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JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB, 



t March 23, 1871. 



bouquets are amongst tbe most attractive features at the Ehow, 

 and it is almost sure to happen that some — very possibly a 

 large number — differ in opinion from the judges; sometimes, 

 I believe, a protest has been entered against the decision — al- 

 though I have not koown any ease of such being made — and 

 of course where this is the case some unpleasantness is the 

 result. Now, if bouquets were judged by some code of laws 

 like that attempted to be laid down for judging Grapes, some 

 reasons might be given for the decision. Perhaps some one 

 will be good enough to put forth a few ideas bearing on the 

 matter, and by way of an introduction I beg to submit the 

 following crude notions as to what I think ought to be borne 

 in mind when such things are placed before a judge. 



1. A hand bouquet mast be made so as to be easily carried in all 

 positions in tbe hand without any of its parts being disarranged when 

 it is turned npside down ; and to prove this the judge to he at liberty 

 to swing it sharply about in all directions in his hand, and if it will 

 not bear this ordeal, to reject it. 



2. The bouquet to be shown without any paper or other guard or 

 bordering, excepting that of flower or foliage ; the handle also not to 

 be too thick, for the reasons given in Rule 1. 



3. No flower baring a disagreeable smell to he used for a hand 

 bouquet; where such exists the bouquet to be disquaUfied. N.B. — This 

 rule need not be enforced in a stand of flowers for the table, unless it 

 be thought advisable to do ao. 



4. The quality of the flowers used — i.e., their rarity not to be taken 

 into consideration unless the arrangement be equaUy good, or better 

 than where common ones are used. 



5. No bouquet to be exhibited under a glass shade unless all are 

 provided with this appendage, but the exhibitor may be allowed to 

 keep one over his bouquet until requested to remove it prior to judging, 

 not afterwards. 



6. Dried and Everlasting Flowers not to be mixed with fresh ones, 

 and the same may be said of foliage. 



7. Flowers may be mounted on wire or other substance, but too 

 much wirework ought not to be used, so as to indicate its presence by 

 the weight of the bouquet. 



It is not assumed that the foregoing rules embody all that 

 may be necessary, but I throw them out as a sort of outline to 

 be added to or amended as may be thought proper. At the 

 same time let it be borne in mind that they are intended for 

 guidance in judging hand bouquets, and not those for the table. 

 The latter may have a more feathery outline, as they are not 

 expected to be turned upside down, but the hard usage those 

 for the hand have to undergo necessitates their being some- 

 what formal and compact, and the overspreading sprig of 

 Maiden-hair or other Fern which may be merely stuck in 

 amongst the flowers of the table-stand ought to be firmly fixed 

 in its place in the hand bouquet, otherwise it will be speedily 

 displaced when the latter is brought into use ; the judge ought, 

 therefore, to ascertain this, and if it or any flower fall out 

 when the bouquet is turned upside down, or subjected to such 

 trials as a bouquet will in ordinary usage have to undergo, he 

 is not expected to replace them, but to lay them by the side of 

 the bouquet to show its delects to the public. 



Great size having been already spoken of as objectionable, 

 the other extreme must also be avoided ; but much weight 

 ought to be given to an agreeable combination of colours, and 

 in general the best effect is produced by the fewest varieties ; 

 about three, or at most four, kinds of flowers with the necessary 

 foliage, be it Ferns or anything else, are sufiicient for most 

 nosegays, and I am not certain but one or two kinds of flowers 

 only would be better still. Formality, however objectionable 

 in other combinations of flowers, is indispensable in a nosegay, 

 otherwise it will not endure hard usage, and such flowers only 

 as have stiff stems and are otherwise capable of enduring hard 

 usage should be allowed to project beyond their fellows ; the 

 same may be said of foliage. The judge should be guided by 

 what he would expect the bouquet to be after an hour in a ball- 

 room, and not merely by what it is at the moment. 



Perhaps one class of bouquet may be in some degree exempt 

 from the rather severe ordeal I have advised for the others, 

 and that is the bridal bouquet; for a greater amount of care 

 and gentle treatment is likely to be accorded to it, and it need 

 not undergo the five minutes' gyration I have sometimes thought 

 others ought to do on the vanes of a windmill. Still I would 

 insist on its veil of Fern, which seems an indispensable accom- 

 paniment, being fixed so as not to come out when turned up- 

 side down ; and as custom has established the rule to confine 

 this bouquet to white flowers only, I will in this instance find 

 no fault with it, but may say that a liberal allowance of green 

 is an improvement. As a censor one must handle the bridal 

 bouquet as well as the others, and if any of the contriYancea 



used to mount the flowers be visible, or the handle too thick, 

 or the whole too heavy, I would be disposed to judge unfavour- 

 ably of it, for no surroundings of lace, be it from Brussels or 

 still further off, can compensate for a bad arrangement of 

 Nature's choicest ornaments. — J. Eobson. 



