i6 ANTIRRHINUMS AND PENTSTEMONS 



vases. In regard to arrangement of colours it is necessary 

 to have regard to tasteful blending of delicate shades and 

 producing bold contrasts of brilliant hues, but this is more 

 a matter of individual taste than one that can be taught 

 by written instruction. 



See that every vase is well filled with water, but do not 

 resort to syringing or spraying the blooms. It is sur- 

 prising how many exhibitors of considerable experience 

 persist in this practice, and yet they must have seen how 

 the water on the blooms turns them almost transparent 

 in patches, and gives them a dirty appearance through 

 adhesion of the dust that inevitably arises in a busy 

 exhibition, whether under canvas or in a hall. 



Where classes ar^ provided for a given number of 

 spikes of six or a dozen varieties " distinct," the utmost 

 care must be exercised to avoid even slight variation in 

 colour, such as might lead to the impression that a 

 mixture is staged. Such variation is frequent even in 

 good strains of seedlings, and thus it is really preferable 

 when catering for such classes to grow from stock 

 propagated from cuttings. This point is another strong 

 argument in favour of the group system, for which seed- 

 lings, with their strong, vigorous, and upstanding spikes, 

 are admirably adapted; but even with these it is very 

 undesirable to admit pronounced variations in the flowers 

 constituting one vase or clump, and the purer one's 

 varieties, the greater the merit of the exhibit. 



It is well the exhibitor should have a clear idea of the 

 " points " or qualities of a good Antirrhinum. 



To begin with the "pip," or individual bloom, this 

 should be large, bold, and well-balanced. The standard, 

 or crowning petal, should stand well up, with a backward 

 curve. It is a great defect when the standard droops 

 forward or "hoods" over the nose of the flower. The 

 nose should be full, rounded, and show neither depression 

 nor a tendency to split, and the less of yellow visible at the 



