^  '.June  16,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
503 
GARDENERS’  ROYAL  BENEVOLENT 
INSTITUTION. 
The  fifty-ninth  anniversary  festival  dinner  of  this  well-known  charity 
took  place  at  the  Whitehall  Booms,  Hotel  Metropole,  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday,  June  8th.  In  every  other  respect  a  great  success,  it  was 
marred  by  one  disappointment — his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland,  who  had 
been  announced  to  take  the  chair,  being  kept  away  through  illness.  The 
genial  presence  and  typical  English  face  of  Sir  Oswald  Mosley,  Bart.,  of 
Rolleston  Hall,  Staffs.,  in  the  presidential  chair  went  far,  however,  to 
compensate  for  the  absence  of  his  Grace.  About  140  gentlemen  sat  dpwn 
to  dinner,  and  these  constituted  a  representative  body  of  all  persons 
interested  in  horticulture.  The  Very  Beverend  Beynolds  Hole,  Dean  of 
Bochester,  was  a  chief  and  central  figure,  whilst  other  well-known  faces 
were  those  of  Messrs.  N.  N.  Sherwood.  A.  W.  Sutton,  John  H.  Laing, 
iL  B.  May,  Geo.  Munro,  P.  Kay,  H.  J.  Veitch,  Jas.  H.  Veitch,  P.  Crowley, 
H.  Cutbush,  A.  F.  Barron,  W.  Goldring,  J.  Assbee,  Geo.  Dickson,  A.  W. 
Weeks,  T.  W.  Sanders,  Geo.  Wythes,  G.  Beynolds,  Jas.  Hudson,  J.  F. 
McLeod,  and  J.  Douglas. 
receive  at  such  times  from  clubs  and  other  benefit  societies.  He 
coupled  with  the  toast  the  name  of  Mr.  H.  J.  Veitch,  their  esteemed 
Treasurer. 
Mr.  H.  J.  Veitch  replied  at  some  length,  and  it  was  easy  to  see,  by 
the  vigour  and  earnestness  of  his  manner  as  he  was  pressing  the  claims  of 
the  Institution  upon  his  hearers,  that  his  whole  heart  was  in  the  matter. 
It  had  been  his  privilege,  he  said,  to  return  thanks  for  the  Society  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  on  each  occasion  he  had  been  able  to  report  con¬ 
tinued  progress.  In  this  instance  he  was  glad  to  be  able  to  do  the  same. 
They  had  now  more  pensioners  on  the  books  than  ever  before,  for  the 
number  last  January  was  168,  ninety-three  of  whom  were  men  and 
seventy-five  women.  Eleanor  Brown,  their  oldest  pensioner,  had  lately 
died,  and  he  cited  her  case  as  a  good  example  of  what  the  Institution  does 
for  its  subscribers.  Eleanor  Brown’s  husband  joined  in  1850,  subscribed 
a  guinea  a  year  for  sixteen  years,  and  was  put  upon  the  fund  in  1866. 
He  continued  to  draw  his  pension  until  his  death,  in  1 875,  daring  which 
time  he  had  received  a  sum  of  £144.  His  wife  was  elected  to  the  pension 
in  his  place,  and  had  received  £314,  thus  making  a  total  sum  of  £458 
which  this  worthy  couple  had  received.  They  had  a  greater  number  of 
Dinner  was  laid  for  seven  o’clock,  and  although  if  was  served  fairly 
punctually,  a  lengthy  toast  list  kept  things  lively  until  a  late  hour. 
“  The  loyal  toasts  of  “The  Queen,”  who  has  been  ratroness  of  the 
Society  since  1851  ;  “  The  Prince  of  Wales,”  who  is  its  esteemed  patron  ; 
“The  Princess  of  Wales,  and  the  rest  of  the  Boyal  Family,”  were 
proposed  by  the  Chairman,  and,  as  usual,  heartily  received. 
1  (fSir  Oswald  then  proceeded  with  the  toast  of  the  evening— “  Continued 
Success  to  the  Gardeners’  Boyal  Benevolent  Institution.”  First  of  all  he 
requested  the  Secretary  (Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram)  to  read  the  letter  sent  by  the 
Duke  of  Portland.  This,  besides  expressing  the  regret  his  Grace  felt  at 
being  unable  to  be  present,  spoke  of  a  willingness  to  take  the  chair  on 
some  future  occasion.  This,  Sir  Oswald  thought,  was  matter  for  con¬ 
gratulation,  seeing  that  one  of  the  finest  noblemen  in  the  country  was 
interested  in  the  Institution.  Speaking  for  himself,  he  said  that  in  his 
young  days  he  knew  very  little,  and  cared  less,  about  horticulture  ;  and, 
indeed,  the  first  introduction  he  had  to  the  art  was  to  what  he  then 
thought  a  very  nasty  tree,  the  “  Birch  but  as  he  had  grown  older  he 
had  grown  wiser.  He  had  tried  horses,  but  had  found  them  expensive, 
therefore  he  had  practically  given  them  up,  and  had  taken  to  gardening, 
thus  following  one  of  his  ancestors — his  grandfather — who  had  been  a 
great  gardener  and  a  great  botanist.  It  behoved  everyone,  he  said,  who 
had  the  interests  of  horticulture  at  heart  to  try  and  persuade  gardeners 
to  help  themselves.  To  this  end  employers  ought  to  pay  their  employes 
their  full  wage  during  sickness,  irrespective  of  any  sums  they  might 
applicants  for  the  pension  now  than  formerly,  lor  whereas  ten  years  ago 
there  were  twenty-seven,  this  year  fifty- four  applied  for  relief — just 
double. 
He  wished  that  more  gardeners  would  subscribe.  One  reason  for  their 
not  doing  so  was,  perhaps,  that  the  Institution  was  not  so  well  known  as 
it  ought  to  be,  but  he  thought  a  more  likely  reason  was  that  the  wages  of 
the  gardener  had  not  increased  in  proportion  to  the  rise  of  wage  given  in 
other  trades.  Mr.  Veitch  then  read  three  advertisements,  of  the  class  for 
the  cow,  pig,  and  poultry-minder  and  gardener  that  is  so  often  seen, 
the  wages  offered  being  15s.,  18s.,  and  218.  weekly  respectively  in  the 
three  advertisements,  or  lower  than  those  of  a  town  labourer.  He  did  not 
contend  that  these  were  the  average  situations  offered,  but  cited  them  to 
show  what  was  often  asked  for  at  an  impossible  wage. 
Speaking  of  the  Victorian  Era  Fund,  he  said  that  they  had  asked  for 
£5000,  and  had  obtained  £4000,  which  was  gratifying,  when  the  number 
of  appeals  to  charity  made  during  Jubilee  year  was  considered.  Of  the 
remaining  £1000,  necessary  to  complete  the  scheme,  £200  was  already 
promised,  Mr.  Veitch  then  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  benevolent 
instincts  of  his  hearers,  pointing  out  that  over  £3000  was  needed  annually 
to  discharge  the  liabilities  to  pensioners  already  on  the  books,  to  say 
nothing  of  working  expenses,  or  any  increase  in  the  number  of  pensions. 
He  commended,  both  to  his  audience  and  himself,  the  example  of  a  great 
gardener  (Mr.  J.  W.  Thomson),  who  at  his  death  left  legacies  to  the 
horticultural  charities. 
