HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS AND SCHEDULES. 527 



is equally so that one of the Flower judges have an intimate 

 knowledge of florists' flowers. It is essential that judges of 

 fruits be well acquainted with the varieties, characteristics, and 

 potentialities of the different kinds ; while judges of vegetables 

 must have given special attention to this substantial section, and 

 have in their minds clear ideals of the features which in the 

 aggregate constitute the highest standard of excellence in the 

 various kinds. 



We may find a body of men selected in which all these 

 requisite qualifications are embodied, but the best is not always 

 made of them. Experienced show officials, who know the 

 particular capacities of their judges, usually assign to them those 

 classes with which they are best qualified to deal ; but many 

 instances have occurred of placing them in incongruous 

 positions. For example, a judge specially skilled in plants 

 (including Orchids) and a recognised adept in judging groups, 

 does not find himself in the happiest position when "told off" 

 to the vegetables, though he accepts it pleasantly enough as a 

 novelty ; while a first-rate fruit or vegetable authority does 

 not feel himself the most at home among florists' flowers of 

 which he may know little, or in dealing with Orchids, of which 

 he may know less. 



A sensible method of assigning the judges was the simple 

 one adopted at a provincial show. " Gentlemen," observed the 

 Secretary, " You know each other, and what you can respectively 

 do, better than I know ; please join partners in the best way for 

 judging the show." This was done in two minutes, and the 

 work was completed in a manner that proved satisfactory to all. 

 Let the services of the best procurable judges be obtained, 

 place them in the right positions, and errors in judgment will 

 be reduced to as near as possible the vanishing point. A 

 thorough "plantsrnan" will not allow some gigantic specimen 

 that may be easily grown in two years to overwhelm another 

 which is in its nature smaller, but has required the exercise of 

 the highest cultural skill over a dozen years to bring it into 

 such superb condition ; nor will an orchidist err by allowing 

 a huge plant, about as easy to grow as a Cabbage, to triumph 

 over one naturally smaller, but far more meritorious as an 

 example of cultural skill. 



Any product which, in the condition in which it appears, 



