CXXX PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
the Society and the Imperial College* All communications to the Gardens 
should be addressed to "The Director," R.H.S. Gardens, Wisley, Ripley, 
Surrey, 
The Gardens are open daily to Fellows and others showing Fellows' Trans- 
ferable Tickets, from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m., except on Sundays, Good Friday, 
Christmas Day, and Meeting Days, Each Fellow's Ticket admits three to the 
Gardens. The Public are not admitted at any time. 
The Gardens are about 3^ miles from Byfleet, 3^ miles from Horsley, and 5^ 
miles from Weybridge, all on the South-Western Railway, Carriages to convey 
four persons can be obtained by writing to Mr. D. White, fly proprietor, Ripley, 
Surrey 5 or motor cars can be had at Byfleet Station by applying to Mr. Finch, 
or Mr. Howard, Byfleet, Surrey. Accommodation and refreshments can be had 
at the Hut Hotel close to the Gardens, and also at the Hautboy, Ockham. 
7. STUDENTS AT WISLEY. 
The Society admits young men, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two 
years to study Gardening at Wisley. The curriculum includes not only practical 
garden work in all the main branches of Gardening, but also Lectures, Demon- 
strations, and Horticultural Science in the Laboratory, whereby a practical know- 
ledge of Garden Chemistry, Biology, &c, may be obtained. 
8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS PLANTS. 
Some years ago the Council drew attention to the way in which the annual 
distribution of surplus plants has arisen. In a large garden there must always 
be a great deal of surplus stock, which must either be given away or go to the 
waste-heap. A few Fellows, noticing this, asked for plants which would other- 
wise be discarded ; and they valued what was so obtained. Others hearing of 
it asked for a share, until the Council felt they must either systematize this hap- 
hazard distribution or else put a stop to it altogether. To take the latter step 
seemed undesirable. Why should not such Fellows have them as cared to 
receive those surplus plants ? It was, therefore, decided to keep all plants 
till the early spring, and then give all Fellows who had paid the current year's 
subscriptions the option of claiming a share of them by Ballot* 
Fellows are, therefore, particularly requested to notice that only waste and 
surplus plants raised from seeds or cuttings are available for distribution. Many 
of them may be of very little intrinsic value, and it is only to avoid their being 
absolutely wasted that the distribution is permitted. The great majority also 
are, of necessity, very small, and may require careful treatment for a time. 
Fellows are particularly requested to note that a Form of Application and list 
to choose from of the plants available for distribution is sent in January every 
year to every Fellow, enclosed in the " Report of the Council." To avoid all 
possibility of favour, all application lists are kept until the last day of February, 
when they are all thrown into a Ballot ; and as the lists are drawn out, so is the 
order of their execution, the plants being despatched as quickly as possible after 
March 1. 
Of some of the varieties enumerated the stock is small, perhaps not more than 
twenty-five or fifty plants being available. It is, therefore, obvious that when 
the Ballot is kind to any Fellow he will receive the majority of the plants he has 
selected, but when the Ballot has given him an unfavourable place he may find the 
stock of almost all the plants he has chosen exhausted. A little consideration 
would show that all Fellows cannot be first, and some must be last, in the Ballot. 
Application forms received after March 1 and before April 30 are kept till all those 
previously received have been dealt with, and are then balloted in a similar way. 
Fellows having omitted to return their application form before April 30 must 
be content to wait till the next year's distribution. The work of the Garden 
cannot be disorganized by the sending out of plants at any later time in the year. 
All Fellows who have paid the current year's subscription can participate in the 
annual distribution following their election. 
The Society does not pay the cost of packing and carriage. Owing to the 
railways declining to deliver these parcels any longer, they must now be sent by 
post, the postage being prepaid by Fellows. Directions as to the amount of the 
remittance to be sent will be found on the application form for plants, which 
kindly consult before sending it in. 
Parcels will be addressed exactly as given by each Fellow on the address label 
accompanying his application form* 
