July 27, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



67 



of Ivies in pots plunged in ashes or soil in the garden. They 

 can be drawn for on any occasion for which they may be re- 

 quired, and after serving their purpose may be returned to the 

 store for future use. 



A dozen effective Ivies which are useful for various purposes 

 I select from those now growing in my garden ; but let me 

 say that for covering surfaces, and especially under trees and 

 for forming edgings to walks, the old Irish Ivy (Hedera helix 

 canadensis), is unsurpassable. The sorts which I find very 

 ornamental are the following : — 



H. Begneriana. — Leaves large, green, glossy, leathery, and 

 but slightly lobed. A noble Ivy for covering walls quickly, 

 beirig very bold and handsome. 



H. pedata. — Leaves hastate, small, sharply lobed, green with 

 distinot silvery-grey veins ; a good grower and dinger ; suitable 

 for walls, pots, and almost all purposes of decoration. One of 

 the most useful. 



H. latifolia maculata. — Leaves large, green, heavily blotohed 

 with white. A very free grower, and admirable for dark places 

 in shrubberies, either for covering walls or trellises or for trail- 

 ing over the surface of the ground. 



H. lobata major. — Leaves medium-sized, bluntly lobed ; a 

 cheerful green, with clearly marked veins. A very useful free- 

 growing variety. 



H. minor maculata. — Leaves very small, perfectly mottled; 

 habit dose ; plant of free growth. Useful for margins. 



S. sub-lutea. — Leaves small, irregular, not lobed ; oentre 

 green, edged and flaked with white and yellow. Distinot but 

 not vigorous. 



H. rhomboidea. — Leaves medium, almost oval; very rich 

 green with clear veins. A good grower ; very distinct and 

 effective. 



H. marginata grandis. — Leaves medium-sized, rich green, 

 broadly margined with ivory white. A very free grower, and 

 valuable for pots, walls, or edgings. 



H. marginata rubra. — Leaves small, two shades of green, 

 broadly edged with white and flaked with pink. Attractive. 



H. marginata major. — Leaves slightly lobed, deep green, 

 mottled with light green and margined with creamy white; 

 veins clear. Effeotive and a good grower. 



S. angulaHa. — Leaves medium, very rich green, rather 

 deeply lobed ; veins distinct. Not a good dinger, but effective 

 for many purposes of decoration. 



H. chrysophylla . — Medium grower; leaves green, some of 

 them mottled with yellow, others entirely yellow. Very dis- 

 tinct, and effeotive for pots, low walls, rockwork, &a. — J. 



KOSE JUDGING. 



Neveb has our national flower been grown so extensively 

 and exhibited so gloriously as in the season now passing. In 

 many stands the difficulty has not been to pick out good , but 

 inferior blooms, so uniformly excellent have been the collections. 



Rose-growing is not only pleasurable in itself, but fosters 

 good feeling, promotes good fellowship, and calls into action 

 worthy qualities. There is nothing churlish about rosarians ; 

 they not only desire that others should see and enjoy their 

 " blooms," but at great cost and labour travel with them, it 

 may be, a hundred miles and place them on the exhibition 

 tables. 



In the exhibiting of no flower is there such a heartiness as 

 in exhibiting Roses. Each exhibitor hopes to win — he would 

 not be a worthy exhibitor if he did not— but there are no 

 " better losers " than among rosarians when a verdict is rightly 

 given. Some exhibitors are more elated than others when 

 successful, and there are degrees of expressed disappointment 

 on losing. It is stated that on the Rev. Reynolds Hole being 

 " lectured " by an unsucosssful exhibitor, who thought himself 

 or his Roses " badly judged," that Mr. Hole coolly replied, 

 " My friend, I always said if ever I went crazed it would be 

 over the Rose." 



But considering the difficulty of judging Roses, the differences 

 of taste, and the number of exhibitors, it is proverbial that 

 there are very few " scenes " in the Rose court, and that be- 

 cause those who indulge in the gentle art of Rose-growing are 

 gentle-men. Yet there are not many shows at which some 

 exception is not made to the correctness of the verdict in some 

 class or other. That the judges are impartial no one doubts, 

 and they are admitted to " know a Rose when they see one." 

