XI EXHIBITING 227 



and, in Teas especially, a man who shows his Eoses 

 well will often beat a worse performer even though 

 the latter have better raw material. An old friend 

 and rival (one of the editors of this edition) , the Eev. 

 F. Page-Eoberts, who by his splendid showing had 

 often beaten me when I felt my blooms were natur- 

 ally the finer, once most good-naturedly set up my 

 Teas as well as his own at the Crystal Palace, though 

 we were showing in the same class. Poetic justice 

 was for once triumphant, for we came out " equal 

 first." 



Though perhaps a pity, it is inevitable that the 

 art of display should have this advantage ; it would 

 never do for the judges to pull the blooms about and 

 see what they are capable of. So the beginner must 

 learn how to show his Eoses to the best effect in the 

 first place by watching others ; and he will find that, 

 next to experience, plenty of patience with a good 

 allowance of time is the principal requisite. 



The first thing will be to " set up " the blooms in 

 their tubes higher than they were, level, even, and 

 straight, each Eose so turned as to present its best 

 side to the front. The ties should be removed from 

 all except those which open too freely, and an en- 

 deavour should be made to tie them again one row of 

 petals nearer to the centre, the second row being 

 encouraged to open out. If any defect should be 

 thus exposed in the centre, it will depend upon the 

 greatness and nature of the flaw and what spare 

 blooms you may have, whether the bloom is to be 

 rejected or whether it can be tied up again as it was 

 before, so that the defect can be hidden. A younger 

 though smaller bloom is generally the safest. An 

 old hand by keeping the points of his Eoses tied up 



Q 2 



