April 16, 1874. 1 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



307 



one piece by giving the trees a painting with the same com- 

 position that I use for my Vine. Time will show whether 

 these preventives will succeed or not. 



The very useful election of Eosea which Mr. Hinton was 

 good enough to undertake has made it quite superfluous for 

 me to add anything on choice of sorts. In the list that I 

 forwarded I included such sorts as I had found to do best here ; 

 and with regard to a recent controversy, I may say I do not 

 hold the very high opinion some have of Edward Morren. I 

 have not seen one bloom in a dozen perfect, although it 

 is a fine Eose when caught in good condition. There is 

 one thing, however, I would say — that I do not think it well 

 for general purposes to confine oneself to what are termed 

 exhibition Eoses. There are many which are brilliant in 

 colour and free-flowering that for garden ornamentation are 

 unsurpassed, but which would rarely if ever figure in an exhi- 

 bition stand. I too, like to have the common Eoses I so well 

 remember in my younger days — the Eose de Meaux, Crested 

 Provence, White Bath Moss, old Cabbage, &a. Pretty in them- 

 selves, they are connected with associations one would not 

 willingly let die out. — D., Deal. 



EXHIBITING HYACINTHS. 



Ms. Douglas is, I think, entitled to the thanks of all who 

 take an interest in flowers for his manly letter on the practice 

 of tying two spikes of Hyacinths together so that they look 

 like one. Some of the Hyacinths recently exhibited at South 

 Kensington reminded me of George Colman's amusing lines in 

 " Lodgings for Single Gentlemen." 



" Will "Waddle, whose temper was studious and lonely. 

 Hired lodgings which tool: single gentlemen only; 

 But Will was BO /at he appeared like a tuu. 

 Or like two singlo gentlemen rolled into one." 



Like Mr. Douglas, I condemn the practice of rolling two or 

 more single spikes into one, because it appears to me calcu- 

 lated to deceive. I admit that it is not contrary to the written 

 law, but it is against the law of honour, which Englishmen of 

 true and honourable feeling consider themselves equally bound 

 to observe. It is more mischievous in its results than buying 

 plants immediately before a show with the view of exhibiting 

 them, because in this latter case, if the rules of the exhibition 

 allow it, you only appropriate another man's skill, which it is 

 fair to presume he is willing to part with for a consideration ; 

 whereas in the former you lead the public mind astray as to the 

 nature of the things exhibited. 



We heard a good deal a short time since of the falling-off in 

 the taste for florists' flowers. I believe the two fundamental 

 causes of this to be — 1, Florists' flowers were so " dressed " at 

 the flower shows that purchasers never could obtain any ap- 

 proach to them in their own gardens, and were therefore dis- 

 couraged or disgusted, according to the view they took of the 

 failure ; and 2, The practice of breeding for flowers alone 

 brought into being a race so feeble that the individuals were 

 almost unmanageable, except in the most skilful hands. 



But to return to our Hyacinths. Is it right to unite two or 

 more spikes in such manner that to the public eye they look 

 like one? I think not. It may not be contrary to the terms of 

 this or that schedule, but it is sharp practice, over-reaching, 

 and calculated to mislead. " But," say the advocates of the 

 practice, " you all ' dress ' your Hyacinths ; and if you ' dress' 

 your pets your way, why should not I be allowed to ' dress ' 

 mine my way ?" It seems to me a question of " dressing," 

 which it is well known I have always been opposed to. I 

 believe it keeps many a man of high ability and honourable 

 feeling from entering the lists as a competitor, and conse- 

 quently many fine examples of horticultural skill are lost to 

 the general public. 



■But it is said, " You must 'dress' flowers for exhibition, 

 ind if you allow ' dressing ' at all you cannot limit the extent 

 of it." Now, is this reasoning sound '.' I have heard it said 

 that no Act of Parliament was ever framed that a skilful 

 lawyer might not drive a coach-aud-six through. Yet Acts of 

 Parliament are framed, and generally, under the ruling of wise 

 and impartial judges, work for the good of the public. If 

 flowers must be " dressed," which I do not admit, the judges 

 might be instructed to award the prizes for horticultural skill 

 in growth rather than in dressiiiri, and to put back any collec- 

 tions, without positively ignoring them, that were over-dressed. 

