548 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 2, 1904. 
Rothschild, Dorothy Kelway, Edward VII., etc. (Silver Bank- 
sian Medal.) 
Messrs William Cutbush and Son, Highgate, had a group of 
the new Verbena Princess of Wales, with handsome violet 
flowers. They had a larger gx'oup of Carnations, Liliums, 
and herbaceous plants on the floor. Grand Malmaisons were 
Maggie Hodgson, Nautilus, Duchess of Westminster, The 
Churchwarden, etc. Delphiniums, Campanulas, Eremurus 
robustus, Water Lilies, and Liliums in great variety were 
features of the hardy plants. (Silver Gilt Banksian Medal.) 
Mr. L. R. Russell, Richmond Nurseries, Richmond, Surrey, 
had a very fine exhibit of Crotons, Caladiums, Dracaena san- 
deriana, Alocasias, Ficus elastica, Axalia Veitchi gracillima, 
Maranta kerchoveana, and other fine foliage plants. (Silver 
Flora Medal.) 
The Guildford Hardy Plant Nursery exhibited a small group 
of Rose Zephirin Drouot, a remarkably sweet-scented Rose. 
Messrs. Barr and Sons, King Street, Covent Garden, set up 
a grand bank of hardy herbaceous plants, including Del¬ 
phiniums, Paeonies, English Irises, Ixlas, Butterfly Calochorti, 
Heuchera sanguinea splendens, Eryngium Olivierianum 
superbum, etc. (Silver Banksian Medal.) 
Messrs. Dobbie and Co., Rothesay, exhibited a large collection 
of fancy Pansies, Violas, and Cactus Dahlias. Of the latter tine 
varieties were Miss Winchester, Mrs. Mawley, Albion, Ida, 
Lucifer, Ajax, etc. (Silver Flora Medal.) 
Mr. Amos Perry, Hardy Plant Farm, Winchmore Hill, staged 
a grand collection of hardy herbaceous plants, including fine 
bunches of Hesperis matronalis alba plena, Lilium Hansoni, L. 
monadelphum szovitzianum, Spiraea Aruncus, Heuchera san¬ 
guinea, Water Lilies, etc. (Silver Flora Medal.) 
Messrs. J. Cheal and Sons, Crawley, Sussex, had a collection 
of hardy trees and shrubs, including Deutzias, Robinias, Elms, 
Escallonias, Weigelas, Spiraeas, Sambucus, Purple-leaved 
Peach, etc. They also had some Lilies. 
Frank Lloyd, Esq. (gardener, Mr. M. E. Mill), Coombe House, 
Croydon, had a fine group of a tuberous Begonia in many hybrid 
varieties, with drooping flowers, single and double, and suitable 
for basket work. 
Petit and Vegetaele Committee. 
Lord Llangattock (gardener, Mr. T. Coomber), The Hendre, 
Monmouth, had a splendid exhibit of Strawberries and 14 Pine¬ 
apples. Tire latter were of the variety Ripley Queen, and would 
weigh from 4 lb. to 6 lb. each. The Strawberries were The 
Laxton, Leader, and Royal Sovereign. 
Messrs. Laxton Brothers, Bedford, had a fine exhibit of Straw¬ 
berries, including the new one named Laxton’s Reward, a large 
and handsome-looking fruit. 
The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
The sixty-fifth anniversary festival dinner of the above insti¬ 
tution took place at the Hotel Metropole on Tuesday last, under 
the presidency of Hairy J. Veitch, Esq., F.L.S. In more than 
one respect the aniversary was a record in its annals, there 
beincr over two hundred present. Supporting the chair were J. 
Colman, Esq., J. Gurney Fowler, Esq., and Arthur W. Sutton, 
Esq. V.M.H. Amongst those present we also noted Messrs. 
Tames H Veitch, Edward Sherwood, L. G. Sutton, George A. 
Dickson, P. C. M. Veitch, W. Y. Baker, D.W. Thomson, N. F. 
Barnes, II. B. May, James W alker, J. W. Barker, P. R. Lari, 
W H Barr W Iceton, Arnold Moss, George Munro, Peter 
Kay, W. A.'Nutting. J. H. Weeks, S. Mortimer, Corry, and 
many others of the fraternity. rr . „ u T , 
After the dinner the Chairman proposed The King, Ills 
Queen ” “The Prince and Princess of Wales and other Members 
of the Royal Family,” in due course, all of which were heartily 
received He afterwards rose to propose “ Continued Prosperity 
to the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. He said that 
a festival like this was an important occasion for such an in¬ 
stitution. When we look back, we are sorry we have not done 
more for our fellow men. He looked upon all as consenting one 
laroe family. He felt sure that everyone present hoped that the 
association would continue to prosper. A programme dealing 
with the history of the institution was distributed during the 
evening, and he hoped everyone would take it home and carefully 
When the institution was founded in 1839, a special set of 
rules was made to serve for its guidance, and these are still m 
use with slight alterations to meet the exigencies of the times 
At present there were 207 pensioners on the list, whom they had 
to support. The first president of the institution was the first 
Duke of Cambridge, and several important men had followed in 
his footsteps. If such an institution was necessary in 1839, it 
was still more necessary now. The institution is decidedly a 
national one for the benefit of aged and disabled gardeners, 
in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and is purely a benevolent 
institution. They never looked into the religion of applicants 
for assistance, their needs being solely the recommendation in 
this case. They maintained no expensive building beyond the 
necessary office, all the rest of the subscriptions and donations 
being spent on the gardeners. 
