616 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
July 30, 1904. 
day’s ride now be taken where the landscape is not beautified 
by some of the introductions of the Itoyal Horticultural 
Society.” 
Added to this, professional gardeners have been greatly 
assisted and encouraged by thei help and support of our society 
in the elaborate and valuable work of hybridisation and selec¬ 
tion by which new and improved varieties of plants, fruits and 
Vegetables have been raised in vast numbers. 
The fortnightly shows of the society have achieved a wide- 
spread celebrity.' At them all the more interesting new plants 
as well as the more important results of skilled horticultural 
effort, are first seen and first submitted to. the judgment of the 
most competent experts of the kingdom. 
The adherence of the society to the work of promoting hor¬ 
ticulture in) all its branches can hardly fad to secure the 
approbation of the garden-loving race over whom your Majesty 
reigns. This is shown by the rapid increase m the number of 
its°fellowS', which has risen from about 1,300 in 1887 to 
8 150 now. Every day witnesses advances in many direction®, 
but. no art or science has progressed mere rapidly during tie 
la,gb fifty years, than that of horticulture. The demand for 
flower's and fruits has grown to such an extent that it. hat 
developed a great and valuable industry, and the. countenance 
which your Majesties have graciously extended to our society 
h as largely assisted in. creating, guiding and helping this 
valuable national asset. _ 
We take this opportunity of expressing our enduring obliga¬ 
tions to your Majesties, for the many and gracious visits you 
have in years past, paid to our society’s, show®, visits which 
have done: much to encourage us. ini our efforts to foster and 
maintain in the. highest efficiency the science and art. ot hor¬ 
ticulture. And in thanking your Majesties for your presence 
here to-day, and for the warm interest you have ever shown, 
in the society, we desire to assure you that the valuable ie p 
the illustrious; Prince Consort, gave, the society m days of serious 
difficulty-—now some forty-five years ago—has never been iou- 
^" 0I After the reading of the address by Sir Trevor' Lawrence, 
Bart the report of the Building Appeal Committee was taken 
as read by J. Gurney Fowler, Esq., after which the report was 
presented to the King by Baron Sir Henry Schroder, Bart. 
His Majesty the King then, brimful of good humour and in¬ 
terest in the function, and beaming with good pleasure on 
everybody, replied to the address as follows: 
“ in the name of the Queieu and myself, I thank you for your 
loyal and beautiful address. I am very glad that you, have, at 
1 earth obtained a suitable ball for your beautiful and interest¬ 
ing shows, and adequate accommodation for your library an 
for the performance of the official work of the society, and it 
is, with great pleasure that the Queen and I are here to-day to 
declare, this new building to be open. 
“ We, are pleased also to be able to congratulate the, society 
on having acquired the garden to which you allude, and toi 
which you are indebted to the kindness of Sir Thomas Hanbury. 
“ The love of horticulture, has increased immensely in this 
country within, the last century, owing m part no doubt, o 
the o’reat-ly extended facilities enjoyed by our people for visit, 
ino- rural placesand no science, deserves more encouragement 
than that which tends to promote a, study of the art of garden¬ 
ing, and to, stimulate a taste so wholesome and elevating a,s 
a love of trees and of flowers. __ 
“ Our visits to your exhibitions have always, given us, great 
satisfaction and I remember and am touched by your allusion 
,o the interest which my dear father took in your society 
<• The Queen and. myself wish that every success may attend 
the opening of this new hall and its adjoining premise®, and 
trust that the centenary which we are celebrating to-day may 
to be the, oeoaehm of m <*««*» <* VW* to tha 
Royal Horticultural Society.’ . . 
Several congratJltoiy addresses from different, societies 
were mesenLd to, the, R.H.S. The first of these was from 
the National Rose Society, and the address was W^ented to 
the Kino- by Edward Mawley, Esq., the, secretary of that body 
A similar address from the, Royal Agricultural and Botanical 
Society of Ghent was presented to the King by Dr. Masters. 
