520 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ December 15, 1892. 
other than bastard trenched at the outset. Having a breadth of 
clear ground, now is a good time to bastard trench this, it being of 
importance that the mass should settle down considerably prior to 
being cropped. Commence by marking out a width of 30 inches 
across one end, and from this wheel the top spit and loose soil, or 
“ shovellings,” left in the trench back to the opposite end, or where 
it is intended to finish. In the bottom of the trench deeply fork 
either manure or other substances that will slowly decay and 
improve the character of the subsoil, well mixing it in. Mark out 
another 30-inch width, and deposit the top spit of this and shovel¬ 
lings on the top of the subsoil just previously broken up, and so on 
with similar widths till the breadth is completed, the last trench 
being completed by the addition of soil wheeled back. The 
shovellings are usually quite fresh soil, being loosened from just 
below where ordinary digging reaches, and the admixture of these 
with the somewhat stale, or it may be over-rich surface soil, gives 
it just the amount of correction needed. If of rather a clayey 
nature take an early opportunity of well mixing it with the top 
soil, or otherwise it may impede operations, especially in the way 
of seed sowing next spring. 
Trenching. —Heavy ground that has been previously bastard 
trenched two or three times will most probably have the subsoil 
sufficiently well prepared for bringing to the surface, and some few 
naturally deep, free working soils there are which as before hinted 
may be trenched outright. It must be borne in mind that a spit of 
fresh clayey subsoil when first brought to the surface may run 
together badly, and be worked and cropped with the greatest 
difficulty for several years after. Trenching, therefore, ought not 
to be recklessly resorted to, especially on a large scale ; experi¬ 
menting on small plots being advisable, in order to prevent a huge 
mistake being made. Ordinary trenching should be commenced by 
first digging a trench 20 inches wide and two good spits deep, the 
whole of the soil being wheeled back to where the work is to be 
finished. Mark out the next 20-inch width, and from this dig and 
throw the top spit into the bottom of trench in front ; on the top of 
this depositing the bottom spit of the second trench, leaving it in as 
rough state as possible for frosts to operate upon. Subsequent opera¬ 
tions to be merely a repetition of this, the last trench being filled in 
with the soil wheeled back. In this manner the positions of the 
two layers of soil will be completely reversed, this operation 
greatly increasing the depth and productiveness of the whole 
mass, the fresh unexhausted soil being brought up where it can 
be better acted upon by the atmosphere, and be more within the 
reach of the sun’s warmth and the roots of any crops growing upon it. 
When ground is being trenched for Rhubarb, Globe Artichokes, 
Asparagus, or any crop requiring a rich deep root run, plenty of 
solid manure or decaying vegetable matter may well be mixed with 
each spit, but for all ordinary crops no manure ought to be needed. 
—W. Iggulden. 
SHOWING AND JUDGING HARDY FLOWERS. 
Allow me to heartily thank you for giving prominence to 
Mr. Shanks’ notes, and for your remarks thereon. I do hope we 
may have a few stirring letters on the subject, and that they may 
result in more explicit wording in the schedules of the various 
shows, and an extended love for and interest in “ hardy border 
flowers.’' — A Showman. 
There has been considerable difficulty at flower shows in 
dealing with classes described as hardy herbaceous plants. The 
principal difficulty is to decide what are hardy plants. This is in 
fact an indefinite expression, whether applied to plants which 
are hardy in one part of the country or the reverse in another, 
and even so in two gardens in the same neighbourhood, where the 
situation and aspect differs. 
There are plants which grow out of doors in the Isle of Wight 
which cou d not be so grown in the north, and it would hardly 
be reasonable at a northern show to exhibit such a plant grown 
in a house in a class of hardy plants. 
My suggestion is that in framing schedules this class should 
be described as “ Herbaceous perennials, grown in the open.” This 
would, I think, obviate the difficulties in future. It would, of 
course, exclude hardy plants grown in a house, and I think they 
ought to be excluded.—B. (Amateur). 
Your suggestion of “ hardy border flowers ” for “ herbaceous ” 
and perennial is good, but if you look at our Diss prize list, which 
I enclose, I think you will say that it is so clear that “he who runs 
may read.” We have classes for annuals and for biennials and 
flowering shrubs, and these are excluded from the perennial classes. 
