386 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 17, 1894. 
blundering about, trying to knock out its brains 
against the glass, but when it found that it could 
not commit suicide in that way, it then went for the 
Chrysanthemums. I must here tell you that most 
of those that I flowered in summer were highly 
fragrant with a real May blossom perfume. I 
suppose they are indebted to the warm summer air 
and bright sunshine for this. Chrysanthemums in 
May seemed to be as great a novelty to the bee as 
they were to the grower. Well, be that as it may, 
it seemed to admire them very much. I watched it 
closely as it sprawled about among the flowers, and 
its merry joyful humming was very pleasant to hear, 
and a reminder that summer had once more come 
round. But gradually its humming grew fainter, 
and it settled down on a flower and became quite 
still, so I gave it a gentle poke to remind it that it 
should improve the shining hour, but it hardly 
stirred. I then gave the flower a good shake, and 
down it dropped on its back with its legs in the air. 
1 could then see that the bee was what is vulgarly 
called drunk and incapable. I could not help being 
sorry for the poor thing, it had been so merry amongst 
the Chrysanthemums, and there it now lay quite help¬ 
less. I turned it over on its feet, but it could not 
stand, its legs were quite stiff and paralyzed. I 
thought the whole affair very human-looking, with 
the exception of the stiff legs ; for when the human 
admirer of the Chrysanthemum spends part of a 
show night among his favourite flowers, he some¬ 
times finds his legs so supple that they seem all 
joints together. But this poor bee's legs had a 
great attraction for me, for I found that it had been 
loading them with pollen. So the thought struck 
■ me that with Chrysanthemums in May, with plenty 
of pollen, there can be no difficulty in getting plenty 
of well-ripened seed. At that time I was not quite 
sure that my Chrysanthemums had been all the 
cause of the deplorable condition, for" I reasoned 
that it might have been mixing its drink, and have 
had a few nips before it came to my establishment. 
But I afterwards found several bees in the same 
state. Just then I had other things to attend to, so 
I left it to sleep off its debauch. However, I paid 
it a visit some time afterwards, and found it begin¬ 
ning to revive. It was still very groggy-looking, and 
would not allow me to touch it, and rolled about and 
tried to sting. I think it must have been in the 
horrors, for it behaved so badly in its cups that one 
would have thought that it had been competing for 
one and lost it. 
I see that the members of the Horticultural Club 
have been saying some very unkind things of this 
merry little summer visitor, and trying to knock 
all the poetry out of its life, but to me it will always 
remain my childhood's busy bee. But this particular 
bee had got so tipsy, and behaved so badly, that 
I could not help giving it a bit of my mind, as follows ; 
How could you little tipsy bee 
So waste the shining hour. 
And declare yourself a Bona-fide 
To every op)ening flower. 
Some people think that there is no room for Summer 
Chrysanthemums, but why should this Queen of 
winter flowers be treated like the Fairy Queen in 
the pantomime, and only be placed on the boards in 
her tights for a short time in the winter months, 
when grown in summer they possess a charm and 
attraction peculiarly their own. If any one wants 
Chrysanthemums in summer, it is something to 
know that he can get them, and good flowers too, 
that can hold up their heads on the same stage with 
the Rose, and remain fresh, and beautiful, when the 
queen of summer flowers are all faded and gone. 
The two last summers I gave her a trot out, and she 
got a hearty welcome, wherever she visited. Like 
our own good Queen Victoria, the more we see of 
her the more we think of her. Besides, if we don't 
grow them in summer, some other country will, and 
send them to us. Most of you no doubt will have 
heard of the frozen Chrysanthemums, that were 
sent from New Zealand, and were exhibited in 
London last summer, and most of you will also have 
read of Macaulay, the historian’s, prophecy about 
the New Zealander that was to visit England, and 
from the ruins of London Bridge look around with 
sorrow on the ruin and desolation of a fallen nation. 
Well, here is part of the prophecy fulfilled, in 
Macaulay’s New Zealander sending potted Chry¬ 
santhemums to London. He may send potted meat 
to Edinburgh, but we don’t require his Chrysan¬ 
themums, for we can produce them all the year round. 
