January  23,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
81 
10  guineas  or  so  a  year  for  fifteen  years,  and  some  have  drawn  for  this 
original  outlay  £300  or  £400,  or  even  £500,  out  of  the  funds  of  the 
Institution. 
Mr.  Yeiteh  went  on  to  say  that  it  had  been  remarked  that  the 
Institution  was  confined  too  much  to  London.  This  was  only  true  so 
far  as  London  was  a  centre  of  gravity,  and  most  of  those  who  in  London 
were  receiving  its  benefits  had  come  here  from  the  provinces,  and  were 
for  the  most  part  country  members.  If  this  thought,  however,  prevailed 
it  might  be  done  away  with,  as  the  present  Committee  dealt  with  the 
Institution  in  a  very  broad  way,  the  fact  of  the  proposal  to  elect  twelve 
members  who  shall  reside  fifty  miles  away  from  London  proves  this.  One 
of  his  duties  he  said  on  that  occasion  was  to  impress  upon  them 
how  broad  the  Society  was,  as  within  the  last  few  years  they  had 
started  auxiliaries  in  Birmingham,  Wolverhampton,  Bristol,  Bath  and 
Worcester,  a  system  which  he  thought  would  be  of  great  assistance  to  the 
Society.  It  was  always  his  privilege'on  the  authority  of  the  Gardeners’ 
Society  at  Exeter  to  invite  Mr.  H,  J.  Yeiteh,  Mr.  Ingram,  and  others, 
who  cared  to  come  to  that  town  on  March  4th,  to  consider  the  idea  of 
starting  an  auxiliary  there.  With  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  Society  they 
had  £28,000  invested,  which  brought  in  an  income  of  £800  per  annum, 
this  being  the  sum  upon  which  they  were  dependent  for  the  provision  of 
pensions.  This  was  a  record  year,  as  the  subscriptions  and  donations 
had  never  been  greater,  and  the  Treasurer  and  Committee  had  decided  to 
invest  sums  of  £10  of  life  members,  in  this  way  £409  had  been  invested. 
They  had  also  invested  £535  from  the  deposit  account,  and  £257  to  the 
memorial  fund  of  the  late  Mr.  Wm.  Thomson,  and  they  could  not 
possibly  have  a  more  lasting  memorial  to  a  honoured  member  of  the 
fraternity  than  such  a  one  in  a  strictly  Gardeners’  Society. 
He  would  like  to  see  more  young  garderers  subscribe,  and  in  order  to 
attract  them  he  suggested  that  they  might  make  arrangements  with 
one  of  the  great  insurance  companies  to  insure  the  members  for  a  small 
sum  each.  Another  point  worth  considering  was  whether  it  was  not 
possible  to  amalgamate  the  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Society  and 
the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund.  He  knew  by  this  suggestion  he 
would  bring  on  his  head  the  fury  of  the  promoters  of  the  latter  worthy 
Society,  but  he  thought  the  amalgamation  would  result  in  the  formation 
of  one  grand  institution.  He  also  thought  they  might  introduce  a 
system  of  benefit  in  case  of  sickness,  as  many  more  young  men  would  be 
induced  to  subscribe  if  they  knew  that  by  doing  so  they  could  look  for 
some  support  in  case  of  illness.  He  would,  however,  detain  them  no 
longer  and  bring  his  remarks  to  a  conclusion  by  asking  them  to  drink 
to  the  prosperity  to  the  Society,  coupling  with  the  toast  the  name  of 
their  Treasurer  Mr.  Harry  J.  Veitch. 
Amidst  great  applause  Mr.  H.  J.  Veitch  rose  to  reply,  and  in  course  of 
his  remarks  said  he  was  glad  to  say  the  Society  is  stronger  now  than  ever 
it  was  before.  It  was,  however,  absolutely  necessary  that  they  should  have 
a  reserve  fund  ;  therefore  he  hoped  they  would  all  help  to  support  them. 
With  regard  to  the  suggestion  offered  by  the  Chairman,  the  Committee 
was  always  open  to  receive  such,  but  they  must  bear  in  mind  that  this  is 
purely  a  benevolent  Institution,  and  should  not  on  any  account  be  turned 
into  a  benefit  society.  He  was  glad  the  members  had  agreed  to  the 
proposition  offered  by  the  Committee  to  include  twelve  country  members 
in  its  number.  He  was  also  pleased  to  say  that  they  had  no  liabilities, 
and  he  should  like  to  impress  on  those  present  the  regrettable  fact  that 
830  votes  had  been  lost  by  the  papers  either  not  being  correctly  filled  up 
or  not  signed.  With  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  Institution,  he  could 
assure  them  that  every  care  is  taken  to  see  that  the  money  is  properly 
invested  and  spent.  He  concluded  by  thanking  those  present  for  coupling 
his  name  with  the  toast,  and  he  hoped  that  next  year  would  prove  to  be 
an  even  more  successful  one  than  the  past. 
Mr.  R.  Piper  proposed  the  health  of  the  Committee  and  honorary 
officers,  coupling  these  with  the  names  of  Mr.  J.  Webber,  Mr.O.  Thomas, 
and  Mr.  Peacock,  the  honorary  solicitor,  to  which  each  of  the  gentlemen 
named  replied. 
