.626 Provincial Horticultural Societies : — 



Art. VI. Provincial Horticultural Societies. 



Our Reports of the Provincial Societies. — I beg leave most cordially to sub- 

 scribe to tlie opinion you have advanced in reply to Mr. Pope, p. 238. However prolix the details 

 of the exhibitions of these Societies may be, you cannot abandon them ; for your reports are the 

 only means the different societies have of knowing each other's proceedings, by which a constant 

 and reciprocal emulation is excited. 



The Florist's Gazette I am very willing to acknowledge an excellent work ; but, as you remark, 

 its circulation is limited to two or three northern counties ; whereas your Magazine not only 

 extends all over England, but to the Continent, and, as I was lately informed at Paris, is to be 

 met with in several parts of Holland and Germany : besides, your own interest must be a Iirst 

 consideration, and I know many members of various horticultural societies who are great ad- 

 mirers and supporters of your Magazine, who would immediately abandon it if Mr. Pope's wishes 

 were complied with. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — P. Lauder. Cardiff, May 23. 1831. 



The same Subject. — I am glad to see, by your remarks, p. 238., that you do 

 not mean to abandon the reports of provincial horticultural exhibitions. I consider them very 

 interesting, and as I contribute myself to two or three "Expositions desfleurs et frnits " annually 

 in this country, I am always anxious to compare the choicest plants on both sides ofthe water. — 

 W. H. W. 43. P.ue de Berlin, St. Omer's, August, 1831. 



We present the two preceding communications as including the " end and 

 aim " of similar additional ones ; and we present them here that they may appear in closer union 

 • with their subject. They demonstrate that we Cannot discontinue these reports : and they do more; 

 they supply valuable hints to the secretaries and others of provincial horticultural societies, 

 who provide the reports of their respective shows for the district newspapers, from which our 

 General Report is compiled. They will hence perceive that their individual reports are integral 

 parts of a national whole, and that that whole is deemed a just criterion of Britain's progress in hor- 

 ticulture and floriculture, and also that the respective details of that whole become so many given 

 points of comparison, by which our foreign readers estimate the merits of the productions of 

 themselves and their countrymen. It is pleasant to calculate also the uses of lists like the follow- 

 ing to amateur cultivators, whether of flowers or of fruits. In the case of flowers it will be seen that 

 Erythrina /aurifblia * and iV^rium splendens have each won several prizes, and the amateur will, 

 in consequence, if not already possessed of these plants, forthwith procure and cultivate them ; 

 the like effect in other cases, according to the circumstances, may be produced. We have to com. 

 plain that in too many of the reports, the omissions of the names of the winning articles have 

 been toonumerous ; there have been, 1st prize to Mr. A. ; 2d prize to Mr. B. ; 3d prize to Mr.C, 

 and so on : all which, though duly gratifying to the parties themselves, in their own immediate 

 neighbourhood, loses all its interest to those devoid of the pleasure of the acquaintance of Messrs 

 A., B., C. : the name of the production, and a brief notice both of its qualities, if peculiar, 

 and the culture, if peculiar, by which it has been rendered extraordinary, would be of universal 

 interest. These, and other points that we need not enumerate, we respectfully submit to the con-_ 

 sideration of our provincial friends. In the meantime, we have kept out of the present Number, 

 and shall in future keep out, all prizes, the sorts gaining which are not particularised. 



General Rules for the Adjudication of Frizes. — In their adjudication of prizes 

 horticultural societies will do well to discriminate as much as possible between the result 

 of chance and the result of skill; for it should ever be borne in mind, that the merit for 

 ■which a prize ought to be awarded exists not in the production but in the producer. The best 

 dish of filberts in August, or of cherries in July, gathered, perhaps, from standard trees planted 

 twenty years ago, may imply but slender merit in the individual who now produces them. In 

 every horticultural production, therefore, whether raised for use, luxury, or beauty, the merit of 

 the exhibitor is to be estimated by the degree of science, care, and skill, evinced in its cultivation. 

 There is considerable difficulty in appreciating these qualities ; because in very many cases, pro- 

 bably in most, they can only be inferred from the productions themselves. The Norfolk and 

 Norwich Horticultural Society has adopted a standard of judgment at once comprehensive, brief, 

 and perspicuous, for the regulation of those gentlemen who may be selected to award its prizes. 

 We trust that Colonel Mason will not be offended if we associate his name with a production for 

 which the Society is much indebted to him ; and the public will thank us for thus giving it a more 

 extended circulation. 



" In order to facilitate the method of judgment in awarding prizes to the horticultural exhibit- 

 ants, the following are the governing rules by which, in future, all fruits, flowers, and vegetables 

 will bo considered more or less deserving distinction. As the said rules are conceived to unite all 

 the good properties inherent in either fruits, flowers, or vegetables, they are hereby designated 

 • The Unities.' Exhibitants will therefore, by these ' unities,' possess data by which they will, at 

 one view, know with what chance of success they compete for prizes : — 



" The Unities for Fruits comprise Eight Properties. 1. Rarity of sort ; 2. Precocity of season ; 

 S, Magnificence of size or weight ; 4. Fineness of colour ; 5. Excellence of quality ; 6. Extent 

 of quantity sent for exhibition ; 7. Ingenuity of culture ; 8. Cheapness of production. 



" Example in the Orange. 1. Aurantia n6bilis (very rarely met with) ; 2. April (usual time, Au- 

 gust) ; 3. Circumference, on an average, 7 in. ; weight, 8 oz. ; 4. Deep yellow, with russet patches 

 on the sides ; 5. Thin-skinned, juicy, quick, and saccharine ; 6. Five in number ; 7. Heat applied 

 in March, rising from 55° to 80°; 8. Hot-water pipes, by Weeks's patent. 



" The Unities for Floweis consist also of Eight Properties. 1. Rarity of sort ; 2. Precocity of 

 season.; 3. Magnificence of size ; 4. Fineness of colour ; 5. Beauty of form ; 6. Delicacy or strength 

 of odour ; 7. Ingenuity of culture ; 8. Cheapness of production. 



" Example in the Carnation or Picotee. 1. Seedling; 2. July; 3. Diameter, Sin. ; 4. Yellow 

 Picotee ; ground primrose, clear from spots ; edges streaked with crimson, dark and distinct ; 

 5. Petals beautifully pinked ; calyx entire ; guard petals well reflexed ; centre petals perfectly 

 trussed up to the centre ; stem 24 in., strong, and scarcely needing a stick ; 6. But small odour ; 

 7. Half yellow loam, half horse-droppings, and a little sea sand ; 8. Cold frame in winter. 



4 JErythrina /aurifolia is, in gardens not a few, erroneously called E. Crista galli ; hence, where 

 E. Crista galli occurs m the following lists, it probably signifies in most cases E. /aurifolia, 

 which blooms far more freely than E. Crista g^lli. See Mr. EUes's directions for cultivating and 

 propagating this superb plant, E. /aurifblia, p. 456. 