On the other side of the border a great deal has 
been said lately, about how to improve Chrysanthe¬ 
mum exhibitions. Now this Association might help 
on with the good work, by trying how it could 
improve judges and competitors. Judges—I beg their 
pardon, experts—have been brought from all parts 
to expert the blooms. Did any one of these most 
expert experts give satisfaction. As far as the cup is 
concerned I will only say I don’t think they did, but 
the committee can answer this question better than 
I can. From the very first cup given by the Associa¬ 
tion, most, if not all of them, have been as it were 
filled with bitterness and drunk to the very dregs. 
So that if the judges at the last show were wrong in 
their awards, I am afraid that we must include all, 
or most of all those that went before them. But 
what is more to the point is how can we make this 
bitter cup what it should be—a cup of goodwill 
amongst gardeners. It seems to me about as difficult 
as the Home Rule question, and is likely to defy the 
wit of man for some time to come.— A. McMillan, 
Gardener, Trinity Cottage, Edinburgh. 
- --f-- 
ROYAL GARDENERS’ 
ORPHAN FUND. 
The annual general meeting of the subscribers to 
this charity was held at the Cannon Street Hotel, on 
the gth inst , Dr. Hogg presiding. The proceedings 
were of a merely formal character, there being only 
five subscribers present beyond the members of the 
Executive Committee. The following report of the 
Committee and statement of accounts were pre¬ 
sented and adopted :—• 
'■ In presenting their sixth report, the Executive 
Committee rejoice in being able at the end of a year 
which has been one of great trial to the managers of 
all charitable institutions, to congratulate the 
subscribers to the Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund 
upon the continued prosperity of the charity. The 
Committee regret that the receipts during the year 
do not show such a large total as the last published 
statement of accounts, while the cost of collection 
has necessarily been somewhat heavier ; but when it 
is remembered that the commercial depression 
operated with much severity upon all engaged in 
practical horticulture, there is every reason to be 
gratified with the result of the year’s work. 
" The great honour conferred upon the Fund 
early in the year by Her Majesty’s command, that 
the charity should be called the Royal Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund, was extremely gratifying to the 
Committee, inasmuch as that the Royal recognition 
of the fund places it in a high and honourable 
position amongst the charitable institutions of the 
land. .Following upon this gracious act of recogni¬ 
tion upon the part of Her Majesty the’ Queen, came 
the gratifying announcement thajHis Royal High¬ 
ness The Duke of York, and Her Royal Highness 
The Duchess of Albany had become subscribers to 
the fund. 
“At the annual festival of the fund, the Com¬ 
mittee were fortunate in having the cordial co-opera¬ 
tion of such a distinguished patron of horticulture as 
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, M.P.,as chairman, 
and the warmest thanks of the Committee are hereby 
tendered to him on behalf of the supporters of the 
fund for his able and generous advocacy of the 
claims of the charity on that occasion. The Com¬ 
mittee have the greatest pleasure in announcing that 
the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of London, 
Alderman Tyler, has kindly consented to preside at 
the next anniversary festival on May loth, when 
they hope that all horticulturists will heartily assist 
them in making the festival a distinct success. 
" During the past year, fiftj'-six orphans of 
gardeners have received the benefits of the fund at 
a cost of £^22 2s. 6d. ; and the Committee recom¬ 
mend the election of five more this day, raising the 
total list of beneficiaries to sixty-one. It is deeply 
to be regretted that there must of necessity be 
twelve candidates whose election to the benefits of 
the fund will have to remain in abeyance until the 
annual revenue be increased. 
“To Mr. N. N. Sherwood, one of the Vice-Presi¬ 
dents of the fund and the head of the house of 
Messrs. Hurst & Son, the best thanks of the Com¬ 
mittee are hereby accorded for his generous gift of 
£roo in commemoration of the celebration of the 
jubilee of his firm. Grateful thanks are also tendered 
to many other kind friends who have in various 
ways rendered valuable services to the fund. 
“ The members of the Committee who retire by 
rotation are Messrs. "W. Bates, G. Bunyard, R. 
Dean, W. Marshall, H. Herbst, A. W. G. Weeks, 
J. Wills, and J. Wright, who, being eligible, offer 
themselves for re-election. The retiring Auditor, 
Mr. Sharp : the Treasurer, Mr. T. B. Haywood ; and 
the Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. F. Barron, are nominated 
by the Committee for re-election.’’ 
