452 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 17, 1894. 
FliOt^ICUliTUt^E. 
Southern Florists' Societies. 
From Mr. T. E. Henwood, of Reading, we have re¬ 
ceived the seventeenth annual reports of the 
Southern Sections of the National Carnation and 
Picotee Society, and the National Auricula and 
Primula Society. From the former we learn that 
there has been a considerable accession of members 
during the past year, showing that the interest in the 
Carnation and Picotee is increasing rather than 
diminishing, while the statement of accounts show a 
balance in hand of ;fii8 5s. 4d. For the show of the 
present year, the committee have extended the classes 
and provided a very liberal list of prizes. The com¬ 
mittee also announce that they propose to invite the 
leading growers of the Carnation and Picotee to send 
in lists of the best varieties in fheir respective 
classes, which will be arranged in order of merit, 
and published in the report for 1894. 
The Auricula and Primula Society is not in such 
a prosperous condition, having had to draw upon its 
reserve fund during the year to the amount of 
i6s. 6Jd., to balance the total expenditure of 
^74 IS. 6Jd., leaving a balance in hand of 
/32 los. 3jd. The Society’s annual show will be 
held in the Drill Hall on April 24th, and the 
schedule contains the usual classes. The report 
also contains a select list of varieties contributed to 
by some sixteen noted growers. 
The Midland Carnation and Picotee 
Society. 
The Committee of this Society has also just issued 
their schedule for the ensuing season’s exhibition, 
which is to be held in the Botanical Gardens, 
Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Saturday, August 4th. 
The prize list has been further augmented, and now 
comprises competitions which should meet the re¬ 
quirements of every condition of grower, and ensure 
a grand display should the season be favourable, 
while the value of the prizes offered amounts to 
nearly ^^130. 
On Showing Pansies. 
On reading " C. K.’s ” letter on this subject in your 
issue of 3rd inst., I was rather astonished at some 
of his suggestions, and can see no reason why 
" C. K.” should wonder that societies have not fixed 
a standard size for trays or stands. My opinion is, 
that exhibitors should be allowed to use their own 
discretion as to the size of the stands, which they 
consider most likely to improve the appearance of 
their blooms, and I think that to fix a standard size 
would not be progressing, as we ought to do. Every¬ 
one knows that to show flowers on a large stand 
only spoils the general appearance of the flowers, 
and therefore it should be left to each competitor to 
use a stand in proportion to his blooms. 
Still, I have always understood that Pansy stands 
are almost all of a uniform size, viz., for fancy 
Pansies 3 in. from centre to centre of hole, and ij 
inches from centre of hole to edge of tray, and I 
fancy if " C. K.” will only measure his stands he 
will find this is about right, with the exception 
perhaps of the distance to the edge of the tray, 
which is sometimes a little more, and this size leaves 
a small margin of the painted stand to be seen, 
which is desirable. 
As to paper collars, my opinion is exactly the 
same as regards stands, viz., to leave it entirely to 
the competitor, and I should say that it would be 
foolish for anyone to put a collar on a bloom entirely 
out of proportion to its size, which, instead of im¬ 
proving the bloom, would spoil its appearance. As 
in the case of stands, however, nearly all Pansy 
papers are cut to a uniform size, viz., 2^ inches fcr 
"fancies,” and 2^ inches for "shows,” and if 
" C. K.” sends to any firm who advertises papers, he 
will find these are the sizes he will receive. 
Undoubtedly, of course, some blooms require 3 inch 
collars, but I allude to the average exhibition 
blooms. " C. K." alleges that judges are sometimes 
deceived by the difference in the size of the stands, 
but I am inclined to think that judges, who are so 
easily deceived, are unfit for their duty.—M. G. 
The Carnation: its History, Properties and Management; 
with a descriptive list of the best varieties in cultivation. By 
E. S. Dodwell. Third edition, with supplementary chapter on 
the Yellow Ground. London: Gardening World Office, i, 
Clement s Inn, Strand, W.C, is. 6d., post free, is. yd.—Advt. 
UNITED HORTICULTURAL BENEFIT 
AND PROVIDENT SOCIETY. 