 But knowing a Ross well is not sufficient to constitute a gentle- 

 man a judge. There are those who can analyse the merits of 

 a Rose perfectly, and can pick out the best half-dozen or dozen 



blooms with certainty, but who become quite bewildered when 

 they have to adjudicate on half a dozen " seventy-twos " and] 

 as many " forty-eight trebles." 



In these large classes and when the competition is keen there 

 are very few amateur growers who can grasp the qualities of the 

 several collections. There are not many exhibitions which do 

 not betray some error in judging, and at times the awards are 

 changed after they have been made. The judges have long 

 and carefully balanced the collections, and have decided as they 

 think rightly, when someone sees at a glance that an error 

 has been committed, and points it out in a few words that 

 carry conviction, and the mistake is sometimes rectified. At 

 some shows it is observable that freshness and quality have 

 carried the palm, and at others size has triumphed, according 

 to the " tastes " of the adjudicators. There does not appear 

 to be quite an accepted standard in Rose judging, and perhaps 

 it would be difficult to define one : hence it is that judging; 

 muBt be a matter of taste, and the more important it becomes 

 that the adjudicators should not only " know a Rose," but who 

 can comprehend as if intuitively the relative merits of classes 

 which embrace from three hundred to eight hundred blooms. 



There are few exoept those who spend as it were their lives 

 among the Roses, who can judge large collections accurately.** 

 I have made a point of noticing the remarks of the working 

 rosarians — the men who have grown and staged Roses for 

 years — when they have entered a show to see the verdicts. It 

 is surprising how "unerring is the inBtinct" of these men, 

 and if a mistake has been made how quickly one after the other 

 will detect it. It is pretty certain that the professional growers 

 of Roses are the best judges of large collections, and I think 

 the time has arrived when at least one professional judge- 

 should preside over the important classes in every great show. 

 There are those who do not now enter the lists in competition,., 

 yet who are thorough masters of the art of judging, whose 

 services might advantageously be brought into requisition. 

 There are great growers in the north who do not exhibit in the 

 south, and vice versa, who might be engaged to adjudicate;, 

 giving them remuneration proportionate to their standing and 

 skill. One thorough good judge will not only judge more ac- 

 curately than the majority of amateurs, but will do his work 

 more quickly. Rose-growing has attained such a state of per- 

 fection, the collections are so large and numerous, and their 

 merits are so nearly balanced, that only judges of great stand- 

 ing can be expected to give safe and satisfactory verdicts. At 

 any rate it is highly important that special care be exercised 

 in the selection of judges, for it is a great mistake to think 

 that all lovers of Roses and enthusiastic admirers are com- 

 petent to adjudicate in the great classes at our large shows. 



In judging the judging too, for there is necessarily much ofr 

 that, one cannot be too careful. Nothing can be more abBurd 

 than to differ from the awards two hours after they have been 

 made. At a recent show a judge, one of the best in England, 

 was " button-holed " and brought face to faoe with the work 

 he had done two hours previously. " Which now as a Robo- 

 grower and a honest man," asked his interrogator, "which of 

 these collections do you mean to say is the best ?" " This 

 one of course," after a momentary glance at the boxes, replied 

 the adjudicator, pointing to the second-prize collection. 

 " Then why," retorted the exhibitor, " did you not give it- 

 first 1" " Because," Baid the judge, " it did not deserve it. I' 

 awarded the prize to the best collection at eleven o'clock, and 

 now it is one o'clock." 



There is a great deal of reason in that reply, and it may 

 well be kept in mind wh6n one is inclined to judge the judging. 

 In even half an hour after judging blooms will lose their 

 quality, and if on-lookers would well consider the question of 

 " time " in connection with quality there would be fewer 

 remarks on " bad judging." But one thing is clear, that in 

 adjudicating on the magnificent displays of modern times the 

 judges cannot be too thoroughly, practically, and intimately 

 acquainted not only with RoseB as such, but with RoseB in the 

 immense numbers and of the high quality that are now staged. 

 Where twenty can be found to judge in the " twenty-fours,'"' 

 not half a dozen deal competently with close collections of 

 " seventy-twos."— A Secbetaey. 



FLOWERS WITH PERNS. 



The following is a plan now used by me in the gardens at 

 Hainton Hall for filling pots (which are placed in vases), with 

 cut flowers and Ferns. 



At the time of potting Maidenhair and other Ferns three* 



