October  28,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
415 
than  the  fertility  of  the  brains  of  others,  and  I  think  I  may  truly  say  that 
it  was  due  to  an  inspiration  of  the  Secretary  that  we  took  into  consider¬ 
ation  the  proposal  of  establishing  a  Victoria  Medal  of  Horticulture. 
Well,  when  that,  and  kindred  pro  jects  were  looked  at  all  round,  it  became 
perfectly  clear  that  our  Secretary’s  suggestion  was  by  far  the  best  that 
came  before  us,  and  I  was  instructed  to  ask  her  Majesty’s  gracious  per¬ 
mission  to  establish  this  medal.  I  daresay,  gentlemen,  you  are  aware 
that  her  Majesty  scrupulously  abstains  at  any  time  from  taking  any 
prominent  share  in  any  method  of  celebrating  her  Jubilee,  but  she 
graciously  intimated  to  irs  her  assent  to  our  proposal,  and  ex¬ 
pressed  the  opinion  that  there  could  be  no  possible  objection 
to  it.  That  being  so,  we  decided  to  adopt  the  proposal  which 
originated  with  our  Secretai’y,  and  established  the  Victoria  medal. 
Well,  lady  and  gentlemen,  I  am  very  glad  that  we  did.  We  have  only 
two  lady  members.  I  wish  that  they  were  both  present.  (Applause.)  I 
feel  a  sort  of  embarrassment  in  saying  lady  and  gentlemen.  One  is  so 
accustomed  to  say  ladies  and  gentlemen  that  when  you  deal  with  the 
more  commanding  sex  in  the  singular  it  becomes,  to  a  certain  extent, 
embarrassing.  But,  the  medal  being  instituted  to  celebrate  the  Jubilee  of 
her  Gracious  Majesty,  nothing  could  be  more  becoming  than  that  we 
should  have  some  members  of  her  sex  as  medallists.  I  do  not  think 
anything  could  show  more  conclusively  that  we  did  wisely  in  adopting  the 
proposal  that  emanated  from  our  Secretary  than  the  gathering  I  see 
around  me,  where  the  relative  departments  of  scientific  and  practical 
horticulture,  inclirding  of  course  botany,  are  represented  by  many  men  of 
the  greatest  possible  eminence,  gathered  round  this  table.  I  venture  on 
behalf  of  the  Society  to  thank  them  most  heartily  for  their  presence 
to-day.  When  the  question  arose  as  to  who  should  be  the  recipients  of 
these  medals  we  thought  that  every  department  connected  with  the  art 
and  science  of  gardening  should  be  represented.  It  may  occur  to  some 
here  present  that  there  are  names  absent  which  they  would  like  to  see 
present.  There  may  be  perfectly  good  reasons  why  they  are  not  there. 
In  the  first  place,  it  would  not  have  been  at  all  becoming  that  the  Council 
who  had  the  selection  should  distribute  medals  among  its  own  members. 
That  was  perfectly  obvious.  Then  there  are  other  reasons,  lesser  reasons, 
private  reasons  why  various  gentlemen  who  were  invited  to  becomerecipients 
of  the  medal  thought  it  their  duty,  however  little  might  be  their 
desire  to  forfeit  it,  to  decline.  That  explains  the  absence  of  certain 
names.  The  present  position  is  this.  We  have  the  honour  of  having 
among  our  medallists  eight  botanists.  I  take  them  first,  as  science, 
beyond  all  things,  is  the  moving  power  of  the  world  at  the  present  time. 
Among  these,  and  at  the  head  of  them,  we  have  the  distinguished  botanist 
who  sits  on  my  right.  Sir  .loseph  Hooker  -  (applause) — who,  I  venture  to 
say,  during  his  long  life  has  done  more  valuable  work  for  the  advance¬ 
ment  of  botany  than  any  one  man  has  ever  done.  Then  we  have  among 
collectors  and  hybridists  six  memliers.  We  have  among  the  gardening 
profession  and  trade  fourteen  nurserymen  and  men  engaged  in  business. 
