February 24, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
401 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM 
SOCIETY. 
The annual general meeting of this Society was held 
at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, on Monday 
evening, Mr. R. Ballantine presiding over a well 
attended and very harmonious meeting. The report 
presented by the Committee was as follows:— 
“ The year 1S93, in its relation to the Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, was remarkable for the growth of new 
Societies, having for their object the encouragement 
of the culture of the golden flower ; for the large 
number of exhibitions held at home and abroad; and 
for the high character of the competitive blooms 
generally. These signs of progress acted upon the 
National Chrysanthemum Society in several ways 
for good, and they especially operated to bring an 
unusual increase in the number of members as well 
as in that of Societies affiliated to it, as many as 
157 persons having joined during the year, and six 
Societies were admitted to affiliation. 
" If the early exhibition of Chrysanthemums in 
September was on a restricted scale, those held in 
October and December were characterised by such 
unwonted extent and high quality in the flowers as 
to rival what is seen in November. The November 
'show, the great Chrysanthemum exhibition of the 
year, fully maintained its reputation as the finest 
display held in the United Kingdom. The entries 
were very large in some of the classes, and in that 
for twenty-four Japanese blooms, in which Major 
CoIlis Browne so generously gave a handsome 
Silver Cup as an additional first prize, there were 
nineteen competitors, and an extremely keen com¬ 
petition followed. The same liberal donor offers a 
similar cup in the same class for competition in 
November next ; and Mr. H. J. Jones, a Silver Cup 
as an additional first prize in the following class 
for twelve Japanese blooms. The National Chal¬ 
lenge Trophy was won for the third time by the 
St. Neots Horticultural and Cottage Garden Society, 
while the competition for the yearly possession of 
the Holmes’ Memorial Cups was remarkably 
close. 
"The meetings of the Floral Committee have 
more than maintained their interest for the members, 
and the number of new varieties presented for 
examination was unprecedentedly large. Some new 
Japanese varieties of great promise were sent by M. 
E. Cal vat, of Grenoble, while other foreign raisers 
contributed blooms — indications of the growing 
interest in the proceedings of the Floral Committee 
abroad as well as at home. The average attendance 
of the members of the Committee on these occasions 
is highly satisfactory. . The Certificates of Merit 
awarded to new varieties were granted only to 
flowers characterised by approved quality. 
" Arrangements have been made with the Royal 
Aquarium Summer and Winter Garden Society to 
hold three exhibitions in the present year as in 1893, 
in October, November, and December, and the 
directors have granted an increase on the sum of 
money annually given to the prize fund. 
"The schedules of prizes for the different shows 
have been carefully revised, and by means of the 
special prize fund, to which several generous contri¬ 
butions have been made, some new features, illus¬ 
trating the decorative value of the Chrysanthemum, 
have been added to the schedule of prizes for the 
November exhibition. 
" The educational work of the Society has this 
season been furthered by the reading of two papers 
at meetings of the Committee; one, prepared by 
Mr. C. E. Pearson, Chilwell Nurseries, Nottingham, 
dealing with suggestions for improving our Chry¬ 
santhemum exhibitions ; the other, by Mr. Charles 
E. Shea, on judging Chrysanthemums. In each 
case discussion followed, and the paper by Mr. Shea 
will be again considered at a future meeting of the 
Committee. 
" The Committee are gratified to report that the 
reserve fund started at the beginning of last year 
has reached the sum of /55 2s. The Committee 
have to regret the loss, by death, of their old presi¬ 
dent and colleague, Mr. E. Sanderson, so long and 
so intimately connected with the Society, as also of 
that of two of their vice-presidents, the Rt. Hon. 
Lord Ebury and Mr. Samuel Barlow, J.P., of Man¬ 
chester. 
" To their president. Sir E. Saunders, the Com¬ 
mittee tender their most hearty thanks for his 
presence at the various exhibitions, for taking the 
chair at the annual dinner, and also for his liberal 
contributions to the various funds of the Society." 
The financial statement showed total receipts 
amounting to £?>gi os. id., the principal items of 
which were : subscriptions, /223 2S. 6d. ; foreign 
subscriptions, igs. gd. ; donations and special 
prizes, £60 7s. 6d. ; Royal Aquarium Company, 
/zyS 15s. 6d. ; affiliated societies' fees, &c., 
/130 19s. 6d.; advertisements in schedule, ^24 4s. 6d.; 
catalogues and postages, £g 3s. 6d. ; sale of tickets, 
^27 i6s.; and donations to reserve fund, ^55 2s. 
