January 24, 1891. 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
331 
forward), being 32,268. Five of tbe twenty-five 
candidates polled over 2,000, and ten over 1,000, while 
the smallest number recorded for one candidate was 
125. 
Annual Dinner—Presentations to the 
Treasurer and Secretary. 
In the evening, friends and subscribers to the institu¬ 
tion, to the number of about 110, sat down to the 
annual “Lark-pudding” dinner, Mr. ?T. IT. Sherwood, 
one of the trustees, taking the chair. After the loyal 
toasts had been duly disposed of, the chairman proposed 
the toast of “Continued Success to the Gardeners’ 
Eoyal Benevolent Institution.” The past year, he 
was able to inform the company, was the most success¬ 
ful the institution had ever known. Proceeding to 
review the history of the charity, he stated that in 
1840, a year after it was established, they had one 
pensioner. In 1841 they had two pensioners, and in 
1842 four. In 1850 pensions to the amount of £492 
were paid away, while they had £2,250 invested. Ten 
years later the sum paid away was £723, while the 
invested fund had risen to a total of £5,100. In 1870, 
the amount paid in pensions was £787, and the in¬ 
vestment amounted to £7,800 ; in 1880 the figures 
were £1,074 and £12,000 respectively; in 1889, 
£2,345 and £23,000 ; while last year they paid 
£2,648 13s. id. in pensions, and raised the reserve fund 
to £25,000, and had 156 pensioners on the books. 
Altogether, since the establishment of the charity 
in the year 1839, no fewer than 559 pensioners had 
been relieved at a total expenditure of £56,288. 
Proceeding, Mr. Sherwood alluded to the services Mr. 
Harry Yeitch, the chairman at the last festival, had 
for many years rendered to the institution. Altogether, 
he said, Mr. Yeitch and his family had subscribed no 
less a sum than £1,520 to the funds of the institution, 
and with the mention of that fact he had a secret 
which he thought he might then divulge, and which 
greatly redounded to the honour of their treasurer. It 
would be remembered that in 1885, when it was 
proposed to augment the pensions by £4 per annum 
each, an anonymous donor offered to give £500 if the 
remainder of the amount required by the committee to 
enable the increase in the pensions to be made wa 3 
collected. The sum required was collected, and the 
anonymous donor was none other than their warm¬ 
hearted friend Mr. Veitch. In conclusion, the chairman 
asked Mr. Veitch to accept from a few friends a “thank- 
offering” for his services in connection with the 
anniversary festival, and for the good he had done to 
the institution. The “ thauk-offering ” consisted of a 
richly-illuminated vote of thanks, suitably framed, and 
it was voted in the first instance at the annual meeting. 
A desire had been expressed that any expense in 
connection with it should not fall upon the funds of 
the institution, and he had therefore to state that the 
expense had been borne by a few friends, who earnestly 
wished the recipient long life and prosperity. In 
presenting the testimonial to Mr. Veitch, Mr. Sherwood 
expressed the hope that it would be a continuous 
reminder to him of the efforts which he had put 
forward from time to time on behalf of the institution. 
Mr. Yeitch, who was cordially received, duly 
responded, pointing, in the course of his remarks, to 
the economical manner in which the charity was 
conducted. It was worthy of remark, he said, that 
the revenue derived from their advertisements and 
the interest received on the invested funds more than 
covered all the expenditure connected with the manage¬ 
ment of the institution. The fact that the expenses 
were kept so low was mainly due to the secretary. 
They had in Mr. Cutler a secretary who was not to be 
rivalled in London for work. Passing on, he said 
that as chairman of their anniversary dinner he did his 
best. He was very proud of the fact that he was able 
to bring £2,000 on his list, but he should not have 
been in his present proud position had it not been for 
the help he had received from the stewards who so 
kindly seconded him. Never had a chairman a set of 
stewards such as he had last year, and it was greatly 
owing to their efforts that there had been the handsome 
addition of over £3,000 to the funds of the institution. 
He thanked those friends who had presented him with 
the testimonial, and said he should always look upon 
it with the greatest satisfaction, and with the feeling 
that he had earned the respect of his friends of the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
The chairman next proposed the toast of the evening, 
viz., “The Health of the Secretary, Mr. E. R. Cutler.” 
