Gardening for Amateurs 



283 



floating in water in a cool cellar. Treated 

 thus the flower stems absorb a quantity of 

 water which keeps them fresh for a long time. 

 Some prefer to cut the blooms early on the 

 morning of the show, but if the weather turn 

 out wet and windy they often regret having 

 delayed the work until then. It is a wise 

 plan to label all the blooms before they are 

 cut ; if this system be not adopted each 

 bloom should be labelled directly it has been 

 cut to prevent mistakes. Duplicates put in 

 the box owing to wrong labelling form an 

 extremely annoying ground for disqualifica- 

 tion. When eho.,- 

 ing blooms for ex- 

 hibition it is better 

 to take those that 

 are hardly more 

 than half open ; 



they >hould be cut . 



with very long 

 stalks and placed 

 in water at once, 

 so that the ends 

 of the stalks may 

 not get dry. 



On reaching the 

 show-room or mar- 

 quee make sure that 

 then- i- a -uHieient 

 quantity of water in 

 the tubes. When 

 arranging the 

 blooms in the box 

 put the largest 

 Honors at the back 

 and the smallest in 

 the front ; those at 

 the back being 

 highest and those 

 at the front lowest, 

 the others graduated 

 accordingly. Space 

 the flowers accu- 

 rately and keep 

 them level in the 

 rows. 



I need hardly add 

 that the exhibitor 

 should avoid all 

 tricks, dodges and 

 takes ; not only are 

 these dishonest and 



contemptible, but often they defeat their 

 object and bring about disqualification. 

 I should not mention such an unpleasant 

 subject, but it is a proved fact that such 

 things are perpetrated sometimes. Dean 

 Hole, who in his day was in great request 

 as a judge at Rose shows, tells more 

 than one good story of such occurrences. 

 I will quote but one from his " Book about 

 Roses." "On one occasion," he says, "just 

 as he and the other judges had commenced 

 their survey of the flowers an exhibitor re- 

 appeared, hot and out of breath, and begged 



A remarkable bush of Rose La France (Hybrid Tea), silvery-pink. 



