January 29, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
849 
Borebam, George Daniels, William Davidson, 
Thomas Ffoulkes, John Mitchinson, John Perkins, 
John Rolfe, and Silas Warr. 
BALANCE-SHEET, 1897. 
Cr. 
By Pensions and gratuities .. ■ • £2,953 
„ Expenses of election and annual 
meeting. 16 
„ Secretary’s salary. 250 
„ Office assistance. 26 
,, Rent of office . 62 
„ Printing, including annual reports 
and list of subscribers, appeals, 
&c. no 
„ Stationery. 34 
„ Books of Cheques. 4 
,, Expenses of annual dinner £210 2 3 
„ Less tickets sold .. 101 17 o 
---108 
„ Diamond Jubilee address, &c. 7 
„ Wreath for the late Mr. James 
Webber. 2 
„ Office repairs . 4 
„ Advertisement . 3 
,, Postages, including reports, voting 
papers, &c. .. . .. 56 
„ Travelling expenses .. .. 2 
„ Carriage, telegrams, and inciden¬ 
tal expenses . 19 
,, Bank charges . o 
„ Investment (in accordance with 
terms of will), J. W. Thomson 
legacy, Indian 3J per cents. .. 457 
„ Investment of Victorian Era Fund, 
Great Western Guaranteed 3 
per cent.4,075 
„ On deposit.2,415 
„ Balance with Treasurer .. .. 905 
.. .. Secretary .. .. 2 
16 8 
11 3 
o o 
o 0 
10 o 
15 3 
14 6 
3 4 
5 3 
17 6 
10 o 
13 0 
3 o 
13 9 
18 2 
12 7 
5 5 
5 11 
o 11 
o o 
II 2 
10 o 
£11.519 17 8 
Dr. 
To Balance . 
„ Deposit account. 
„ Annual subscriptions 
„ Donations at and in consequence 
of annual dinner, including col¬ 
lecting cards to general fund .. 
„ Victorian Era Fund 
,, Legacies—J. W. Thomson 
,, Col. Thos. Page 
„ Return of income tax 
,, Advertisement in annual list 
„ Dividends and interest on deposit 
£929 13 3 
2,015 o 0 
1,511 7 o 
1.485 7 9 
4,075 o 11 
457 5 11 
100 ,0 0 
23 17 10 
49 2 6 
873 2 6 
£11,519 17 8 
We have audited the accounts and certify the same 
to be correct, and are pleased to state that we 
have found the books well and accurately kept. 
We have also satisfied ourselves that the securities 
of the invested funds are in the hands of the 
Bankers. 
(Signed) Jan. 18th, 1898. 
THOMAS MANNING. 
THOMAS SWIFT. 
JESSE WILLARD. 
The meeting then became special for the purpose 
of appointing scrutineers of the ballot. Messrs. 
A. Outram, T. Manning, and E. G. Munro were the 
chosen gentlemen. An adjournment was then made 
to await the 
Declaration of Poll. 
This took place at 4.50 p.m. The nine candidates 
who headed the list, and the number of voles 
received by each were as followsHenry Ellis, 
4,249; Thos. Bundy, 3,900; Robert Begbie, 3,878; 
James Baker, 3,868; Wm. Wood, 3,790; David 
Cornell, 3,663 ; Geo. Hewitt, 3,651; Thos. Edwin, 
3,550; and Lydia Rose, 3,534. Mrs. Elizabeth 
McCulloch, who received 3,031 votes, came next on 
the list of widows, and was consequently the lucky 
candidate for the “ Thomson ” pensionership. 
The poll was stated to have been the heaviest on 
record, no fewer than 97,951 votes having been 
registered. It was to be regretted, however, that 
there were as many as 1,152 spoiled votes. Of these 
1,085 were due to the omission of the necessary 
signatures to the voting papers, and 117 had come 
from people who had not paid their subscriptions. 
A vote of thanks to the scrutineers, proposed by 
Mr. Melady, seconded by Mr. Hudson, and replied 
to by Mr. A. Outram, concluded the business. 
The Annual Friendly Supper. 
A goodly company of members and friends of the 
institution met at the annual supper, which was laid 
in an adjoining room for six o’clock. Arthur W. 