At the outset of his remarks he pointed to the fact that 
Mr. Cutler had that day been elected secretary of the 
institution for the fiftieth time. Their old friend, he 
had learned, was born on the 28th of November, 1819, 
and was considered by his parents as a very troublesome 
youngster. He left school at the age of fourteen or 
fifteen years, and soon afterwards was sent to sea. 
Returning home after his first voyage to India, to his 
deep regret he found his father dead. He settled in 
London again in 1838, and thanks to the influence of 
his good friends, Messrs. "V. and J. Noble, seedsmen 
of Fleet Street, he became clerk, and subsequently 
assistant secretary of the Scottish Corporation, Crane 
Court, Fleet Street, and there he learned the duties of 
a secretary of a charitable society. In October, 1840, 
he was elected honorary secretary, in succession to Mr. 
Bowley, of this institution, and Mr. John Bolton, 
Mr. John Gregson, and Dr. Hogg were believed to be the 
only persons now alive who were then connected with the 
institution. The meeting took place at the house of 
Mr. William Noble, 151, Fleet Street, and the gentle¬ 
men present were Mr. ' Bristow of Knightsbridge, 
Mr. Murray of the Minories, Mr. Thomson of the firm 
of Gordon, Thomson & Co., of Fenchurch Street, and 
some others now forgotten. In January, 1843, he was 
made paid secretary at £20 a year ; and in October 
1842, was elected a junior clerk in the Westminster 
Fire Office. In May, 1877, after thirty-five years’ service 
he resigned his post as chief of the office, and by the 
liberality of the directors, afterwards confirmed by the 
shareholders, he secured a very handsome retiring 
pension. From that time to the present he had devoted 
the whole of his time to the Gardeners’ Royal Benevo¬ 
lent Institution. It had been considered a Stand proper 
thing that in recognition of Mr. Cutler’s great services, 
he should be given some mark of tho appreciation in 
which he was held by his numerous friends throughout 
the country. A testimonial had therefore been set on 
foot for presentation to Mr. Cutler that evening, and 
the testimonial in this case would consist of a purse of 
money. When he told them that the subscriptions to 
the testimonial commenced at Is. 6 d., and went up to 
£50 , he thought they would agree that it was pretty 
good evidence of the number of friends their secretary 
had, and the desire of everybody who knew anything 
about him to show an appreciation of his work. The 
total subscriptions amounted to £675 9s. 9 d., and this 
the chairman presented to Mr. Cutler, amid the cheers 
of the assembled guests. 
Mr. Cutler, in a few brief sentences, thanked the 
chairman for his kind remarks, and his numerous 
friends who had subscribed towards the testimonial. 
It was, he said, a grand thing to be secretary of a 
society which had existed upwards of fifty years. 
During those fifty years he had been treated more like 
a friend than a paid officer of the institution. He 
assured them that he would ever devote his best efforts 
to the welfare of the society. 
The remaining toasts were “ The Visitors,” proposed 
by Mr. George Paul, and responded to by Mr. Alderman 
Moore; “The Chairman,” proposed by Mr. George 
Bishop, and suitably acknowledged by Mr, Sherwood ; 
“ The New Officers,” proposed by Mr. Yeitch, and 
responded to by Mr. James Webber ; and “ The Roof 
we are Under,” acknowledged by Mr. J. R. Cathay, “the 
managing director,” and Mr. G. Monro, “ the youngest 
director,” of “Simpson’s.” 
-- 
NORTH OF SCOTLAND HORTI¬ 
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
The monthly meeting of the members of this association 
was held on Saturday evening, the 17th inst., in the 
Music Hall Buildings, Aberdeen. Mr. D. M. Smith, 
president, in the chair. The secretary read a paper by 
Mr. Harper, Duthie Public Park, Aberdeen, on “The 
Weather of 1890.” The year, it stated, came in very 
mild, and continued all through the month as mild as 
it was in July. Gardeners had an opportunity of 
bringing up any arrears in their several departments of 
work, or having any alterations done which might not 
have been completed before the busy season came on. 
