May 6, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
565 
ROYAL GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FUND. 
Annual Dinner. 
The annual dinner in aid of this admirable garden¬ 
ing charity took place at St. James’s Hall, Regent 
Street, W., on the 26th ult., under the presidency of 
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, M.P., who was 
supported by Sir Trevor Lawrence, M P., Arnold 
White, Esq , N. N. Sherwood, Esq., H. J. Veitch, 
Esq., E. J. Beale, Esq., and some seventy other 
gentlemen who take a warm interest in the welfare 
of the fund. The usual loyal toasts having been 
duly honoured, and a specially hearty recognition 
accorded the announcement of the Princess of Wales 
having recently become Patroness of the fund, the 
the Chairman rose to propose the principal toast of 
the evening, 11 Success to the Royal Gardeners' 
Orphan Fund,” which he commenced by remarking 
was, comparatively speaking, an infant among the 
many charitable institutions of the great metropolis ; 
it was not only an infant, but it might also be 
described as a dwarf, but age would diminish the 
fault of its being an infant. They were assembled 
together that evening to obviate that defect in the 
stature of the institution, and by their generosity to 
enable it to increase its size to the 
proportions of a giant. The infant 
had, he was bound to say, done 
very well during the first few years 
of its existence. He was pleased to 
know that during the past year 
it had given weekly allowances of 
5s. to fifty-six children under 
fourteen years of age, which distri¬ 
bution represented an outlay of 
£750. That was, he considered, a 
most creditable piece of work. The 
metropolis abounded not only 
with hospitals, but homes and charit¬ 
able institutions of every kind. He 
knew that that evening there were 
several dinners being held in the 
City in aid of charitable institu¬ 
tions, and the pockets of the 
charitably inclined were always 
being called upon to keep pace with 
the growing demands of charit¬ 
able causes. In spite of these 
numerous dinners, however, they were 
gathered together that evening in 
the interests of the Royal Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund, and he looked for¬ 
ward confidently to an excellent result 
in the shape of subscriptions. The 
charity had been established for the 
purpose of keeping together the 
bodies and souls of gardeners' 
orphans, and although the occupa¬ 
tion of gardeners was a good and 
healthy one, yet they were exposed to 
certain risks which often left children 
fatherless, and therefore orphans. In 
the proper execution of their 
work in hothouses, and during 
the night time especially, gardeners 
caught chills, and died sooner, perhaps, than might 
be expected. He did not know if the children of 
gardeners travelling about the world in the course 
of their occupation were included among those 
benefited, but if not, he certainly thought they 
ought to be. For instance, he had an Orchid in his 
coat that evening, and no one knew whether a man 
h.ad not died in the discharge of his duty while 
collecting the plant in some foreign land ; if it was 
so, he contended that the children of that man 
should be as well looked after and cared for as those 
of a gardener who had died at home. This institu¬ 
tion, besides giving a weekly allowance to orphans 
had also the opportunity of allowing them a sum of 
£10 when that weekly allowance ceased, when the 
children had arrived at the age of fourteen, and it 
was a most excellent provision, for it was just the 
time when boys were becoming young men and 
when girls were growing into womanhood, when 
£10 would be almost a means of salvation to them. 
He did not believe there was a charity throughout 
the length and breadth of the country which was 
more economically administered than this. By a 
reference to the annual report it would be seen that 
the cost of the institution had been quite trifling 
compared with the expenses of others, whose 
receipts were swallowed up by a horde of greedy 
officers. He was bound to say, therefore, that the 
balance sheet was a credit to the charity. At the 
dinner last year the handsome sum of £1,000 was 
subscribed, and the chairman on that occasion 
possessed some rich relations and friends in the 
City ; he (the speaker) also possessed seme relatives 
and friends in the City, but his influence had not 
been quite so successful as that of Sir James White- 
head. Last year his friend Mr. Veitch celebrated 
his silver wedding, and in memory of that auspicious 
occasion he presented the fund with a splendid dona¬ 
tion of £500. He could but hope that other gentle¬ 
men present had that year celebrated their silver 
wedding, and looking around him he did not think 
that any of them had celebrated their golden 
wedding yet, or he might look perhaps fora donation 
of £1,000. He trusted, however, that Mr. Veitch, 
when he celebrated his golden wedding, which he 
sincerely trusted he would do, would make a dona¬ 
tion perhaps of £1,000. In conclusion, said the 
Chairman, if each of the gentlemen present added 
four times 5s.—he would not call it a pound—it would 
mean an additional £100 to the sum which had been 
promised. If gentlemen would not try to realise the 
difference between that sum it would be the means 
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, M.P. 
of relieving the sufferings and raising the hopes of 
many an orphan boy and many an orphan girl. 
