March  24,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
265 
surely  been  time  enough  to  reform  since  then.  The  printing  and  medal 
accounts  were,  he  thought,  much  too  extravagant,  and  he  would  like  to 
see  tenders  invited  for  both  printing  and  the  making  and  engraving  of 
the  medals.  He  made  out  the  show  expenses  to  be  over  £102,  for  he 
included  the  £50  for  stamps,  telegrams,  iScc.  They  had  gone  to  the  world, 
as  if  they  had  been  a  flourishing  society,  which  events  had  proved  they 
were  not.  Speaking  of  the  Aquarium,  he  said  that  it  might  suit  some, 
but  by  no  m^ans  all,  whilst  he  strongly  deprecated  the  practice  of  selling 
the  best  parts  of  the  floor  space  to  sticks,  manures,  and  other  trade 
articles,  and  driving  the  grand  blooms  of  Chrysanthemums  into  dark 
corners  and  galleries.  With  regard  to  the  £18  odd  for  the  annual  dinner 
expenses,  he  was  sure  they  ought  to  invite  the  members  of  the  horti- 
cultnral  press,  but  they  did  not  want  anybody  else  there  just  for  the 
glorification  of  the  Aqrrarium. 
Mr.  Dean  thought  that  Mr.  iVIoorman's  assertion  that  the  £50  for 
stamps  and  telegrams  was  part  of  the  show  expenses  a  reckless  one.  The 
schedule  cost  l^d.  postage  per  copy,  and  2000  copies  were  sent  out.  The 
postage  of  medals,  per  registered  post,  was  a  heavy  item,  whilst  they  had 
to  pay  heavily  for  certificates  and  medals  sent  abroad  ;  none  of  the  latter 
would  go  under  Is.,  and  some  cost  as  much  as  Is.  6d.,  Is.  8d.,  and  Is.  lOd. 
Then  there  were  the  expenses  consequent  m  issuing  notices  and  passes, 
and  of  the  annual  outing.  All  cut  blooms  for  exhibition  were  acknow¬ 
ledged  on  receipt,  and  cards  for  naming  wfi’e  also  sent  if  desired.  All 
this  cost  money,  and  made  a  heavy  aggregate. 
Mr.  Cholmeley  asked  what  they  proposed  to  do  now  that  the  auditors 
had  refused  to  append  their  signature  to  the  financial  statement.  To  this 
the  Chairman  replied  that  that  was  for  the  meeting  to  decide. 
Mr.  Spicer  said  that  they  wanted  a  balance  sheet,  but  that  they  had 
only  got  a  financial  statement,  and  asked  if  the  one  they  were  now 
discussing  had  been  sent  out  with  the  Treasurer’s  sanction. 
Mr.  Starling  replied  that  it  had.  On  retiring  he  asked,  after  looking 
at  several  accounts,  if  that  was  all  the  Society  owed.  He  was  told  no  ! 
Up  to  that  time  he  did  not  know  of  Pollett’s  and  Restall’s  account. 
Mr.  Starling  again  asserted  that  last  year  their  ostensible  balance  of 
£10  10s.  Sd.  was  not  a  balance  at  all,  for  they  owed  other  monies.  They 
ought  to  have  a  balance  in  hand  of  at  least  £300  or  £400,  and  they  had 
nothing  but  a  paltry  £50.  Speaking  of  the  reason  why  the  reserve  fund 
had  been  reduced  by  £50,  he  said  that  the  bank  would  not  allow  them 
to  draw  less  than  £50  from  deposit.  This  had  accordingly  been  done. 
£14  15s.  4d.  had  gone  to  make  up  the  deficit,  and  the  remaining  £2  4s.  8d. 
had  been  transferred  to  the  current  account  of  the  reserve  fund. 