Young Grass kept on growing, and in the neighbourhood 
of Aberdeen some had to be gone over with the mowing 
machine to prevent it falling over and rotting out the 
roots. Only on three occasions did the thermometer go 
below freezing point, and it was the mildest January we 
had had since 1814, which was very similar. February 
was rough and blustering, but there was an almost entire 
absence of frost. Consequently vegetation had very 
little check. The month of March came in more in 
the proverbial style, but, although we had rough 
showers, we still had very little frost, and crops were 
got in fair condition. Grass mowing had to be com¬ 
menced before the month was out, which was earlier 
than the writer had ever experienced before, April 
was more wet, but the absence of fro3t kept the growth 
progressing fairly. May was gloomy up to the middle 
of the month, and more than the average of rain fell. 
Then a spell of the warmest weather on record set in, 
setting everything planted or sown into a very rapid 
soft growth, to which they might attribute the great 
prevalence of vermin which followed it, and did a 
great deal of damage. To the unusual amount of rain 
in the first two weeks of May Mr. Harper attributed 
the almost total failure of the Apple and Pear crops in 
the North of Scotland. 
June was very favourable for planting out bedding 
and other plants, although not nearly so warm as the 
latter half of May. The end of the month was cold 
and gloomy, and all through July this continued ; 
July, indeed, proving the gloomiest and coldest July 
on record up to almost the last week, when vegetation 
got a spurt and everything grew at an amazing rate. 
August proved favourable for the growth of plants, 
although not so favourable to the farmer, the want of 
sunshine retarding the ripening of their grain crops. 
In September we had alternate showers and sunshine, 
with nothing very remarkable until October came in, 
when we had another spell of very bright and warm 
weather, making every flower and flower bed brighter 
than it had been all the season. About the end of 
October we had about an inch or two of snow, but not 
frost sufficient to kill Dahlias. 
November was the wettest month we had had for a 
number of years. About the end of this month we had 
the hardest frost of the year. December passed with¬ 
out any extremes of heat or cold, and we had only a 
few inches of snow, which fell between the 20th and 
23rd of the month, and the frost was moderate, only 
reaching a minimum of 18° or 14° of frost. The month 
closed quite mild and fresh. The lessons to be gathered 
from the last twelve months were, that the gardener 
should embrace every favourable opportunity for culti¬ 
vating deeply and manuring liberally in the autumn, 
exposing the soil to any frost that occurred in the 
course of the winter. In spring the gardener ought to 
get planting and seed sowing done only when the 
ground was in favourable condition. 
Mr. Ross, Cranford, read an interesting and instruc¬ 
tive paper on the cultivation of the Rose. To those 
who intended making a new plantation of Roses, the 
aspect of the bed or border ought to be the first con¬ 
sideration, and in selecting the spot intended to bo 
planted, one ought to steer clear of hedge and tree 
roots, and select a place well sheltered from north and 
east winds. All Roses ought to be planted in 
November, and when planted they must be well 
mulched with about 3 ins. of well-made manure. 
Roses required mulching twice a year, in autumn and 
spring, taking off the rough of the old mulching 
before applying the new. Before applying a fresh 
mulch, the bed ought to receive a good dusting of 
soot and horn-powder. Spring pruning should be 
done in March. The concluding part of the paper 
dealt with plant pests. An instructive and animated 
discussion followed the reading of both papers, and 
at the close a hearty vote of thanks was awarded 
Mr. Harper and Mr. Ross. 
-- —- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
- ■ " 4 —- 
Toope’s Fog Annihilator. 
The gardening fraternity, who have suffered so much 
from the recent fogs during the past two months, will 
hail with satisfaction the ingenious invention of Mr. 
Charles Toope. It is certainly very gratifying to- 
know that air can be admitted to Orchid houses both 
night and day in the east end of London without injury 
to foliage or flowers, and that the Fog Annihilator has- 
withstood the many severe tests of late and come off 
victorious. I would like to ask Mr. Toope one or two- 
questions which I cannot see clearly—first, what 
method of glazing is adopted by him ; second, would 
his Fog Annihilator prove successful where houses are- 
glazed in the usual way ? To my thinking, no matter 
how efficiently the liousss are glazed, the fog will find 
its way through between the laps of glass.— J. Me Yah. 
Dishonest Sxhibiting. 
I should be much pleased if you or some one well 
versed in matters pertaining to exhibiting would give 
me an expression of opinion on the following point:—- 
At a certain flower show a first prize of £5 was offered 
