December  18,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
561 
especially  due,  for  in  no  other  year  since  it  has  been  established 
has  any  member  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  the  society  such  a 
large  number  of  new  and  influential  subscribers. 
Ihe  chairman  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report,  and  said 
that  it  was  rather  an  optimistic  document,  but  this  was  excus¬ 
able  for  a  society  determined  to  succeed  as  this  was.  They 
must  not  let  little  clouds  on  the  horizon  repel  their  endeavours. 
There  was,  indeed,  very  satisfactory  progress,  for  150  new  mem¬ 
bers  had  been  enrolled.  They  should  keep  this  in  mind,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  loss  in  gate-money  at  the  show.  They  had 
now  a  larger  membership  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of 
rhe  National  Rose  Society.  They  must  not  adopt  the  idea  that 
they  had  got  beyond  the  experimental  stage  of  the  Temple  Show. 
They  saw  a  drop  in  the'  receipts  of  £150,  and  the  committee 
points,  out  to  certain  causes  affecting  this.  For  instance,  the 
Holland  House  Show  coming  before  their’s,  many  people  thought 
they  had  enacted  their  obligations  to  the  Queen  of  Flowers 
when  they  had  visited  it.  Mr.  Shea,  continuing,  thought  that 
a  reserve  fund  would  be  better  than  a  guarantee  fund,  but  there 
was  a  greater  fund — The  Public — and  the  society  must  cater  for 
the  public  taste.  He  had  heard  among  his  friends,  as,  doubtless, 
so  had  his  listeners,  that  they  (his  friends)  don’t  care  to  see 
serried  ranks  of  flowers.  The  number  of  non-competitive  growers 
of  the  Rose,  compared  with  those  who  exhibited,  were  as  100  to  1. 
He  should  like  to  see  bolder  and  finer  effects,  similar  to  those 
at  continental  exhibitions;  and  if  this  was  advisable,  no  doubt 
the  Trade  could  bring  in  tall  pillar  Roses,  and  garlands  of  them, 
and  furnish  the.se  bolder  groups. 
With  regard  to  an  autumn  show  of  Roses,  the  propositions  he 
likened  to  seed  sown,  which  had  only  to  be  watered.  The  society 
had  presented  its  members  with  a  new  catalogue— one  much 
wanted,  and  very  admirable.  Touching  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
G.  J.  Grahame,  Mr.  Shea  said  there  was  also  a  sad  side  to  every¬ 
thing  joyous  in  this  life.  Mr.  Grahame  had  always  been  the 
champion  of  the  weaker  men,  of  the  small  exhibitor  against 
the  large.  Mr.  D’Ombrain,  too,  whom  he  might  call  the  Nestor 
of  Roseland,  was  now  unable  to  be  with  them,  and  he  knew  it 
would  be  in  accordance  with  the  desire  of  everyone  present  that 
a  sympathetic  message  be  conveyed  to  Mr.  D’Ombrain,  wishing 
him  a  continuance  of  fair  health  and  happy  days.  The  motion 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  Geo.  Paul,  who  supported  the  idea  of 
establishing  a  reserve  fund,  but  thought  that  for  another  year 
at  least  the  guarantee  fund  should  be  maintained. 
The  Rev.  Jos.  H.  Pemberton  spoke  to  the  report.  He  referred 
to  the  weight  of  expenditure  over  receipts,  and  said  that 
guarantors  could  not  always  be  asked  to  come  forward.  As  to 
the  increase  of  members,  that  also  meant  that  more  tickets 
had  to  be  given  away.  He  advocated  having  a  two  days’  show, 
arguing  that  from  newspaper  reports  people  would  learn  of 
the  show,  and  come  in  crowds  on  the  second  day,  thus  greatly 
augmenting  the  gate-takings,  while  the  expense  to  the  society 
would  be  but  little  increased.  At  the  show  of  this  year  the 
flowers  were  perfectly  fresh  when  the  meeting  closed,  and  he 
added  that,  if  it  was  good  for  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
to  have  a  two  days’  Rose  show,  it  was  also  good  for  their  own. 
