180 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 12,180U 
thing was added which I asked Mr. Sage to interpret, and he 
replied, “ The Hypoongyee has paid you a great compliment ; he 
says, ‘ You are not like some English people, who come into our 
places as if they were their own. Come again ! ’ ” Indeed, as we 
were in simple courtesy bound to do, we always asked the per¬ 
mission of these good people before we entered their buildings, 
and paid the same tokens of respect to their religion as we 
should do in entering a church at home, and as we should 
expect a foreigner to do if he entered our own Christian place 
of worship. 
Dancing, theatrical entertainments, and sports are dear to the 
hearts of the Burmese. We were fortunate enough to witness a 
pue or play, or rather a portion of it, for the entire performance 
lasts from 8 p.m till 5 next morning. It was given by the inhabitants 
of one quarter of the town of Toungoo, and was considered a per¬ 
formance of high quality, and was held on a level space of turf 
surrounded by trees. In the middle of this a canopy of bamboo 
mats covered an area of some 70 feet square. Two little piers of 
bricks about 2 feet high supported two pots of flaming kerosene oil, 
which were replenished with a wooden ladle from time to time by 
the performers. These were footlights and illumination of the 
house. A space of 12 feet square was kept clear round these piers, 
and formed the stage, and around this rose rank behind rank of 
men, women, and children to the number of several thousands. A 
place of honour was courteously reserved for us in the front row. 
The wardrobe of the performers consisted of a large wooden chest, 
from which they extracted ever and anon fresh costumes, and 
behind the stage, almost invisible in the gloom, was the orchestra 
of drums, fifes, clocken, and horns. 
The actors consisted of two clowns, several princes and 
princesses, Woons or Ministers of State, and two dancing girls in 
beautiful silken robes and profusely adorned with gold and jewels. 
The piece consisted of one of those long drawn out legends which 
abound in Burmese literature, in which are described the search of 
a young prince for a suitable mate, his travels through distant lands, 
the encounters of himself and his retinue with wild beasts, evil 
spirits, false priests, &c., with an occasional interlude in the shape of 
a dance or ballet. The dancing consisted of a series of innumerable 
angular contortions of the body, evidently extremely difficult, but 
not consonant with our western notions of elegance, but it elicited 
rapturous applause. We watched the performance for two hours, 
and then the densely packed crowd made way for us most 
courteously, and we finally extricated ourselves by winding in and 
out through lines of bullock carts which fringed the outside of the 
throng five or six deep, and among numerous sleepers wrapped in 
their long robes, who were stretched on the ground recruiting them¬ 
selves by a nap previous to returning for another spell of the 
performance. 
(To be continued.) 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Eeport of the Council for the Year 1890-91. 
The year 1890 has been one of steady work and progress for our 
Society. Five conferences have been held at Chiswick—viz., on 
Daffodils, on Carnations, on Ferns, on Dahlias, and on Grapes, and 
the attendance of Fellows and others at them, as also at the fortnightly 
lectures at the Drill Hall, has been decidedly more encouraging than in 
previous years. Fellows would greatly assist the Council by making 
these meetings and lectures better known among the general public. 
For this purpose Fellows may obtain at the office packets of tickets of 
admission for distribution amongst their friends at the following rates 
—twelve Is. tickets, 10s. ; or six for 5s. 
Sixteen fruit and floral meetings have been held at the Drill Hall, 
besides those held at Chiswick, and lectures have been delivered at 
fourteen of them. The number of awards has been as follows :—On 
the recommendation of the Floral Committee, forty first class certifi¬ 
cates against fifty-four in 1889, 117 awards of merit against eighty-four, 
two commendations against three last year. On the recommendation 
of the Orchid Committee, fifty-six first class certificates against twenty- 
seven last year, forty-five awards of merit against seven, nine botanical 
certificates against twelve. On the recommendation of the Fruit and 
Vegetable Committee, six first class certificates against seven, and 
seven awards of merit against three last year. The Society’s great 
Show held (by the renewed kindness of the Treasurer and Benchers) in 
the Inner Temple Gardens, and opened by His Koyal Highness the 
Prince of Wales, was a greater success than ever, alike in the number 
of visitors, the quantity and quality of the exhibits, the propitiousness 
of the elements, and the consequent pecuniary result. The best thanks 
of the Society are due to all who so kindly brought their plants for 
exhibition or otherwise contributed to the success of this Show. 
The Society’s general work of scientific experiment and investiga¬ 
tion, and of the practical trial of various plants, has been going on 
steadily at Chiswick, under the superintendence of Mr, Barron. Trial 
has been made of 104 varieties of Lettuce, twenty-five of Endive, thirty- 
three of Celery, thirty-six of Leeks, and thirty of Broad Beans. Thirty- 
four new varieties of Potatoes, twenty-three new Peas, thirty new 
Tomatos have been tested. In the floral department 415 varieties of 
Carnations and Picotees, 354 Dahlias, fifty-eight Ivy-leafed Pelar¬ 
goniums, seventy Violas and bedding Pansies, 112 different strains of 
China Asters, and thirty-two of Stocks have been tried, A very large 
collection of perennial Asters (Michaelmas Daisies) and Sunflowers 
have been received in view of the projected conference upon them m- 
October, which will prove of the greatest possible interest, and will, it 
is hoped, serve to clear away the great existing confusion in their 
nomenclature in different parts of the country. The experiment of 
opening the gardens on Sundays, which was commenced in 1888 for the 
sole purpose of giving such Fellows as are fully occupied during the 
week an opportunity of visiting them for scientific or practical pur¬ 
poses, has again, as it did the year before, proved unsuccessful in that 
particular direction ; it has therefore been decided to abandon it, as it not 
only throws additional work on the officials on their one rest day in the 
week, but also entails considerable expense on the Society which can ill 
be spared from the general work of the gardens. 
