TLiE (JOTTAUE OAllDENEU. 
Maucii 25. 
.15« 
of Culclioslrr, giving an account ol tlic trunsfunnatioiis 
of Llio Hrinistona lUitterlly, Hhoilocera lihimni, and 
proving tliat llio insect is not uouldc- lirooded, as lias 
Liccu ineulioncd liy recent writers. 
Mr. Nownian road a note on tho parturition of Dor- 
Uu'sht cluifacias, a. curious insect allied to the Coccid;o, 
and iNfr. Jlaly read the description of a new genus of 
(Jhnjsonui'KUc, from central tropical Alrica, 
HORTiCUI/i'UltAL SOCIETY OE LONDON. ’ 
IlEroiiT i-r.ojr the Committee ArpoiNTEi) at the Special 
Geneeal Meetino of this Societa', held on the Otii |j 
OF Febp.uary, 1850, under the following Resolution: 
“ That a Committee of nine Fellows of this Society he appointed to 
investigate the wliole of the accounts, and consider what is best to be ' 
done as to the continuance of the Society ; such Committee to report to 
an Adjourned Ccncral Meeting of the Society on the 11th of March, at 
One r.M.” : 
In accordance willi this Ilosolution, tlie Couniiittec of In- ’ 
(piiry have met from time to lime, aiul after a full and 
minute invosligatioii of the aecourits, have great pleasure iii ; 
reporting that they have been well and correctly kepi, and ; 
do credit to the Otricors of the Society; nor must they omit j 
(o aL'kiiowhalge tho readiness of those Oillcers to impart j 
every inrormalion wliieh mi;;ht aid the iiKpiiry. < 
Ih'fore they proceed to the consideration of the next part | 
of tlieir husiiiess, your Committee think it iircessary to state, 
tlial all the information vhieh has reached them concurs to 
sliow that tin' Fellows are extremely anxious to preserve the 
Gardens; and the sirenglli of this feeling has lieen further 
proved by some of them linviug been induced, by the mere : 
rumour that tlie surrender of them was intended, to with¬ 
draw their subscrijitions. Indeed, it almost amounts to a 
forfeiture of the Gliarter, for the Society was incorporated 
expressly, “ for tlie improvement of Horticulture in all its 
branches, ornamental as ivell as usefuland it is obvious 
that it cannot he practically improved, if no example of im¬ 
proved practice in the cultivation of fruits and ihnvers can 
he exhibited for imitation, and if there were no opportunity 
of testing the value of any new horticultural theories by ac¬ 
tual experiment; in sliort, a Horticultural Society without a 
garden would he like a crew of sailors without a ship, or 
army without iveapons. In answer to this it may he said 
that, according to the scheme propounded by the Council, 
enough of the garden was to he retained for experimental i 
purposes; hut this is impossible. The Duke of Devonshire 
has signified to tho Committee, through his agent, that the 
Society must have all or none, his Grace will not let us re¬ 
tain a mere fragment for ourselves, and throw up the re¬ 
mainder. Moreover, the preservation of these Gardens in 
their entirety for its present purjiosesis an object of national 
importance; the Arboretum contains one of the most valu¬ 
able and diversified collections of rightly-named trees and 
shrubs to he found in this country, or, iieihaps, in all the 
world ; and tliere young gardeners and foresters may learn ' 
the names, and characters, and habits of the plants by which 
gardens and parks may he adorned. Eut the Orchard, how¬ 
ever little it may be visited by those who repair to the Gar- ; 
den only for amusement, or to see the flowers, is a still more 
valuable feature of tlie property; for it is ivithout any com¬ 
petition elsewhere, and its value is increasing every year, for 
it takes a great length of lime to bring a collection of this 
sort to perfection. Many sorts of fruits tliat are rashly or 
ignorantly praised, have to he tried, their names have to bo 
verified, for they are often incorrect, and their merits have 
to ho proved and described, if they possess any; some are 
shy hearers, and are easily affected by unfavourable seasons, 
and it is not thought fair to pronounce sentence upon them 
till they have hoen tried for several years, ivhen they are re¬ 
jected as worthless (and this has been the case with very 
I nuuiy), their places liave been supplied by others, wliich 
have to undergo the same lengthened ordeal; hut the result ' 
has been, that, though some of the more recent introduc¬ 
tions are yet young, and have not arrived at their full bear- 
hig. yet the Orchard contains almost every variety of tree 
which is likely to he useful in this country. How gn at, then, 
is the advantage of this to tlic whole of the Eritish Islands, 
holh directly and indirectly ! for not only the Fellows of tlie 
Society have it in their power to obtain grafts of the most 
valuable sorts for their own orchards, without any fear of a 
mistake in the name, hut those, too, who, not being Fellows 
of tho Society, depend entirely for the supply of their gar¬ 
dens upon the respectable nurserymen who are, have tho 
same assurance tliat tlie trees which they purchase are cor¬ 
rectly named. The lumiher of choice trees thus named, 
from which grafts may he obtained, is about I,()l)l). 
