BLOOMS FOR EXHIBITION 109 



or so before the exhibition. This may be wise, but I hardly 

 think so, particularly if the plants are in vigorous health, 

 for good colour and refinement in the flower are desirable 

 qualities ; extra coarse stems, with the blooms straggling 

 here and there at varying distances apart, are not the only, 

 or, indeed, the best qualities. By allowing the plants to 

 bloom, and cutting the spikes when the first flower is open, 

 it will not unduly exhaust the plant, but it will prevent 

 coarseness of flower and the tendency of the colour to 

 run and streak ; the stems also become firmer and have 

 not the same tendency to hang their heads when set up 

 in a warm tent. 



Unfortunately, there are a few varieties that cannot 

 withstand the sun, such, for instance, as the orange-shaded 

 flowers and one or two of the crimson and scarlet varieties ; 

 but, nevertheless, they do not require much shade. I have 

 seen various things tried for shading purposes, but nothing 

 answers so well as old fish-nets, three or four thicknesses, and 

 placed well away from the plants. If this is put on three 

 clear days before the show it will prove quite sufficient, but 

 it must be removed again when not required, though this 

 is really not so imperative as when tiffany is used ; this 

 latter material excludes much air as well as- light, and on 

 really hot days the blooms will scald from want of air as 

 badly as they would burn by the sun. 



In cutting flowers for the show the exhibitor must be 



