608 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 23, 1896. 
in India. Hitherto the Chinese had enjoyed a 
monopoly of this culture and the benefit arising 
therefrom. From the experiments made by Mr. 
Fortune, the Tea-growing industry has gradually 
grown to colossal proportions in India and Ceylon. 
Herein we see that both this country, India, and 
Ceylon, have derived an immense benefit, though in¬ 
directly, through the instrumentality of the society 
and its enterprise. 
Not all of the collectors sent out by the Horticul¬ 
tural Society were so successful as Mr. Robert 
Fortune in reaping the deserved reward at the end 
of their journeys ; for the dangers of fever-infested 
jungles, with other attendant evils, not to mention 
savage tribes and unfriendly nations, were just as 
great or greater than they are at the present day. 
Mr. John Potts, who had been sent to China and 
Bengal, brought or sent home a large number of 
plants ; but having contracted a disease during the 
execution of his mission, he survived his return to 
England only a few weeks. This took place in 
October, 1822. Mr. John Forbes, sent out about the 
same time as above-mentioned, died at Senna while 
making his way up the Zambesi, in August, 1823. 
To find an equally enterprising and intelligent 
collector to take the place of Mr. Forbes was no 
easy task. Capt. William Owen, of the Royal Navy, 
with whose surveying expedition, the society’s 
collector was travelling, came to the rescue, and 
engaged Mr. Hilsenberg, a German botanist whom 
he found in the Mauritius. Captain Owen being very 
zealous in the cause of science did all in his power 
to compensate for a loss which botanical science 
greatly deplored. The society was thus doing for horti¬ 
culture and botany what our largest and most enter¬ 
prising horticultural firms, private enterprise, and 
botanical establishments have since taken in hand. 
Difficulties of the Society. 
If it should be asked what was the object and advan¬ 
tage of these missions to all parts of the world, it 
might be difficult on first thought to answer ; but 
earlier than 1824 the society had established a wide 
reputation all over the world, as the knowledge of its 
operations and influence extended. This reputation 
had to be maintained ; and the consciousness of its 
usefulness to horticulture and allied interests, both 
in the mother country and abroad, no doubt urged 
the society to strain every nerve to sustain its pro¬ 
gress in the forward march of the times, and in the 
furthering of the laudable objects it had in hand. 
Nor was it without tangible though inadequate 
support. In 1824 it had a list of 1915 Fellows, and 
400 of those had joined it during the previous 2J 
years. The Fellows, Honorary Members, Foreign 
Members, and Corresponding Members, connected 
with it numbered 2197—an accession which the 
society in its infancy never contemplated. 
In those days it had what was considered a com¬ 
plete library of reference on botanical and horti¬ 
cultural subjects.. Fellows made daily use of this 
library, and strangers were also permitted access to 
it. The collection of valuable drawings was very 
extensive, and included costly specimens of works 
of art in connection with the objects of the society. 
Various fruits grown in Great Britain were modelled 
in wax for educational purposes. The collections of 
fruit trees all properly arranged in the gardens at 
Chiswick, and the extensive plantations of hardy 
trees and shrubs, were pronounced the most com¬ 
plete that had ever existed in this or any other 
country. This statement was made in 1824, and 
much of this valuable work had been accomplished 
in the two previous years. One has only to consult 
Loudon's Arboretum et Fruticetum Britanicum, and the 
abridged edition of it, to learn how frequently 
Loudon consulted this valuable collection of trees 
and shrubs when determining his specimens, naming 
species and garden forms, as well as classifying and 
arranging the material for his great work on trees 
and shrubs. Some of the specimens he described 
had been seen by him only in the society’s gardens. 