The annual general meeting of the members of this 
Society was held st the Caledonian Hotel, W.C , on 
Monday evening, but owing to the unpleasant charac¬ 
ter of the weather the attendance was not so good as 
usual. Mr. B. Wynne presided, and in moving the 
adoption of the report of the committee and state¬ 
ment of accounts for 1893, congratulated the 
members upon the completion of a year’s work 
of a steadily progressive character, as well as upon 
the increasing prosperity of the Society notwith¬ 
standing the hardness of the times through which 
we are passing. The report stated that fifty-eight 
new members had joined during the past year, which 
was eight more than in the previous 12 months, but the 
number who had paid subscriptions during the year 
had only increased to 487 as compared with 474 in 
1892, which showed that there had been a larger 
number of lapsed memberships during the year than 
usual, and this was much to be regretted. He 
thought it would be most gratifying to them to know 
that only two members had died during the year, 
and still more so to learn that, on the whole, there 
was also less sickness among the members, the 
amount disbursed in the form of sick pay having 
been ^'73 13s. 4d., which was less by £1^ 19s. 4d. 
than was paid in the previous year. The amount 
standing to the credit of the Benefit fund had been 
increased during the year by the sum of £7^6 4s. 9d., 
raising the total amount in hand from £^,^86 ys. 4d. 
to £6,2^2 I 2 S. 8d., a very substantial nest egg safely 
put away to meet future contingencies, and the posses¬ 
sion of which for reliance upon in time of need should 
afford the members the liveliest satisfaction. The 
statement of accounts relating to the Benevolent and 
Convalescent Funds were also of the most gratify¬ 
ing character, as no claims had been made upon 
either fund during the year other than the two 
death claims from the former, and a sum of £^ paid 
to the secretary for management from the latter; 
and the balances standing to the credit of both had 
consequently been sensibly increased in amount. In 
the case of the Benevolent Fund the increase 
amounted to ;^i65 14s. 8d., bringing the total 
amount in hand up to £2,025 t2s. pd. ; while thanks 
to the generous donation of /50 given to the Conva¬ 
lescent Fund by Messrs. Hurst & Sonin comrpemo- 
ration of the celebration last summer of the jubilee of 
their firm and the sum of £25 9s. 3d. received from 
other sources, this most useful auxiliary fund had now 
a credit balance of ;^246 8s. lod., an item of news 
which he was sure would be pleasant reading to 
Mr. Sherwood, to whom every member of the Society 
was under a deep debt of gratitude, both for initiating 
the fund, and for the warm personal interest he has 
taken in it since. He (the chairman) hoped that as 
an outsider he should not be taking an undue liberty 
if he expressed the fervent hope that the members 
would respond to the appeal which had been made by 
the committee for an annual mite from each in aid of 
this fund, for it deserved the most generous support, 
apart from the Benefit and Benevolent Funds. To a 
man laid low by sickness, and it may be worried in 
mind by the cark and care which attends the posses¬ 
sion of a slender purse, what could be more bene¬ 
ficial to him, what more likely to set him up and 
make him a contributor to the sick pay fund rather 
than a suppliant for its help, than a change of .air 
and scene accompanied by relief from the anxiety of 
providing ways and means wherewith to pay his 
own expenses, and to leave a shot in the locker for 
the sustenance of those he may have to leave behind 
at home. He would also urge upon the committee 
that when meeting future claims upon this fund, they 
would do well to do so with no niggardly hand, riot 
only because it was pounds not pence that a sick 
man wanted at such a time, but because he believed 
that a generous dispensation of the fund when 
deserving cases arose was much more calculated to 
bring in subscriptions from outside than was the 
pursuit of a policy of niggardliness for the mere sake 
of piling up the amount in reserve. The Manage¬ 
ment Fund he thought also called for a few words of 
a congratulatory character. Though still much 
below what they should be to carry on with spirit 
the work of such a Society, he was exceedingly 
pleased to see that the total receipts from all sources 
under that head showed an increase amounting to 
£21 15s. over the sum received in 1892, and he felt 
sure that the committee must have been as pleased 
to realise this fact as he and the members were, 
because they know only too well that it was owing 
to the failure of adequate pro\flsion being made, at 
the time the Society was established, for the pay¬ 
ment of ordinary working expenses on a scale com¬ 
mensurate with the needs of such an Association, that 
had been the one great cause of the Societ)-’s slow 
growth. This initial defect in the rules was gradually 
curing itself by the lapse of time, but it must be admit¬ 
ted that it was a slow process, and without an altera¬ 
tion in the rules he thought it would be only when 
they had doubled their membership that they would 
have the means to develop the Society, as it deserved 
and should he extended, and when that happy time 
arrived, whoever amongst them might live to see it, 
he ventured to think that the membership, and as a 
consequence the resources of the Society, would in¬ 
crease and multiply at a rate that was beyond the 
conception of any of them at present. But he would 
ask, why should not this happy time come next 
year ? All that was wanted was a little resolution, 
a determination on the part of every one of them to 
bring in another eligible young member during the 
year, and the thing was done. If ever there was a 
case where "mony a meickle ” could " mak a 
muckle,” this was one of them, and he would set the 
ball rolling himself by undertaking to introduce one 
such member at an early date. The Society was 
unquestionably the best of its kind in the country 
that any respectable member of the honourable 
fraternity of gardeners could belong to, and most 
certainly it was one that every young gardener 
should join as early in life as the rules permitted. 
