23S 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 26, 1S59. 
proposal was to guarantee the terms for tliirty-one years on the 
conditions stated at the last meeting, and with which the mem¬ 
bers were already acquainted; but there was nothing said as 
to what would be done after that time, and a resolution was 
passed to make some inquiries on the subject. The Council 
accordingly wrote to the Royal Commissioners, and, in answer 
to that letter, the following communication had been made to 
the Society. It had been sent by Mr. Edgar Bowring, the 
Secretary to the Commissioners, and he would-read the contents 
to the meeting :— 
“'Whitehall, July 18. 
“ Sir,—I am directed by Her Majesty’s Commissioners for the 
Exhibition of 1851 to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
14th instant, in which you inquire, with reference to the pro¬ 
posed lease to the Horticultural Society of a portion of the 
Kensington Gore estate for a period of thirty-one years, what 
is the position which the Commissioners contemplate assuming 
at the expiration of that term, and whether they will then be 
willing to renew the lease to the Society if the management 
shall have been satisfactory to the Commissioners and the 
public. 
“ In reply, I am to acquaint you, for the information of the 
Council of the Horticultural Society, that being anxious to 
meet their wishes as far as possible. Her Majesty’s Commis¬ 
sioners will be prepared to add to the arrangement with the 
Society proposed in their letter of the 4th inst. stipulations to 
the following effect:— 
“ Upon the Society giving to the Commissioners two years’ 
notice previous to the expiration of the lease, the lease shall be 
renewed for a further period of thirty-one years, upon the same 
conditions as to rent, management, Ac., as those already pro¬ 
posed by the Commissioners with reference to the original lease. 
“ Her Majesty’s Commissioners, however, reserve to them¬ 
selves a power to decline so to renew the lease upon taking 
upon themselves the responsibility of any of the debentures 
now proposed to be issued by the Society, that may be outstand¬ 
ing at the expiration of the thirty-one years, to any extent not 
exceeding a maximum of £20,000. On the other hand, with a 
view to reducing as far as possible the debenture debt above 
alluded to, the Society shall agree to devote in each year during 
the continuance of the lease not less than 50 per cent, of their 
moiety of the net surplus balance of receipts (after the Com¬ 
missioners’ claims for rent, as set forth in my former letter, are 
satisfied) for the purpose of paying off outstanding debentures. 
“ In the event of the Society being unable for any period of 
five consecutive years during the first term of thirty-one years, 
or during the renewed term, if there be one, to pay the interest 
on the £50,000 proposed to be borrowed by the Commissioners 
(and which interest, according to the original proposal of the 
Commissioners, is to be a second charge on the net receipts of 
the Society), the Commissioners to have the right of re-entry 
without payment of compensation to the Society. 
“ Her Majesty’s Commissioners have, lastly, to stipulate that 
the Society shall not underlet or dispose of their lease, either 
during the original or the extended term, without the consent 
of the Commissioners being previously obtained. 
“ I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) “ Edgar A. Bowring.” 
That letter stated what the Commissioners were prepared to 
do. In addition to sixty-four life-memberships £1800 had bean 
taken by the Royal Commissioners themselves (hear hear). 
He held a list of donations and subscriptions in his hand, which 
he would read to the meeting. 
The list, which was a lengthy one, was then read. It com¬ 
menced with Her Majesty’s donation of £J000; the Prince 
Consort’s of £500, and £1000 debenture stock, the particulars of 
which appeared in our impression of July 12. The whole 
amount was, as has been already stated, over £11,000. The 
Secretary continued. The Council had resolved that those 
debentures should be of the full value of £100 each, to bear 
interest to the holders at the rate of five per cent. In addition 
to the five-per-cent interest, they would have the right of ad¬ 
mission to the gardens on all occasions, such admission to be 
transferrable on the payment of a small registration fee. 
Mr. Grissell. —IVhat was the difference between a life-mem¬ 
bership at twenty guineas and one at forty guineas ? 
The Secretary replied that the forty-guinea member had 
the right of admission himself to the gardens, and he was also 
furnished with an ivory ticket the same as the Fellows, which 
he could lend to a friend. The twenty-guinea subscribers had 
no ivory ticket. 
