THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS 243 



the dim days of early winter, are teased and tortured 

 and fatted and bloated into ugly and useless mon- 

 strosities for no purpose but to gain money. And 

 when private gardeners go to these shows and see 

 how the prizes are awarded, and how all the glory is 

 accorded to the first-prize bloated monster, can we 

 wonder that the effect on their minds is confusing, if 

 not absolutely harmful ? 



Shows of Carnations and Pansies, where the older 

 rules prevail, are equally misleading, where the single 

 flowers are arranged in a flat circle of paper. As with 

 the Chrysanthemum, every sort of trickery is allowed 

 ia arranging the petals of the Carnation blooms : petals 

 are pulled out or stuck, in, and they are twisted about, 

 and groomed and combed, and manipulated with 

 special tools — " dressed," as the show-word has it — 

 dressed so elaborately that the dressing only stops 

 short of applying actual paint and perfumery. Already 

 in the case of Carnations a better influence is being 

 felt, and at the London shows there are now classes 

 for border Carnations set up in long-stalked bunches 

 just as they grow. It is only like this that their 

 value as outdoor plants can be tested ; for many of the 

 show sorts have miserably weak stalks, and a very 

 poor, lanky habit of growth. 



Then the poor Pansies have single blooms laid flat 

 on white papers, and are only approved if they will lie 

 quite flat and show an outline of a perfect circle. All 

 that is most beautifvil in a Pansy, the wing-Hke cuyvesr 



