706 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Mabch 3, 1904. 



who should accompany the judges, hav- 

 ing the carbon sheet in position, will 

 write in the awards. Each judge will 

 then in turn take the book, see that the 

 class nuinbtn- is correct and that he has 

 examined the total number of exhibits 

 entered and see that the names and en- 

 tiT numbers of the prize winners are 

 properly entered under the prize won. 

 signing his initials. This method, if 

 properly carried out, gives an almost 

 absolute guarantee against errors and, 

 as this is the most vital part of the 

 bookkeeping, this method should never 

 under any circumstances be varied from. 

 As fast as a class is judged the dupli- 

 cate sheet may be torn out and sent to 

 the press committee, avoiding vexatious 

 delay to the reporters and assuring tlieni 

 an accurate list, while a complete and 

 certified list of awards remains in the 

 book. 



The exhibition cards will have the 

 class number, the name of the class and 

 the exhibitor's number and name. They 

 should be enclosed in an unsealed en- 

 velope bearing on the outside nothing 

 but the class number. It is a common 

 mistake to place the entry on tlie en- 

 velope also. This is wrong, as after 

 opening a few envelopes the judges will 

 know the names, and wliile a knowledge 

 of the exhibitors" names will rarely in- 

 fluence a judge, he much prefers not to 

 know them until the decision is made. 

 These cards will all be made ready in 

 advance and tied in bundles, with each 

 exhibitor's name attached to his bundle. 

 They are delivered to the exhibitor and 

 attached by him to his exhibit. Here, 

 as everywhere, checking, preferably by a 



judge is much better. One man. realiz- 

 ing that the burden is on him alone, will 

 be much more likely to exercise greater 

 care tlian if he can shift two-thirds of 

 the blame on his "wicked partners." If 

 possible at least two of the judges should 

 be residents of a distant locality. In 

 close decisions the work of such judges 

 is much better received by the exhibitors 

 than that of local men and charges of 

 favoritism are much less apt to be made. 



In general a grower is a better judge 

 of plants and flowers than a retail man, 

 and the store man is a much better judge 

 of artistic arrangements than the grower. 

 It should be borne in mind, however, 

 that, over and above all. the necessary 

 quality in a judge is the judicial tem- 

 ])erament. There are many first-class 

 growers having wide knowledge of plants 

 and tlowers who are absolutely unfitted 

 to act as judges. Men who have had 

 experience as judges are always to be 

 preferred. Of course a judge's absolute 

 honesty must be beyond question. A 

 committee of ladies selected to judge a 

 limited number of exhibits will often add 

 to the public interest. 



All protests should lie filed in writing 

 over signature and should state in full 

 the grounds for protest, and should be 

 filed at once. 'Phe protest should at 

 once be placed before the proper com- 

 mittee, who will first call in the judges 

 and learn their grounds for making tlie 

 award, after the grounds of the protest 

 are made known to them. They should 

 be given a chance to rejudge. if they de- 

 sire, after which the committee niiiy ex- 

 amine the exhibits and confirm or alter 

 the awards as mav seem best. 



Carnation Richmond Gem, bloom full size. 



second person, is the order of the day. 

 There must be no mistakes. 



After the awards are all made a 

 voucher is to be made for each winner, 

 showing in detail and in total the 

 amounts won, which voucher will go to 

 the treasurer for payment. 



Three judges are commonly invited to 

 act, although the wTiter believes one 



The judges, especially in a large ex- 

 hibition, should not be required to ex- 

 amine exhibits, count blooms, or other- 

 wise be responsible for compliance with 

 the rules. It wastes, their time and dis- 

 tracts their attention from their proper 

 work. A properly selected examining 

 committee should precede them. They 

 should count all exhibits requiring a 



specified number and relentlessly reject 

 any exhibit which, by overplus, or short- 

 age, or in any other way, does not abso- 

 lutely and literally comply \rith 

 the rules. It is not fair to the man who 

 faithfully lives up to the rules to allow 

 another who, whether by accident or de- 

 sign, seeks to evade them, to compete 

 with him. Any rule which cannot be 

 enforced must be struck from the list, 

 while those retained must be rigorously 

 enforced. The examining committee will 

 note grounds for rejection on the cards 

 of all exhibits thrown out, and will O. 

 K. the envelopes of all those accepted. 



An entry blank should be enclosed 

 with each final premium list, and entry 

 should be made on this by number only. 

 Entries should be closed at a certain 

 time before the classes are to be staged, 

 in order to allow the secretary to get 

 his work in hand and to enable the man- 

 ager to arrange proper space, tables and 

 vases. A fine should be assessed against 

 every exhibitor failing to stage an ex- 

 liibit entered, unless it has been declared 

 out, at least by noon the day before the 

 class is to be staged. 



Some decorating, more or less elab- 

 orate, will l)e needed in the hall. As 

 there are many florists in nearl)' all 

 cities who are experts at this work, the 

 writer need not enter into minute de- 

 tails. It should be borne in mind, how- 

 ever, that the decorations are simply 

 a background to set ofT the flowers and 

 plants, and should be subordinated to 

 that purpose. Flags, bunting, paper 

 flowers. Japanese lanterns, and the like, 

 are in most eases better excluded. Among 

 greens, the wild smilax and evergreen 

 boughs are pre-eminently the thing. Per- 

 haps there is no more ett'ective back- 

 ground for cut flowers, especially chrys- 

 anthemums, than the dull-colored au- 

 tumn foliage of the white oak. The 

 brilliant scarlet and yellow tints of maple 

 foliage are not so good in large masses. 

 Evergreen trees can be used where there 

 is a scarcity of palm groups, and for 

 screens. Spanish moss is elTective, but 

 expensive. Corn stalks may often be 

 used to good advantage. Wild smilax 

 may be used to drape tables and twine 

 around cut flower vases, thus relieving 

 what is frequently an ugly blotch in an 

 otherwise beautiful picture. Tlie deco- 

 ration should be started as early as pos- 

 ^sible and finished, and debris removed 

 before the exhibits begin to arrive. 



The problem of installation is greatly 

 simplified where space is sold, as the 

 hall can be mapped and the exhibitor 

 can be trusted to fill the space he has 

 paid for. With such exhibitions, how- 

 ever, this article does not largely deal. 

 In public exhibitions, where so much de- 

 pends on the general appearance, this 

 plan cannot be pursued. The writer has 

 learned by dear experience that from 

 the average exhibitor no adequate idea 

 of the extent of his exhibit can be had. 

 He has seen a promised carload of plants 

 dwindle to a small express wagon load 

 and a small group expanded to a mov- 

 ing van full, at the last moment. 



The manager must see the plants in 

 hand shortly before the show, by as 

 many exhibitors as possible, and get as 

 complete an idea as possible of the size, 

 quantity and character of them : he must 

 study his hall frequently and carefully 

 in connection with the knowledge he has 

 gained of the exhibits and sketch out 

 a skeleton of the picture he wishes to 

 create, locating his prominent groups. 

 He will then endeavor to induce as many 