Mr.  Arnold  Moss  gave  the  toast  of  “  Country  Friends,”  and  amongst 
them  those  who  superintended  the  provincial  branches.  The  idea  of 
starting  auxiliaries  was  a  splendid  one,  which  he  felt  sure  would  be 
carried  out  to  the  benefit  of  the  Society.  He  would  couple  with  the 
toast  the  names  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Vallance  of  the  Bristol  and  Bath  branch,  and 
Mr,  J.  White  of  the  Worcester  branch.  Both  gentlemen  briefly  and 
suitably  replied,  Mr.  Vallance  stating  that  perhaps  other  auxiliaries  might 
prove  more  powerful  than  that  of  Bristol  and  Bath,  but  they  claimed 
the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  start  an  auxiliary,  an  honour  of  which 
they  were  proud,  and  which  would  always  remain.  The  health  of  the 
Chairman  was  proposed  by  Mr.  N.  Sherwood,  and  the  former,  when 
replying,  claimed  the  privilege  of  proposing  the  health  of  Mr.  G.  J. 
Ingram,  the  Secretary,  and  thanking  him  for  his  unrelaxing  efforts  on 
behalf  of  the  Society.  Mr.  Ingram  suitably  replied,  and  a  most  pleasant 
evening,  to  which  music,  instrumental  and  vocal,  added  an  important 
item,  was  brought  to  a  close. 
TINNEA  iETHIOPICA. 
With  this  note  I  am  sending  you  a  flowering  spray  of  a  most 
beautiful  stove  plant,  and  one  moreover  that  appears  to  be  exceedingly 
scarce.  As  a  rule  Tinnea  rethiopica  (fig.  13)  commences  to  flower  early 
in  the  year,  and  by  the  beginning  of  February  the  plants  are  at  their 
best.  This  year,  however,  my  plants  are  flowering  much  earlier  than 
usual,  which,  in  my  opinion,  enhances  their  value  considerably. 
Not  only  is  the  plant  elegant  in  habit,  and  the  flowers  richly  and 
distinctly  coloured,  but  they  also  possess  a  delicious  fragrance  very 
strongly  suggestive  of  Violets,  so  that  a  few  specimens  in  bloom  will 
agreeably  perfume  a  moderately  large  house.  When,  in  addition  to 
these  qualities,  the  season  of  its  flowering  is  considered,  further  recom¬ 
mendation  is  needless.  The  corolla  is  two-lipped,  the  lower  lip  being 
of  a  fine  maroon  colour,  and  the  upper  one  more  of  a  rich  crimson 
hue.  The  calyx  is  large,  slightly  inflated,  aDd  pale  green.  The 
flowers  are  freely  produced  in  axillary  clusters  at  the  upper  portion 
of  the  shoots. 
The  culture  of  the  plant  is  easy.  A  stove  temperature  is  required, 
and  this  may  debar  many  amateurs  from  growing  it.  A  light,  rich 
compost  of  loam,  leaf  soil  and  sand,  suits  the  plant  well  ;  and  the  pots 
should  be  carefully  drained.  Cuttings  of  the  young  shoots  root 
readily  under  a  bell-glass  in  a  little  bottom  heat. — R.  P. 
GARDENERS’  FRIENDS. 
I  HAVE  noticed  with  much  pleasure  the  regular  mention  in  the 
Journal  of  those  two  useful  helps  to  gardeners — viz.,  the  Gardeners’ 
Royal  Benevolent  Institution  and  the  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund.  With 
this  view  I  am  prompted  to  hope  you  may  allow  me  to  make  a  suggestion 
anent  the  matter  in  your  columns. 
My  appeal  is  to  the  wives,  daughters  or  sisters,  as  the  case  may  be,  of 
all  horticulturists  whose  male  relatives  are  not  already  subscribers  to  the 
funds  in  question.  Most  of  us  know  that  a  portion  at  least  of  our 
female  friends  do  take  some  interest  in  the  gardening  press  ;  “  Missus’s” 
pithy  notes  in  your  columns  to  wit.  We  also  know  that  these  said 
persons  share  the  ups  and  downs  of  life  with  us,  and  often  have  the 
difficult  duty  of  expending  our  wages  and  salaries  to  the  best  advantage 
What  I  would  suggest  is  that  we  should  enlist  their  help  and  sympathy 
in  seeing  that  a  prominent  place  is  given  in  every  gardener’s  dwelling 
in  the  three  kingdoms  to  a  gardener’s  charity  box.  They  should  also 
use  their  well-known  influence  in  seeing  some  small  sum  of  money  put 
into  the  box  weekly,  or  at  some  regular  period.  The  contents  might 
occasionally  be  added  to  by  placing  it  before  visitors  to  the  gardens, 
or  anyone  who  is  indebted  to  their  male  relatives  for  advice  or  help 
during  the  year.  It  should  be  opened  annually  at  the  close  of  the 
year.  Very  frequently  whatever  is  needed  could  then  be  made  up  with¬ 
out  much  difficulty.  As  is  well  known,  a  guinea  a  year  to  the  Gardeners’ 
Benevolent  Institution  and  5s.  to  the  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund  is  much 
more  than  can  well  be  spared  all  at  once  from  many  gardener  s  incomes. 
