PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
clxix 
GARDEN SUPERINTENDENT. 
The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society have to announce that they 
have arranged with the Garden Superintendent, Mr. Geo. Eyles, that he should 
give to Fellows of the Society his advice and assistance in the laying out and 
management of their gardens, at the rate of one guinea per visit, with 
travelling expenses. 
Ballot for Plants. 
A Ballot for Plants will take place on Tuesday, 18th February, at 3 o'clock 
in the afternoon. 4-Guinea Fellows, or 40-Guinea Life Members, are entitled 
to name 8 lots; 2-Guinea Fellows, or 20-Guinea Life Members, to name 4 lots. 
It will be sufficient if Fellows will make a mark opposite the numbers of the 
lots thev select, and return their lists, with their names and addresses written 
«/ 1 _ 
thereon, to the Assistant-Secretary, at the Offices of the Society, South Ken¬ 
sington, W., on or before Tuesday, the 11th February. After that date no 
applications can he attended, to. The result of the ballot will be communicated 
in the “Proceedings,” and the plants which the Fellows may obtain by it, as 
well as those at the future ballots, will be forwarded all together at the close 
of the season, unless Fellows intimate their wish to have them sooner, and in 
that case they are requested to notify how they wish them sent. The list of 
plants is enclosed with, this number of the “ Proceedings.” N.B.— The result 
of the ballot on 30th July last is also published with this No. of the " Pro¬ 
ceedings.” 
Annual Distribution of Seeds. 
The usual packets may be obtained by application at the Offices in the 
Exhibition Road, from 20th February to 25th March. If required to be sent 
by post, 4 penny postage stamps should be enclosed with the application. 
TESTIMONIAL TO MR. ROBERT THOMPSON, 
Of the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, Chiswick. 
The retirement of Mr. Robert Thompson from active duty in the service of 
the Royal Horticultural Society has been thought, by his numerous friends, to 
offer a fitting occasion on which to present him with a substantial Testimonial, 
expressive of their cordial sympathy with him in his declining years and indi¬ 
cating also their high appreciation of the many services which he has rendered 
to Pomology and Meteorology during a long and active life. 
The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society, acting as the exponents of 
the wishes which have been expressed, that Mr. Thompson’s services should be 
publicly recognised in this way, have taken the initiative, by inviting several 
gentlemen connected with horticulture to attend a preliminary meeting, at 
which a committee was named, to carry out the proposed object. 
The many services rendered by Mr. Thompson, both to Horticultural and 
Meteorological Science, are well known to those who are actively engaged in 
these pursuits, but it may be proper, on such an occasion as the present, to 
briefly recapitulate them. For upwards of forty years, then, he has held a 
prominent position in the working stall of the Royal Horticultural Society. 
He entered the Society’s service in 1824, the second year after the establish¬ 
ment of the garden at Chiswick, and in 1826 was appointed to the charge of 
the Fruit Department, which then contained the finest and most extensive col¬ 
lection of fruits in Europe. At that time comparatively few of the varieties 
were known in this country, and the whole nomenclature was in a state of 
confusion, requiring unwearied application and perseverance to clear it up, so 
that the riches of the collection might be made available to the Fellows of the 
Society and to the country. In 1831 a descriptive catalogue of these fruits 
was published, from memoranda taken at Chiswick; and in this valuable Avoik 
Mr. Thompson, with great success, succeeded in carrying out his design of 
indicating the good and the bad sorts, together with their synonyms, and such 
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