The Society’s “Journal ” has been continued so as to enable Fellows- 
at a distance to enter more fully into and reap the benefits of the study 
and work of those more actively engaged at the centre. Three parts,, 
forming vol. xii., 707 pages, with forty-two plates of new plants, &c., 
have been published during the twelve months, and letters are con¬ 
stantly received from the most distant and diverse sources testifying to 
the Fellows’ appreciation of this renewed branch of the Society’s work. 
The Council wish to repeat verbatim one paragraph of their last 
year's report, w'hich runs as follows :—All these conferences and meet¬ 
ings, and especially the work and maintenance of the Chiswick Gardens- 
and the publication of the “ Journal,” have involved the Society in a 
very large outlay, and the Council take this opportunity of endeavouring 
to impress upon Fellows the absolute necessity there is for them all 
individually (as many as have the Society’s welfare at heart) to endeavour 
to secure new Fellows to the Society if its work is not only to be con¬ 
tinued at its present standard, but still more so if the ever-opening and 
extending opportunities of usefulness are to be embraced and accepted.. 
The adoption of £1 Is. as one rate of subscription was, no doubt, a 
popular movement, but the Council desire to remind the Fellows that 
such a low rate of Fellowship can only be self-supporting if it draws 
into the Society a very large number (far larger than at present exists)> 
of additional Fellows. The Council, therefore, venture to express the 
hope that every Fellow of the Society will endeavour to obtain at least 
one new Fellow during this present year. A statement of the privileges 
of Fellows and of the aims and objects of the Society, together with a 
form of nomination to Fellowship, is for this purpose enclosed with 
this report. 
The following table will show the Society’s progress in regard to- 
numerical strength during the past year :— 
DEATHS IN 1S90. 
£ p. d. 
Life Fellows . 
4 euinoRS . 
,. 0 .... 
... 0 0 0 
2 .. 
.... Ifi 0 
1 ■« . 
... r, r> (1 
19 
£22 1 0 
RESIGNATIONS. 
£ s. d. 
4 guineas. 
.. a .... 
.... 12 12 0 
2 „ . 
.... ‘M) IH 0 
1 „ . 
.. I'J .... 
.... lino 0 
41 
£72 9 0 
Total loss 
CD 
£91 10 0 
Fellows elected in I890. 
.-e p. (5. 
4 guineas. I 4 4 (► 
•> „ lO.-i 220 10 0- 
I „ 09 £21 9 0 
Associates . I 0 lo G 
Affiliated Societies ... 8 .10 lo 0 
New Fellow.s, i-c.4.'4 i.no .0 (» 
Deduct loss .. 94 10 o 
Net increase in income. £165 10 6 
New Fellows, A-c . 424 
Deduct resignations and deaths . 6J 
Increase in number of Fellows .0-4 
The most notable feature in the past year’s work has been the excel¬ 
lent commencement made for raising a fund for obtaining for the 
Society more suitable and worthy premises, and for building a horti¬ 
cultural hall to meet the requirements with regard to light and space 
and position, not only of our own Society, but also of the numerous 
kindred associations of this great metropolis. A scheme for the 
purpose was put forth in the spring, by whieh it was proposed to 
borrow, without interest, from those willing to so lend it, a sum of 
£40,000, part of which was to be expended on the buildings and part 
placed in the hands of trustees to safeguard the annual ground rent, 
the principal being, it is hoped, gradually repaid to the lenders by 
annual drawings out of the assets accruing from the rent paid to the 
Trustees by the Society, and by other kindred associations using the 
buildings, and by occasional lettings. The Trustees are Sir Trevor- 
Lawrence, Bart., Bart., M.P. ; Baron Henry SchriiJer (to whom we are 
indebted for the scheme), and Everard A. Hambro, Esq. The response 
made to the scheme was at first very promising, and half the amount 
required was promised during the ensuing summer, but owing to 
circumstances connected wdth the condition of financial matters- 
generally it was thought advisable in the autumn to allow the appeal 
to rest for at least six months, but it is hoped to resume active operations 
again as soon as the present spring is advaneed. 
In conjunction with the Lindley Library Trustees, the Society’s 
library has received considerable attention. All serial publications have- 
been kept up to date, a large number of untidy but valuable volumes- 
have been bound, and the following books amongst others added to the- 
library, viz.:—“ Annales des Science Naturelles,” ^ix vols. •, “ Nuovo 
Giornale Botanico Italiano,” twelve vols. ; “ Eevue’Horticole,’^ “ Kohler 
Medizinal Pflanzen,” “Nyman Conspectus florm Europaem,” “Pflanzen- 
Familien,” “ Baillon Diet. Bot,” “Archives Nouvelles-du Museum. 