We  have  two  members  who  represent  the  market  aspect  of  gardening  -, 
twenty-seven  medallists  who  represent  gardeners — fifteen  amateurs  and 
twelve  gardeners  by  profession.  Some  people  may  very  justly  think  the 
projmrtion  ought  to  have  l)een  reversed.  We  have  one  landscape  gardener 
and  two  members  of  the  horticultural  Press.  lean  assure  you,  gentlemen, 
that  the  greatest  possible  troulde  was  taken  to  award  the  medals  to  those 
who  seemed  most  to  deserve  them  in  every  department.  I  daresay  we 
have  made  mistakes  ;  that  there  are  names  omitted  who  ought  to  be 
included.  Possibly  there  are  names  included  that  ought  to  have  been 
omitted ;  but  at  the  same  time,  it  is  through  no  lack  of  care.  We 
did  our  very  utmost,  and  we  had  the  advantage  of  the  advice 
of  very  competent  advisers.  We  did  our  utmost  to  secure  a 
thoroughly  representative  list  of  those  connected  with  the  art 
and  science  of  gardening.  There  is  only  one  other  remark  I  wish  to 
make — and  it  is  due  to  her  Gracious  Majesty  to  say  so — the  Queen 
has  no  responsibility  whatever,  except  to  have  been  sufficiently  gracious 
to  have  given  her  consent  to  the  institution  of  this  medal.  It  would 
be  manifestly  extremely  distasteful  to  her  Majesty  if  the  medal,  were 
used  under  any  circumstances  for  the  purpose  of  advertising.  (Hear, 
hear.)  I  am  extremely  grateful  to  the  lady,  and  to  the  gentlemen 
here  present  for  their  being  so  kind  as  to  be  here  to-day.  It  has  been 
a  very  great  pleasure  to  us  to  meet  them,  and  if  any  little  trouble  has 
been  taken  in  the  matter  we  are  fully  requited  for  it  by  their  presence 
here  to-day.  With  this  toast  of  the  health  of  the  Victoria  medallists  I 
beg  to  couple  the  names  of  Sir  .Joseph  Hooker  and  of  my  friend  Dean 
Hole,  of  Mr.  Sherwood  for  the  trade  representatives,  and  Mr.  Hudson  for 
the  gardeners.  There  is  another  observation  which  I  desire  to  make  in 
conclusion  namely,  that  the  medal  itself  is  the  work  of  a  lady,  who  I 
think  has  carried  out  a  very  graceful  conception  in  a  most  satisfactory 
way.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  put  within  the  limits  of  a  very  small 
medal,  as  the  Victorian  medal  is,  any  conception  at  all,  and  I  think  that 
when  you  see  the  medal  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  lady — Miss 
Margaret  Giles  -  who  carried  out  the  work  has  done  it  admirably. 
The  toast  was  warmly  received,  and  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  thanked 
the  Council  on  behalf  of  the  recipients  for  the  honour  conferred  upon 
them.  There  were  some  present  whose  claims  to  honour  for  services 
rendered  in  the  cause  of  horticulture  were  greater  than  his  own.  (No  1  no ') 
There  were  those  present  who  represented  three  generations  of  horti¬ 
culture,  men  who  had  introduced  more  new  plants  than  even  Kew  Gardens 
had  done,  and  the  fruits  of  whose  labours  were  to  be  found  in  every 
garden  all  over  the  globe,  from  the  garden  of  the  prince  to  that  of  the 
peasant.  He  proudly  accepted  the  position  they  had  given  him  on 
account  of  his  connection  with  the  Royal  Gardens  of  Kew.  The  objects 
of  Kew  were  many  and  varied,  and  especially  were  they  for  the  study  of 
botany  and  economy.  Those  there  were  engaged  in  the  production  of 
new  and  rare  plants — their  classification,  identification,  description,  and 
illustration  ;  and  what  was  more  important  than  that,  the  propagation  of 
useful  and  economic  plants  all  over  the  world,  for  the  welfare  and  benefit 
of  mankind.  But  what  would  be  the  use  of  all  that  without  practical 
horticulture  ?  The  gardens  of  Kew  without  horticulture  would  be  a 
barren  wilderness.  Where  would  theoretical  botany  be  without  horti¬ 
culture  ?  Ask  Darwin.  Vegetable  physiology  would  be  a  barren  branch 
without  it.  Botany  and  practical  horticulture  must  go  hand  in  hand,  and 
so  long  as  they  did  both  would  prosper.  He  desired  to  tender,  on  behalf 
of  his  co-recipients,  his  scientific  friends,  and  himself  his  warmest 
thanks  for  the  honour  conferred  on  him,  and  to  express  their  deep  sense 
of  her  Majesty’s  goodness  in  giving  her  name  to  the  medal. 
