling-houses 

 and green-houses. In 1910 alone there was an increase of over a 

 thousand in the number of Fellows and of £2,661 in the income. This, 

 we believe, is the largest annual increase the Society has ever known. 



Many Fellows have by their disinterested efforts contributed to this 

 wonderful success, and they have been encouraged to give their help 

 by the manner in which the Society is directed. It is a Society which 

 exists for the good of all gardeners and not for the profit or advertise- 

 ment of any individual. Those who have done most for it have always 