The retiring officers were all re-elected, and on 
the motion of Mr. Marshall, seconded by Mr. A. 
W. G. Weeks, the following alteration and amend¬ 
ment in Rule 12 was also carried :— 
“To delete the sentence in line 6, commencing 
'Any person,’ and ending with ‘six years,’in the 
ninth line ; and substitute therefore the following :— 
‘ Any person or persons contributing the sum of /13 
per annum in advance (or by prepayment of a lump 
sum computed at /13 per year for the number of 
years the child may be eligible to remain on the 
Fund) may place one Orphan on the Fund for an 
allowance of 5s. per week, until the said child 
attains the age of fourteen years. The Executive 
Committee shall not be responsible in any way for 
the continuation of an alio wance in the event of the 
said yearly payment lapsing.’’ 
The ballot was then taken for the election of five 
orphans to the benefits of the Fund (Messrs. R. 
Dean, W. Poupart, and A. W. G. Weeks being 
appointed scrutineers) with the following result;— 
Robert Houston, 403; John Keates, 117 ; Rosa 
Emily King Ward, 276; Robert Clement Blake, 
357 ; Felicia Barber, 141 ; ALTed Alexander Crafter, 
log; Amy Farrant, 95 ; Frank Leslie Haycock, 
117; May Ethel Rosier, 412; Jessie Petrie, 383; 
Isabella Elizabeth Pratt, 118; Andrina Brown 
Ritchie, 66; Seymour Small, 143 ; Reuben Charles 
Stevens, 54; and George William White. 391. The 
meeting then declared Mary Ethel Rosier, Robert 
Houston, Georgs William White, Jessie Petrie, and 
Robert Clement Blake duly elected, and a vote of 
thanks to the chairman and scrutineers closed the 
proceedings. 
ROYAL GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FUND.—CASH STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 
DECEMBER 31ST, 1893. 
RECEIPTS. 
To Balance from last Account ... 2 la 
,, On Deposit with Bankers ... 300 0 o 
„ Subscriptions, General . 363 9 6 
,, Ditto Collected by Local 
Secretaries . 68 i 6 
,, Donations, including proceeds of 
Sale of Flowers, Entertain¬ 
ments, Boxes, Opening Gar¬ 
dens, etc. . .. 261 0 3 
„ Ditto Collected by Local 
Secretaries . 86 17 8 
,, Annual Dinner . 
■,, Jubilee Gift from Messrs. Hurst & Son 
,, General Card Collection. 
„ Advertisements in List of Subscribers 
„ Dividends on Stock and Interest on Deposit 
£ s. d. 
867 2 10 
431 II 0 
347 17 II 
368 15 o 
100 o o 
90 19 9 
38 o 3 
181 13 8 
EXPENDITURE. 
By Allowances to Orphans . 
,, General Card Collection. 
,, Annual Dinner . 
„ Printing and Posting of List of Subscribers... 
„ Secretary's Clerk . £52 10 0 
,, Printing and Stationery ■. 50 ig 3 
,, Annual, General and Committee 
Meetings. 13 2 6 
,, Postages . 21 13 0 
„ Bank Charges . o ii 6 
,, Sundry Expenses (Petty Cash) ... 36 4 ii 
„ Purchase of £500 2J °/o Stock. 
,, On Deposit with Bankers. 
„ Baiance at Bank . 
£ s. d. 
722 2 6 
46 13 10 
129 13 9 
32 15 0 
175 n 2 
490 13 6 
300 0 o 
52S 10 S 
£2,426 o 5 
Note I.nvestments, &c. 
2j °/o Consols.£6,570 610 
3 '/o Canadian Stock ... 500 o 0 
£7,070 6 10 
£2,426 0 5 
Having inspected the Securities, and examined the Books 
and Vouchers supplied to us, we certify the above account to 
be correct. 
(Signed) JOHN FR.ASER, Leyton. ) 
Wm. sharp. Chartered Accountant, [ Auditors. 
II, King Street, Cheapside. ' 
Dated, January 19th, 1894. 
