THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 91 



from the contest ? Pecuniary rewards are not much better than soap-bub- 

 bles to an amateur, who, by the very designation under which he enters 

 the lists, fights for love, and not for money. Take a case : — An exhibitor 

 sent some chrysanthemums from east London to the Crystal Palace. The 

 carriage of the plants cost him twenty shillings, and he took a prize of five 

 shillings. Had he received a five- shilling book or a five-shilling snuff-box, 

 he would still be possessed of an agreeable remembrance ; but, as it is, he 

 is simply — fifteen shillings out of pocket ! It may be said that he had 

 also five shillings' worth of distinction by the entry of his name in the 

 prize-list ; but, when money is the only visible sign of a transaction, we 

 immediately become commercial in our ideas, and count profit and loss as 

 surely as we should in buying and selling. Take another case : — A gentle- 

 man built a range of houses, planted a garden, engaged skilful assistance, 

 and became an exhibitor. One department he took into his own hands on 

 the understanding that his prizes should be his own. Another department 

 he gave over to his gardener. They both won repeatedly. To the first 

 the prizes were of no importance when in money, but valued when in cups 

 and medals ; to the second, money was preferable, and properly so, as a 

 means of increasing the comfort of his wife and children. Take another 

 case : — A grower of chrysanthemums, in comfortable circumstances, and 

 who, except for the love of floriculture, would never be at the trouble of 

 exhibiting at all, has taken £50 in prizes, and the only things that remain 

 as memorials of his success are a few silver spoons, which a society, pos- 

 sessed of more light than the rest, gave instead of money on some particu- 

 lar occasion, now almost forgotten. Some gardeners may prefer ornamental 

 plate, and some amateurs may prefer hard cash, but societies are not to 

 proceed on the principle of pleasing individuals, but on the principle of 

 dealing with exhibitors according to the classes in which they make their 

 entries ; and, if an amateur be an amateur (that is, a lover of plants) we 

 again ask, what gratification can he derive by winning money prizes at a 

 flower-show ? That a gardener should hope to gain by showing is another 

 matter. To him growing and exhibiting are matters of business ; a cup 

 may be as acceptable as a purse, and his pride in exercising his skill as 

 genuine and unselfish as that of the most spirited amateur. In the ma- 

 jority of cases it is so, and, therefore, the limiting of the prizes to money 

 in the gardeners' classes is by no means so essential as the entire abolition 

 of money prizes in the classes for amateurs. 



One of the most gratifying circumstances in connection with floricul- 

 ture, as a domestic institution, is its progress among the operatives in all 

 our great towns. To these classes flower-growing will prove an antidote 

 to the attractions of the tavern and the many questionable gaslight enter- 

 tainments that consume their leisure evening hours, and at the same time 

 waste their money and their health. Men who toil hard must have recrea- 

 tion. How much better to find it at home ; and how much better, when 

 they feel the want of society, to find it among those of their own order, 

 who are engaged in pursuits that refine the nature and expand the mind, 

 in intimate association with the green herb and the ruddy flower, which 

 are the flourishing strokes of God's hand- writing in Nature. Thousands of 

 the artizan class are engaged all day in occupations that sap the health and 

 strength — in factories and among the fumes of metals and chemical works. 

 How much must the assiduous culture of a garden do to neutralize the 

 evils incident to their calling, and keep them in the possession of that 