Mr.  Pemberton  desired  an  alteration  in  the  date  of  the  Temple 
Rose  Show.  This  year,  he  said,  the  show  was  the  smallest  they 
had  ever  held.  Within  two  days  of  the  show  many  had  said  to 
him  that  it  wTas  not  possible  there  could  be  a  good  show  at  so 
early  a  date,  and  they  did  not  visit,  it.  Then,  again,  it  had 
been  suggested  that  people  had  left  town  in  either  the  first  or 
second  week  of  July,  but  he  contended  this  was  not  so.  The 
show,  moreover,  should  be  national  in  its  representation,  and 
not  merely  metropolitan.  Mr.  George  Gordon  seconded.  By 
having  a  two  days’  show  they  would  ensure,  he  thought,  the 
greater  support  of  country  members,  and  more  gate-money  to 
boot.  He  pointed  out  that  some  of  the  provincial  Rose  shows 
lasted  for  three  whole  days,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  if 
the  society  had  to  bear  the  loss  of  £150  in  one  year  the  members 
might  know  what  would  happen  sooner  or  later.  Mr.  Gordon 
desired  to  have  Regulation  IT.  expunged,  but  it  was  suggested 
that  this  should  form  a  proposition  by  itself. 
The  next  speaker,  Mr.  Frank  Cant,  took  the  opposite  side 
to  the  two  foregoing.  He  thought  that  the  last  Temple  Show  was 
far  and  away  the  best  ever  held.  He  asked :  “  Do  the  sub¬ 
scribers  hail  from  the  north  or  the  south?”  and  answered  by 
saying,  the  south,  amid  a  conflicting  chorus  of  “Yes!”  and 
“  No !  ”  The  flowers  of  southern  growers  were  perfectly  ready 
by  July  1.  Mr.  Geo.  Paul  did  not  think  it  fair  to  country 
societies  if  the  N.R.S.  altered  it-s  date,  because  many  societies 
would  have  fixed  their  date  in  consideration  of  the  metropolitan 
exhibition.  An  alteration  of  date  would  mean  a  clash  with 
others. 
Mr.  E.  B.  Lindsell  supported  Mr.  Pemberton,  and  thought 
it  would  be  wise,  for  the  sake  of  midland  and  northern  growers, 
if  a  later  date  was  chosen.  From  a  secretary’s  point  of  view, 
Mr.  Mawley  preferred  the  later  date  as  likely  to  be  the  more 
successful.  Mr.  G.  W.  Cook  thought  it  better  to  leave  the  matter 
in  the  hands  of  the  committee  until  they  had  seen  the  benchers 
of  the  Inner  Temple. 
A  country  member  here  rose,  and  referred  to  the  year  1893, 
when  southern  Roses  were  nearly  past  by  July  8.  Mr.  F.  Cant 
asked  if  he  might  make  another  remark,  which  was,  that  an 
early  show  be  held  one  year  and  a  slightly  later  show  the  year 
after.  Some  of  the  older  rosarians  pointed  out  that  such  was 
virtually  the  arrangement  years  ago.  Mr.  Pemberton’s  amend¬ 
ment,  altering  the  date  of  the  metropolitan  exhibition  in  the 
report  from  July  1  to  July  8,  was  now  put  to  the  meeting,  when 
the  votes  were:  16  for,  17  against — a  bare  majority  of  one. 
The  report  having  been  so  far  discussed,  it  was  adopted 
unanimously. 
Mr.  George  Gordon  now  formally  proposed  that  the  exhibi¬ 
tion  held  in  the  Temple  Gardens  extend  over  two  days,  and 
to  enable  this  to  be  done,  that  Regulation  II.  be  expunged. 
The  chairman  suggested  that  the  Regulation  need  only  be 
altered  to  read  :  “  extend  over  two  days.”  Mr.  Gordon  agreed, 
and  his  proposition  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Pemberton. 
Mr.  Mawley  demurred.  He  said  that  at  the  last  annual 
general  meeting  this  question  was  discussed,  and  only  five  hands 
were  held  up  in  its  favour.  He  pointed  out  that,  so  far  as  gate- 
takings  were  concerned,  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  earlier 
Temple  Shows  were  very  unsatisfactory  and  risky,  but  that 
latterly  they  were  quite  successful,  thus  suggesting  that  the 
N. R.S.  might  follow  suit.  They  had  not  really  given  this  one 
day’s  show  a  fair  trial,  and  this  year  had  been  a  very  bad  one 
for  the  show. 