With Mr. Shanks I approve of varieties and not species, especially 
in the larger classes for thirty-six or twenty-four bunches, but I 
would consider two bunches of one variety in a class for twelve 
bunches not worth full points.— F. Page Roberts. 
The following is the description of the classes sent by our 
correspondent:—-Class 12, “ Twelve Bunches of Annuals ; ” 13, 
“ Thirty-six Bunches of Hardy Perennials (distinct) ; ” 14, 
“ Twenty-four Bunches of Hardy Perennials (distinct).” (Ex¬ 
hibitors in Classes 13 and 14 may not show in Class 15.) 15, 
“Twelve Bunches of Hardy Perennials (distinct).” 16, “Twelve 
Bunches of Hardy Perennials (distinct). Open only to those who 
do not employ paid assistance of any kind in their culture.” 17, 
“ Collection of twenty-four Hardy Perennials, to be shown 
separately. One or two spikes of each variety.” (Classes 12, 13, 
14, 15, 16, and 17 must be shown as cut blooms, including hardy 
flowering bulbs ; excluding biennials and flowering shrubs). 18, 
“ Twelve Bunches of Biennials and Flowering Shrubs.” 
[Is it not singular that hardy flowering bulbs are eligible in the 
class for annuals ? After the word “ distinct ” in those classes the 
word “ kinds ” should be inserted, unless several varieties of the 
same kind are admissible. Probably local exhibitors know what is 
meant, but that is not sufficient for general acceptation ] 
What a prolific mother of disputes and wrangles, of difficulties 
and trials, of worries and annoyances ! Happy is the Hon. Sec. 
who has been fortunate enough to steer his bark through these 
quicksands without wounding the tender feelings of an exhibitor or 
treading on the more sensitive corn of some cantankerous com¬ 
mitteeman, the latter possibly a person utterly ignorant of 
horticulture. Let the agenda paper contain “ consideration of 
schedule,” and however cold the atmosphere externally it will be 
quite warm within, perhaps even hot with a thunderstorm to cool 
the air. Many such meetings have I attended in the past, and 
many a fierce battle have I seen, whilst I have been trying to guide 
the little bark into smooth water. Now, though discussion on the 
subject may do. some good, it will remain a troublesome point. 
When a society is fettered by a scanty supply of the sinews of war 
printing.is often felt to be a terrible expense, hence notes and 
explanations are often omitted, and as a result errors occur. It is 
quite possible, too, that in the infantile days of the society judges 
were selected who possibly did not detect the difficulties, or, dis¬ 
covering, passed them over. 
Such was the case with a society to which I was once honorary 
secretary ; I well recollect the first check. A leading gardener in 
the neighbourhood was asked to judge. At the class for vegetables, 
so many varieties, I was appealed to. The exhibitor had staged, as he 
considered, say ten varieties of vegetables, but he had two sorts of 
Lettuces staged as one variety. “ Look here, Mr. Secretary, you 
have a schedule, and you say ten varieties, but this exhibitor has 
eleven,, for he has two sorts of Lettuce as diverse as Cabbage and 
Savoy.” Well, I think the disqualification was made. The follow¬ 
ing year I insisted on an explanatory note. So it ran : That 
different sorts of the same flower or vegetable would be considered 
“ two varieties ” and judged accordingly. 
. Such a rule holds as good in flowers. Take the class on which 
particularly Mr. Shanks (page 497) writes. Two varieties of Rose, 
for instance, may be almost as distinct in appearance as different 
species, and yet may be a great addition to the beauty of a stand 
containing twenty-four sorts of the flower. Varieties of Liliums, 
Gladiolus, or Gloxinias would be equally grand additions, and 
would be met by a similar note as to the meaning of the word 
“ varieties.” At this same Show I introduced a class for “ flowers 
grown out of doors,” and it became very popular, and of course 
excluded outdoor flowers that had been kept under glass, one of 
the difficulties Mr. Shanks mentions. Here, however, comes in the 
good faith of the exhibitor, as I calculate it would take an extra 
sharp judge to detect those grown under glass. It must always be 
remembered by exhibitors that where the competition is very keen 
twenty-four or twelve varieties made up of true varieties would 
rank higher, if equally good, than the same number containing 
three sorts of Gloxinia, two Liliums, &c., and where an exhibitor 