In answer to another question from Mr. Grissell, the Secretary 
again read the terms upon which the Society was to have tho 
gardens. 
Mr. Grissell referred to that part of the last letter from the 
Royal Commissioners wherein it was stated that, in the event 
of the Society being unable for five consecutive years to pay the 
interest (or rent) of the £50,000 borrowed by the Commission¬ 
ers, that the Commissioners should have the right of re-entry, 
and take possession of everything. He thought that such a 
condition should be very considerably modified, or expunged 
altogether; otherwise he did not see how confidence was to be 
placed in the scheme (hear, hear). 
Sir Peter Pole would also be glad to have more precise 
information on that point (hear, hear). 
Mr. Blandy said, according to the calculations of the Council 
they were to have a clear £8000 income from the Gardens 
(hear, hear). The gross income was estimated at £17,475, and 
the expenditure at £9400, leaving £8075 clear. If, therefore, 
they were to have confidence in these estimates, there could be 
no doubt about the interest on the money being paid. The 
first charge on income, he believed, would be the interest on 
the £50,000 borrowed by the Society; and the second charge 
would be the interest on the £50,000 borrowed by the Com¬ 
missioners, which would be recognised as rent. The remainder 
would be divided between the Royal Commissioners and the 
Society in equal proportions. He believed the calculations had 
been thoroughly tested, and the Fellows generally had been 
satisfied with the accuracy of these calculations. If, therefore, 
they were based on a good foundation, there could be no hesi¬ 
tation in arriving at the conclusion that there would he sufficient 
to pay the amount of interest on the debentures proposed to be 
borrowed. 
Mr. Wood asked what was to be done with Chiswick. What 
portion was to be kept up in order to get rid of the old debt 
now existing? 
The Secretary said there had been a communication between 
the Council and the Duke of Devonshire on that subject. The 
Duke would take back such portion as the Society might desire 
to surrender, and let them keep what they chose. That would 
be to reduce the cost of management to the Society. The 
Royal Commissioners will have to recognise £1000 a-year, sup¬ 
posing Chiswick to cost so much. 
Mr. Wood wished to know what pecuniary compensation they 
were likely to obtain from the Duke of Devonshire for that 
portion of Chiswick which they would not require in future, and 
whether they could remove such things as they had there. 
The Secretary replied that there would be no pecuniary 
compensation. As to the removal of anything the Society had, 
there would be no difficulty about the removal. They could 
remove everything appertaining to horticultural purposes: all 
plants and trees worth removal would be taken away. There 
was a large iron conservatory which could be removed; but 
beyond that he did not know anything that was likely to produce 
much money. 
Sir Philip Egerton rose and proposed the following resolu¬ 
tion. In doing so, he thought the course adopted by the last 
meeting was a very wise and judicious one—viz., that of adjourn¬ 
ing the proceedings. Many were not at all prepared for the 
scheme that was proposed to them. To many it looked like their 
old friend Mr. Briggs, so well illustrated by Leech, who, when 
the pheasant fell before him, thought that his shot had brought 
down a lot of fireworks about his head (laughter). It would 
not have been fair to decide the question at the former 
meeting, and he now believed that the British public had come 
forward liberally. There would be a good opportunity for 
people going to see the gardens, and would subscribe accord¬ 
ingly. He thought the country had behaved with great liberality 
(hear, hear). Take the finest works of art—sculpture and 
painting : foliage entered largely into works of art, for “foliated” 
was actually a term in art (hear, hear); and he believed the 
Commissioners, in encouraging these gardens, were bringing to 
their pupils at the Museums at Kensington that very foliage 
which they could study from Nature, and which was much 
better that anything of the kind in the shape of copies that 
could be presented to them (hear, hear). He should propose a 
vote of thanks to the Council, by way of approbation for what they 
had done, as he thought the time had come when the Society 
should relinquish the subject to the Council to carry it out to a 
conclusion, if they possibly could (hear, hear). This was the 
resolution he should propose “That this meeting approves of 
the steps already taken by the Council; authorises the nogotia- 
