40 
FLORICULTURE OF THE TAST YEAR. 
rold ; one to Mr. Barker for ditto, Cardinal; 
one to Mr. G. Smith for ditto, Ariel ; one to 
Mr. G. Smith for Dahlia, La Heine; one to 
Mr. Dodds for ditto, Miss Blachmore. 
October 3. — Dr. BuSHEfcL in the chair. 
One to Mr. Barker for Verbena, Lord of the 
Isles; one to Mr. Barker for ditto, Bride; 
one to Mr. Barker for ditto, Duchess of Nor- 
thumberland; one to Mr. G. Smith for ditto, 
Psyche ; one to Mr. G. Smith for ditto, Queen 
of the French ; one to Mr. Cook for Dahlia, 
Flora. 
November 14. — Dr. Bushell in the chair. 
One to Mr. Kinghorn for Pelargonium, Ceres' 
Unique. 
December 12. — Dr. Bushell in the chair. 
One to Mr. Kendall for a Cineraria, Queen 
of the Isles. 
These are the mere facts of the case. We 
have no dislike to such societies, but they must 
be above suspicion of ignorance, or favouritism, 
or design, to have any weight with the public. 
We shall only say, most unequivocally, that if 
we had been judges, very few of the whole 
number would have been passed as improve- 
ments on what we already possess, or been 
distinguished by any certificate. The public, 
especially the amateur buyers, may do as they 
like about which they place their faith in, but 
we are quite convinced that it will not tell in 
favour of a flower to say it had a first-class 
certificate at a society of dealers. The idea of 
a dozen interested persons raising the value of 
one another's productions, by a scheme of this 
kind, is not very likely to prevail in their 
favour, but we will not offer a contradiction 
to any one decision, though, as an authority, 
we say the proceedings are calculated to de- 
ceive those who put trust in the certifi- 
cates. A society of amateurs is forming, 
which bids fair at present to lead to great 
results. Amateurs are the persons interested 
in the proper estimation of a flower, and are 
very likely to put a, complete check upon the 
issue of worthless varieties, by establishing a 
disinterested test. The enrolling of all ama- 
teurs in a society from which there is nobody 
to get the pickings, and to which the subscrip- 
tion is merely nominal, is a work now in 
progress. They will meet at four different 
sides of the town, to accommodate the mem- 
bers all round ; and they will elect a board of 
judges not interested in any result except in 
common with the public. These judges will 
be able to decide that a flower deserves a 
certificate, and produce it to the meeting; but 
iinless the body of members, all of whom are 
amateurs, decide, as well as the judges, that 
the subjects are worthy of a certificate, no 
certificate will issue. But the meeting cannot 
issue a certificate, or grant one, unless the 
judges first approve : so that while they can 
prevent the issue of a certificate, the members 
can do so likewise ; and thus there is a com- 
plete check to those unfair distinctions which, 
if the public had any faith, would drive them 
into the purchase of bad things at good prices. 
As, however, we shall for the present year 
be the organ of " the United Florists of Great 
Britain, Ireland, and the British Colonies," we 
shall be able to do much more than we have 
done; and if we be not all that a large class of 
florists may wish, we shall communicate all 
the facts they can want. There has been one 
good movement made by the Royal Botanic 
Society — the growers of American plants have 
been invited to exhibit in the Regent's Park Gar- 
den ; it is wise on the part of the Society, who 
are like the children of this world, "wise in their 
generation." This is no original idea ; on the 
contrary, Mr. Waterer has for years raised a 
show by himself, on a piece of ground hired or 
rented by himself, and has taken hundreds of 
pounds in money as well as orders. The appro- 
priation of such patronage, if they will admit us 
on the same terms, is wise on their part ; if they 
exclude the public, or any body willing to pay 
Mr. Waterer's price, the loss to the public, 
and to those who take orders, will be great ; 
and beyond this, any public exhibition of 
flowers, no matter what, induces a few who 
never grew them before, to begin their culti- 
vation, and the floral world and the floricul- 
tural nurseries are gainers. The Horticul- 
tural Society could have done this years ago, 
but the difficulty has been in the arrangement: 
if they let the public in as Mr. Waterer did, 
they lowered the value of the Fellowship of 
the Society, the privileges of Fellows being 
chiefly their right of discriminating between 
those proper or improper to be let in ; and if 
they confined the right of seeing the exhibi- 
tion to the Fellows, and those who had 
orders, it would do harm ; so they perhaps 
very properly left such extraexhibitions to indi- 
vidual enterprise. It has yet to be ascertained 
how the plan will work, but it rather reminds 
one of the country societies which, in their 
attempts to grasp at too much, have entirely 
lost caste and deteriorated their standing. We 
are quite prepared to admit that tha Royal 
Botanic Society has, on the whole, done well, 
and been a formidable rival to the Chiswick 
Gardens ; but it cannot be denied that their 
success has been in the precise ratio of their 
departure from their originally proposed objects. 
If the fact of having obtained particular 
notice and distinction at the principal exhibi- 
tions had any reference whatever to the merits 
of the subjects, we should have given a list of 
the prizes awarded during the year ; but as 
four-fifths of the subjects that have obtained 
prizes will never be heard of after the first sale 
is forced by means of the prizes or certificates 