A similar one from the Horticultural Society of Prussia was 
alsoi presented to, His Majesty by Dr. Masters. The King 
then concluded by saying: “I declare tliis magnificent ball 
now open,.” The Queen was then presented with a splendid 
bouquet of Orchids by Lady Lawrence, these consisting of 
Cattleya, gaskelliania and Odontoglossum erispum, otherwise 
known, as 0. Alexandrae, which was veiy appropriate. Miss 
Lawrence then presented a bouquet of Malmaison Carnations 
Princess of Wales, to, Princess Victoria. In the meantime, 
Mr. Edwin Stubbs, the architect of the building, presented 
the plans to His Majesty and explained them, His Majesty 
expressing his opinion that everything had been earned out 
very satisfactorily. 
The society has now been established for exactly 100 years, 
and we may be justified ini reviewing some of the aspects under 
which the society has laboured during that long period of 
time. There, can, be no, doubt that the society has been a 
power in assisting British horticulture and gardens to take the 
foremost position iir gardening in the world. Its work has 
been such as to make, gardening popular and something more 
than a mere pastime. Moreover, it lias encouraged not merely 
ornamental gardening, but, the cultivation of fruit and 
vegetables, which in most establishments are looked upon as 
the mainstay of the garden 1 , making of it a necessity rather 
than a luxury of private establishments. 
During the past century the society has had many vicissi¬ 
tudes of fortune, and has had several homes,, and at least 
three gardens before the present, one has been gifted to them. 
Some of the, early gardens it had! to give up on account of 
reduced circumstances,, and the; great expanse of London made 
it imperative that the society, sooner or later, and rather 
sooner than otherwise, would have to find a, new abode in 
order to, grow plant® successfully, but more particularly to 
place them under fair conditions when plants from various 
parts of the country are under trial. The did gardens at 
Chiswick during,the past two, decades have become completely 
surrounded by dwelling-houses, so that practically free access 
of air, so necessary for the perfect, development of fruits. 
flowers and vegetables, was excluded. 
During the whole* period of its existence the societv has 
been entirely dependent, upon, its own resources, and that to 
some extent, may have hindered its development, particularly 
in the case of scientific gardening and anything Which would 
require expensive apparatus to thoroughly carry out. Nevei- 
theless, there is something to, be said for an independent, 
existence and the exertion necessary to, carry on its own 
legitimate work. As the various ups, and downs of the society 
have previously been chronicled in, The Gardening World, we 
need not, again revert to, the subject! while it is still fresh in 
the minds of our readers. We desire'rather to take note of 
the present status of the society and its growth durinsrtie 
period that has elapsed since it left South Kensington, in 18c i. 
The, low water in, which the society had fallen during that 
period is still fresh in our memory, for we can well remember 
the bare stages and the abundance of room in. the absence ot 
visitors in. the large conservatory at Kensington. When ve 
have work to cany out, we almost regret that, space, should 
have become crowded since th'aifc period, but iff we bad not nni, 
to record but empty benches,, such a state of things would be 
largely discounted compared with the present, prosperity ot 
the society. . . 
When the society left South Kensington its, annual ex¬ 
penditure was, £3,577, while the income only amounted to 
£2,894. It, will thus, he seen that the society could not we 
carry on business successfully for any lengthened period under 
those condition®. During the first year of their temporary 
home at Buckingham Gate, Westminister, the, expMiditiire was 
reduced by £165, but the income increased by *723. Uun i 
the following year there a material increase in w - 
nenditure, while the 1 income, was reduced to, a, certain ex en , 
but, still materially reduced. In 1890 the exoeeditore ^ 
reduced by £94. but the income rose to £4,10-, being _ 
increase of £582. During the whole of the sixteen yea - 
sojourn at the Drill Hall, Westminster, the, income has gracm- 