Dean  Hole  also  responded,  and  said  he  should  always  regard  that 
day  as  one  of  the  brightest  of  a  long  and  happy  life,  so  long  that  he 
thought  he  might  claim  the  title  coveted  at  Cambridge  next  to  that  of 
Senior  "Wrangler,  and  call  himself  senior  medallist.  If  there  were  such 
a  thing  as  righteous  pride,  and  if  it  were  even  justifiable  to  put  a  little 
side  on — (laughter)  -  he  thought  they  gardeners  had  the  right  to  adopt 
it  that  day.  However,  it  was  not  pride  which  was  uppermost  in  their 
thoughts,  but  a  very  humble  thankfulness  that  they  themselves  had 
Fto.  6.1.— The  Victoria  iMEHAL  of  Honour.  . 
not  only  been  permitted  to  appreciate  the  purest  of  human  pleasures, 
but  that  they  had  been  allowed  to  communicate  to  others  the  methods 
and  fruits  of  their  success.  The  Society,  with  the  aid  of  its  unwearying 
Secretary,  had  done  ^excellent  work  for  a  long  time  to  promote  the 
science  of  horticulture,  and  he  believed  that  the  institution  of  the 
Victoria  Medal  of  Honour  would  prove  to  he  a  great  encouragement 
and  an  Important  help  in  quickening  the  ambition  and  developing  the 
qualities  of  those  men  who  should  excel  hereafter  in  botanical  science 
and  in  horticultural  skill. 
Mr.  Sherwood  thanked  the  President  and  Council  on  behalf  of 
the  members  of  tfie  commercial  and  seed  trade  for  their  recognition  of 
services  rendered  during  the  past  sixty  years.  He  had  heard  many 
express  the  opinion  that  the  members  of  the  Council  of  the  Society  ought 
to  receive  some  recognition.  He  could  only  hope  that  some  such 
recognition  would  take  place.  (Applause.) 
Mr  .Tames  Hudson  returned  thanks  on  behalf  of  gardeners  generally, 
and  congratulated  the  Society  that  they  steered  clear  of  the  controversies 
which  troubled  so  many  other  professions.  He  desired  to  cordially 
congratulate  the  President  on  the  honour  he  had  received  from  the 
Queen  during  the  last  few  days -(applause)  -  for  no  one  was  more 
deserving. 
Baron  SCHRoDER  gave  “  The  health  of  the  President  and  Council 
of  the  Society.”  As  an  old  retired  member  of  the  Council  he  had  had  a 
great  deal  of  experience  in  the  troubles  and  anxieties  connected  with  the 
"office  of  President  of  their  great  Society,  therefore  he  felt  that  Ml  honour 
was  due  to  those  gentlemen  who  had  brought  the  Society  to  its  present 
_^plendid  position.  When  he  was  called  to  the  Council  they  were  located 
at  South  Kensington,  where  they  had  a  large  and  lofty  conservatory  but 
a  wretched  Council  chamber.  At  that  time  the  Council  was  much  divided. 
Some  gentlemen  were  for  continuing  in  the  old  room  and  seeing  the 
Society  gradually  die,  but  others  and  at  the  head  of  them  was  Sir 
Trevor  Lawrence —(applause)  -  were  determined  to  face  the  position,  and 
to  believe  that  they  were  doing  right  in  breaking  with  the  old  traditions. 
That  was  a  grave  step.  They  had  many  consultations  altogether.  They 
had  no  money  and  few  friends,  while  the  Society  was  going  from  bad  to 
worse.  However,  they  had  a  President  who  helped  them,  but  while  they 
were  considering  the  advisability  of  leaving  South  Kensington  they  were 
turned  out.  (Laughter.)  That  was  the  darkest  hour  of  their  Society, 
but  under  their  President’s  wise  and  careful  management  the  Society  had 
gradually  prospered,  and  was  now  in  a  position  such  as  was  held  by  no 
other  Society  in  the  world.  It  was  thought,  he  said,  that  they  should 
have  their  own  home —(applause)— but  he  was  afraid  that  was  past.  It 
would  have  been  a  splendid  speculation  to  have  gone  where  he  wanted 
them  to  go.  He  was  sure  that  all  agreed  with  him  that  their  splendid 
Society  should  have  its  own  home,  as  those  in  America  and  on  the 
Continent  had.  Under  the  guidance  of  their  good  President,  who  had 
stuck  to  the  old  ship  like  a  brave  pilot,  they  would  find  a  way  to  get 
such  a  home.  The  President  had  had  wonderful  tact  in  getting  a  good 
Secretary.  (Applause.)  It  was  the  best  day’s  work  he  ever  did  for  the 
Society  when  he  obtained  the  services  of  the  Rev.  William  Wilks. 
The  toast  having  been  responded  to,  the  President  thanked  Baron 
Schroder  for  his  kindly  references,  and  said  that  it  was  largely  owing 
to  the  Baron  s  hearty  support  that  they  were  able  to  carry  out  the 
change  of  policy  to  which  he  had  referred.  It  was  the  duty  of  a 
horticultural  society  to  stick  to  horticulture,  and  from  the  moment 
their  Council  took  up  the  position  of  devoting  itself  entirely  to  promoting 
the  interests  of  horticulture,  it  had  not  looked  back.  They  entertained 
strong  feelings  of  gratitude  to  the  amateur  gardeners  and  jirofessional 
