July 24, 1890. 1 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
65 
-CASH STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30TU, 1890. 
RECEIPTS. 
To75 dance from last Account . 
u Subscriptions, General. 342 10 0 
» Diitj through Local Secretaries.121 6 o 
„ Donations, General.319 7 8 
Ditto through Local Secretaries .103 18 11 
Subscriptions given by and in reponse to appeal by Mr. Harry J. Veltch .. 
Wildsmith Memorial . 
» Covent Garden Fete . 
Annual Dinner . 
» Sundrv Entertainments. 
.« Advertisements in List of Subscribers .. . 
,, Interest and Dividends on Stock . 
£ s. d. 
605 13 9 
433 IS 0 
463 0 7 
200 IS 0 
138 14 9 
262 8 0 
18 8 9 
10 19 6 
3L 0 0 
53 16 10 
£ 2338 17 2 
.Note: — Investments. " 
2J per cent. Consols .S0"8 15 10 
8 per cent Canadian Stock . 500 0 0 
£3-338 15 10 
Expenditure. 
By Allowances to Orphans. 
, Printing and Stationery. 
„ Annual Me»ting. 
,, Hire of Rooms for Meetings 
„ Postages . 
., Secretary’s Clerk. 
Rank Charges . 
„ Sundry Expenses (Petty Cash) 
Covent Garden Fete . 
„ Annual Dinner . 
„ Purchase of £5C0 2 J pev cent. Stock .. 
„ Ditto £512 15s. 22 per cent. Stock 
„ Balance at Bank. 
Ditto in Hand. 
£ 
S. 
d. 
£ 
P. 
d. 
2(7 
0 
0 
41 
14 
0 
9 
4 
0 
10 
10 
0 
19 
17 
0 
41) 
0 
0 
0 
9 
5 
19 
11 
0 
HI 
5 
5 
88 
19 
5 
54 
10 
8 
491 
18 
0 
590 
0 
0 
— 
991 
18 
0 
807 
8 
n 
7 
14 
9 
— 
815 
S 
8 
£2338 17 2 
Having inspected the Securities, and examined the Books and Vouchers supplied to 
•<is, we certify the above account to be correct. 
(Signed) J n HN FRASER. L'a Bridge. \ , ... 
WM. SHARP, Chartered Accountant, 60, Gresham St., E.C. S Auano ' s - 
Dated July 11th, 1893. 
The Dinner. 
The third anniversary dinner of the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund was 
held on Friday last at Cannon Street Hotel, Mr. Shirley Hibberd 
presiding. The company was a large one, including about 160 horti¬ 
culturists and friends. After dinner 
The Chairman proposed the usual loyal toasts, reminding the 
company that the Fund was established to commemorate the Queen’s 
Jubilee ; whilst one of its founders was Mr. Penny, the gardener to the 
Prince of Wales. 
The Chairman, before proposing the toast of the evening, “ The 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund,” said he must ask the company’s consideration 
for a very serious matter. Since they last met death had been busy 
thinning the ranks. He would not attempt to mention all who had 
passed away from a sphere of usefulness within the last year, but two 
names he must bring before them. He should be wanting in his duty 
and he should be wanting in respect if he did not do so. They had lost 
•their dear old friend Mr. Benjamin Williams of Holloway—a grand old 
gardener. They had lost another dear friend, whose presence was 
wanted now—Mr. George Deal, the first Chairman of the Committee of 
the Fund. Death was no respector of persons, of race, or condition. 
When men went in the fulness of years, and they could believe that 
"their labours were accomplished, there was no reason why they should 
not feel satisfaction that the Lord had been pleased to call them to His 
•rest. But it did trouble them ; it filled them with strange thoughts 
when men were taken in the prime of life, in the midst of their labours, 
when they were stricken down at a blow. It was not for them at that 
•moment to philosophise upon those things, but to recognise the fact that 
they had lost two friends and deplore their loss, remembering how good 
an example those friends had left for others to follow. He asked them 
.to drink upstanding and in solemn silence to the pious memory of Mr. 
Benjamin Williams and Mr. George Deal. 
The toast was then drunk in silence. 
The Chairman then asked the company to honour the toast of the 
evening. He said he wished to propose to them “ Success to the 
•Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.” (Cheers). It was a young institution, but 
it was becoming established, and it had been truly successful from the 
first. It was not always that a thing began and went on so well. 
There seemed, however, to be a reasonable promise of the continuation 
of the present prosperity, and of its increase as time went on. He 
.hoped to be able to prove to them before he sat down that the Institu¬ 
tion had some reasonable prospect of becoming increasingly useful. 
