280 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
THE PRIZE ESSAYS. 
On the third day of the Conference (Saturday, September 28) 
the chair was taken at 3.30 p.m. by Mr. Philip Ceowley, 
F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Treasurer of the Society. 
In the early spring of 1895 the Council of the Society offered 
a prize of £10 for the best essay, not exceeding 10,000 words in 
length, on The Commercial Aspects of Hardy Fruit Growing." 
In response to this offer a number of essays were sent in, and 
Mr. John Wright, Mr. A. F. Barron, and the Rev. W. Wilkg 
were appointed to examine them and report to the Council. The 
examiners at once perceived that two of the essays were un- 
doubtedly superior to the remainder, and they then gave the 
closest examination to these two, but with the result that, with 
every desire to discriminate between them, they were unable 
to do so on any reasonable ground, and they therefore considered 
it better to report the two as equal. The Council having received 
this report from the examiners, decided to increase the prize- 
money by £5f and divide it between the two successful essayists, 
Mr. Lewis Castle and Mr. S. T. Wright. 
Before this report of equality had been made, notice had been 
given to the Fellows of the Society, and others, that the prize 
essay would be read at the meeting on the third day of the 
Crystal Palace Show. It was absolutely necessary, therefore, 
that one of the two essays should be read (or parts of it, for there 
was not time for the whole), and Mr. S. T. Wright's was chosen 
for the purpose — not in any sense as signifying that it was 
considered at all superior to Mr. Castle's, but simply because a 
choice having to be made it was thought to contain rather less 
statistical matter, which, whilst being most valuable to a reader, 
is somewhat less suitable for listeners. 
It should be added that, in accordance with suggestions made 
to the writers, both essays have been slightly added to and 
amended since thoy were sent in, with the object of supplying 
certain points of information which had been either overlooked 
or purposely omitted in order to conform with the stipulated 
10,000 words. 