Sir J. T. D. Llewelyn, Bart.; who responded to the 
toast as one of the trustees, said the institution was 
doing an immense amount of good. As to the 
profession of gardening, it had made very rapid strides 
during the past century, and who could say where 
it was going to end, to what extent it would grow, 
and what further improvement would take place in 
fruit and flowers and vegetables. Those who 
represented the upper ten of horticulture should not 
forget that it was part of their duty to make the 
accidents which produced orphans a little more 
tolerable to those who were left behind. The work 
which had been done through the fund during the 
few years of its existence proved how much lay 
before it in this direction. In 1887 the fund was 
started, and a commencement was made with the 
election of eleven children. The number grew 
in the following year to thirty, and from thirty 
to fifty, and last year eight more were elected, making 
a total of fifty-eight, and only two had arrived at the 
age of fourteen. Children to the number of fifty- 
six were therefore on the books of the fund, and if ic 
progressed in the same ratio year by year there was 
a great future before it. The most satisfactory 
feature during the past year’s operations was that 
H.R.H. the Princess of Wales had graciously 
consented to become Patroness of the fund; she 
very graciously acquiesced in the proposal, expressing 
at the same time a hope that the association of her 
name with it might be the means of benefiting it. 
This had clearly been the case, for their excellent 
secretary, Mr. Barron had now secured the Duke of 
York and the Duchess of Albany as life subscribers ; 
that was the first fruit of the Princess of Wales 
being Patroness of the fund. The handsome 
donation which Mr. Veitch presented to the fund 
could not fail to have a good influence upon the 
leaders in the horticultural world, and he confidently 
looked forward to their patronage. He thought also 
that they might approach the professional gardeners 
of the country. During the five years the fund had 
been in existence the sum of £6,570 had been 
invested. The value of such an invested sum as 
that could not be over-estimated, especially in the 
future if subscriptions did not come in so readily, 
although he hoped the day was far distant when they 
would be compelled to touch the capital. 
Sir Trevor Lawrence submitted the toast of 
"Gardeners and Gardening’’ and in response, Mr. 
N. N. Sherwood expressed a hope that the fund 
would ever receive the support and 
sympathy of such distinguished 
men as the chairman and the 
proposer of the toast. It was 
quite true that gardening had 
made immense progress in this 
country during the past fifty years, 
and it was not to be surprised at 
__ when they remembered that almost 
every little village and provincial 
town had its flower show; and then 
looking at the magnificent show that 
was held annually at the Temple, 
he was sure gardeners could not 
help feeling proud of their calling. 
With respect to the fund itself, there 
was a matter he wished to call 
the attention of the committee 
to, and that was a very sad case in 
which a poor gardener had recently 
died suddenly and left a family of 
seven children. He would be glad to 
pay for the maintenance of one 
of those children, by specially contri¬ 
buting the sum of £13 annually for 
that purpose, until the child 
reached the age of fourteen years, 
if the rules of the fund permitted 
such an arrangement, but if not 
he would be perfectly willing to 
pay down in a lump sum the 
amount which was necessary for 
the maintenance of the little 
orphan for the next seven or eight 
years. He would, however, 
specially urge the committee to well 
consider whether they could not 
adopt the suggestion he had made 
with reference to the annual pay¬ 
ment of £13, as he believed that 
there were many who under circumstances so 
painful as the case he had referred to would be glad 
to make such an annual payment, but who would not 
pay down a lump sum. Mr. Sherwood announced, 
in conclusion, that as the firm he was associated with 
(Messrs. Hurst and Son), were this year celebrating 
their jubilee he would be happy to give £100 in com¬ 
memoration of the event. 
“ The Health of the Chairman,” was proposed by 
Dr. Walker, and Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild 
having acknowledged the compliment, Mr. R. Dean 
proposed “ The Visitors,” on whose behalf Mr, 
Arnold White, and Mr. John Collingridge responded. 
Mr. Veitch in most generous and appreciative terms 
gave “The Honorary Secretary, Mr. Barron,” which 
was received with musical honours. 
During the evening Mr. Barron announced that 
the promised donations to the fund amounted to 
about £550, including the following sums : Baron F, 
de Rothschild, M.P., £50; Messrs. Hurst & Son, 
£100 ; Messrs. Rothschild, £25 ; Mr. F. Sander, 
£18 18s. ; Mr. G. Monro, £14 14s.; SirT. Lawrence, 
Bart., £10 10s.; Sir John T. D. Llewellyn, Bart., 
£10 10s. ; Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, £10 10s.; Mr. 
J. Wills, £10 10s.; Mr. J. Wimsett, £10 10s.; Mr. 
R. Dean, £10 10s. ; Mr. W. Marshall, £10 5s. ; 
Thames Bank Iron Company, £9 9s.; Mr. F. Q, 
Lane, £9 8s.; and Mr. A. W. G. Weeks, £8 is.; 