In  reply  to  a  qtrestion  by  Mr.  P.  Waterer,  as  to  whether  there  was 
any  cash  in  hand  wherewith  to  work,  Mr.  Dean  said  that  he  closed  his 
petty  cash  account  on  January  3lst.  Since  then  there  had  been  two 
annual  meetings,  at  a  cost  of  £1  13s.  6d.  each,  for  which  he  had  to  pay 
out  of  his  own  pocket.  He  had  received,  however,  on  behalf  of  the 
Society  £11  Is.  3d.  during  the  present  year. 
The  liabilities  which  were  added  to  the  revised  balance  sheet  came  in 
for  merciless  handling. 
Mr.  Willis  said  it  had  been  stated  that  the  auditors  knew  not  of 
these,  but  surely  they  must  have  found  out  about  them  if  they  had 
looked  at  the  bills  which  bore  receipts  for  money  paid  on  account. 
Mr.  Starling  corroborated  this  very  emphatically, 
Mr.  McKerchar  asked  the  Treasurer  why,  if  he  had  his  doubts  as 
to  the  accounts,  he  had  not  laid  his  doubts  before  the  auditors  or  the 
Committee.  If  the  Society  contracted  debts  in  1897  it  ought  to  pay  them 
off  in  that  year,  or  the  members  might  expect  to  hear  a  good  reason  why. 
Mr.  Tagg,  in  a  very  amusing  speech,  said  that  nobody  seemed  to 
attach  any  importance  to  the  financial  statement,  and  nobody  seemed  to 
own  it.  He  would  like  to  know  who  was  the  father  of  it,  and  what  it 
all  meant.  After  further  discussion,  in  which  Messrs.  G.  Gordon,  Mills, 
Rundle,  and  Bevan  took  part,  the  financial  statement  was  finally  carried. 
It  was  elected  that  the  report  should  be  dealt  with  separately.  A 
statement  of  estimated  receipts  and  expenditure  had  been  prepared  liy 
Mr.  Dean.  This  showed  that  taking  the  minimum  the  Society  might 
expect  an  income  of  £1066  11s.,  whilst  the  maximum  of  expenditure 
would  be  £1115  Is.  6d.,  or  a  balance  on  the  wrong  side  of  £48  10s.  6d. 
It  had  been  decided,  however,  to  still  further  reduce  the  expenses  to 
£1044  3s.,  thus  leaving  a  balance  on  the  right  side  of  £22  8s.  Under 
this  arrangement  it  is  proposed  not  to  hire  any  plants,  and  the  prize 
money  will  be  reduced.  After  an  animated  discussion,  in  which  Messrs. 
H.  Cannell,  sen.,  Tagg,  Weeks,  and  McKerchar  joined,  the  meeting 
signified  its  approval  of  these  estimates. 
Passing  to  the  consideration  of  the  report,  Mr.  Cholmeley  drew 
critical  attention  to  its  “high  falutin”  charrcter.  The  Society’s  resources 
might  be  as  great  as  ever,  but  that  it  was  financially  sound  was  largely  a 
matter  of  opinion.  Mr.  Wilkins  commented  upon  tbe  incongruity  of  the 
report  and  the  financial  statement.  Mr.  Ballantine,  on  the  other  hand, 
expressed  his  belief  that  the  Society’s  prestige  was  as  great  as  ever.  Mr. 
Moorman  differed,  and  held  up  Birmingham  and  Edinburgh  as  being 
far  ahead  of  them.  There  was,  he  said,  too  much  of  the  one  man  element 
in  the  management  of  their  Society.  The  only  alteration  made,  however, 
was  the  deleting  of  the  paragraph  relating  to  the  proposed  special  class 
for  twelve  vases  of  Chrysanthemums,  which  has  been  abandoned,  and  the 
belated  report  reached  the  harbour  of  safety  at  last,  after  a  stormy 
experience,  on  the  motion  of  the  Chairman,  seconded  by  Mr.  B.  Beckett. 
The  election  of  officers  followed.  The  nomination  of  Sir  Edwin 
Saunders  as  President,  made  by  Mr.  H.  Cannell,  sen.,  and  seconded  by 
Mr.  Langdon,  was  carried,  adopted  par  acclamation.  The  same  might  be 
said  for  the  vote  of  thanks  to  Sir  Edwin,  moved  by  Mr.  Ballantine  and 
seconded  by  Mr.  Langdon. 
