714 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 9, 1887 
THE GARDENERS’ ORPHAN 
FUND. 
[The following are the rules and regulations which 
will be proposed for adoption at the general meeting of 
the supporters of this movement, announced to be held 
on Tuesday afternoon next at South Kensington.]:— 
Title .—The Fund shall he called the “Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund.” 
Objects .—The objects of the Fund shall be to make 
allowances or grants of money (in accordance with 
Rules 13 and 14), to aid in the maintenance of the 
orphans of gardeners, foremen in gardens, and the 
managers or departmental foremen in nursery and seed 
establishments. 
Membership .—Any person contributing 5s. or more 
per annum shall be a “subscriber” ; and a donor of 
£5 or more shall be a “life subscriber.” Local 
associations or corporate bodies contributing to the 
Fund £5 or more shall, for a period of fifteen years, 
exercise the same rights of voting as a life subscriber. 
Annual subscriptions to be paid in advance, and shall 
be due on the first day of January. Note. —Sub¬ 
scriptions paid during 1887 will date from January 1st, 
1888. 
Management .—At the first general meeting of the sub¬ 
scribers to the Fund a governing body shall be elected, 
to consist of president, vice-presidents, three trustees, 
a treasurer, secretary, two auditors, and an executive 
committee of twenty-four subscribers, with power to 
add to their number ; five to form a quorum. The 
president, trustees, treasurer, secretary, and secretaries of 
local committees shall be ex officiis members of the 
executive committee ; and the treasurer and secretary 
shall continue in office for one year, and shall be 
eligible for re-election at the annual general meeting. 
One-third of the members elected on the executive 
committee and one of the auditors shall retire in 
rotation each year, and the vacancies so occasioned 
shall be filled at the annual general meeting. The 
retiring members shall be eligible for re-election. The 
executive committee shall have power to fill any 
vacancy that may occur during the current year. 
Funds .—No part of the general funds shall be used 
for the purpose of erecting any building of whatever 
kind ; but should the Fund at any future time assume 
such proportions as to render it desirable to erect or 
purchase a building, special arrangements can then be 
made for the purpose. All donations and legacies, and 
such proportion of the annual subscriptions as shall be 
sanctioned by the executive committee, shall be invested 
in the names of the trustees on the authority of the 
committee, endorsed by the signature of the treasurer. 
The trustees and treasurer shall at all times, when 
requested by the executive committee, give such 
information concerning the funds in their hands as the 
committee may require. 
Trustees .—All monies placed in the Public Funds or 
other approved securities shall be vested in the names 
of the trustees, who shall sign a declaration of the 
nature of their trust, and an engagement to relinquish 
it upon a resolution to that effect being passed by a 
general or special meeting of the subscribers. The 
monies so invested shall be under the control and at 
the disposal of the executive committee, whose order in 
writing, agreed to by a majority of two-thirds of the 
members present, and voting at any properly con¬ 
stituted meeting, shall be authority to and binding 
upon the trustees as to purchase, sale, or other disposal 
of the Trust-Fund. No person or persons becoming 
insane, bankrupt, or insolvent shall continue to be a 
trustee or trustees of the Fund. AVhen any vacancy in 
the office of trustees shall occur it shall be filled up at 
the next general meeting of the subscribers, and the 
existing trustees shall immediately thereupon transfer 
the funds standing in their names into the names of 
themselves and the newly-elected trustee. The trustees, 
or any of them acting under the instructions of the 
majority of his colleagues, shall, from time to time, 
receive the dividends due upon the funded property or 
other securities, and pay the same over to the treasurer, 
and shall not after such payments as trustees he 
accountable or responsible for the application or mis¬ 
application thereof. 
Treasurer. —The treasurer shall receive all monies be¬ 
longing to the Fund, and pay them over to such bankers 
and at such times as the executive committee may appoint, 
and shall cause the balance to be reported, and the bank 
book to be produced when required by the committee. 
