July  2,  1903. 
JOURNAL'  OF  HORTICULTUR 
fruits  from  every  country  in  the  world,  and  the  Earl  instanced  a 
case  of  liis  own,  where  he  had  lately  received  from  an  Indian 
prince  a  present  of  native  fruits  in  gi'and  condition.  Flowers  and 
jnarket  garden  produce  will  more  and  moi’e  he  in  demand,  and 
the  chairman  thought  it  was  a  duty,  therefore,  to  provide  for 
the  aged,  needy  workers  in  horticulture,  and  to  keep  their  case 
before  the  generous  public,  and  gardeners  themselves  should  dis¬ 
cuss  ways  and  means  for  augmenting  the  funds  of  the  Institution. 
“  ^\ho  are  not  lovers  of  flowers?  ”  asked  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and 
added  that  at  the  christening,  the  marriage,  the  festival,  the 
funeral,  flowers  have  become  all  but  a  necessity;  for  flowers 
express  our  sympathy,  as  they  also  please  the  mind. 
But  while  speaking  of  earth’s  blossoms,  the  Earl  could  not 
forget  the  articles  of  consumption,  and  he  had  vivid  recollections 
of  being  chased  round  the  garden  of  his  boyhood  by  the  old 
gardener  with  a  big  stick,  from  whose  crop  of  luscious  fruits  he 
had  .surreptitiously  taken  his  choice.  And  even  now,  when  he 
could  take  them  with  more  equanimity  of  conscience,  he  was 
sure  he  did  not  enjoy  them  less. 
Readers  of  “  Country  Life  ”  and  similar  journals  must  have 
often  been  struck  with  the  broadness  of  view  in  matters  of  gar¬ 
dening  evinced  by  our  ancestors.  He  thought  the  popularity  of 
horticulture  likely  to  increase.  To  the  great  shows  of  the  metro¬ 
polis  and  elsewhere  he  need  not  allude,  but  he  must  draw  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  allotment-cultivator.s’  exhibitions,  and  to  Lady 
Warwick’s  exeinplary  work  in  aid  of  horticultural  and  rural  pur¬ 
suits  as  a  calling  for  women.  “Lady  Warwick,”  he  said,  “is 
trying  to  snatch  from  mere  man  some  of  the  triumphs  of  horti¬ 
culture,”  and  none  of  us  will  begrudge  what  she  can  do  in  the 
cause  to  which  she  has  set  herself. 
Coming  to  the  G.R.B.  Institution  itself,  the  chairman 
observed  that  for  over  fifty  years  it  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the 
late  Queen,  and  is  now  under  the  patronage  of  the  King,  Queen 
.  Alexandra,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales.  There  are  now  204  pen¬ 
sioners  on  its  funds;  it  has  annual  liabilities  of  fully  £4,000 
and  an  assured  income  of  only  £900.  All  the  rest  of  the  money 
has  to  be  subscribed,  and  it  is  for  the  augmentation  of  the  funds 
that  the  festival  meeting  is  arranged.  The  chairman  further 
pointed  to  the  two  special  funds  of  the  Institution,  the  Good 
Samaritan  Fund,  and  the  Victorian  Era  Fund,  the  first  giving 
a.s.sistance  to  the  most  needy  applicants  who  have  sought 
and  the  other  to  assist  the  most  needy  applicants  who  have  sought 
or  ai'e  waiting  for  election  to  the  pension  list.  Since  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  Institution  in  1838,  £100,000  have  been  distributed. 
Applicants  Avho  have  been  subscribers  to  the  funds  have  a 
preference  over  non-subscribers,  inasmuch  as  they  receive  100 
votes  for  each  year  that  they  have  subscribed  one  guinea.  A 
letter  from  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  then  read,  in  whicii 
it  was  announced  that  the  Prince  had  sent  £20  to  the  funds,  and 
expressing  a  hope  that  the  festival  meeting  would  be  very  suc¬ 
cessful.  After  referring  to  the  Masonic  friends  which  the  Earl 
saw  around  him,  he  remarked  that  Avith  so  many  charitable  insti¬ 
tutions  throughout  the  country,  it  was  necessary  to  discriminate 
in  giving  to  them ;  but  from  his  own  experience,  the  Earl  of 
Warwick  said  that  eAmry  gentleman  could  give  to  the  funds  of  the 
Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution  with  the  fullest  confi¬ 
dence  that  the  money  was  well  and  wisely  dispensed.  He  coupled 
with  the  toa.st  the  name  of  Mr.  H.  J.  Veitch,  Avho  is  treasurer 
and  chairman  of  committee. 
In  his  response,  Mr.  Veitch  thanked  the  Earl  for  affording 
the  company  the  honout  of  his  presence  that  evening,  and  for  the 
kind  wmrds  which  he  had  delivered.  Mr.  Veitch  claimed  to  knoAv 
.something  of  the  Avorking  of  the  Institution,  and  said  that  all  its 
details  were  essentiality  good.  The  committee  Avas  composed  of 
thirty-six  members,  one-third  of  whom  must  be  private  gar¬ 
deners,  one-third  birsiness  horticulturists,  and  the  remaining 
third  are  gentlemen  who  are  deeply  interested  in  the  gardeners’ 
calling.  'The  committee  is  thus  thoroughly  representative.  The 
rules  bind  the  committee  to  meet  four  times  each  year,  but  so 
great  is  the  Avork  that  the  members  met  nine  times.  The  com¬ 
mittee  receive  absolutely  no  remuneration. 
