460 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 18, 1899. 
THE UNITED HORTICULTURAL BENE¬ 
FIT AND PROVIDENT SOCIETY. 
The annual general meeting of this unique institution 
was held at the Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi, Strand, 
W.C., on the evening of Monday, the 13th inst. Mr. 
J. Fraser, F.L.S., the editor of The Gardening 
World, took the chair at 8 o’clock. The report and 
statement of accounts were presented by the secre¬ 
tary and treasurer and read as follows :— 
The Report for 1898. 
The committee have great pleasure in presenting 
the annual report and balance sheet for the year 
ending January gth, 1899, and in stating that the 
society continues to be in a prosperous condition. 
Eighty-three members joined during the year, six¬ 
teen lapsed, and eight died, one being a lapsed 
member, and the amounts standing to their credit 
have been paid. The membership now stands at 
741. The amount of subscriptions paid by members 
to the Benefit Fund, including arrears for 1897, was 
£1,163 ns- 2d. The amount paid to sick members 
was £258 17s., a rather heavy amount, several cases 
being of a long and serious character. The amount 
is covered] by deductions from members’ deposit 
accounts of 8s. 7d. and 5s. gd. respectively. 
Subscriptions to the Benevolent Fund from honor¬ 
ary and benefit members amounted to £141 13s. 3d., 
and £35 5s. 6d. has been granted in small amounts 
to members from this fund. The first member (No. 
4) to receive a regular allowance, being over seventy 
years of age, is now on the funds, and taking into 
consideration that he has worked on the committee 
from the commencement of the society, has been 
granted 8s. per week. 
The Convalescent Fund continues to be useful, and 
is now incorporated in the rules. All the members 
are invited to contribute to this fund. The manage¬ 
ment Fund shows a balance of £109 19s. 4d. The 
treasurer’s statement of accounts is also very satis¬ 
factory. The amount invested in corporation stock 
for the past year was £1,250, the total amount of 
funds invested being now £14,350, and the treasurer 
has a balance in hand of £128 15s. nd. 
The annual dinner again passed off most success¬ 
fully, Mr. G. Bunyard kindly presiding, and the 
thanks of the members are due to him for providing 
the music. 
The society's accounts were audited by Messrs. G. 
Dixon and W. Gunner, and found correct. 
The committee ask every member to try and get 
another to join and so verify our motto, " Union is 
Strength. 
The Accounts. 
Subjoined is the substance of the declaration with 
regard to money matters. No fewer than seven 
different accounts are kept, viz., for the Benefit Fund, 
the Benevolent Fund, the Voluntary Convalescent 
Fund, the Management Fund, Treasurer’s State¬ 
ment of Accounts, Statement of Liabilities and 
Assets, and the Annual Dinner Account. Taking 
these seriatim we find that in 
The Benefit Fund the total receipts have been 
£11,305 3s. 3d., including a balance brought forward 
of £9,857 ns. 5d. ; interest credited to members, 
£284 os. 8d.; and subscriptions of members, 
£1,133 2s. 1 id. The disbursements have bean 
£405 4s. 2d., of which sick members have received 
£258 17s., and £22 1 as. 6d. has been transferred to 
the Benevolent Fund. The magnificent balance of 
£10,899 !9 S - id- to be carried forward. 
The Benevolent Fund shows receipts of 
£3,050 16s. 6d., including a balance brought forward 
of £2,805 3s. gd. The outgoings are £35 5s. 6d. ; 
and £3,0:5 ns. is taken on. 
The Voluntary Convalescent Fund has 
received £371 3s. id., of which sum £538 3s. 8d. is 
due to last year’s balance. A sum of £6 has been 
paid away, and the balance in hand is swollen to 
£365 3s. id. 
The Management Fund’s income has been 
£209 18s. gd., inclusive of a balance from last year 
of £77 15s. 7d. ; and members' subscriptions, 
£82 5s. 4d. The expenditure has been £99 19s. 5d., 
of which the secretary takes £35 10s. 6d., and 
stationery and printing have absorbed £25 3s. nd. 
The sum carried on is £109 19s. 4d. 
The Treasurer's Statement of Accounts 
declares receipts for the past year of £1,945 8s. 3 d > 
of which £72 4s. 6d. came from last year, whilst 
benefit members' subscriptions tot up to £1,133 
2S. nd.; honorrry members’ subscriptions, £51 9s.; 
and subscriptions to the Benevolent, Convalescent, 
and Management Funds, £174 8s. iod. The pay¬ 
ments total £1,816 12s. 46., and there is a balance in 
hand of £128 15s. nd. 
The Statement of Liabilities and Assets 
shows liabilities of £14,390 12s. 6d., of which the 
Benevolent Fund claims £3,015 11s.; Convalescent 
Fund, £365 3s. id.; Management Fund, £109 19s. 4d.; 
and Benefit Fund, £10,899 19s. id. To meet these 
liabilities there are investments of £14,350; and 
cash in the hands of the treasurer of £128 15s. nd., 
which is also to be invested. There is thus a 
balance of £88 3s. sd. 
The Annual Dinner Account. —Even this 
shows a balance of £i 9s. 6d., the expenses having 
been £30 2s. iod., and the receipts £31 12s. 4d. Of 
this latter sum, however, £24 accrued from the sale 
of tickets, and £6 6s. from donations. 
The formal adoption of the report and statement 
of accounts was moved by the chairman, seconded 
by Mr. Coates, and on being put to the vote was 
carried without more ado. 