 As a working horticulturist I am too intent on my work to be 

 always studying my personal appearance. If I were to put on 

 a superfine coat when at my work I might soil it or spoU it in 



an hour ; but if I were going from my work to see a friend I 

 admit that I should wash, and brush, and put on good clothes, 

 but I should not pad or paint. Now, if " dressing" must be, 

 I would say, " Wash and brush, tie-up and arrange, but do 

 not pad or paint." A distinction of this kind might, I think, 

 be drawn, if not by the wording of a schedule, by the know- 

 ledge and acumen of the judges at our flower shows. It is 

 well known that as matters at present stand no great success 

 can Ije attained without a considerable amount of padding and 

 painting. 



As a last word, I would say to purchasers. Do not draw your 

 conclusions from what you see at flower shows, but from 

 gardens and nurseries, where you may see large quantities of 

 the same thing in a natural state. — Wm. Paul, Paul's Nur- 

 sffii's, Waltham Cross. 



PKOXY-VOTING at the ROYAL HOETICULTUKAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The Journal is always open to aU views on all horticultural 

 matters, so I ask for room for mine on male proxy-voting. I 

 think we may assume that the Eoyal Horticultural Society wiU 

 not always be, as it is at present, a Society which the majority 

 of its Fellows have joined in order to get the use of a cheap 

 private recreation ground for their families, but that it will 

 consist in a larger part of horticulturists of all ranks, who 

 belong to it mainly in order to promote horticulture. When 

 this good time comes we shall have many more Fellows re- 

 siding in distant parts of the country than at present. They 

 will take a warm interest in the Society's doings. We shall 

 not have very much to give them in exchange for their sub- 

 scriptions, and a journey to London in order to vote would be a 

 heavy tax. I think to make a real working Society embracing 

 the whole country we must have vote by proxy, and trust that 

 all good horticulturists will come round to this way of thinking 

 before the meeting at which the subject is to be again con- 

 sidered. — Georoe F. Wilson, Ueatherbank, Weyhridge Heath. 



As a country Fellow I quite agree with every word you have 

 said about voting by proxy in the Eoyal Horticultural Society. 

 These local questions, which have for years past agitated the 

 Society, have no interest for us country Fellows, and we have 

 neither time nor inclination to watch the alternate ups and 

 downs of the rival parties. If proxy-voting was in use at this 

 moment, and I were asked by some of your busy people in 

 London for my proxy, I could not for the hfe of me tell him 

 how I wished him to vote on my account. I consider such a 

 scheme as that which one of the parties (I don't know from 

 which it emanates) is trying to introduce will have but one 

 result, and that is the ruin of the Society. I for one shall 

 withdraw if such a bye-law be passed. — A Cocniey Fellow. 



What is it all about ? Vote by proxy ! Who wants to vote 

 by proxy ? Is it the country Fellows in whom such a sudden 

 display of interest has manifested itself, who are sighing for 

 this long-denied boon ? or is it some clique in London, who 

 wish to use the country Fellows as exhibitors do pretty little 

 marionettes, whom they cause to perform all sorts of interest- 

 ing manoeuvres by simply working a set of strings ? I have 

 known the Fellows of the Society for many years, and never 

 heard any desire expressed for the introduction of proxy- voting. 

 Who, then, is it who is so desirous of promoting it? — J. P., 

 Uasclhatch. 



We are summoned by the Council for the 21st inst. to con- 

 sider, and if deemed expedient to confirm, a bye-law framed 

 by them in compliance with the expressed wishes of a majority 

 of the Fellows present at a meeting held on the 8th of January 

 last, to extend the power of voting by proxy to the male as well 

 as lady Fellows of the Society, apropos to which two of our lead- 

 ing horticultural journalists have spoken out manfully upon the 

 subject, and in my opinion given us some sterling advice ; 

 offering, too, some suggestions worthy of the serious considera- 

 tion of every Fellow before deciding upon the course he shall 

 adopt. 



I maintain that voting by proxy upon ct parte statements, 

 and upon subjects little, if at all, understood until fully dis- 

 cussed and explained at a meeting, can at best be but a most 

 unsatisfactory proceeding. But beyond this, it must be borne 

 in mind that it is open to flagrant abuse, and also that, Uke 

 a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways ; for this power might 



