REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1897-98. iii 
could now obtain, at less than half cost, analyses of soils and 
manures, and advice as to what artificial manures to apply to 
their particular soils or crops. 
Dr. Maxwell Masters, F.R.S., seconded the adoption of the 
Report, warmly congratulating the President and Council on the 
wonderful advance made by the Society in the past ten years, 
and thanking them very heartily in the name of the Fellows for 
securing Dr. Yoelcker’s services as Chemist, and for appointing 
the Rev. George Henslow, M.A., to be Professor of Botany to 
the Society. 
The motion for the adoption of the Report, having been put 
to the meeting, was declared to be carried unanimously. 
A vote of thanks to the President, proposed by Dr. Ince and 
seconded by Mr. George Wythes, V.M.H., concluded the business 
of the meeting. 
RETORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1897~98. 
The year 1897 will long be remembered as the Diamond 
Jubilee year of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Patron of our 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 Celebration, which would lay any strain 
upon the resources of individual Fellows. They stated that they 
proposed to establish a Medal of Honour in Horticulture, and 
that 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 
prepared, and conferred on sixty recipients distinguished in 
various ways in our Art and Science; and it is believed to be 
the only medal associated with Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, 
with the exception of the one founded by herself. It is, more¬ 
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 that they 
have commemorated Her Gracious Majesty’s Jubilee in a becom¬ 
ing and enduring manner ; in a manner absolutely distinct from 
all other celebrations; in a manner that lays no tax upon the 