The disbursements included: prizes, ;^436 5s. 6d. ; 
medals, engraving, &c , £'j^ i6s. 7d. ; hire of plants 
and cartage,/zG i6s. qd. Judges'fees, luncheons, &c., 
;^4i IIS.; bill posting, advertisements, &c.,/34 os. 6d. ; 
hire of rooms, and expenses of annual dinner, 
£21 los. 2d. ; printing, stationery, stamps, telegrams, 
&c , £ioz 163. 6d.; and clerical assistance, £^i os. 6d.; 
this side of the account showing a balance in hand 
of/15 15s. 8d., exclusiveof the Reserve Fund. 
The adoption of the report and accounts was 
moved by the chairman, who congratulated the 
members on a very successful year's work accom¬ 
plished under most trying circumstances, and on 
being seconded by Mr. G. Stevens, the motion was 
carried unanimously, together with a vote of thanks 
to the auditors, Mr. G. J. Ingram and Mr. H. Williams, 
for their valued services. The following officers 
were then elected for the ensuing year : President, 
Sir Edwin Saunders; Vice-presidents, His Grace the 
Duke of Westminster, K.G., Lord Rothschild, Lord 
D’Isle and Dudley, the Right Hon. J. Chamberlain, 
M.P., Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. (President Royal 
Plorticultural Society), Sir H. W. Peek, Bart., Sir 
Guyer Hunter, G.C.M.G , Sir John T. D. Llewelyn, 
Bart, W. Herbert P'owler, Esq.,J.P., Martin R. 
Smith, Esq., Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., Dr. 
Robert Hogg, F.L.S., C. C. Paine, Esq., F.R.H.S , 
H. R. Williams, Esq., J. Wormald, Esq., F. A. 
Sevan, Esq., E. C. Jukes, Esq., and C. E. Shea, 
Esq. ; Treasurer, J. R. Starling, Esq. ; Chairman of 
the General Committee, Mr. R. Ballantine ; Vice- 
Chairman of the General Committee, Mr. B. Wynne ; 
Honorary Secretary, Mr. R. Dean ; Honorary 
Foreign Corresponding Secretary, Mr. C. Harman 
Payne ; and Honorary Auditors, Mr. H. Williams 
and Mr. T. C. Ward. Eighteen members were 
nominated for the twelve ordinary vacancies on the 
General Committee and two extraordinary vacancies 
created by the election of Mr. Wynne as Vice- 
Chairman and the resignation of Mr. H. Shoesmith, 
which were filled by the re-election of Mr. F. Bing¬ 
ham, Mr. F. J. Long, Mr. J. Newton, Mr. H. A. 
Needs, Mr. R. Reeve, Mr. T. W. Sanders, Mr. J. 
Williams, and Mr. J. Witty, with the addition of 
the following new members : —Mr. W. H. Lees, 
Trent Park Gardens, New Barnet ; Captain Hicks, 
Albert Nursery, Peckham Rye, S.E. ; P. Waterer, 
Esq., Dartford ; Mr. W. Mease, Downside Gardens, 
Leatherhead ; Mr. J. W. Moorman, superintendent, 
Victoria Park ; and Mr. R. J. Hammill, Clapham 
Park. 
Mr. B. Wynne moved “ That the best thanks of 
this meeting of the members of the N.C.S. be 
accorded to Mr. E. C. Jukes on his retirement from 
the office of vice-chairman of the General Com¬ 
mittee for the invaluable services which he has 
rendered to the Society as one of its leading 
executive officers ; and that this resolution be suit¬ 
ably engrossed on vellum and presented to Mr. Jukes 
at a subsequent meeting, as a slight memento of his 
long and honoured association with the Society and 
its work." The motion was seconded by Mr. 
