240 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



the noveltie?. It would, moreover, 

 be seen whether they carried their 

 flowers firmly up, an important habit 

 in actual culture, the want of which 

 cannot be detected in the stand. 



Again, the uninitiated must not 

 imagine that prizes indicate the grade 

 of merit and skill among trade exhi- 

 bitors, and consequent value of their 

 plants. Some of tlie largest and most 

 celebrated firms, as Messrs. Yfood 

 and Hivers, never enter into the lists, 

 and others of note are not always in 

 a position to cut for exhibition at a 

 precise tirae, thoiigh at others they 

 could perhaps surpass the takers of 

 prizes. An illustration of this fell 

 under my own notice a few days 

 before the Crystal Palace Show. In 

 Messrs. Fraser's rose ground I ob- 

 served several blooms of this year's 

 novelties, much finer in .quality than 

 on the " tables" at the Palace, and 

 some which were not there at all. 

 Rose grounds are very much in- 

 fluenced by the nature of the seasons, 

 whether wet or dry, early or late, 

 according to soil and locality. It 

 requires a very large number of 

 plants to be able to cut a sufficient 

 number of perfect blooms on any 

 given day, and this by the way is the 

 reason Mr. Hedge, of Colchester, 

 carries ofi" so many prizes in the 

 classes for amateurs. He has an im- 

 mense stock from which to furnish 

 his boxes, and his success should 

 encourage amateurs to plant roses 

 in plenty. One thing is certain, that 

 in the long run the most prizes will 

 go to the largest collections. 



Tiie principles upon ^^ hich awards 

 are allotted are likewise open to ob- 

 jection, particularly as to roses shown 

 in pots. At present a few possessors 

 of huge specimejn?, which must be of 

 old varieties to attain the requisite 

 size, carry all before them year after 

 year, and show after show. It ought 

 to be a maxim as unalterable as the 

 laws of the Medes and Persians, that 

 no plant should be adjudged a prize 

 & second time during the same season. 

 This arrangement would widen the 

 area of competition, and afi'ord a 

 chance of success to the owners of 

 smaller specimens. By offering a 

 series of rewards, too, for plants in 



smaller pots, new kinds would be 

 sooner brought under experiment and 

 retained or discarded, according to 

 merit, relieving the catalogues of a 

 host of unworthy names, and the 

 growers of incumbrances to valuable 

 space. Moreover, the " schedules" 

 might be extended and improved in 

 the interests and for the encourage- 

 ment of amateurs, upon whom, after 

 all, the support of floriculture mainly 

 depends. 1 would venture to suggest 

 that a section be established at our 

 great metropolitan shows specially 

 for amateurs residing in the vicinity 

 of " Smoketown," say within four 

 miles of St. Paul's on the one side, 

 and Whitehall on the other. The 

 classes should consist of 24's, 18's, 

 and 12's for those keeping, and those 

 not keeping a gardener, respectively. 

 It is scarcely possible to estimate the 

 impetus that would be given thereby 

 to rose growing in localities where it 

 is at present seldom attempted. 



It has often been a matter of sur- 

 prise to me that the managers of the 

 Crystal Palace have never instituted 

 an autumnal rose show, on a similar 

 scale of importance to that in the 

 summer. There are many beautiful 

 roses only in perfection in the autumn, 

 which are in consequence rarely seen. 

 There are others which display an 

 intensity of colour, and precision of 

 contour at that season of the year, 

 far surpassing in beauty tht ir summer 

 bloom. Besides, such an exhibition 

 would be a boon to less experienced 

 cultivators by bringing under notice 

 late blooming kinds, enabling them 

 to select those sorts capable of afibrd- 

 ing the greatest amount of flowers 

 from a limited rosery. It would fur- 

 thermore give to the unsuccessful at 

 earlier shows an opportunity of re- 

 covering lost laurels. 



However, space warns me to con- 

 clude these remarks, which are the 

 result; of viewing the subject simply 

 as an amateur. They are not dog- 

 matically laid down, but intended as 

 suggestions for furtlier popularizing 

 and extending a taste for cultivating 

 " England's national emblem, and 

 Flora's choicest gem." 



W. D. Peioe. 

 Somerton, Oct. 1. 



