MONTHLY SUMMAKY. 759 



his honeysuckles or nail up his fruit trees. It must be left to 

 every man s own judgment \Yhat support to give his plants, but 

 if the comparative absence of support or manipulation were made 

 an admitted element in judging of the plants — if the exhibitor 

 found a decided preference in the awards for plants not, so over- 

 loaded with support, the evil would cure itself. 



It is the unacknowledged pretence against which our instincts 

 rebel, as they turn with disgust from the painted beauty and the 

 padded beau. Where the object is admittedly imitation, no such 

 dissatisfaction is felt. Wax fruits and flowers, although only the 

 semblable imitations of what they represent, give (like paintings 

 and statues) pleasure according to the success of the imitation. 

 Of these, both on the occasion of the Great International Fruit 

 Show and at the Chrysanthemum Show, some Tery excellent 

 specimens were exhibited. At first it was a question whether 

 imitation flowers ought to be admitted to the Shows or not, and 

 they were only admitted as an extraneous or accessory decoration, 

 notwithstanding which, by a sort of tacit recognition, we find them 

 now constantly occupying a place at flower-shows, both at home 

 and on the Continent; sometimes startling the florist with new 

 shades of colour, and usually furnishing the simple-minded' visitor 

 with an easy trap for his unwary companion, which would be in- 

 valuable to students of the " Raindeer" school. But there is no 



^ 



reason why they should be excluded from the horticulturists 

 domain. No one would dream of objecting to the exhibition of 

 dried plants of interest, when living specimens cannot be had, 

 and representations of such plants, whether paintings, engravings, 

 or imitations in wax or other material, are exactly in the same 

 category. They help to show what the plant is. Being aware we 

 require such representations, the horticulturist is interested that 

 they should be made well, and to encourage the art of making 

 them is thus a legitimate object for the science. 



Various are the materials which have been used for the purpose. 

 Those used for making imitations of fruit have been principally wax, 

 plaster of Paris, gypsum, j)apier mache, gutta pereha, and similar 

 materials. Specimens in all these were exhibited at the recent 

 International Fruit Show, and although all were good, wax and 

 gypsum seemed on the -whole to bear away the palm. Nothing 

 came up to some specimens of apples, pears, &c,, executed ^n 

 gypsum, presented to the Society in 1857 by His Royal Highness 

 the Prince Consort. Flowers are imitated in paper, cloth, papier 

 mache, wax, shells, gl^ss, feathers, and a variety of other materials. 



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