January 131, 1903. 
The Gardening World 
GENERAL NOTICES. 
We would earnestly urge secretaries of societies to notify us as far iu advance as possible as to dates of meetings, shows, etc. We desire to do all in our power to have thcs 
adequately represented iu the columns of The Gardening World. 
We respectfully request nur readers, when they write to persons or firms advertising in his paper, to mention that their advertisement was seen in THE Gardening World. 
They will thereby not only oblige this paper, but the advertisers. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too .’’—Cowper. 
\ Weekly Prize 
FOR 
Short Articles. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World S 
will give a cash prize of Ten Shillings for ^ 
THE BEST PARAGRAPH, or SHORT ARTICLE, Sent ) 
by readers during the week. The Editor’s < 
judgment must be considered final, and he will \ 
be at liberty to use any of the contributions ) 
sent in. The paragraph, or article, must not ) 
EXCEED ONE COLUMN IN LENGTH, but the Value, ? 
rather than the length, of the article will be ( 
considered in making the award. Competitors \ 
may send in items of news or comments on ) 
news; hints of practical interest to gar- / 
deners or growers of plants, fruits, or flowers; < 
successful methods of propagating plants \ 
usually considered difficult ; or contributions S 
ON ANT SUBJECT COMING WITHIN THE SPHERE ) 
OF gardening proper. Letters should be ) 
addressed to The Editor, marked “ Competi- < 
tion,” and posted not later than Friday night S 
to ensure insertion in the issue of that week ) 
- < 
Photographic j 
Competition. \ 
A Prize of Two Guineas will be awarded for \ 
the best photograph, sketch, or water-colour S 
drawing sent in lor reproduction by readers ) 
before February 28th, subject to the following ) 
conditions:—(1) That the Editor’s judgment ( 
must be final. (2) That the photograph, sketch, s 
or drawing be accompanied by the following ) 
particulars: (a) The name of the subject, (b) ) 
the name and address of the competitor, who ) 
must be the actual photographer or artist, (c) ( 
when and where the subject was taken or S 
drawn. (3) That the competitor is the owner ) 
of the copyright. (4) That the photograph, ) 
sketch, or water-colour drawing has not been < 
used in any other publication. (5) That the ( 
Editor is at liberty to use any of the photo- S 
graphs, sketches, or drawings. Extra prizes of ) 
Five Shillings each will be awarded to any ) 
subjects the Editor decides to use other than ( 
that awarded the first prize. Letters must be ) 
addressed to the Editor, marked “Photograph.” 1 
The Editor will not be responsible for the return ( 
of photographs, but if stamps be sent ajn effort ; 
will be made to return unsuccessful contribu- ? 
tions. • < 
Views and Reviews. 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent. 
The sixty-fourth annual general meeting of 
the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, 
on the 22nd inat., again brought up the tale 
of suffering humanity in an accentuated de¬ 
gree'. The helping of aged gardeners, 
market gardeners, seedsmen, or their wives, 
who have fallen upon evil times, either 
through accident, ill-health, or other causes, 
is generally described as charity, but one of 
the speakers during the evening put it in 
milder form by calling it a duty. That 
would apply more particularly to those who 
during their heyday of health and pro¬ 
sperity contributed more or less to the funds 
of the institution. Even those who have sub¬ 
scribed the largest sum, however, rarely do 
more than cover one annual allowance 
granted) towards their relief should' they 
happen to be elected and. become chargeable 
to the institution. The alteration of the 
rule®, however, last year should act as ail in¬ 
centive to gardeners throughout the country 
to become subscribers to' the institution with¬ 
out delay. The advantage® it. gives them 
leave no room for doubt that subscriptions 
or donations are a safe investment, a kind of 
insurance, that it will ultimately come to 
their aid should they be unfortunate enough 
to require such aid'.. Far be it from, one’s 
desire or prophetic prognostication that any¬ 
one should of a necessity require such extra,- 
neious aid at any future time, but to no one' 
is it given to cast a horoscope, except upon 
the plainest and most substantial evidence. 
The recently amended rule to which we 
refer was that which was framed! to 1 entitle 
subscriber® to receive a. certain number of 
votes, when duly approved for election, in 
proportion to the number of years they may 
have subscribed. For every year that an 
eligible candidate may have contributed a 
guinea to the institution he or bis widow is 
now entitled to receive 100 vote®. Thus, a 
gardener who- subscribes a guinea is entitled 
to 100 votes, and at the same rate for a 
period of ten years he become® entitled to 
1,000 vote®, which cannot but be of material 
service to him on the day of an election. 
Provided he has subscribed two guineas a 
year for a period of ten years, 2,000 votes are 
placed to bis credit. The advantage of such 
a start, gives him a favourable position on 
the occasion of the first application for elec¬ 
tion to the benefit of the. institution, even 
should he have but few friends to advance his 
cause by additional votes; and surely there 
are few deserving gardeners but can get such 
extraneous aid should they happen to fall 
upon evil times. 
Of forty-six approved candidate® on this 
occasion thirty-one had been subscribers to 
the institution, and 1 in all oases this 'was their 
first application for aid. Ten of these have 
succeeded in being elected, and it can hardly 
be doubted that their success is largely due 
to their foresight in being subscribers during 
more prosperous periods of their lives. The 
husband of one had subscribed 61 guineas, 
thus securing 6,100 vote®, and an additional 
311 votes placed her at the top of -the poll. 
Another had contributed 26 guineas, and, 
with additional aid 1 , came in fourth on the list. 
A third had paid 25 guineas to the fund, and 
on the day of election was eighth on the list ; 
while the husband of a, fourth candidate had 
contributed 21 guineas, and with the aid of 
friends stood second on the list with 1,216 
votes. These figures speak for themselves. 
Even should the “ canny ” .and 1 the calculating 
consider 61 guineas a high price to' pay on 
the mere prospect, of requiring benevolence 
in practical shape, the results justify the 
provision; for .she has almost independently 
been placed at the head of the poll. No 
•doubt the provision her husband had made 
induced many voters to stay their band in 
her aid ; but, all the same, she has reason to 
be justly proud of her present position. 
Fifteen candidates were approved, al¬ 
though neither they nor their husbands bad 
contributed to the funds of the institution. 
Five of these, have finally been successful, but 
it ha.s cost- their friends .several years of vot¬ 
ing and endeavour to place them where they 
now are. Three of them had made the second 
application, one a fourth application, and 
another a seventh a.pplication. Seven lono- 
years of waiting must have been a severe 
