I was elected a member of the Council and subsequently chairman of the Measurement Committee, which had very important work to do in connection with the rating of yachts for racing purposes. The old Thames rule was played out; yachts had become of such excessive length and depth that a new rule of measurement became necessary. We took a large amount of expert evidence, and finally drafted a rule which was adopted and remained in force until the present international rule superseded it. ROYAL CANOE CLUB. This club was founded in the 'sixties by "Rob Roy" Macgregor, who had built a small decked canoe, in which he had navigated the principal rivers in Europe and the Holy Land. Macgregor was not only an enthusiastic boating man, but he was a good Christian worker and philanthropist, well known in the East End of London. "Rob Roy" appealed to me and others to form a Northern branch of the Canoe Club on the Mersey. We did so in 1868, establishing our headquarters at Tranmere. The club was very flourishing, and the upper reaches of the Mersey formed a very attractive cruising ground; but the increase in the number of steamers destroyed canoeing on the Mersey as it has destroyed yachting. Living, as we did, at Seaforth, I was able to run my canoe down to the shore and enjoy many pleasant sails in the Crosby Channel. Finding an ordinary "Rob Roy" was too small and very wet in a seaway I designed and built a sailing canoe with a centre board, which was a great success and was the pioneer of sailing canoes. GARDENING. There can be no more delightful pastime than gardening. I may claim this to be my pet "hobby." Other pastimes are evanescent and leave behind them no lasting results or afford no more than a passing pleasure; but in gardening we have seedtime and harvest, all the pleasures of sowing and planting, watching the gradual growth, training, and nurturing the young plant, and in due time gathering in the flowers or fruit, and in these days when so much is done in "hybridising" we have the added charm of experimenting in raising new varieties. We began to import orchids in 1866, bringing them from the West Indies and Central America in large wooden boxes, thinking it necessary to keep them growing, but we lost more than half on the voyage. They are now roughly packed in baskets or bales and a very large percentage arrive safely.