For a very rnoderate annual payment, the Society 
provided sick pay on a liberal scale during illuess ; 
it helped a man when he was out of employment 
and in need of a friendly hand until he got settled 
down again, without bringing upon him the evil 
taint of pauperism, and above all, the Benevolent 
Fund provided him with a means of securing some¬ 
thing for his old age, or for those he may leave 
behind should he die before attaining the age of 
seventy. He could leave his small savings and 
accumulations with the Society with the assured 
knowledge that they were absolutely safe, and that 
when the money should be claimed there would be 
neither deductions nor forfeiture, as was the case in 
so many benefit societies, so called, but which were 
really little better than legalised frauds upon work¬ 
ing men. The Society was ably managed and de¬ 
veloped by the committee to the utmost extent that 
the restricted means at their disposal would admit 
of ; the funds held in reserve, which now amounted 
to £8,yoo, were most judiciously and carefully in¬ 
vested ; the books of account were neatly and most 
accurately kept by the Secretary, Mr. Collins, and 
from a recent inspection of them, he could testify 
that the whole of the accounts had been minutely 
examined by the auditors, and had been found 
correct, and not perfunctorily audited and made 
correct, as he feared was too often the case. The 
motion was seconded by Mr. J. Wheeler and carried 
unanimously. 
The retiring members of the committee, Mr. 
Riley Scott, Mr. C. \V. Knowles, Mr. W. Foreman, 
and Mr. G. W^. Cummins, were then re-elected, as 
also was the Secretary, Mr. W. Collins, and the 
Auditors, Messrs. G. Dixon, W. Gunner, and T. 
Puzey, and the usual votes of thanks to the 
Trustees, the Treasurer, the Auditors, the Chairman, 
and the Press (the latter compliment being acknow¬ 
ledged by Mr. Curtis of The Gardeners’ Magazine) 
concluded the business. 
We append the accounts presented by the 
treasurer;— 
Balance in hand, March loth, 1S93 . 
Honorary and Life Members ... 
Benefit Fund Subscriptions . 
Benevolent „ . 
Management ,, . 
Subscriptions to Convalescent Fund 
Dividends less Income Tax Revocation Fees 
Advertisements in Annual Report, &c. 
Dividends from Trustees ... . 
Cr. 
£ s. d. 
173 12 9 i 
48 6 o 
754 5 4 
57 o 6 
56 4 9 
iS 8 6 
030 
9 16 o 
231 6 7 
£r .350 3 5 ^ 
Secretary's Salary . 
Expenses of Management . 
Sick pay to Members . 
Paid to Nominees of two Deceased Members 
Investments, Stamps, and Brokers Commission 
Balance . 
Investments ;— 
Nottingham Corporation 3°/^ Stock 
Manchester ,, 
West Bromwich ,, 
South Indian Railway sF/o Stock 
£ s. d. 
28 18 6 
52 II 5 
73 13 4 
70 
0 
2 
1.035 
15 
6 
. 89 
4 
64 
£1.350 
3 
54 
£ 
S. 
d 
... 5,500 
0 
0 
... 1,200 
0 
0 
... 1,200 
0 
0 
... 800 
0 
0 
£8,700 
0 
0 