Mr.  O.  G.  Orpen  thought  that  if  the  N.R.S.  started  holding 
two  days’  shows  the  country  societies  would  be  doing  the  same, 
and  as  the  majority  of  the  exhibitions  at  the  present  time  have 
to  be  got  into  about  sixteen  days,  the  Trade  and  amateur  ex¬ 
hibitors  could  not  afford  to  attend  nearly  so  many.  Following 
him  was  an  unknown  member,  who  said  he  would  rather  pay 
double  subscriptions  than  that  they  should  come  to  adopt  the* 
two  days’  show.  Mr.  F.  Cant  remarked  that  it  would  be  neces¬ 
sary  for  exhibitors  to  double  the  number  of  their  boxes  and  to 
have  double  the  number  of  men  in  order  to  attend  other  shows- 
Mr.  G.  Paul  was  not  in  favour  of  the  two  days’  show.  Mr.  Shea, 
then  put  the  proposition  to  the  vote,  when  there  were  16  for.  and 
21  against,  a  majority  of  five.  Thus  it  would  seem  that  the 
idea  is  making  advances. 
Mr.  John  Strange  now  proposed  :  “  That  the  thanks  of  the 
society  be  given  to  the  officers  and  other  members  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  for  their  services  during  the  year.”  He  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  society  was  fortunate  in  having  such  an  able 
and  assiduous  secretary  and  so  excellent  a  chairman  of  committee. 
Regarding  the  distance  which  many  of  the  committeemen  had 
to  travel  he  thought  their  attendances  most  exemplary,  and  the 
spirit  they  showed  was  most  praiseworthy.  Mr.  H.  S.  Bartleet- 
seconded,  and  Mr.  Mawley  responded,  mentioning  especially 
Mr.  D’Ombrain.  He  also  commended  the  special  work  of  the 
treasurer,  and]  quoted  some  figures  to  show  that  the  pulse  of 
the  society  was  true  and  good.  The  subscriptions  in  1898 
amounted  to  £373 ;  in  1899  to  £384,  a  gain  of  £11 ;  in  1900  to 
£391,  another  gain  of  £7  ;  in  1901  to  £458,  a  gain  of  £67  ;  and 
in  1902  to  £566,  a  gain  of  £108. 
The  following  alterations  in  Bye-laws  3,  5,  and  7,  and  also 
in  Regulation  3,  to  the  effect  that  the  word  “secretary  ”  be  sub¬ 
stituted  for  “  secretaries  ”  wherever  the  latter  word  occurs,  was 
proposed  by  Dr.  Shackleton,  who  said  this  was  simply  a  clerical 
alteration.  Rev.  J.  H.  Pemberton  seconded,  and  it  was 
agreed  to. 
A  discussion  of  some  length  turned  upon  a  proposed  altera¬ 
tion  to  Regulation  13.  The  matter  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
a  sub-committee,  but  they  had  not  been  able  to  come  to  any' 
definite  conclusion.  The  notice,  as  given  hereunder,  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  each  member  present  :  — 
“  In  the  absence  of  any  definite  resolution  being  agreed  to 
by  the  sub-committee  appointed  to  consider  the  question,  Mr. 
O.  G.  Orpen  will  propose  the  following  resolution  at  the  general 
meeting  on  the  11th  inst.  :  ‘  That  Regulation  13  be  altered  to 
read  as  follows — The  Gold  Medal  of  the  society  may  be  awarded 
to  any  seedling  Rose  or  distinct  sport,  whether  raised  in  the 
British  Isles  or  elsewhere,  and  the  variety  for  such  an  award 
must  be  exhibited  by  the  raiser  or  by  the  introducer,  and  the 
Medal  shall  go  to  the  exhibitor.  If  exhibited  by  the  intro- 
duoer,  the  Medal  must  go  to  him  as  such,  and  the  raiser’s  name 
and  address,  if  known,  must  also  be  stated  on  the  award.  No 
variety  shall  be  eligible  to  receive  a  Gold  Medal  if  distributed 
earlier  than  May  1  of  the  year  in  which  it  is  exhibited  for  such 
an  award,  and  no  variety  which  has  won  the  Gold  Medal  at  an 
exhibition  of  the  society,  can  again  receive  this  award  at  any 
of  the  society’s  exhibitions.’  ” 
Mr.  Orpen  said  the  matter  opened  up  a  wide  field.  The 
sub-committee  agreed  that  a  Gold  Medal  should  be 
given  to  meritorious  new  Roses.  The  next  matter 
was  as  to  when  new  Roses  were  to  be  introduced. 
Mr.  Orpen  had  proposed  May  1,  as  this  would  equalise  growers 
who  may  have  secured  the  right  of  use  of  a  certain  stock,  and 
they  would  then  be  able  to  show  in  good  condition  for  a.  Medal 
the  next  year.  The  chairman  stopped  the  speaker  in  order  to 
get  a  definition  of  the  word  “  introducer.”  He  asked  that,  if 