Mr. Fra:er then rose to address the meeting, and 
spoke as follows:— 
" I have examined the books and looked into the 
affairs of this society generally, and congratulate the 
members and all connected with it on its continued 
and increasing utility and prosperity. The sum and 
substance of this is evidenced by the membership, 
and balance standing to the credit of the society. At 
the end of the financial year there were 741 members 
on the roll, after deducting the number for lapses 
and deaths ; but twenty-eight have since been added, 
so that the membership now stands at 769. The bal¬ 
ance standing to the credit of the society consists of 
£14,350 invested in stocks, with £128 15s. nd. in 
the hands of the treasurer. After paying all out¬ 
standing liabilities there would still be a balance of 
£88 3s. sd. The working of the society is simplified 
by having the whole of its available assets allocated 
to four distinct funds, each of which has its own 
particular purpose to fulfil. From three of them 
members may derive advantage. The benefit fund 
is the most important, as it is practically a form of 
insurance in case of sickness, and a savings bank 
combined. On the lower scale, members paying 6d. 
per week, 63. 6d. per quarter, or £1 6s. a year are 
entitled to 12s. a week in case of illness for six 
months, and to half that sum for the succeeding six 
months, if need be. Members paying on the higher 
scale, at the rate of gd. per week, gs. gd. per quarter 
or £1 19s. per annum, receive 18s. per week for six 
months in case of sickness, and half that amount for 
another six months, provided they be still unajtle to 
work. In these cases the many help the few ; for a 
small rateable sum is deducted from the deposit fund 
of every member to meet this varying liability. This 
is the insurance aspect of the fund. The liabilities 
for the past year were exceptionally heavy, sixty 
members receiving an aggregate of £258 17s. during 
periods of sickness. The capital or deposit account 
of every member is very little depreciated after all, 
and herein it resembles a savings bank. A balance 
sheet is annually sent to every member showing how 
much is standing to his own individual credit. The 
advantage of this fund ought to be apparent to every 
gardener throughout the British Isles. The balance 
standing to the credit of this particular fund is 
£10,899 19s. id., being an increase of £1,042 7s. 8d. 
during the past year. If by any misfortune a 
member should continue unfit for work at the end 
of twelve months he may not be regarded as derelict, 
for he may receive assistance from the benevolent 
fund at the determination of the committee. He 
may also receive assistance if in want of it, after 
attaining his seventieth birthday, and if a member 
should die in straitened circumstances, leaving a 
wife and children, they may be granted assistance. 
For the prospect of these and other advantages a 
member has only to pay 2s. annually, on the lower 
scale, and 3s. on the higher ; so that the fund is not 
exactly a charity. The fund is decidedly healthy, 
having a balance of £3,015 ns. standing to its 
credit. 
•' The voluntary convalescent fund provides assis¬ 
tance for those who may require a change of locality 
during their convalescence, and this, the youDgest of 
the fund continues to be useful. A glance at the 
details of the management fund furnishes cause for 
surprise that a society of the magnitude of the 
'■ United Horticultural ” could contrive to manage 
the whole of its affairs at a total expense of £99 19s. 
5d. The balance to the credit of this fund is £iog 
18s. gd. The secretarial duties must be, and I have 
no doubt are, a labour of love rather than emolument. 
An item of the management fund derived from the 
interest of lapsed members’ subscriptions brings me 
to an important feature of the society. When a 
Emblem of Membership. 
member for some reason or other ceases to pay his 
annual subscriptions he does not forfeit his deposit 
or capital, as he would in other societies. He cannot 
draw it out, but it remains to his credit till he is 
sixty years of age, when it will be paid over to him 
or to his no minee, if he should die before attaining 
that age. This fact alone should help many a young 
gardener in deciding to join the *' United Horticul¬ 
tural ” when on the outlook for something of the 
kind in his more thoughtful and provident moods. 
This is no local society,but one entitled to be regarded 
as national, for although it draws most of its mem¬ 
bers from the length and breadth of England, it has 
also members in the Channel Islands, Wales, Scot¬ 
land, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the United States 
of America. Instead of instituting local secretaries 
or agents in different parts of the country it would 
be well,and highly desirable,that every member should 
lay the advantages of the 11 United Horticultural” 
before his fellow gardeners, for personal influence is 
a powerful agent in gaining new recruits, and the 
increase could hardly fail to be of the greatest 
advantage mutually to every member, and the society 
as a body.” 
It was next resolved upon the proposal of Mr. A. 
Hemsley to print 2,500 copies of the report and 
balance sheet over and above those required for 
distribution to members. Mr. Hemsley expressed 
his opinion that the distribution of these copies was 
the most efficient method of advertising the claims 
of the society. 
Passing to the election of officers for the ensuing 
year there were seven nominations for the six 
vacancies upon the committee. Four of these 
vacancies were caused by the retirement in rotation 
of Messrs. H. Peerless, E. Burge, W. Foreman, and 
G. W. Cummins. The three first-named being 
eligible and offering themselves for re-election were 
asked to continue upon the committee. To fid the 
other three vacancies Messrs. Summers, Taylor, and 
Harding were chosen to take the places of Messrs. 
N. Cole, G. W. Cummins, and E. G. Wheeler, 
respectively. 
The re-election of Mr. W. Collins to the post of 
secretary which he has filled so well was only a 
matter of form, for Mr. Collins' services are so well 
known and appreciated that Mr. A. Hemsley, who 
proposed, and Mr. Hudson, who supported, had no 
need to press them upon the audience. Mr. Hudson 
mentioned in passing that the turnover between Mr. 
Collins and himself had been £2,000 during the 
last year, and that so carefully had the books been 
kept that there was not a single penny out when 
