THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— July 8, 1856. 
254 
with this Society. They are springing up everywhere; the 
last number of the Gardeners' Chronicle contains advertise¬ 
ments from Sydenham, Maidstone, Chatteris, the Midland 
Counties, Chertsey, Chelsea, the Regent’s Park, Hereford, 
and Watford—excellent symptoms of the progress of gar¬ 
dening, but not favourable to the re-establishment for the 
present of Exhibitions at Chiswick, where our bad position 
incapacitates us from contending with places more favourably 
situated. The Council, however, do not altogether abandon 
the idea of holding Exhibitions in the Garden if it is pre¬ 
served ; on the contrary, they would be glad to revive them 
should a favourable opportunity present itself; but that re¬ 
vival would involve a material change of plan, and would 
have to be made with a view to the gratification of the Eel- 
lows and their friends rather than that of the public at large. 
Such meetings might thus, indeed, become more exclusive, 
but they need not bo the less agreeable and instructive on 
that account. Nor would they be less useful if converted 
into social reunions, rather than indiscriminate public assem¬ 
blages. The progress of gardening might be demonstrated 
by the contents of the Garden itself, and by the contribu¬ 
tions of those who cultivate plants for their own sake, and 
not with the special object of occasional display. 
Such are the views of the present Council; they have 
been formed in the hope of reconciling the interests of 
horticulture, the objects of the charter, and the personal 
wishes of the Fellows, so as to secure the permanence of 
this great institution. What may be possible under future 
and altered circumstances can only be determined as 
changes progress; but the Council trust that the views they 
take are such as justify them in asking the Meeting now 
to entrust them with that freedom of action in the absence 
of which no public affairs can possibly be conducted. 
Whatever changes may be contemplated in the privileges, 
proceedings, or constitution of the Society must, under the 
charter, be incorporated in the bye laws. And as no bye¬ 
laws can be valid until certain formalities have been com¬ 
plied with, and the acquiescence of the Corporation has 
been signified in General Meetings summoned for the 
purpose, there will be ample opportunities hereafter for a 
full discussion of whatever new arrangements the Council 
may think that the interests of the Society require. 
In answer to a question from General Sir Augustus 
Dalrymple, Bart., the Chairman, Col. Chat,i.oner, entered 
into a further explanation of the views of the Council, and 
directed the following letter to be read :— 
“ 47, Rue do Chehy, Paris, June 21, 1856. 
“ Dear Sir, —Since the 1st of May I have been looking 
anxiously for information respecting the Horticultural 
Society, and the progress of the subscription towards the 
required .£5000, and it is only by a letter in yesterday’s 
‘Times’ that I learnt that £1700 is still wanting, and to 
be raised by the 24th instant. I hope the warm appeal of 
‘An Oldish F.H.S.’ will be responded to worthily, and that 
you will find the Society with the required amount in hand 
on Tuesday. Should this unhappily not be the case; but, 
to meet the deficiency then found, a sufficient body of the 
earnest supporters of the Garden should resolve to increase 
their subscriptions proportionally; I shall be ready to 
concur in the arrangement to the extent of doubling the 
sum (Twenty Pounds) I authorised you (in April) to put 
down to my name. 
“ The Emperor here has just had the new gardens on each 
side of the ‘Avenue de lTmperatrice’—a noble conception 
—laid out for the instruction and gratification of hit people, 
with all the rare trees and plants long since naturalised and 
matured in the promenade portion of the Garden at Chiswick; 
and it will be a scandal to our country, where the Government 
(I say it not by way of reproach) does not take in hand 
these things (leaving them rather to the natural spirit and 
energy of our people), that this Garden, so replete with 
magnificent exotics, should pass under the auctioneer’s ham¬ 
mer, and be perhaps either rooted up, or portioned out into 
building plots (like Pope’s villa), to say nothing of the loss 
to the. nation at large of the manifold benefits afforded by 
the Garden, by the skilful management and propagation and 
liberal distribution by the Society of seeds, plants, and 
cuttings, so justly eulogised by ‘ An Oldish F.H.S.’ 
“Fashion is, we all know, capricious enough, and we may 
never see again the gay crowds that used to adorn the Fetes; 
but surely the great horticultural body in England can afford 
to maintain a model Garden for themselves, notwithstanding, 
and independently of the splendid speculation of the Crystal 
Palace and its grounds, I will hope so at least till Tuesday 
next. 
“ I remain, dear Sir, 
“ Yours faithfully, 
“Dr. Lindley." “J. T. Winterbottom. 
It was moved by Mr. Blandy, seconded by Mr. Sfencer, 
and resolved unanimously that the report of the Council be 
received and adopted. 
It was moved by Colonel Challoner, and seconded by 
Mr. Blandy— 
“ That this Meeting, after hearing the statement now made, 
authorises the Council to take such measures fur the reorganisa¬ 
tion of the Society as they may consider advisable, even though 
those measures should involve the relinquishment of the Gul den 
at Chiswick, and the realisation of the property, or any part of 
the property therein.” 
After some conversation a show of hands was taken, and 
the resolution was carried with only two dissentients. 
We entirely concur in the vote of the majority, to 
give the Council, as at present constituted, authority 
“ to take such measures for the reorganisation of the 
Society as they may consider advisable.’’ It is only by 
the judicious exercise of such authority that the Society 
can aviso renovuted from the ashes to which for years it 
has been crumbling. 
We shall await with much anxiety the announcement 
of the measures resolved to be adopted by the Council, 
because on that will depend whether we can advocate 
the recommendation that those who have promised 
subscriptions for the preservation of the Garden should 
afford the same aid under other arrangements. 
MR. SALTER’S FLOWERS.—CROSS-BREEDING. 
Having read the account of Mr. Salter’s Hybrid 
Pceonies at the Regent’s Park Exhibition, and having 
had occasion to pass his door on my way to the meeting 
of the Horticultural Society, I called in to see them, not 
knowing that 1 should see a collection of them on the 
morrow at the Crystal Palace Show. This collection 
consists of improved seedlings of the herbaceous kinds, 
which were raised in different parts of the Continent, 
and of which cut blooms give no better idea of what 
they really are than cut flowers do in general. What j 
can one determine about the value of this or that plant j 
from seeing cut blooms of it ? Then comes the question, 
How is the public to see certain classes of flowers 
except by cut blooms? You would not grow Paeouies, 
Irises, Dahlias, Tulips, and all the rest of them in pots 
for exhibition; therefore, we must trust to cut blooms, 
and he thankful for the reports of independent judges 
of such things. 
I found Mr. Salter himself very curiously employed, 
propagating a largo collection of Herbaceous Irises, of 
which lie has a very large collection. “ Do you prefer 
Midsummer to the spring or autumn for this kind of 
work?" said i. “You do not seem to see the'force of 
the necessity for it being done just at this critical 
moment,” was the reply. The collection was in bloom, 
or nearly so, and when each kind is just at its best is 
the proper time to increase it, so as to he perfectly sure 
of the exact tint or colour. Stools or stock plauls of 
Irises in the nurseries require to he thus looked over 
every year, to keep them up to the full strength, after 
“gapping” them to make up orders, and to make good 
accidents and frost-bitten ones. As it is thus certain 
that side pieces or suckers of them without roots can 