IMr.  Moorman  proposed,  and  Mr.  Kundlo  seconded,  that  a  paid 
Secretly  having  no  vote  should  be  appointed,  and  the  meeting  agreed  to 
this  with  but  little  demur. 
There  were  two  nominations  for  the  General  Secretaryship- viz.,  Mr. 
R.  Dean,  proposed  by  Mr.  Cannell,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Simpson  and 
Mr.  G.  W.  Cummins,  proposed  by  Mr.  iloorman,  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
Mold.  The  result  was  decided  by  ballot,  and  after  the  nominations  for 
Committeemen  had  been  received,  these,  together  with  the  two  candidates 
for  the  post  of  Treasurer — viz.,  Messrs.  Ballantine  and  G.  Gordon,  were 
all  submitted  to  the  test. 
The  result  was  that  Mr.  Ballantine  was  chosen  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  E. 
Dean  General  Secretary  by  63  votes  to  43.  Mr.  Cummins  had  not  can¬ 
vassed  for  support,  but  it  was  known  to  some  members  that  if  a  vacancy 
occurred  he  was  prepared  to  fill  it  if  desired.  The  following  gentlemen 
were  elected  to  serve  on  the  Committee  Messrs.  T.  Bevan,  G.  I.angdon, 
A.  Taylor,  W.  Howe,  W.  Wells,  J.  P.  Kendall,  E.  Gilks,  T.  L.  Turk, 
.1.  T.  Simpson,  R.  Eife,  W.  Higgs,  A.  Outram,  and  W.  Daniels. 
Mr.  T.  W.  Sanders  was  chosen  as  Chairman,  and  Mr.  P.  Waterer  as 
Vice-Chairman  for  another  season. 
Mr.  D.  B.  Crane  s  proposal  that  Mr.  C.  Harman  Payne  be  asked  to 
continue  the  office  of  Eoreign  Corresponding  Secretary  met  with  unanimous 
approval. 
Mr.  R.  Dean  read  a  communication  from  the  Executive  Committee 
which  urged  that  Mr.  J.  R.  Starling  should  (1)  be  elected  an  honorary 
Fellow  of  the  Society  ;  (2)  be  presented  with  a  letter  of  thanks,  signed  by 
the  President  ;  and  (3)  with  a  small  gold  medal,  with  the  length  of  his 
service  in  the  Society  engraved  thereon.  Mr.  B.  Beckett  moved,  and  Mr. 
Ballantine  seconded,  that  this  recommendation  should  be  carried  into 
effect,  Mr,  Ballantine  remarking  that  the  letter  ought  to  be  engrossed  on 
vellum.  The  meeting  gave  a  very  hearty  assent  to  the  proposal. 
Mr,  Cholmeley  and  Mr.  Stubbs  were  appointed  auditors. 
The  new  rules  which  had  been  drawn  up  were  then  submitted  for  the 
approval  of  the  members,  and  after  several  alterations,  including  the 
removal  of  the  Secretary’s  name  from  the  managing  body,  and  as 
superintendent  of  exhibitions,  were  adopted. 
Mr.  Moorman  proposed  that  “A  sub-committee  of  five  members 
(exclusive  of  ex-officio  members)  be  appointed  to  inquire  :  (a)  What  places 
can  be  obtained  for  holding  future  exhibitions,  either  by  a  subsidy  as  now, 
or  in  reliance  on.  the  Society's  own  resources  ;  (b)  To  closely  examine 
the  whole  question  of  minor  shows  with  the  object  of  estimating  their 
advantages  and  otherwise  to  the  Society  ;  (c)  To  fully  consider 
the  question  of  selling  the  .  floor  space,  to  report  the  result  of  their 
investigations  to  the  General  Committee,  who  are  now  requested  to 
formulate  such  recommendations  to  a  general  meeting  of  members  to  be 
held  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  the  November  show,  and  that  no 
further  fixtures  be  made  before  that  date.” 
