C PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



cultivation in backyards of the East End of London of a few Irises, 

 Chrysanthemums, and suchhke. The more we can build up from 

 such foundations, and the more we can cultivate the love oi plants 

 and flowers, the better for the country and for all classes. Happily 

 an organization exists for this purpose in the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society. I have no sympathy whatever with the pessimists who decry 

 our trade and commerce; but whatever they may say of some in- 

 dustries, in the horticultural trade at any rate we are at the head of 

 the whole world. There is a vast capital invested in it ; and we 

 ought to do all we can to foster it and to make our land even more a 

 garden than it is. When foreigners come to this country, they speak 

 of it as a garden in which they delight, with its trees, its ample 

 vegetation, its velvet turf, and its abundant greenery ; they admire 

 England the more because of the plants and flowers which we culti- 

 vate ; and we ought to do all we can to encourage that love, and with 

 it the love of the olive branch, the emblem of safety and of peace. 

 So we want the Press to help us, by doing all they can to encourage 

 people to take an interest in what we believe to be a very great and 

 beneficent movement. Horticulture is a flourishing art; it is a healthy 

 occupation; it is a most instructive recreation; and it is a means for 

 the artistic decoration of our homes and the improvement of the homes 

 of the people. Fruit and vegetables are also a most wholesome food 

 and diet. But the cost of illustrating all this and giving it publicity 

 by our Exhibitions is very large, 'and we rely upon the Press to assist 

 us in making this Show at least self-supporting. 



" The rewards to be given as prizes are most ample. The Corona- 

 tion Challenge Cup is a splendid trophy ; there is also a handsome silver- 

 gilt cup given by Olympia, and the beautiful Sherwood Cup, besides 

 the usual medals and certificates, etc. The Society has done all it can 

 to draw in exhibitors, and the success of the Show is from that point 

 of view assured. Its success financially rests to a very large extent 

 with you, the representatives of the Press, and in your hands we 

 confidently leave it." 



LUNCHEON TO THE COLONIAL GOVEENOES AND 

 OFFICIALS OF THE BEITISH COLONIAL EMPIEE. 



The presence of so many Colonial visitors in London during 1911 

 suggested an opportunity to meet socially many influential friends of 

 the Society from the Overseas Dominions with whom the President and 

 Council have been in touch for many years past in connexion with the 

 Society's exhibitions of Colonial fruit and the gifts to the Colonies of 

 plants and seeds. The Society's great Summer Show at Olympia 

 on July 5 afforded a convenient occasion for such a gathering, 

 and invitations to the Show and to luncheon were accordingly issued. 

 Every one of prominence in any of the Colonies who was known 

 to be in London was invited, and the following is a list of those who 

 accepted: — 