Sutton, Esq., of Reading, occupied the chair. After a 
substantial repast had been well discussed, the chair¬ 
man rose to give the loyal toast of •' The Queen, the 
Prince and Princess of Wales, and the other mem¬ 
bers of the Royal Family,” which he did in a few 
well-chosen and appropriate words. He laid stress 
upon the sympathy that existed between Her 
Majesty and her subjects, and the popularity of the 
Royal Family as a whole. The accompanying is a 
portrait of Arthur W. Sutton, Esq. (see p. 348), a 
member of the famous Reading firm, who presided 
during the evening. 
The toast of the evening, “ Continued prosperity 
to the institution and its Victorian Era Fund," was 
also given by the chairman. Mr. Sutton said that 
his association with the society was only a compara¬ 
tively recent one, but that he was very favourably 
impressed with the efficient way in which it was 
organised. He then proceeded to briefly review 
some of the salient features in the history of the 
society. It was started in 1838, and Queen Victoria be¬ 
came its patroness, and the Prince Consort its patron 
in 1851. In 1864, the Prince of Wales succeeded his 
deceased father as patron. In 1851 the receipts were 
£748, of which £512 were paid to thirty-five pen¬ 
sioners. Now there were 168 pensioners on the 
books, for whom a sum of £3,000 was required 
annually. Last year (1896) the total receipts were 
£4,739, this year (1897) they amounted to £8,575. 
This was largely due to the Victorian Era Fund for 
which over £4,000 had been subscribed. Over 
£71,000 had been distributed in charity by the 
society since its inauguration. Mr. Sutton paid a 
tribute of praise to the energy and ability of their 
secretary, Mr G. J. Ingram, and said that it was 
entirely due to him that Lord Portman has been 
secured as chairman for the forthcoming annual 
dinner at the Hotel Metropole. Mr. Ingram had also 
given another proof of promptness and business 
capacity in obtaining for the society £250 from the 
legacy left to charity by the late Mr. Thomas Gibbs. 
Mr. Sutton regretted that the society could not help 
even more than it does, and hoped that its sphere of 
usefulness would increase year by year. He coupled 
with the toast the name of Mr. H. J. Veitch, whom 
he described as the keystone of the society. The 
toast was received with the greatest enthusiasm. 
Mr. H. J. Veitch responded at some length, and 
supplemented the facts showing the progress of the 
society, given by the chairman and others, in which 
he drew a comparison between ten years ago and 
now. Ten years ago they had £21,000 in the funds, 
with 128 pensioners ; now they bad £29,000 invested, 
and 168 pensioners. More of the latter had been elected 
during the last two years than in any other three. 
Ten years ago they had no auxiliary societies, now 
they had several, including a very vigorous one at 
Worcester. Speaking of the Victorian Era Fund, 
he said it was for the benefit of candidates who have 
previously been subscribers. He had made a calcu¬ 
lation and had found that sums varying from £10 
downwards would be given according to the number 
of years the candidates had subscribed. He con¬ 
cluded by saying that the Victorian Era Fund was 
still open for those who would like to contribute, 
and that he hoped yet to see the £5,000 asked for 
fully subscribed. 
The health of the committee, coupled with the 
name of Mr.Owen Thomas was proposed by Mr. Geo. 
Bunyard. Mr. Thomas replied in a practical and 
able speech in which he stated amongst other things 
that they were indebted to Mr. H. J. Veitch for the 
establishment of the Victorian Era Fund. 
Mr. H. B. May, in the absence of the Rev. W. 
Wilks, gave the auxiliary societies, to which Mr. J. 
R. White, hon. sec. of the Worcester Auxiliary 
responded. 
The toasts were interspersed with vocal and 
instrumental music. The chairman had very kindly 
secured the services of Mr. Mel. B. Spurr, of the 
Egyptian Hall, who delighted the audience with his 
well-rendered songs, and musical sketches. Capital 
songs were also given by Mr. Fred Bevan, and Mr. 
J. R. White, whilst Mr. E. G. Munro upon the 
cornet and Mr. Harry Turner upon the concertina 
scored distinct successes. 
By the kindness of the chairman a selection of 
instrumental music was given by the “ Red Band.” 
A vote of thanks to the chairman which was 
proposed by Mr. N. N. Sherwood brought a very 
enjoyable evening to a close. 
-—- 
The Maggots of the Rose Chafer have been blamed 
for doing a great amount of mischief to root crops 
during the past season ; but this must have been of 
local occurrence. 
READING AND DISTRICT GARDENERS. 