No  objection  was  raised  to  this  proposal.  On  the  motion  of  Mr. 
C.  H.  Payne,  seconded  by  Mr.  D.  B.  Crane,  Mr.  J.  R.  Starling  and 
Monsieur  E.  Calvat  were  elected  honorary  Fellows  of  the  Society, 
A  vote  of  thanks  tc  the  Chairman  brought  the  proceedings  to  a 
close  as  the  hands  of  the  clock  were  fast  verging  towards  the  witching 
midnight  hour.  The  meeting  lasted  nearly  five  hours. 
IIlGHGATE  AND  DiSTEICT  ChEYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY, 
A  COMMITTEE  meeting  was  held  on  Thursday  evening  last,  when  the 
dates  of  the  Floral  Committee  meetings  for  this  year  was  settled— viz., 
October  31st,  November  8th  and  14th,  The  Floral  Committee  was  then 
elected— viz.,  Messrs.  T.  Bevan,  J.  Brooks,  J.  Brooks,  jun.,  F.  Burt, 
Mathews,  and  Turk,  with  the  President,  the  Treasurer  (Mr.  J.  McKerchar), 
and  the  Secretary  (Mr.  W.  E.  Boyce),  as  ex-officio  members. 
Batley  Cheysanthemdm  and  Paxton  Society. 
On  Tuesday,  the  1 5th  inst.,  the  annual  dinner  of  tbe  above  Society 
was  held.  It  was  presided  over  by  G.  Hollis,  Esq.,  who  was  supported  by 
Mr.  J.  Farrar,  a  former  President  of  the  Society,  J.  Bentley,  Esq.,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Morley  Paxton  Society,  Mr.  W.  Boston,  Mr.  Western,  Mr. 
Thos.  Garnett,  Wakefield,  and  upwards  of  fifty  members  of  the  Society. 
Delegates  were  also  present  from  the  Bradford,  Bristol,  Morley,  and 
Wakefield  Paxton  Societies. 
The  President,  in  responding  to  the  toast  of  “  The  Batley  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  and  Paxton  Society,”  proposed  by  the  President  of  the  Morley 
Society,  said  that,  owing  to  another  important  meeting,  many  influential 
and  warm  supporters  of  the  Society  were  unavoidably  absent.  He  was 
glad,  however,  to  see  present  almost  every  member  of  the  Committee,  to 
whom  the  public  of  Batley  and  district  were  more  indebted  than  they 
probably  knew  for  the  grand  Chrysanthemum  show  which  had  been  held 
in  the  large  Drill  Hall  every  November  for  so  many  years.  Of  course 
he  knew  and  took  into  account  the  subscription  list,  which  enabled  them 
to  offer  so  many  liberal  prizes  in  addition  to  the  seven  valuable  challenge 
cups,  which  had  done  so  much  in  stimulating  the  local  growers  to  a  high 
degree  of  excellence  in  their  exhibits.  In  addition  to  that,  their  25-guinea 
challenge  cup,  open  to  all  England,  had  brought  to  Batley  exhibitors  of 
the  first  rank  from  far  and  near,  thus  lifting  their  show  to  a  very  high 
level.  Owing  to  bad  weather  on  the  show  day  their  balance  had 
fallen  a  few  pounds  on  the  wrong  side,  but  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  in  subscribing  the  money  out  of  their  own  pockets — working  men 
as  most  of  them  were — had  put  matters  right.  They  had  no  reasons  for 
despondency,  and  he  had  confidence  in  a  bright  future  for  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  show,  and  in  other  work  in  which  they  were  engaged. 
The  other  toasts  on  the  list  brought  out  some  capital  speeches  of  a 
business-like  and  encouraging  character,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the 
evening  was  greatly  enhanced  by  a  musical  programme  of  patriotic  and 
humorous  songs. — T.  G.  W. 