He shall also, when required by a majority of trustees 
or committee, render to them a true account of all 
monies received and paid by him on account of the 
Fund ; and he shall also, when required by a majority 
of the committee, pay over all monies remaining in his 
hands, and assign and deliver up all securities and 
effects, books, papers, and property of or belonging 
to the Fund in his care or custody, to such person or 
persons as a majority of the executive committee shall 
appoint. He shall be responsible for such sums of 
money as may from time to time be paid into his 
hands ; and shall not pay any monies on account of 
the Fund, except on receiving a written order, signed 
by at least three members of the executive committee 
and countersigned by the secretary. No cheque shall 
be paid by the banker unless signed by the treasurer 
and secretary for the time being. The secretary may 
receive contributions to the Fund, and his receipt, given 
on an authorised printed form, shall be a sufficient 
acknowledgment of the same. All securities shall be 
lodged at the bank of the Fund. 
Secretary .—The secretary shall attend all meetings, 
record correctly the names of the members of the 
executive committee thereat present, and shall enter 
the minutes of their proceedings in a book, which must 
be authenticated and signed by the chairman of the 
next meeting. The secretary shall receive all 
applications and demands of every description ; shall 
conduct the correspondence, and lay all the corre¬ 
spondence before the executive committee. He shall 
keep the accounts, papers, and documents in such a 
manner and for such purposes as the committee may 
direct. He shall issue an annual statement of the 
names of the subscribers, with the amount which each 
has subscribed ; also prepare the annual and other 
returns required by Act of Parliament, to be sent to 
the Registrar of Friendly Societies of England, and 
shall, on all occasions in the execution of his office, 
act under the superintendence, control, and directions 
of the executive committee, and shall also give such 
security as they may require. The secretary shall 
receive such remuneration as may be fixed at each 
annual general meeting. 
Audit of Accounts .—The accounts of the Fund shall 
be regularly entered into books provided for the 
purpose. The executive committee shall also cause a 
statement to be prepared annually of the receipts, 
expenditure, assets and liabilities up to the end of 
December in each year, which, together with the 
necessary vouchers, shall be laid before the auditors, 
who will certify the correctness of the same, and make 
a report thereon ; and the report with the balance 
sheet, signed by the auditors, shall be laid before the 
subscribers at the annual general meeting next ensuing. 
The executive committee shall also prepare and lay 
before the annual meeting a report of the general 
position and prospects of the Fund, the condition of 
the children, and any subject of interest or information 
in connection therewith, which may appear to them 
desirable to introduce to the notice of the subscribers. 
Every subscriber shall be entitled to receive a copy of 
the annual report, balance sheet and list of subscribers 
on application to the secretary and payment of Is., and 
the books shall be open for their inspection at all 
reasonable times. 
Annual and Genera.I Meetings .—An annual general 
meeting of the subscribers shall be held every year in 
the month of February, at such place and time as the 
executive committee ma)’’ determine, to receive the 
annual report and statement of accounts, and transact 
such other business as may be necessary. A special 
general meeting may be called at any time by the 
committee, or by the requisition of at least forty 
subscribers, sent in writing to the secretary not less 
than three weeks before the proposed date of meeting. 
The secretary shall give at least fourteen days’ notice 
by advertisement of every general meeting, such notice 
to state the nature of the business to be transacted. 
Qualifications of Candidates .—All candidates must 
be (1) orphans of persons who have been gardeners, 
foremen in gardens, or managers or departmental 
foremen in nursery or seed establishments; and (2) 
must be nominated by two subscribers to the Fund, 
who shall furnish to the executive committee such 
information respecting their nominee as the committee 
may require. The committee shall decide upon the 
definition of the words “gardener,” “foreman,” 
“Manager,” &c., and shall also decide generally upon 
the validity of the qualifications of candidates. 
