130 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  6,  1902. 
Societies. 
National  Chrysanthemum. 
Annual  General  Meeting. 
Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit,  M.P.,  president  of  the  above  society, 
most  ably  occupied  the  chair  at  the  annual  general  meeting, 
held  in  the  Strand,  last  Monday  evening.  About  eighty  persons 
were  present,  and  the  characteristic  caustic  speeches  indulged 
in  only  at  N.C.S.  annual  meetings,  according  to  our  experience, 
were  once  again  painfully  plentiful.  What  Sir  Albert  Rollit 
thought  we  can  only  surmise  ;  but  though  he  came  to  the  meet¬ 
ing  understanding  that  the  business  was  to  be  purely  formal,  he 
stated  that  it  had  proved  the  antithesis  of  that.  Only  a  strong- 
minded  and  well-trained  conductor  of  business  could  have  enacted 
the  w'ork  of  the  evening  in  one  hour  and  a  half  as  Sir  Albert  did, 
and,  indeed,  there  were  some  who  regretted  that  matters  had 
been  so  much  “  rushed.” 
The  usual  notices  having  been  read,  the  report  came  on 
and  was  swiftly  passed,  no  one  having  a  word  to  say.  Owing  to 
a  desire  expressed  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  by  one  of  the 
auditors,  Mr.  Tagg,  that  the  accounts  and  balance-sheet  be  held 
till  later  in  the  evening  to  allow  of  Mr.  Tagg’s  presence,  these 
w'ere  not  immediately  passed.  As,  however,  the  said  auditor 
had  not  arrived  when  the  balance-sheet  was  again  presented,  this, 
too,  was  adopted,  and  no  one  spoke  one  way  or  the  other.  True, 
Mr.  Thos.  Bevan  rose  and  had  a  word  regardhig  the  signing  of 
accounts  by  the  auditors,  but  this  matter  was  referred  to  the 
executive  committee.  Owing  to  the  amount  of  matter  we  must 
print,  it  is  necessary  to  omit  any  detailed  account  of  the  balance- 
sheet.  £230  tt'ere  received  as  subscriptions,  during  the  year, 
being  a  decrease  of  £27  as  compared  with  1900.  There  is  a  loss 
of  about  £45  on  the  year’s  working.  A  balance,  however,  of 
£200  17s.  lid.  of  assets  over  liabilities  is  on  hand  to  go  on  with. 
The  report,  as  under,  appeals  for  increased  support  during  1902 : 
Report  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
“  In  presenting  their  record  of  the  year’s  work  of  the  society, 
the  first  words  of  the  committee  must  be  expressive  of  the  deep 
sense  of  loss  felt  by  them  and  the  body  of  members  through  the 
death  of  the  venerable  President  of  the  society,  Sir  Edwin 
Saunders,  in  March  last.  His  great  age  and  increasing  infirmities 
prevented  him  from  visiting  the  exhibitions  of  the  society  for  a 
year  or  two  previous  to  his  death ;  but  he  ever  felt  a  warm  in¬ 
terest  in  the  society,  and  he  very  generously  supported  it  by  his 
liberal  "ifts  of  the  President’s  Prize,  and  in  other  ways.  Some  of 
the  officers  and  members  of  the  society  were  present  at  his  funeral, 
and  a  memorial  wreath  was  duly  forwarded  to  Eairlawn. 
Arrangements  have  been  made  for  commemorating  the  great 
services  rendered  to  the  society  by  the  late  President,  through 
the  institution  of  a  Sir  Edwin  Saunders  Memorial  Gold  Medal. 
“  The  committee  have  the  gratification  to  announce  that  Sir 
Albert  K.  Rollit,  M.P.,  has  accepted  the  presidency;  he 
visited  the  November  exhibition,  and  shortly  after  presided  at 
the  annual  dinner  of  the  society,  at  the  Holborn  Restaurant. 
Those  who  attended  the  dinner  will  long  remember  the  occasion 
of  the  President’s  public  introduction  to  the  society,  and  the 
transcendent  ability  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of 
chairman.  Over  two  hundred  persons,  representing  the  various 
interests  in  horticulture,  sat  down  to  dinner  on  this  occasion. 
The  committee  owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  members 
and  friends  who  sent  in  flowers  for  the  decoration  of  the  table, 
and  fruit  for  the  dessert ;  and  particiularly  to  Messrs.  H.  J.  Jones 
and  W.  Cutbush  and  Son  for  the  loan  of  plants,  the  presence  of 
which  greatly  enhanced  the  appearance  of  the  dining  hall. 
