HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS AND SCHEDULES. 511 



It must be understood that it is only for the purpose of 

 exhibiting flowers that the terms " kind " and " genus " are said 

 to be practically identical, and if this is not an exact representa- 

 tion it has the merit of being safe, and the farther an exhibitor 

 may diverge from it, the greater the risk he incurs of running 

 himself out of the competition. Some judges have a very strict, 

 others a more elastic way of discharging their duties, and it is 

 best not to give them a chance to disqualify an exhibit. There 

 are exceptions to the identity of the above terms in some fruit 

 and vegetable classes (see R.H.S. " Rules "), but these are usually 

 made clear in schedules, which should be strictly followed. 



Duties and Responsibilities. 



Other matters to be noticed include the positions and obliga- 

 tions of officials and others connected with them, such as (1) the 

 rights and responsibilities of committees ; (2) the duties of secre- 

 taries ; (3) of managers and stewards ; (4) of exhibitors ; and 

 (5) of judges. 



Committees. — The committee (or council) of a society is the 

 supreme controlling power of its show. It is also the official 

 court of appeal for the settlement of doubts and difficulties, 

 unless the decision on some point is delegated to others, and 

 published in the regulations. As its members are responsible 

 severally and individually for the payment of prize and other 

 moneys, they have as a body the corresponding right of determin- 

 ing the nature and amounts of the prizes in each class, with the 

 principle on which they shall be allocated, as will be hereafter 

 noted. They are also responsible for the production of the 

 schedule, and for all the terms employed therein — a matter of 

 considerable importance. 



Secretaries. — The secretary of a show may be regarded as 

 the executant of the requirements of the committee, both as to 

 the collection of subscriptions, keeping accounts, registering the 

 decisions of the judges, the disbursements of prizes, and the 

 arrangement and general supervision of the show. Some secre- 

 taries are something like autocrats, and seem as if invested with 

 all the powers of a committee. When they, as not a few do, 

 combine zeal not only with ability but affability, and insist on 

 rigid compliance with the rules and regulations of a society, the 

 shows entrusted to these active, courteous, and clear-headed 



