:222 THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
others, the garden as a whole being sacrificed that the subjects 
intended for exhibition may have attention disproportionate 
to the resources of the place. Of course the employer is to 
blame if this kind of mischief acquires any considerable pro- 
portions. It should be nipped in the bud, for a grand show of 
fuchsias or pelargoniums, or whatever else may be the gar- 
dener’s forte, will not compensate for the chronic disorder of 
the entire establishment. It is not often this sort of thing 
happens. If we look round the garden of the man who takes 
the lead in the exhibition tent, we shall almost certainly find 
it well kept, productive, and in all important matters in ad- 
vance of the average of establishments of similar extent and 
plan. As a matter of fact, the best gardeners are, nine times 
in ten, exhibitors by habit, and owe their advantage in garden- 
ing in great part to the information the exhibition affords and 
the spirit of emulation it excites in the minds of all who take 
an active interest in its promotion. 
During the past ten years the exhibition of vegetables and 
roots has acquired immense importance, and a considerable 
benefit to the public at large is one of the results. From 
rough, unsightly groups of second-rate productions we have 
advanced by rapid stages to a high standard of taste and 
quality, so that now the displays of these things constitute a 
very attractive feature in the scheme of an exhibition. To 
secure a good place in a spirited competition in this depart- 
ment is well worthy the endeavour of a gardener who would 
obey the impulse of an honourable ambition. 
The very first consideration of the intending exhibitor 
should be to ensure high quality. The young man will 
perhaps think more of size than beauty, and will be shocked, 
perhaps angered, when he finds that the judges have passed 
him by and bestowed rewards on collections that his would 
outweigh many times. The disappointment will teach him 
more than any book or even the counsels of his best friend. 
An interesting exemplification of the persistency of judges in 
looking for quality may be noticed in the customary judging 
of peas. Amongst the more important of the newer varieties 
is one named Superlative, which, to the learned in this busi- 
ness, appears by its immense size and peculiar distinctness of 
appearance, to be the perfection of a pea for exhibition, and 
yet it is usually passed over, and the day must be near at 
hand when none but the most ill-judging of exhibitors will be 