“  Th^e  committee  can  congratulate  the  members  upon  the  sus¬ 
tained  interest  in  the  Chrysanthemum,  and  in  the  three  very  fine 
and  attractive  exhibitions  held  at  the  Royal  Aquarium  during 
1901.  There  are  no  indications  that  the  Chrysanthemum  has 
ceased  to  be  in  any  degree  a  popular  exhibition  flower ;  the 
quality  of  the  blooms  staged,  despite  certain  antagonistic  inci¬ 
dences  of  weather,  has  been  maintained.  The  December  exhibi¬ 
tion  in  particular  was  remarkable  for  the  numbers  and  fine 
quality  of  the  incurved  blooms ;  the-  single  types  and  those 
varieties  included  in  the  Spidery  section  were  seen  in  excellent 
character,  as  well  as  more  extensively  than  in  any  previous  year 
On  the  whole  the  classes  were  well  filled  at  the  various  exhibitions 
in  many  the  competition  was  very  keen  ;  the  displays  on  the 
fountains  maintained  their  high  excellence;  the  vase  classes  were 
as  great  attractions  as  heretofore,  the  floral  decorations  varied 
and  tasteful ;  the  only  perceptible  falling  off  was  in  the  classes 
for  specimen  plants.  Some  modifications  of  these  have  been 
adopted  by  the  committee  in  the  belief  that  there  will  be  a 
larger  competition  next  autumn.  The  entries  in  the  Trophv 
class  from  affiliated  societies  were  larger  in  number  than  at  any 
time  in  recent  years,  and  for  the  first  time  the  trophy  was  taken 
to  the  West,  having  been  won  by  the  Cardiff  Society.  Fruit  and 
vegetables  were  in  fine  character;  and  the  committee  can  there¬ 
fore  look  back  with  great  satisfaction  upon  the  three  exhibitions, 
of  1901. 
“  New  varieties  of  Chrj^santhemunis  have  been  produced  in 
considerable  numbers,  and  twenty-three  First  Class  Certificates, 
of  Merit,  and  four  Awards  of  Merit,  were  voted  by  the  Floral 
Committee,  mainly  to  the  Japanese  section  ;  the  decorative  and 
market  varieties  have  been  well  represented.  The  classification 
committee  have  kept  the  incurved  and  other  sections  duly  classi¬ 
fied,  and  their  work  is  much  appreciated  by  the  affiliated  societies.. 
The  schedules  of  prizes  have  been  revised  in  a  few  particulars,, 
but  in  the  face  of  the  cost  of  the  preparation  of  a  new  catalogue, 
which  will  be  issued  as  soon  as  possible,  the  revision  committee- 
refrained  from  adding  to  the  amount  offered  in  the  schedules  of 
prizes. 
“  The  annual  outing  in  July  last  took  the  form  of  a  visit  to 
Downside,  Leatherhead,  Mr.  Alfred  Tate  having  granted  permis¬ 
sion  to  see  his  charming  Rose  garden,  and  advantage  was  taken, 
of  the  contiguity  of  Cherkley  Court  to  visit  that  place  also,  Mr. 
A.  Dixon  having  kindly  given  permission  to  that  effect.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  A.  Tate  generously  invited  the  company  to  partake  of  tea 
at  Leatherhead.  Letters  of  warm  thanks,  and  expressive  of  the 
great  pleasure  derived  from  visiting  Leatherhead  and  Cherkley 
have  been  sent  to  Mr.  A.  Tate  and  Mr.  A.  Dixon.  Arrange¬ 
ments  have  been  entered  into  by  the  committee  with  the 
Directors  of  the  Royal  Aquarium  to  continue  the  exhibitions  of 
the  society  at  Westminster  for  the  next  three  years,  upon  the 
same  terms  as  have  been  in  force  during  the  past  three  years, 
and  they  place  on  record  with  great  satisfaction  their  sense  of 
the  harmonious  relations  existing  between  the  contracting  parties. 
A  deputation  from  the  committee  visited  the  Chrysanthemum 
Show  held  at  Bingley  Hall,  Birmingham,  and  were  hospitably 
entertained  on  that  occasion. 
