cclviii PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Any expectation that the Society itself can at once enter upon a large series of 
delicate experiments would only meet with disappointment. We ourselves 
cannot fail to appreciate at once the difficulties of the subject, but it is necessary 
also that the members of the Society, and the horticultural world in general, 
should equally realise the true state of the case. The successful conduct of 
purely physiological experiments requires an innate love of the necessary re¬ 
search, unwearied labour in the pursuit, uninterrupted leisure, and a rare com¬ 
bination of tact and talent, patient of failure, yet confident of ultimate success, 
at once free from prejudice, and ardent in the pursuit of the especial object of 
research. It must be a labour of love, or it will lead to nothing. The Society 
trusts that the establishment of this Committee may inspire some of its mem¬ 
bers with the requisite zeal; but it must at once be clearly understood that it 
would be impossible for it as a preliminary step to organise a staff purely for 
such a purpose. It would be almost hopeless at the present moment to find a 
person competent for the leader of such a staff, even at a large salary; several 
assistants would be requisite, perfect instruments and a chemical laboratory, 
while the person who might be great in one direction would be almost useless 
in another. Such investigations must to a great extent be carried out in the 
first instance at least by private individuals, but the Society would not be back¬ 
ward in giving pecuniary assistance where there was a reasonable prospect of 
important results. Minor experiments would indeed immediately come within 
the scope of the Society, as the reciprocal influence of stock and graft, the 
modifications produced by different stocks, varieties in the mode of culture, the 
influence of different kinds of manure, and indeed a host of other matters 
meteorological, physiological, and practical, which may tend to the promotion 
of scientific Horticulture. 
“Thereis also another direction in which the Committee might be extremely 
useful, and which would at once be acceptable to all our members, and to all 
lovers of horticulture. It is frequently a complaint that plants in collections are 
so badly named, and that the correct appreciation of what may be called their 
botanical attributes, in contradistinction to those which are simply floricultural, 
is at present so very imperfect. This arises in great measure from the want of 
useful manuals, from which the necessary information can be obtained. When 
the number of plants under cultivation was comparatively small, the Hortus 
Kewensis was available for the more scientific gardeners; but though there are 
some praiseworthy exceptions, such as Loudon’s Arboretum, the cultivator is 
for the most part compelled to pore over mere catalogues, which can give him 
only an empirical knowledge, while as frequently he will fall into error. It is 
believed that the publication of a series of manuals, judiciously selected, would 
be highly calculated to promote a general love of scientific botany where there 
is at present mere floricultural knowledge, and the more so as the desire of 
mere display seems on the wane, while an appreciation of elegance of form and 
foliage, and delicacy and variety of structure, is daily increasing. Each volume 
might be complete in itself, while, if the plan were well carried out, a series of 
publications would be produced, highly honourable to the Society and of great 
importance to horticulture. The suggestion I would observe originated with a 
member of our Committee, who has the power and the will at once to aid in 
the realisation of such a scheme ; and when I mention Dr. Hooker as its origi¬ 
nator, it will assuredly be evident how materially it might be promoted by the 
staff at the Herbarium and the superintendents of the different departments in 
the Gardens at Kew. Suppose, for instance, we were to undertake a volume on 
Conifers, for which Gordon’s manual is now quite insufficient; another on 
Herbaceous plants more usually cultivated ; another on rock and Alpine plants; 
or, to descend to especial genera, one illustrating Dendrobium, Epidendrum, 
and Oncidium. What a boon would such volumes be to our members! The 
scheme, moreover, with the aid which has been promised, might be carried out 
at a comparatively small expense, and with a degree of speed and correctness 
which would be quite out of the power of any individual. 
“ The Committee will of course be prepared to receive suggestions as to any 
other plans or modes of action which may be thought advisable; but it is abso- 