THE EFFECTS OF THE WINTEK. 



"We are now, after some fine weather and sunshine, able to see 

 to the full extent the eiJects of the past winter upon vegetation 

 generally ; and I conclude, from what I have seen and read, 

 tfiat at other places though the cold has been as severe as in 

 the winter of 1860-61, there has not been so much damage done 

 among large trees of the Fir tribe, and large evergreens of dif- 

 ferent kinds, as in that winter. The principal reason of this 

 difference is, no doubt, from the winter of 1860-61 having 

 occurred after a very wet summer and autumn, while last sum- 

 mer was exceptionally, dry, so that most plants would be more 

 perfectly at rest, and, consequently, better prepared to bear the 

 effects of a hard winter than in the winter of 1860. At this 

 place (Hatfield), I have not known the thermometer fall below 

 4°, or 28' below freezing, nevertheless this temperature has 

 proved too severe for many things except evergreens ; these 

 and all the Fir tribe are as fresh as ever, and in the kitchen 

 garden the most tender of the wall-fruit trees, such as Peaches, 

 are not in the least injured. These and most other trees on 

 walls are showing for bloom as well as anyone could wish ; but 

 many stools of Raspberries have been killed outright. 



Of green vegetables there is very little left alive ; whole 

 quarters of Broccoli have been killed to a plant, especially the 

 plants which were large and growing luxuriantly, but a few 

 that were planted late have escaped, such being so dwarf as not 

 to show any stem above ground. I have before noticed the 

 fact, that late-planted Broccoli will often withstand the severe 

 weather better than that planted early, owing, I conclude, to its 

 being dwarf and compact, and the tender part of the stem just 

 under the leaves which the frost attacks first being so well pro- 

 tected by leaves. Those sorts of Broccoli which have stood the 

 winter best are Purple Sprouting, Melville's Dalmeny May, 

 and Wilcove. Among Kales are Melville's Variegated, Dwarf 

 Green Curled, and Boda Kale. Brussels and Dalmeny Sprouts 

 are uninjured. I may mention that a bed of some hundreds 

 of the little Eosette Colewort, although growing close to some 

 Watercress beds, and therefore always surrounded with water, 

 have passed through the winter almost uninjured, while in a 

 large bed of spring Cabbage standing on a dry bank there are 

 hundreds killed. Again, there were two beds of Spinach sown, 

 one in the early part cf September and the other early in 

 October ; the former has borne the severe weather well, and is 

 now producing some good dishes, while the later-sown bed is 

 worthless. For years I have practised sowing my principal 

 bed of Winter Spinach in August ; it then yields a good pro- 

 duce till the winter is far advanced, and at the same time gains 

 strength to pass through the winter and yield again long 

 before the later-sown bed. It is, however, always well to sow 

 in October also, for besides providing against an extra demand, 

 picking from this bed saves the other or winter bed from being 

 exhausted so much as it would otherwise be. Celery has not 

 been much injured, as it was earthed-up well and carefully, 

 which is a great security, and the tops of the ridges were pro- 

 tected with Fern and rough litter. The hardiest Celery has 

 proved to be Teitch's Silver White and the Incomparable 

 Dwarf White, and among Beds Cole's Defiance. If it were 

 possible to always obtain the above sorts true, gardeners would 

 require to grow no others. Veitch's Silver White is a first-rate 

 early Celery, next comes Defiance Eed, and lastly, Incomparable, 

 which is the hardiest of the three sorts — indeed, of any that I 

 have grown. Henderson's Conqueror is also a first-rate white 

 sort. 



Doubtless, the severe winter will leave behind some valuable 

 lessons to gardeners ; one of the principal will, no doubt, be to 

 provide some safer way of protecting the Broccoli crops — it is 

 the one thing needful to gardeners. I do not like the system 

 of laying Broccoli which is practised at many places. I never 

 could save so many in that way as by letting them stand as they 

 grew. I say let them stand and receive the benefit of sun and 

 air to harden their stems, and if much wet weather come before 

 frost, which is often the case, they have a chance to dry, and 

 will bear it better and longer without injury. I never practised 

 laying Broccoli until last autumn, and 1 am sorry for it, as they 

 are all killed ; it is among those not laid that any which have 

 survived the winter are to be found. If a bed of Bioocoli were 



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