Under the auspices of this successful horticultural 
association a tea and smoking concert were held in 
the Abbey Hall, Reading (by kind permission of 
Messrs.]Sutton & Sons), on Monday evening 17th inst- 
Nearly 100 members sat down to tea, which was 
presided over by the president, Mr. C. B. Stevens. 
The tables were decorated with plants and flowers 
from the gardens of East Thorpe (Mr. Woolford, 
gardener). Among the company present were : Mr 
Leonard G. Sutton, Mr. M. H. F. Sutton, Messrs. 
T. Turton and Hinton, chairman and vice-chairman 
respectively of the association for the season 1898, 
Messrs. J. Pound junr., Martin, Woolford, Smith, 
Bright, Dockerill, Chamberlain, Jones, Bright, H. 
G. Cox, Spencer, Parsons, Neve (Sindlesham), 
Townsend (Wellington College), Barefoot, Thatcher, 
Castle (Mortimer), Rigg, Pound sen., Farey, Fixter, 
Hobbs (Caversham), Dearlove (Burghfield), Lacey, 
Wagstaff (Bearwood), W. H. Cox (Calcot), &c. 
After justice had been done to an excellent repast, 
the chairman proceeded to propose the usual loyal 
toast, and in so doing said that they as an association 
were greatly honoured, for on the occasion of their 
annual outing (which took place in July last) to Wind, 
sor, they bad not only the pleasure of looking through 
the gardens and grounds at Windsor and Frogmore, 
but by Her Majesty's gracious permission they were 
allowed to inspect also the “ private portion ” of the 
gardens at the latter place; a privilege of a very 
rare character. They were greatly indebted to Mr. 
Owen Thomas, the Queen's gardener, for having 
spoken on their behalf. The toast, needless to say, 
was most loyally received with musical honours, Mr. 
James Martin rendering the solo in capital style. 
The second part was carried out on similar lines 
to that of last year, viz :—a smoking concert, the 
programme being contributed by members and a few 
friends (thereby saving the expense of engaging pro¬ 
fessional talent), and was even more] successful than 
before, thus showing that gardeners were also a 
” social and musical body.” The " tit bit ” of the 
evening was without doubt the Bones Solo by Mr 
Sweetzer. The following contributed to a very 
large programme Messrs. Martin, Woolford, Cox, 
Sweetzer, Poole, Dell, Gardener, Wren, Bush, 
Lacey, Heather, Wagstaff, Jacobs, Hobbs, Froud 
and Blay. Mr. W. Lewis accompanied in his usual 
excellent style. 
IRIS KAEMPFERI. 
There are more sections of Iris than one, and I fear 
your correspondent '* Nial ” (on p.333) has fallen 
into the trait of many others, by treating the above 
as ordinary garden Irises. For the benefit of " Nial ” 
and other readers of The Gardening World it 
may be as well to remind them that the Irises may 
be divided into three sections, namely, those with 
thick fleshy roots or the rhizomatous sorts, such as I. 
flavescens, I. albicans, I. florentina, and the common 
Blue Flag, generally known as German Irises. 
Secondly, there are those beautiful bulbous Orchid¬ 
like varieties in all possible shades of colour, such as 
the varieties of Iris Xiphium and I. Xiphioides, 
known as English and Spanish Irises, though all 
really of Spanish origin. Thirdly, we have the 
varieties of I. Kaempferi, (syn. I. laevigata) with 
fibrous roots, commonly known as Japanese or 
Clematis-flowered Iris, on account of their close 
resemblance in size and shape to the flowers of 
Clematis. The two former groups are grown 
successfully in the garden borders in ordinary garden 
soil, but by preference a rich light soil suits them 
best. The latter group of varieties of I. Kaempferi, 
being semi-aquatic, require a very different position, 
a position situated at the foot of a bank, leading to a 
ditch, pond, or lake, and planted so that the fibrous 
rootlets are constantly in water. 
If lovers of this beautiful Iris have no lake or pond 
by which to plant the same, they might easily con¬ 
trive to arrange a bog garden in the lowest lying 
part of their garden, planting in a soil composed of 
rich loam and peat, not so much for nutriment as for 
its retentive qualities of moisture. In this they will 
grow and flower luxuriously. Continuous supplies of 
water must be given judiciously and regularly during 
hot and dry weather, from the first growing stage 
until Ihe flowering period, after which they may be 
left to Nature’s own supplies. 
As to their not being known to flower in this 
country this is quite wrong, as a visit to Kew Gardens 