“  The  present  number  of  societies  in  affiliation  is  139.  Early 
in  the  year  the  committee,  instructed  thereto  by  the  annual 
general  meeting,  distributed  free  to  six  affiliated  societies  by 
ballot  a  small  silver  medal.  The  recipient  societies  were  the 
Barnet,  Forest  Gate,  Isle  of  Thanet,  Swansea,  Torquay,  and 
Wimbledon.  This  new  departure  has  operated  to  bind  more 
closely  together  the  interests  of  the  affiliated  society  to  those  of 
the  parent  society.  The  number  of  members  at  present  on  the 
books  is  708,  viz.,  83  Fellows  and  625  Ordinary  Members.  The 
financial  statement  shows  that  the  society  still  maintains  a 
steady  average  of  income  and  expenditure,  varying  at  times,, 
owing  to  what  may  be  termed  unlooked-for  demands  on  the 
funds.  The  society  has  had  to  experience  during  the  past  two 
years  a  somewhat  serious  loss  of  members,  as  also  of  affiliated 
societies,  the  latter  having  ceased  to  exist  through  lack  of  support 
in  their  several  localities.  What  is  most  urgently  needed  is  an 
accession  of  members  during  1902. 
“  The  Committee  desire  to  express  their  indebtedness  to 
those  who  so  generously  gave  special  prizes  for  competition  at 
the  society’s  shows  during  the  past  year;  to  Mr.  G.  H.  Richards, 
Messrs.  W.  Wood  and  Sons,  Messrs.  E.  Webb  and  Sons,  Mr. 
C.  W.  Richardson,  and  also  to  Messrs.  H.  Deverill  and  R.  Syden¬ 
ham.  These  special  prizes  provide  desirable  and  attractive  fea¬ 
tures  which  would  not  otherwise  be  obtained ;  and  it  is  with  the 
greatest  pleasure  they  are  able  to  announce  that  the  President, 
Sir  A.  K.  Rollit,  M.P.,  has  most  generously  consented  to  con¬ 
tinue  the  special  first  prize  of  £15  given  by  the  late  President, 
Sir  E.  Saunders,  in  1901.” 
Election  of  officers :  Sir  Albert  Rollit,  as  president ;  Mr. 
J.  W.  Moorman,  as  treasurer ;  Mr.  A.  J.  Foster,  chairman  of 
executive  committee ;  Mr.  J.  H.  Witty,  vice-chairman ;  Mr. 
Harman  Payne,  as  foreign  corresponding  secretary  :  Mr.  R.  Dean, 
as  general  secretary ;  Mr.  Geo.  J.  Ingram,  as  auditor,  in  place 
of  Mr.  W.  Seward,  who  retires,  having  served  two  years.  There 
were  some  sharp  words  uttered  at  this  juncture  owing  to  the 
secretary  having  proposed  the  new  auditor.  The  following 
sixteen  members  of  committee  were  elected,  out  of  eighteen 
nominated :  Messrs.  R.  Kenyon,  71  votes ;  J.  W.  Wilkinson,  68 ; 
H.  J.  Jones,  66:  J.  W.  Simmons,  65;  J.  McKerchar,  63;  James  - 
Tyler,  63;  Geo.  Prickett,  62;  A.  J.  Foster,  58;  D.  B.  Crane,  56; 
A.  W.  Seabrook,  55  ;  C.  H.  Curtis,  51 ;  Geo.  Little,  50;  J.  Jones, 
46 ;  E.  F.  Hawes,  44 ;  —  Tapper,  43. 
Following  these  elections,  Mr.  Young,  a  delegate  from 
Dulwich  Affiliated  Society,  inquired  on  a  point  of  procedure.  He 
had  given  the  secretary  due  notice  of  a  proposition  he  had  in¬ 
tended  to  bring  forward,  which  proposition  the  secretary  had' 
not  placed  on  the  agenda.  Mr.  Young’s  proposition  referred  to 
the  selection  of  judges  for  the  N.C.S.  shows.  Sir  Albert  Rollit, 
after  considering  the  rules,  said  that  under  Rule  IX.  a  delegate 
from  an  affiliated  society  is  entitled  expressly  to  vote  on  all 
matters  except  finance.  They  have  the  power  to  vote  for  the 
alteration  of  a  rule,  and  such  alteration  may  place  them  in  a 
more  satisfactory  position  for  themselves.  The  notice  sent  to- 
the  secretary  by  Mr.  Young  was  perfectly  in  accordance  with 
the  rules,  and  should  have  been  placed  upon  the  agenda.  As 
it  was  not  on  the  paper,  though  a  hardship,  Sir  Albert  must  pass 
over  the  proposition  on  this  occasion.  Rules  are  rules,  though- 
