416 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and even if the new flower retains all the beauty and refinement of the 

 older varieties with the advantage of greater size, but by reason of the 

 plant's growth fails to display them effectively, it is useless for garden 

 decoration." 



Mr. E. Molyneux, Y.M.H. : — " Size when illustrating high culture 

 cannot be deprecated. For instance, large Japanese Chrysanthemums 

 show the natural form and colour of individual varieties, and for some 

 forms of decoration, vases for large rooms, halls, staircases, &c. are valuable. 

 For epergnes and table decorations generally, small varieties are more 

 valuable as being in keeping with these requirements. 



" Lily of the Valley, Arums, Roses, Geraniums, Cannas, Camellias, 

 when large, are certainly more gorgeous than small blooms. For small 

 vases, button-hole bouquets, &c, small flowers of high quality are desir- 

 able." 



Mr. C. E. Pearson : — " The craving after size is a purely natural one, 

 and net altogether to be discouraged unless other qualities are sacrificed. 

 The only gross case on the other side which occurs to me is the practical 

 exclusion of the 1 Black Hamburg ' Grape from the market by ' Alicante ' 

 and 1 Gros Colmar.' These coarse fruits are only tolerable from December 

 onwards when ' Black Hamburg ' is out of season, but they now flood the 

 market in September and October, when they are not fit to eat, and the 

 Hamburg, the best of all grapes, is disappearing from commercial 

 cultivation." 



Mr. H. Somers Rivers : — " Big fruits are not necessarily poor-flavoured, 

 but extra big specimens fed up and brought to unusual size often are. 



" Ordinary good-sized specimens of ' Doyenne du Cornice ' Pear, often 

 larger than one would care to tackle by oneself, are most excellent, also 

 ' Princess of Wales ' Peach. Very frequently, of course, the highly 

 coloured Peaches are not to be compared in flavour to the pale ones ; want 

 of flavour in Peaches is often due to their being allowed to hang too long 

 on the trees ; also if the trees have been watered just before the fruit is 

 picked, this will affect their flavour. 



" ' Gros Colmar ' Grapes, if thoroughly and properly finished off, are of 

 excellent flavour. One cannot judge this variety by the unripe fruit one 

 usually gets in the market." 



Mr. C. E. Shea : — " Save in the case of cottagers, who have to regard 

 bulk with the view of meeting the, perhaps large, requirements of the 

 family, 'size,' in fruits and vegetables, cannot, in my judgment, for one 

 instant be held to make up for deficiency in flavour or quality. 



11 And in the case of flowers the same rule should prevail. It would 

 surely evince a low standard of taste to estimate 'size ' as to be preferred, 

 or even to be equal in merit, to 'beauty and refinement.' Indeed, size 

 in certain cases becomes a positive demerit. Take for instance Aster 

 <ri<:<>i<Jrs. Increase the size of the individual flowers fourfold, and the 

 beauty of this, charming Michaelmas Daisy would be gone. And how 

 many of the most lovely and refined varieties of the Chrysanthemum have 

 almost disappeared from cultivation in face of the demand for increased 

 size and weight ! 



" ' Size ' — the demand for it — is undoubtedly the offspring of competi- 

 tive exhibition. In theory each variety is, or should be, judged from 



