234 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



the corresponding Rose in the other stand and 

 adding or subtracting points accordingly is a 

 method I have used when judging alone in a 

 "near thing"; looking at the Roses from the 

 level of the trays so as to get a comparison of the 

 depth of the blooms may sometimes be of service 

 in the task of arriving at a decision : and if the 

 verdict should still be doubtful, arrangement, 

 neatness, foliage, and even moss may help to 

 turn the scale. In such extreme cases, however, 

 it is better to judge them as equal where the 

 prizes are money and can be divided ; if a cup 

 be in question, of course one must be declared the 

 winner. 



I went once some little distance to a show solely 

 as judge, there being no class suited to me. The 

 prize was a cup for forty-eight, and there was no 

 second or other prize whatever. I was the only 

 judge, and the exhibitors were two noted rival 

 nurserymen of the very first calibre. I was shut 

 up quite alone in the tent, and proceeded to my 

 task with cheerfulness, not knowing what was in 

 store for me. I "pointed" each bloom with great 

 pains, and took care not to add up the total of the 

 first stand till I had done the other, lest I should 

 be insensibly influenced. To my horror they came 

 out exactly equal. I went through them again 

 from the other end, and this time I did get about 

 one and a half points' difference, but still felt that 

 the second judgment was not quite so trustworthy, 

 as I might be unconsciously anxious to find a 

 difference. I compared them in every way I knew, 

 but still could make hardly more than a point 

 between them, if so much. No difference was to 



