io6 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



the individual blooms. We have on several occasions seen 

 them exhibited in this way, and have frequently used them 

 for house decoration arranged in vases, and are fully per- 

 suaded that the inclusion of a few classes in the competitive 

 section would be helpful in obtaining for the show varieties 

 the attention to which they are so fully entitled. The 

 cactus, pompon, single, collerette, paeony-flowered, and 

 decorative varieties certainly present the most attractive 

 appearance when arranged in vases, from three to five 

 blooms in each ; and when the vases are provided by the 

 society, the additional expense to the exhibitor is not great. 



The staging of cactus varieties, and also some other 

 sections, in triangular wire frames is undoubtedly more 

 convenient to exhibitors than exhibiting them in vases 

 without some such support, and the convenience of ex- 

 hibitors must not be overlooked. With the aid of these 

 frames, the blooms can be arranged at home on the 

 previous evening, or early in the morning of the show day, 

 and be readily packed and brought to the place of ex- 

 hibition. The arrangement of a considerable proportion 

 of the flowers shown before leaving home lessens the work 

 that has to be done after reaching the place of exhibition, 

 and thereby enables some cultivators to show more largely 

 than would otherwise be possible. Unfortunately, the frames 

 in general use are too flat and formal to allow of artistic 

 effects in the arrangement of collections ; and therefore, 

 if they are to be retained in the interests of exhibitors, an 

 endeavour should be made to effect an improvement in 

 their design. 



A considerable advance has been made in the decora- 

 tive side of Dahlia shows within recent years, and there 