Considering the enormous sum which its early 
publications cost the society it may not be out of 
place here to refer to the nature of the •* Trans¬ 
actions," of which there were ten large quarto- 
volumes. The broad margins showed that there 
was no sparing of paper, the only object of which, 
beyond sumptuousness, seemed for the accommoda¬ 
tion of the large and valuable coloured plates 
painted by Mr. William Hooker. The text con¬ 
sisted of the papers read by Fellows at the meetings 
of the society. Several coloured plates of Chrysan¬ 
themums are now valuable for reference as they 
were faithful representations of the earliest varieties 
cultivated in this country. Joseph Sabine was the 
Chrysanthemum specialist and enthusiast in those 
days as far as describing them and recording their 
history was concerned. The coloured plates of fruit 
were also splendidly executed, and must have taken 
a great amount of time and care to produce, 
and cost a large sum of money. Various other 
woodcuts were executed to illustrate pruning, train¬ 
ing, and other operations, in connection with fruit. 
Some of the plates of fruits and flowers were double, 
that is consisting of two pages The third and fourth 
volumes were issued in four parts each, and the 
parts being issued half-yearly, it took two years to 
complete a volume. The early ones took much 
longer time than this. These volumes ranged in 
price from £2 15s. to £7, according to size, although 
in coarse card-board covers, and poorly bound. 
Notwithstanding the numerical strength of the 
society, its great activity, its foreign expeditions, the 
trial gardens, experiments, collections of plants, 
library, and its costly publications, were too great a 
strain upon its resources, or in other words its in¬ 
come. Its difficulties commenced in 1850, and for 
ten years there was an unbroken record of struggles 
with debt, which not only could not be adjusted, but 
seemed on several occasions as if it would entirely 
overthrow the society. These difficulties and troubles 
continued more or less to hamper its efforts during 
the long period of the occupation of South Kensing¬ 
ton, that is, from 1861 to 1887. No doubt during 
the long period of its existence, the times had 
changed and continued to do so. In such cases 
there must necessarily be a considerable change of 
tactics on the part of a society as time goes on, so 
as to be in touch, and in keeping with its environ¬ 
ment in order to exist. This it has done admir¬ 
ably. 
South Kensington. 
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort came to the 
rescue of the society in 1858. This popular prince 
was a hearty supporter of everything which tended 
to develop the commercial resources of the country, 
and being an enthusiastic supporter of horticulture, 
he did not fail to perceive the enormous benefits 
which the society had conferred upon mankind, not 
only in the mother country but in the colonies. 
Appreciating the work which the society had 
effected in the past, he did not doubt but that it was 
still capable of rendering the country beneficial and 
useful service, and throw himself with great energy 
into the work of retrieving the financial situation, 
after accepting the presidency. A year after this he 
brought forward a proposition that the society 
should co-operate with the Commissioners of the 
great International Exhibition of 1851, with the view 
of establishing its headquarters for _exhibition 
purposes on the South Kensington Estate. The 
result of the Prince Consort’s endeavours was that 
a magnificent conservatory was built and gardens 
laid out on a sumptuous scale. These were opened 
by Her Majesty the Queen in 1861. The initial 
expense was enormous, however, and the mainte¬ 
nance of the gardens and conservatory so great that 
the society was burdened with a debt close upon 
£100,000. To complicate matters still further, the 
Prince Consort died in the early part of the winter 
of the same year in which the gardens were opened. 
Not only the Royal Horticultural Society, but the 
Nation were plunged in sorrow at the loss of the 
royal patron of all the leading industries, sciences and 
arts. The title of “Albert the Good" was 
deservedly bestowed upon him by a grateful but 
sorrowing nation. 
After the death of the Royal President the affairs 
of the society were again heavily overclouded, and 
the prospects for horticulture and the legitimate 
objects of the society dreary in the extreme. 1'he 
debt was so adjusted, however, that its incidence 
was but little felt so long as the Commissioners of 
1851 looked favourably upon the society. Later on 
a series of exhibitions inaugurated by the Com¬ 
missioners brought immense crowds of all classes of 
pe:ple to South Kensington; but such apparent 
popularity did not mend matters much financially, 
nor restore the old love for horticulture, which per¬ 
vaded the early days of earnest work at Chiswick. 
Many gardeners will remember with regret, how¬ 
ever, the big shows at South Kensington, and the 
splendid specimens of stove and greenhouse plants 
that have now almost disappeared from public 
exhibitions and gardens as well. The society con¬ 
tinued from 1861 till 1887 in South Kensington, and 
in spite of all its efforts in the interests of horti¬ 
culture, fortune never once smiled upon it after the 
death of the Prince-President. 