Of the above number 86 were widows of gardeners. Five of 
the pensioners were totally blind, so that there could be no 
manner of doubt about the necessity for helping them. Two of 
them were over ninety years of age; forty-six were between the 
ages of eighty and ninety, and one hundred and eleven between 
seventy and eighty. The institution required £3,796 every year 
to keep these pensioners. About £830 was derived from invest¬ 
ments. The subscriptions amounted to something between 
£1,500 and £1,600, so that their income was altogether about 
£2,300. They had morally pledged themselves to keep these 
two hundred and seven pensioners in comfort. He hoped they 
would never be without a reserve. One of the present pen¬ 
sioners was put on the list in 1862.. In his younger days he had 
been a subscriber of a guinea annually for eighteen years. His 
widow is still living and had drawn from the funds £332. The 
two have, up to this time, been paid £668. 
At this point he read some letters of thanks from the pen¬ 
sioners, showing positively how grateful they were for being 
supported in their day of misfortune. At the last election some¬ 
thing like thirty-nine candidates were unsuccessful. The pen¬ 
sioners were paid out of the general fund, but two othei funds 
had more recently been founded for the benefit of unsuccessful 
candidates at the election. These funds were the Victorian Era 
Fund and the Samaritan Fund respectively. In e^cli case the 
principal invested could not be drawn upon, but the unsuccessful 
candidates were granted sums arising from the interest. 
Subscribers who had paid into the institution for the gieatest 
number of years were now put at the top of the poll pre\ ious to 
the election by the granting of votes in proportion to the amount 
they bad subscribed. This, he considered, should encouiage 
gardeners to subscribe while young. At this point he mentioned 
their indebtedness to the auxiliary branches, such as Bath and 
Bristol, Worcester, Liverpool, Reading, and Exeter. They had 
subscribers abroad in Australia, New Zealand, and even m 
America. He referred also with pride to the munificence of his 
o-ood friend N. N. Sherwood, Esq., towards the institution, and 
he understood that he had given £500 also to the Royal Gar¬ 
deners’ Orphan Fund. He hoped there would be half a dozen 
people to follow the example of Mr. Sherwood. He would con¬ 
clude his speech by quoting from the Book of Books, “ Blessed 
is the man who considers the poor,” and “ Love thy neighbour 
as thyself.” In wishing success to the institution and long- 
continued prosperity, he coupled the toast with the name of 
George A. Dickson, Esq., V.M.H. 
“ Horticulture in all its Branches ” was proposed by Jeremiah 
Colman, Esq., D.L., J.P., who made some genial and pertinent 
remarks concerning horticulture. -I. Gurney Fowler, Esq. 
(teasurer of the R.H.S.) replied for horticulture, and spoke in 
a humorous vein, placing himself in lieu of horticulture. He 
considered this would be a poor life if it were not for the 
blessings of horticulture, as it would be without fruits, 'egi 
tables, "flowers, trees, etc., which conferred such blessings on 
mankind. He hoped the servants of horticulture, meaning 
hardeners, would not be overlooked in their day of need. 
° Arthur W. Sutton, Esq., J.P., V.M.H., next proposed “ Our 
Chairman,” which he did in very genial and highly compli¬ 
mentary terms. He recounted the fact that Wednesday would 
be the chairman’s birthday, and gave a brief 'account of his 
career at school, both in this country and Germany. The result 
of that education was that the chairman had easily taken the 
foremost place in horticulture, and was one of the great friends 
of gardeners. He took part in the International Exhibitions of 
1866 and since. He had taken a very active part in the R.H.S. 
since the time it was at South Kensington. The new hall was 
to be opened on July 22nd by His Majesty the King. The 
chairman also joined the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institu¬ 
tion in 1868, aiid we all know what he has done for it since. He 
became treasurer in 1886 and chairman in 1894, being still m 
office. - j t 
At this point the secretary, Mr. George J. Ingram, read ou 
the subscription list. The chairman had given lOOgs., Mr Sher¬ 
wood £500, Messrs Sutton and Sons 100gs., J. Gurney Fow er 
5CGs., D. W. Thomson £16 14s. 6d. Handsome sums had a so 
been given by Messrs. Hugh Low and Co., Leopold de Rothschild. 