Ballantine, and carried by acclamation. In reply, 
Mr. Jukes expressed the deep regret which he felt 
at being obliged to sever himself to some extent from 
colleagues with whom it had been a pleasure to him 
to be associated in the good work of promoting the 
cultivation of their favourite flower; but having 
other engagements, which would in future prevent 
him from giving so much time to the duties of the 
office of vice-chairman as he had hitherto done, he 
felt that in the best interests of the Society it was 
incumbent upon him to retire in favour of some 
other member of the Society, who could regularly 
attend the meetings and properly discharge the 
duties of the office. Beyond this extent his interest 
in the Society would in no way slacken ; he should 
come among them as often as he could, and hoped 
to see the Society grow and prosper beyond any¬ 
thing achieved in the past. 
Eleven new members were elected, and a vote of 
thanks to the chairman concluded the business of 
the meeting. 
GARDENERS AND THEIR 
TESTIMONIALS. 
It is sail that variety is charming, and certainly 
were it not for the endless variety in every con¬ 
ceivable thing existing in the world, monotony 
■ would kill the very best of us, and to no one should 
this be more apparent than to the gardener, whose 
very profession is to deal with variety. This should 
teach him that even amongst gardeners’ variety 
must exist—good, bad, and indifferent —as it will do 
to the end of the Chapter, let the labour market be 
as it may. 
" Till of man a nobler pattern. 
Sun and earth at length behold.” 
These various grades of ability in the profession 
are no discredit to it, but tend rather to make the 
bright lights show up even brighter than otherwise 
they would do. Why then all this croaking about 
the "Weeds"? rather should it be our desire to 
accept things as we find them, and make the best 
possible use of every one and everything. "Weeds” 
though they may seem to come, have their position 
in nature and their existence to support, and if placed 
in their proper sphere, and taken in hand kindly 
and with true humane consideration, there are very 
few if any but will be able to support it. It is not to 
the right about we should send them or with an 
ever critical eye watch and chastise them. They 
are like glass and require handling with care and 
consideration ; they want if possible to be inspired 
with manly thoughts of doing better, to be shown 
that it is even possible for them to achieve great 
things. 
On the other hand, call a man a foci and he will 
only curse you for your pains. 
The question seems to me to be who and what are 
the " Weeds.” It has been my experience to find that 
some of the men who have as it were jumped into 
the profession without either experience or 
apprenticeship—for I maintain the one does not 
always carry with it the other—are often the greatest 
ornaments of the profession. Why then keep them 
out ? If it can be proved that gardeners and 
gardening were in every way in a better condition, and 
that there was less reason to find fault with the 
quality of the labour provided under the old regime, 
something might be said in its favour ; but is it so ? 
Unless we have a national system of education for 
our gardeners, I cannot see that it is possible or right 
to expect every gardener to be a botanist or to have 
passed an examination in the theory of horticulture, 
and were this the case our friends from the gravel 
pits would still find something to grumble at—they 
would then find that knowledge was power, that it 
needed continual feeding by experiments, that such 
experiments oftentimes, more often than otherwise, 
led first to failure. Such a nut would be harder to 
crack than the shading of the Dendrobes or the 
potting of Indian Azaleas in old potting soil. 
And coming to this leads me to ask where was the 
gardener whilst "Inexperience” was about this 
handy work ; was he one of our feather-bed men, 
who rise only when the world has been well aired ; 
or was he appointed on the staff of some paper, and 
formed more genial employment in instructing the 
world at large, rather than his own personal staff and 
in his own legitimate duty ? 
I look upon it as a great boon to gardeners and 
gardening that such people do exist who, unable to 
afford a practical gardener, have a fondness for 
gardening and other things, and so find it necessary 
to keep an all-round man. No one expects a 
practical man to accept such a place, but it certainly 
opens up employment for some of the “ Weeds,” 
eases the labour market, and does good to trade 
generally, and some of these all-round men do 
things wonderfully well. They certainly have a real 
taste and knowledge of hard, useful work. 
Call them " Weeds,” indeed ! Come out of the 
gravel pit. Make your bearings more sure, and with 
the light of heaven around you look at the brighter 
side of things. Even weeds are interesting if only 
carefully examined. A gentleman’s love of flowers 
and enthusiasm for gardening must be very spasmodic 
when he has to relinquish it because of being unable 
to find a good gardener, whilst there are hundreds of 
good men wasting their very existence in cur 
nurseries, waiting for such places to turn up. But 
are we not digressing ; has this anything to do with 
testimonials ? I think not, and I gave you my ideas 
of what these should consist in a former paper.— 
W. Machay. 