Mr.  Veitch,  continuing,  said  that  OAving  to  the  neAv  rules,  tbe 
work  during  the  last  year  had  been  much  heavier.  He  referred 
to  the  election  of  eleven  Coronation  pensioners,  and  stated  that 
others,  who  had  not  been  subscribers,  but  Avho  had  applied  for 
relief,  each  received  £5.  He  read  letters  from  tAvo  old  pen¬ 
sioners  Avho  Avere  very  thankful  and  appreciative  for  the  feAV 
pounds  per  year  aAvarded  to  them,  and  these  letters  were  similar 
to  a  great  many  others  the  committee  receir^ed.  The  Institution 
is  in  every  sense  a  benevolent  one,  and  in  no  sense  a  merely 
benefit  society.  Mr.  Veitch  mentioned  that  last  year  Mr.  N.  N. 
Sherwood  presented  each  unsuccessful  candidate  Avith  £5,  as  a 
thank-offering  on  his  recover^’  to  health,  and  tAveiity-nine  received 
this  amount,  including  eight  Avho  had  never  been  subscribers. 
The  treasurer  also  mentioned  the  good  Avork  done  by  the 
auxiliaries,  which  yearly  send  up  a  handsome  sum.  The 
Worcester  branch  contributed  £125,  and  have  sent  £700  since 
they  commenced.  Reading  branch  had  come  second  Avith  £117, 
Brikol  £80,  Dermn  £44,  and  WoHerhampton  £25.  Another 
source  of  income  was  the  takings  at  Earl  Ilchester’s  garden,  Avhich 
gave  the  funds  .£110.  The  Institution  requires  from  £4,000  to 
£5,000  each  year.  Referring  to  the  pensioiiers,  Mr.  Veitch  drcAV 
A  ,vn  nn TT  a  nr  n  a  r  n  tr  A" r  D 
attention  to  an  aged  couple  Avho,  betAveen  them,  had  received 
£265,  yet  their  little  subscriptions  had  only  amounted  to  £25. 
He  Avarmly  complimented  the  painstaking,  constant  labour  of 
Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram,  the  secretary,  Avho  gets  overAvorked  sometimes, 
but  alAAays  sticks  to  it.  In  conclusion,  Mr.  Veitch  said  that  the 
committee’s  great  reward  Avas  in  haAung  increased  subscriptions, 
to  help  the  many  needy  cases  still  Avaiting.  Lord  Redesdale, 
Alderman  Robert  Piper,  and  Mr.  A.  W.  Sutton  also  spoke  to 
toa.sts.  Mr.  Sutton  sugge.sted  that  ladies  should  be  invited  to 
the  festival  dinner,  and  he  hoped  that  probably  Lady  Warwick 
might  be  the  first  chairAvoman.  The  total  subscription  amounted 
to  £1,750.  The  tables  Avere  decorated  Avith  choice  floAvers  from 
Messrs.  Veitch.  C.  Turner,  Paul  and  Son,  Barr  and  Sons,  Cut- 
bush  and  Son,  W.  Iceton,  J.  C.  Stevens,  and  W.  Robinson. 
Subscriptions  were  receiAmd  as  folloAvs  : — Prince  of  Wales, 
£20;  Baron  Schroder,  £100;  Rothschild  and  Sons,  £105;  Earl  of 
WarAvick,  £25  and  3  gs  annual  subscription;  A.  W.  Sutton,  £50, 
also  £20  to  Good  Samaritan  Fund;  M.  H.  F.  Sutton,  £50;  N.  N. 
SherAA'ood,  £50:  Dicksons,  Ltd.,  Chester.  £20;  H.  J.  Veitch, 
£10  10s. ;  Mrs.  H.  J.  Veitch,  £5  5s.  ;  J.  Veitch  and  Sons,  Ltd., 
ann.  subs.,  £52  10s.  ;  Proprietors  of  “  The  Garden  ”  and  “  Country 
Life,”  £15  15s. ;  Thames  Bank  Iron  Company,  £10  10s.  ;  Mrs. 
Alf.  J.  Baker,  £10  10s.  ;  per  G.  Monro.  CoA^ent  Garden,  and 
other  friends,  £85  (including  Jas.  Rochford.  10  gs.  ;  J.  Rochford, 
5  gs;  E.  Rochford,  5  gs ;  J.  SAveet,  5  gs ;  G.  Monro,  Ltd.,  5  gs; 
Geo.  IMonro.  5  gs ;  ‘  J.  M.  S.,”  5  gs) ;  A.  McKellar,  £17  17s.; 
R.  Dean,  £31  10s.  ;  W.  H.  Massie  (Edin.),  £12  12s.  ;  D.  Fleming, 
£20;  G.  Pi'ofit,  £32  10s.  ;  G.  Norman,  £21;  W.  MacKay.  £25; 
E.  T.  Cook,  £7  7s.  ;  J.  Douglas,  £8  8s.  ;  W.  Paul  and  Son, 
£10  10s.  ;  James  Hudson,  £10  10s. ;  W.  Thompson,  £10  10s.  ; 
Barr  and  Sons,  £10  10s.  ;  Bailey  Wadds,  £27  ;  Henry  Williams, 
£8  18s.  ;  L.  Salomons,  £21 ;  and  5  gs  fi'om  each  of  the  folloAving  : 
Cutbush  and  Sons,  H.  J.  Adams,  E.  G.  BraikenAvitch,  W.  J. 
Jefferies,  W.  SherAvood,  Ed.  Sherwood,  R.  MeVitie.  Lord  Redes¬ 
dale.  A.  Waterer,  H.  G.  CoA-e,  James  Lee,  R.  and  G.  Cuthbert, 
W.  J.  Nutting,  W.  L.  Corry,  A.  B.  Wadds,  R.  Sydenliam,  N.  F. 
Barnes,  Bunyai’d  and  Co.,  G.  H.  Maypock,  H.  j.  Wimsett,  and 
G.  H.  Richards;  and  other  sums  making  a  total  of  £1.750. 