Mode of Election. —Candidates shall be elected by 
the votes of the subscribers at the annual general 
meeting. Subscribers of 5s. per annum shall be entitled 
to one vote at each election ; subscribers of 10s., to two 
votes ; of £1, to four votes ; of £2, to eight votes, and 
so on in like proportion. Life subscriptions of £5 shall 
entitle the donors to one vote at every election ; of £10, 
to two votes ; of £20, to four votes, and so on in 
proportion. Any person or persons contributing 
special donations or payments, other than annual 
subscriptions to the amount of £60, may place, without 
election, one orphan on the Fund for an allowance of 
5s. per week for a period of six years. The votes 
recorded in favour of unsuccessful candidates shall be 
carried forward to their credit in succeeding elections ; 
and in the event of the death of a candidate after the 
publication of the voting papers, and before the date of 
election, the votes given to the deceased candidate 
shall be credited to a brother or sister, if eligible. 
Before the annual general meeting, the executive 
committee shall examine the claims and qualification 
of candidates, and prepare an approved list of those 
eligible, and from this list the election shall be made. 
A copy of the list and voting papers shall be sent to 
each person entitled to vote, at least fourteen days 
before the day of the election. 
Allowances. —The allowances shall consist of any 
sum not exceeding 5s. per week to children under the 
age of fourteen years who, within the knowledge of the 
executive committee, may be placed with relatives or 
other responsible persons acting as guardians. Allow¬ 
ances shall be paid quarterly, in advance, except when 
the Committee may consider it desirable to make other 
arrangements. No child shall receive annual support 
after having attained the age of fourteen years ; but 
the executive committee, at their discretion, shall have 
power to grant a sum not exceeding £10 towards ap¬ 
prenticing, or otherwise promoting the start in life, of 
any orphan on whose behalf application shall have been 
made to the committee. The committee shall also 
have power to grant, on application, a sum not ex¬ 
ceeding £2 to any orphan who may have ceased to be 
chargeable to the Fund, and who shall have given 
evidence of his or her satisfactory conduct during the 
subsequent twelve months. The executive committee 
shall have power to suspend allowances where the cir¬ 
cumstances of candidates have been misrepresented, 
or have since altered so as to render further assistance 
unnecessary. Arrangements may be made by the 
executive committee for placing the children elected 
to the benefits of the Fund, either with carefully- 
selected foster parents as cottage-boarders, or with the 
master or mistress of a school or institution, who shall 
be required to furnish satisfactory security for the 
proper discharge of their duties. The duties shall be 
to board, lodge, clothe, eijucate (finding all books), to 
do the washing, mending, and all that is necessary for 
maintaining and educating (including medical attend¬ 
ance and medicine) such child, or children, as may be 
placed in their care, for the term of years agreed upon. 
The committee shall have power to remove such child, 
or children, at any time, should circumstances arise 
which would render it desirable to do so, and such 
foster parent, or master or mistress, shall not be allowed 
to relinquish the charge of any child, or children, under 
their care, unless by special permission of the executive 
committee. The provisions and clothing shall be 
thoroughly good in quality, and samples shall he 
produced for the inspection of the committee when 
required. 
Special Grants. —The executive committee may, if 
they see fit, make special grants, in cases of extreme 
emergency, to orphans not elected to the Fund ; but 
such grants shall in no case exceed the sum of 2s. 6 d. 
per week for one year. 
Alteration of Rules. —No alteration in, or addition 
to, these rules shall be made, except at a general 
meeting, and notice of such meeting, together with a 
copy of proposed alterations, shall be sent to each sub¬ 
scriber at least fourteen days previously. 
[Mr. Barron, Superintendent of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society’s Garden, Chiswick, AY., is the honorary 
secretary, and to him all communications respecting 
the Fund should be addressed.] 
Mr. C. M. Hovey.—I t is rumoured that Mr. C. M. 
Hovey, the veteran horticulturist, of Boston, Mass., is 
in failing health. Mr. Hovey is an old man now ; but 
it is the hope of all who know him that he may fully 
recover and his life be prolonged for some years yet. 
