July 22, 1880. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
65 
besides many Foxgloves, some curiously marked, but none so 
beautiful as the pure white. Behind all these plants a row of 
Hollyhocks will come into flower in August, when other perennials 
begin to fade. In the front rows I have had a rich display of 
Polyanthuses, followed by the double Dutch Anemones and the 
late Tulips, Indian Pinks being just expanding their flowers. The 
edging plant employed is Arabis albida, which was very beautiful 
in early spring. 
Altogether 1 am more than pleased with the success of my first 
trial with perennials, and if others feel inclined to follow my 
example they can have a floral treat for eight months in the year 
at little expense. I have not mentioned half of my plants. The 
most beautiful just now is, 1 think, the (Enothera taraxacifolia 
lutea, so favourably mentioned on page 471 of the last volume 
of the Journal ; mine are planted next to the Anchusa capensis, 
and the contrast between the bright blue of the one and the rich 
yellow of the other adds much to the beauty of the border. I have, 
I think, thirty distinct colours and markings in my Sweet 
Williams, all from one small packet of seed.—P. C. 
CARNATIONS AND PICOTEES—SETTING-UP AND 
JUDGING. 
A friend of mine, speaking on the subject of setting-up the 
flowers for exhibition, says that if prizes are to be won on the 
exhibition table they must first be won with the flowers in the 
mind’s eye of the exhibitor when on the plants. This to young 
growers is generally the great difficulty, as they frequently cut 
flower after flower, thinking each one the best, until the number 
grows so large that it is nearly impossible to decide which are 
the best flowers. In many cases some of the best are left out, 
where if a little calculation or forethought had been employed not 
more than one-third of the blooms need have been cut. Before 
cutting the flowers it is always best to calculate how many flowers 
may be required. In selecting the flowers it is not always wise to 
take the largest, as size alone will not win, and it generally 
happens that if a flower is large it is old as well, and will fre¬ 
quently collapse before coming to the exhibition table. The con¬ 
sequence is that most probably the 6taud3 wdll have to be re¬ 
arranged, because, as will often occur, a flower of a different class 
has to be substituted in the place of the one collapsed. My advice 
is always to select bright young flowers, as they will continue to 
grow and improve after being cut. 
Before cutting the flowers it is a good plan to make out a list of 
the blooms required in their different colours, cutting each lot 
separately before proceeding to cut the others. Let the full 
number of flowers be dressed and carded before proceeding to 
arrange the stands. The corner flowers should be the best in the 
stand, as they are always most seen. The following is a good 
method of setting-up a stand :—In order to have the different 
varieties or colours of the flowers, so as to act as a foil or contrast 
to each other, it is always best if a high-coloured flower, say 
scarlet bizarre or crimson bizarre, is followed with a pale or soft- 
coloured one ; as for instance pink and purple bizarre, rose flake, 
or purple flake. 
STAND OF TWELVE CARNATIONS. 
Scarlet Bizarre Rose Flake Crimson Bizarre Purple Flake 
Scarlet Flake Purple Flake Scarlet Flake Scarlet Bizarre 
Pink and Purple Bizarre Scarlet Bizarre Rose Flake Crimson Bizarre 
The above was the mode in which a stand was exhibited at one 
of our National exhibitions. I thought at that time it was one of 
the handsomest stands I ever saw. If, however, a flower of 
super-excellence is amongst the lot I prefer placing it in one of 
the middle tubes in the top row if a flower of large size, or in 
the second row if of medium size. This is a strong point in exhi¬ 
biting a good seedling, and is practised by all the leading growers. 
In setting-up Picotees the four corner blooms should if possible 
be heavy, at the same time a heavy flower should be always 
followed with a light or medium-edged one. The following were 
exhibited in a stand at one of our National exhibitions, and in my 
opinion left nothing to be desired :— 
TWELVE PICOTEES. 
Heavy Red Light Rose Medium Red Heavy Purple 
Light Rose Heavy Purple Heavy Rose Light Red 
Heavy Purple Light Purple Heavy Red Heavy Rose 
After placing the flowers in the stands it is necessary to examine 
them carefully to see that they all face one way, and stand at a 
uniform height or nearly so, as the flowers show to greater ad¬ 
vantage. It will always occur that some flowers will be some¬ 
what flatter than others, and be lower. It is a good plan to prop 
up the low flowers by placing something under the card—say a 
little cotton wadding, or even paper, so as to elevate them to the 
height of the others in the stand. The water in the tubes should 
be fully 1 inch or more from the top of the tube, so that it will not 
get into the calyx amongst the petals or wet the collars. Many 
growers have holes pierced through the sides of the tubes, so that 
the water may run off to the depth before stated. Never use a 
dirty or coloured card, as they always spoil the effect of the white 
in the flowers, whilst a card which is creamy always spoils the 
appearance of a light Picotee. The best place I have found for 
obtaining the cards is from G. Meek, Crane Court, Fleet Street, 
London. 
