May 26, 1893, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
409 
O rganisation is the order of the day, isolated action, 
broadly speaking, fast becoming obsolete. This applies to 
industries and “ interests ” of various kinds with which many 
people are connected. Isolated individual action there must 
always be on the part of students and specialists who think and 
work out problems that lead to inventions of various kinds, some 
fanciful, others having important bearings in the scientific and 
commercial world. It is feared by some able men that organisa¬ 
tion is inimical to individualism—that it tends, to so say, to 
produce a machine-like action in humanity, and an uniformity in 
modes of thought and intellectual] ty. But may not the reverse 
be the case ? Is it not the fact that some of our greatest men 
have mixed much with the multitude in their respective circles ? 
and may they not thereby have received new thoughts and been 
impelled to higher aspirations and greater research into subjects 
which have become indissolubly connected with their names ? 
Be that as it may, organisations of individuals for the further¬ 
ance of legitimate objects have been of enormous, indeed 
incalculable, benefit to the nation. That mistakes are made by 
associations, unions, leagues, or guilds, call them what we may, 
goes without saying. They are incidents in the lives of men 
whether they act in an individual or corporate capacity, and the 
objects in view are then retarded, loss incurred, and it may be 
suffering endured. These are the penalties of errors in judgment, 
and their occurrence should, and in the long run does, lead to 
the exercise of greater prudence on the part of the public as a 
whole, for sharpers there will ever be so long as there are 
dupes, as one cannot exist without the other, and so far 
combinations do not seem to have materially reduced either of 
those distinct “ individualities.” 
Organisations in the form of societies established for mental 
or moral improvement and professional advancement are alto¬ 
gether worthy when worthily conducted ; while clubs for whole¬ 
some recreation and physical exercise, in which the different classes 
of society meet in friendly association, have a decidedly beneficial 
tendency in the cultivation of social amenities, which play an 
important part in making life agreeable, and moulding the habits 
of the community. We are not led into this strain of thought by 
Messrs. Wood & Son’s great idea on page 390 last week. In 
respect to that we adopt a waiting policy, with the remark that 
some such amalgamation as they propose has been satisfactorily 
effected in some Continental cities ; but whether we possess an 
organisation of horticulturists sufficiently strong and cohesive to 
form a substantial element for purposes of negotiation is a 
question for consideration. It was not that proposal, but the 
Journal of the “Kew Guild” that brought the subject of organisa¬ 
tion to the fore, and particularly some introductory remarks by 
Mr. W. Watson, Assistant Curator, in the form of a letter to 
Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Director, asking hia sanction of the 
project, and this gentleman’s admirable reply. Mr. Watson writes : 
Kew is p^pularly known as a great botanical institution 
possessed of a garden wherein is grown the most comprehensive 
collection of plants ever brought together in any country. Her 
influence in science and commerce has long been acknowledged as 
pre-eminent among botanical establishments. Kew is also a great 
training school for horticulturists, but the important part she plays 
in horticulture has not hitherto been generally recognised. The 
No. 674.—VoL. XXVI., Third Series. 
Kew Guild will, we think, go a long way towards showing how 
much Kew has done and continues to do, in the development of 
scientific horticulture, not only in the British Empire, but in all 
the civilised countries in the world. Our Journal will reveal the 
whereabouts and positions of all living Kewites, as far as they can 
be ascertained. Kew “ graduates ” are everywhere ; as directors, 
curators, superintendents, head gardeners, as botanists, professors, 
Fellows of the Ro;\al Society, the L’nnasan, and other great 
scientific societies ; wherever botany or rcientific horticulture is 
encouraged, there Kewites are sure to be found. 
We have made a rough calculation of the number of men now 
alive who have been employed as gardeners at Kew, and find there 
are probably about 500. They were all young men when they 
entered Kew, and it is only natural that whilst here they formed 
friendships and acquired an interest in and affection for their 
“ high school ” which did not die with their departure to other 
places. The desire to know of the whereabouts and career of their 
fellow workers whi'st at Kew, and to learn something of the way 
things are done in the Garden now is very general among Old 
Kewites, and sometimes finds expression in letters of inquiry t® 
present members of the staff, but this is necessarily an unsatis¬ 
factory method. Our Guild and Journal will remove all difficulties 
of this kind. We shall now be able to shake hands with each 
other no matter by what distance of time or space we are 
separated. 
The Kew Guild is the offspring of the Kew Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society, which has been in existence some twenty years, and 
which is devoted to essays and discussions on professional subjects. 
This Society is now most popular with the garden staff, and is 
looked upon as being one of the most valuable means of pro¬ 
fessional improvement. It is at the same time, to all intents and 
purposes, the “Club” of Kew men. Old Kewites retain an 
affectionate feeling for “the Mutual,” as is abundantly shown in 
their correspondence ; inquiries as to the proceedings and 
prosperity of the Society being frequent. This desire to keep in 
touch with each other found expression last year in a resolution te 
take steps to unite by some means all Kew men, and it was finally 
decided to form a Guild and publish a Journal annually. We 
hope in time to be in a position to hold an annual meeting, a, 
general muster, a Club day at Kew, or somewhere near. An 
annual dinner might be arranged at which all the members 
possible might be present. Any suggestion as to the best means 
of making our Guild a genuine union of hearts, and as far as 
possible of hands also, will be most welcome. 
To the scheme as above foreshadowed the Director of Kew gave 
his ready adhesion in a letter to Mr. Watson, which we think is 
worthy of a wider circulation than it can be expected to have in 
the first excellent issue of the Journal ot the “ Kew Guild.” Mr., 
Thiselton-Dyer writes :— 
I think the idea of the proposed Kew Guild is a very excellent 
one. Such an organisation cannot but have the effect of consoli¬ 
dating the esprit de corps which already exists amongst our young 
men, and its doing so will, I do not doubt, be of great benefit t® 
the establishment. 
It has often struck me that the young men—of whom there is 
now a not inconsiderable body employed—who come to Kew for a 
period of advanced training and instruction, enjoy in no small degree 
much the same advantages as in other classes of the community 
are afforded by university life. It is generally considered that the 
most important of these are the formation of character and the 
reception of those impressions which determine an intelligent 
interest in, as opposed to a merely mechanical pursuit of, the 
occupations of life. The age at which young men come to us is 
about the same as that at which others go to the universities. It 
is the age when the responsibilities of life begin to emerge above 
its horizon, and it is the age when, for better or worse, the future 
career, as far as it depends upon the influences under which a 
young man is thrown, pretty distinctly shapes itself. 
I have always felt that a great responsibility falls upon the staff 
in doing what can be done to maintain a healthy and somewhat 
stimulating tone throughout the establishment. As you know we 
do not “coddle.” We treat our young men as “ men,” and expect 
them to work out their own salvation. We wish them to be manly., 
self-respecting, and strenuous. We put, with the aid of the 
Government, what help we can in their way, and leave them to 
make an intelligent use of it. 
Just as at the universities, one of the great advantages of Kew, 
as it seems to me, is the association within it of a large body of 
young men of the same age and with the same pursuits. Such aa 
No. 2330.—VoL. LXXXVIIL, Old Series. 
