6& THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
If Mr. Greenwood will kindly send the Editor the next flower he has to 
spare, perhaps the doubtful point can be cleared up, and I hope the original 
record, will prove correct. Of course my remarks were intended to illus- 
trate a general principle, and will remain after C. x Lilian Greenwood has, 
with J. A.’s permission, been withdrawn from the list given at page 4r-- 
I note that Mr. A. Dean has some remarks to make on the R. H. 5S. 
awards to which I called attention at page 40. Speaking of the Orchid 
Committee he observes :—‘‘ I think it is not too much to say of the latter 
body that it is largely composed of pure enthusiasts, who are in their awards 
guided by no such severe considerations as animate members of other com- 
mittees, and every trifling variation in form or colour or marking in any 
Orchid excites the greatest admiration ; hence the abundance of awards. 
Possibly the purposed subjecting all honoured flowers to the ordeal of the 
artist’s brush—and it is hoped the work of illustrating these flowers will be 
performed with absolute accuracy—for presenting to the Committee fac- 
similes of previous exhibits, will tend somewhat to cool members’ fervour in 
relation to minute divergencies henceforth.” (Journ. of Hort., Feb. 25, p.- 
163). Ido not necessarily endorse the first part of these remarks, but having 
more than once had occasion to comment on the doings of this Committee, 
I was naturally glad to see that the Council of the R. H. S. had felt it 
necessary to call attention to the question of awards generally, and to 
indicate the desirability of some improvement. 
Mr. Dean goes on to define the Award of Merit as a recognition of good 
average merit in the plant to which it is given, and nothing more; 
consequently, nothing to boast of. He also remarks that it is no doubt often 
good-naturedly bestowed because it pleases some one and nobody is hurt. 
Now this is a little too bad. Surely we have not descended to that level. 
I have always recognised that the Committee do a great amount of good 
and useful work, and if I have sometimes had to take them to task it is 
chiefly because they did not always keep up to their own standard. They 
must see to it that this idea does not get about generally. And that defini- 
tion of the Award of Merit, which I believe is generally considered as 
equivalent to the Second-class Certificate of some years ago. However, 
we have had a definition of the Botanical Certificate as an award given to 
indicate the opinion of the Committee that the plant on which it is bestowed 
is not worthy of commendation for cultural or decorative purposes (vide 
supra, IV., p. 198), and I remember once seeing a poor spike of 
Catasetum macrocarpum, I think it was, in a ginger-beer bottle (or was it a 
blacking jar?) labelled Botanical Certificate. I hope no one was hurt. 
The Committee really must be a little more careful in future. 
ARGUS. 