The Commissioners assumed their rights under the 
debt arrangement above mentioned, turned the 
society out in 1887, took possession of the gardens, 
and conservatory, demolishing the latter, and assign¬ 
ing the land for building purposes. At first sight 
this would seem a very harsh proceeding after so 
many years of labour, and so great an expenditure ; 
but it proved really a blessing in disguise. Those 
Fellows who used the gardens at South Kensington 
as a recreation ground, dropped away quickly, but 
true horticulture lost nothing on that account. 
The hour of greatest darkness is the hour preced¬ 
ing the commencement of dawn ; and that is practi¬ 
cally what may be said of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, when it was unhoused and turned adrift 
from South Kensington. The Fellows were com¬ 
pelled to fall back upon their own resources, and to 
reason together concerning the original aims and 
objects for which the society was originated in 1804. 
This was horticulture in its various phases, both 
scientific and practical. During the last months of 
1887, the society commenced holding its usual meet¬ 
ings and exhibitions of fruits, flowers, and vegetables 
in the Drill Hall of the London Scottish Volunteers, 
James Street, Victoria Street, Westminster; and 
suitable offices as well as a large room for the 
housing of the Lindley Library, were rented at 117, 
Victoria Street in proximity to the hall. In the 
course of three years matters had so greatly im¬ 
proved that the society had got out of the quagmire 
in which it had been labouring with greater or less 
difficulty from 1850 to 1890—practically a period 
of forty years. 
As an earnest that the objects of the society are 
the promotion of horticulture, it commenced the 
publication of its “Journal ’’ quarterly, and though 
this periodical has no pretensions to the magnificence 
or sumptuousness of the original “ Transactions," 
yet the matter it contains is more decidedly practical 
than scientific, and the price is certainly a far more 
popular one, and within reach of the gardener, 
while the “ Transactions " could scarcely have been 
so. Many conferences on various garden subjects 
have been held within the last few years, and the 
results published in the “ Journal.” Increasing in. 
terest is being taken in the trials conducted at 
Chiswick, and possibly the society will yet see its 
way to have trials conducted there in the near 
future, and which will have a direct bearing on the 
scientific as well as the all-important practical 
aspect of horticulture, in accordance with the 
requirements of the day, and as such trials are con¬ 
ducted in various foreign countries. 
In the spring of 1S88 the first City show in the 
Inner Temple Gardens was held, and has ever since 
been increasing in magnitude and popularity. This 
show is, in fact, the leading and most important in 
the British Isles, as;the Royal Horticultural Society 
is the mother of all similar institutions in the 
country, and the foremost at the present day. The 
society, then, has, for all practical purposes, changed 
with the times, and conformed to the requirements 
of the day, and has thus far made visible and excellent 
progress. 
While speaking of change being necessaryto the life 
of a society, it is instructive to review the aims and 
objects which animated the minds of the original 
founders of the Horticultural Society, ninety-two 
years ago. They serve to show how permanent are 
some of the essential principles which underlie 
every well-ordered properly-regulated institution. 
They areas follow (1) The improvement, both in 
quantity and quality of the food and floral produc¬ 
tions of our country ; (2) The circulation of such 
information gathered from actual experience and 
trial as may lead to the practical advancement of 
Gardening, Orcharding, Forestry, &c. ; and (3) The 
introduction and acclimatisation of such new plants 
as may promise to have an economic value in the 
trade of this country or of its colonies. 
Number of distinguishable colours. — Mr. F. 
Schuyler Mathews, in the excellent spring number of 
The American Florist gives his dictum with regard to 
colours as follows “ I have not tried to subdivide 
colour into more than ninety parts, as such a thing 
would be difficult beyond conception, and I find the 
nicety of distinction between these ninety is about all 
which my eye, the pigments, and the palette knife 
can very well manage ; anything further would seem 
like ‘ splitting hairs,’ not colours ! ’’ 