Judging .—In judging stands of flowers, as defined by Mr. Dod- 
well, errors may and will be easily committed if the flowers are 
judged by comparing one flower with another, owing to the 
manner in which the flowers are placed. Taking Mr. Dodwell’s 
illustration. “ Suppose that two stands— A and B, each consisting 
of six flowers—are to be judged, and that each figure underneath 
denotes a flower and its degree of merit. If they chanced to be 
placed in the first position they will be equal. 
A . 3 .... 2 .... 4 .... 3 .... 4 .... 5 
B . 3 .... 2 .... 4 _ 3 _ 4 .... 6 
But take the same flowers, and change their positions thus :— 
A . 3 .... 2 .... 4 .... 3 .... 4 .... 6 
B . 4 .... 3 .... 5 .... 4 .... 3 .... 2 
It will be seen that B gains on four flowers, and A only on two, 
consequently the award is given to b ; but similarly change their 
position again, and A gains on four, B on two ; therefore the 
award goes to A. This is radically wrong in principle, and there¬ 
fore must lead to error in practice. The sound rule is to compare 
each collection as a whole with its competing collection, and to 
determine its place by the result. Of course into this comparison 
analysis would enter, as it enters into the determination of the 
merit and place of the individual flower, which wins its place 
when rightly judged, as it is found to contain the higher quality, 
the better growth, the more symmetrical form, the brighter 
colours, the better markings, and the greater variety.” 
Selecting the premier flower in a collection is one of the most 
difficult tasks a judge has to undertake, and one that requires 
most care. In large exhibitions, as the National for instance, 
where there are perhaps two or three sets of judges, each set 
should be requested to select the best flower in the collections 
which they have judged and to mark the same, so that they can be 
easily distinguishable by the judges who may be appointed to define 
the premier bloom. As the judging for premier is now done it is a 
wonder to me that ever a premier is found, besides delaying the 
opening of the exhibition. The mode as practised now is for the 
judges and exhibitors to go in a body seeking through the stands 
for a premier, when the chances are that what is premier will be 
passed by. Take for instance the judging at the National Exhi¬ 
bition last season. The premier flower beyond doubt was a seed¬ 
ling scarlet bizarre of Mr. Dodwell’s called Robert Lord, a magni¬ 
ficent flower, perfect in colour, form, and marking, particularly 
good in all points, and for a scarlet bizarre of good size ; whilst 
the flower to which the award was given only surpassed it in size. 
Its faults were deficiency of flake and broken markings when 
compared with the markings of Mr. Dodwell's flower. It is very 
rare indeed that a flake is capable of winning a premier prize 
against a bizarre, and as yet it is only in the scarlet bizarres that 
we can with certainty count on finding the best flower in the 
exhibition. The crimson bizarres generally, although having fine 
colours when newly raised, are very liable to become patchy in 
colour as the variety becomes older. Take for instance Eccentric 
Jack—the best of Wood’s batch—how rarely is a really good 
flower of it seen. One time it is pale in colour, deficient in bizarre, 
or perhaps some petals are deficient of nearly both the colours. I 
hope that we shall before long have a crimson bizarre sufficiently 
good and constant to win first honours, and prove a second Admiral 
Curzon in its class, which up to now has won more premiers than 
any other variety ; and yet, although fast approaching forty years 
of age, with me last season it produced flowers as fine as I ever 
remember to have seen them. 
In judging for the premier bloom in Picotees it is a much easier 
task to select the best. The points to be noted are pure white 
grounds, broad smooth-edged petals, with a broad solid band of 
colour running evenly on the edge of each petal, and free from spots 
or bars if a heavy flower ; whilst if a light one the colour should be 
solid on the edge without any break in it. This is generally the 
great fault of many of the light edges ; they appear as if serrated 
on the edge, whilst it is only the colour which is broken. It is, 
however, generally amongst the medium-edged flowers that the 
premier flowers are to be met with. Take for instance Zerlina 