The primary idea was to provide something for the assistance of orphans 
of gardeners that were unprovided for. They knew all that. It was an 
intimation to them that all gardeners did not make provision for those 
they left behind them. It was one of the blessings of this life that we 
never knew how long it might last, for if they did life would be intoler¬ 
able. He imagined many men neglected to make provision for the 
future because they had not the courage to face the fact that life was 
■uncertain, that death might come upon them at any time. They had 
but to make observation, or to read the papers. They saw that 
youth and strength gave no guarantee of length of days, and they 
saw that weakness and infirmity, disease, wa^it, and misery gave 
no sure promise of the coming of death. There were those who 
lingered out their days, appearing to die every morning, and yet 
living. He believed many men neglected to make provision 
when they might do so, not from wrecklessness or selfishness, but 
because they w r ould not see clearly that because of the uncertainty 
of life there should be a certainty of provision for death. We all 
loved life too much, that was why we drank and smoked. Every 
man wanted thirteen pence to the shilling—(laughter)—and endea¬ 
voured to live forty-eight hours in twelve. It was the case all through, 
and had been from the beginning of the world. It caused the use of 
narcotics and ail the many dodges we resorted to to dodge death. Some 
of them were perhaps in some degree successful. Science helped us ; in 
fact if science did not help us we should not live a3 long as we do. The 
best story that ever was told they would find in iEsop’s Fables. It 
was the story of the old man and Death. The old man crept along in 
pain and misery bearing his burden. He was weary and sick of life, 
and he threw down his burden and said, “ Oh that Death would come !” 
And out of the hill close by Death popped up his head and said, “ Da 
you want me ?” And the old man said, “ Sir, would you be kind enough 
to help me take up my burden ?” (Laughter.) The old man was ready 
to go on plodding again. The poet Young had said, “ All men think all 
men mortal but themselves.” (Hear, hear.) It was quite certain that 
men in all professions and occupations made enough for themselves and 
their families and vanished from the scene and left the whole of their 
affairs in confusion. They were not supposing he was making an 
accusation against gardeners. He could make none. From what he 
ki e v of gardeners he was prepared to say in the face of the world, that 
they were a provident, thoughtful class of men—(hear, hear)—that they 
acted in their whole life in accordance with the teaching of their 
business, for the teaching of their business was always to be looking 
into the future. He knew of no occupation which so encouraged 
a man to speculate as to what the future would bring forth. He (the 
gardener) put seed into the ground and watched the barometer that he 
might be guided in his work. Every part of his work was trusting to 
the elements, and was in the largest sense of the word trusting to Pro¬ 
vidence. Gardeners were a provident body, and they would scarcely 
meet a gardener who was not a member of some club or some society or 
fund that had for its object provision for the future, and they would 
remember that gardeners had a fund of their own now formed into the 
United Horticultural Benefit Society, which might have been a bigger 
thing than it is except for some strange accident in the early days of 
its career, but which was now perfectly sound and prosperous, and had 
before it, he believed, a very good future. Now, it was worthy of notice 
—none knew it so well as many who were present—that the demands 
upon gardeners in their daily life were very many and heavy. Gardeners 
were brought constantly under the action of what were called the laws 
of hospitality. In places that were frequented by visitors gardeners 
were put to considerable expense, about which they said nothing. He 
saw much of it, so did they ; but they put the best face upon things. 
Many costs they would incur in the daily pursuit of their duties which 
did not come into the daily round of tbeir business. Consequently 
there were many and heavy demands upon the gardener’s purse, and 
his love of his business led him to many expenses. They would take a 
man engaged in building ; he went plodding on making money. A 
gardener went about to see exhibitions, to look at gardens, as his 
business was one of observation. He must be always observing, always 
learning, and taking the measure of the world he was in. Con¬ 
sequently there was much to be said in mitigation of the general 
charge of want of provision for the future. But where would 
they find amongst a body of men earning their living by labour 
and skill, not a few who were cast down by calamities of various 
kinds, and who had had no opportunity to make provisions for their 
children. There must be a certain number of orphans, and therefore 
there was no exceptional case there, and they should deal with it as 
liberally as they could, having liberal sympathy with the children. 
Here was a curious case. They had, say, a list of seventeen candidates, 
and suppose they elected them, would they put an end to the trouble in 
those seventeen families ? No. In every case except three in the list of 
seventeen there were other children unprovided for. One child was 
selected to put before the subscribers, but there remained others in the 
same family for whom, of course, provision was equally needed. Tue 
list of seventeen was in reality a list of fifty-two children in want. 
When he said fifty-two children in want, there might be some half 
dozen of them just beginning to earn a living, so that it would be seen 
that there was a large case to be dealt with, and not easily disposed of 
with a few guineas. If they took notice of one child in a family, what 
had they to say about the rest ? Well he hoped the time would come 
when they would be able to say something about the rest. It had been 
said most properly that Mr. George Deal should be kept in remembrance 
in connection with the Fund by an act of special generosity on their 
part assembled to-night. Let them understand how the case stood. 
There were at the meeting to-day seventeen candidates ; ten had been 
elected, and seven remain not elected. Mr. Sherwood spoke of giving 
£50, and Mr. Veitch spoke of giving £50, but the proposal had taken a 
better shape. It was so gratifying that he knew not in what terms to 
put it. Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Veitch proposed to provi le for five orphans 
out of the seven on condition that those assembled that night provided 
for the other two. (Loud cheers). That was the case he had to put 
before them, and if tbey subscribed £250 as a minimum they would be 
enabled to place seven orphans on the fund to commemorate the 
services of Mr. George Deal. The Chairman then invited subscriptions 
towards this fund, and in the course of a few minutes announced that 
Messrs. Weeks of Fulham had subscribed £50, Sir Julian Goldsmid 