Since, tlicn, it would not only he a disaster, hut, also a dis¬ 
grace to Fnglish Horticulture, if a Garden of this descrip¬ 
tion were sacrificed without some overwhelming necessity, 
we next proceed to the task assigned to us of devising some 
means to avert this calamity, for with tlie Gardens the 
Society itself must stand or fall. 
■\Ve have come to the conclusion that much may he done 
by reorganising the management of the Garden, and that 
the income of the Soeiety may be much increased. At pire- 
sent, for the management of the Garden tliere are two head 
gardeners with a salary of TlOO each, holh able and excel¬ 
lent men in tlieir own departments, hut both independent of j 
each Ollier, and placed under the general superintendence of i 
Dr. Liiidley. Of tho scientific attainments of the Vice- j 
secretary it is impossible to speak too highly, or of the advan- j 
Inge, which the Society has derived from his iinwcnricd exer¬ 
tions to maintain its character; lint we are of opinion that ■ 
lie lias hoen treated luifnirly by the Society in this—that its 1 
Oflicers have laid upon him the wliole burih'n of the most 
minute details in the Garden, as well as in tho correspon- 
deiice, and have exacted more from him than any one man 1 
could usefully perform : and tliis view of (lie ease'is eon- 
linuod by a Eesolulion recently proposed by the Ooimcil; 
namely, to institute a regular system of imiiiiry into subjects 
of importance connected witli Horticultnie, thronghont the j 
kingdom, by means of Special Committees, whose Eeporls | 
will he communicated to the monthly meetings, and other- ; 
wise made imblic; these Special Committes, ivhieh would j 
form so many centres, from ivhieh the love and study of ; 
Horticnltui’e woidd he diffused through their respective 
neighbourhoods, and by which attention would he called to 
the operations and merits of the Society, can best he orga¬ 
nised by the Vice-secretary, and would entail upon him a 
large amount of administrative labour, and a great increase 
of correspondence; uor is tliis all, for other projects are 
announced to be in contemplation, which would he highly 
valued by all those who look to the Society, not only for 
amusement or profit, hut for instruction too. The success 
of these schemes will very much depend uiion the assistance 
of the Yice-secretary, and occupy a great portion of his time, 
besides that ivliich is required for the determination of new 
seeds and plants. It is desirable, therefore, on every ac¬ 
count, that he should bo enabled to devote himself entirely 
to the science of Horticulture, by relieving him from all 
other responsibility. 
The Committee therefore propose, that tho management 
of the Garden and Exhibitions shall he confided to some j 
one practical man of first-rate skill and energetic character, j 
who shall have the superintendence of every department, i 
and try to raise the reputation of the Garden as a model of 
good management for all other gardens, while at the same 
time he may be able to develope the resources of the Society, i 
and tlius to improve its finances. It is absolutely necessary ' 
that the person filling this office should thoroughly identify | 
himself with the interests of the Society; and though never ' 
losing sight of a proper econoiny, yet he should manage the | 
Gardens in the most efficient manner with regard to beauty, | 
utility, and profit; for wdiich purpose, he should have the 
absolute control of all the persons employed in the Garden, 
subject only to tho authority of the Garden Committee, 
selected from tho Council, w ho will take care that nothing 
is done to compromise the character of the Society, or to 
involve it in an unnecessary expense. Ent while the Com ■ ; 
mittee would have this kept in view, they are of opinion that j 
it should he conducted more as an experimental Garden than 
heretofore; that experiments should he there tried, not only 
on seeds, plants, and roots, but also on implements, boilers, , 
mannies, etc., provided that the persons bringing them to be ! 
tested, do so at their ow’n expense, and that honest and | 
trustworthy Eeports of their success or failure he inserted ; 
