October 20, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
357 
of anyone. Mr. Carpenter was successful last year, and will no doubt do 
his best to retain the honour, although I hear he will have to look to his 
laurels. Numerous other valuable prizes are offered, sufficient to make 
a most attractive exhibition in themselves. 
Birmingham, long recognised as the Chrysanthemum centre of the 
Midlands, hold its Show on the 8th also, making the thirty-second exhi¬ 
bition held in this busy town. This Society has obtained the credit of 
being the initiator of large prizes for cut blooms, and also obtained the 
record in the number of competitors, no less than eighteen competing in 
the class for forty-eight blooms in the year 1890. This year a proposition 
was carried, by a bare majority of the Committee, to divide the large 
class. For this change it is difficult to assign a reason after the brilliant 
successes of the past. The classes now are twenty-four incurved, 
distinct, for which six prizes are offered, ranging from £10 down to £1, 
a similar class being also arranged for Japanese. Time alone will prove 
the wisdom or otherwise of this step. Prizes of £10, £7, £5, £3 are 
also offered here for a group of Chrysanthemums, which will no doubt 
bring out good results, as in the past. 
Bristol inaugurates its twenty-ninth season on the 16th in the Colston 
Hall. This Society has long been recognised as the leading one in the 
West of England. For some reason or other the Committee have dropped 
their large prize, being content with offering one of £5 for twenty-four 
incurved in not less than eighteen varieties. Beside this there are 
numerous other smaller classes, quite sufficient to provide a display 
equal to any of the past. 
Liverpool, I ought to have previously mentioned, holds its Show on 
the 15th as usual in St. George’s Hall. This has for a number of years 
been regarded as the pioneer of northern exhibitions. Perhaps nowhere 
is the competition so keen throughout as here. The neighbourhood 
abounds with gentlemen who almost to a man encourage the growth of 
Chrysanthemums. There is one blemish which I cannot but point out 
—the indifferent manner in which the small-flowered sections, such as 
Pompons, Anemone Pompons, singles, and even Anemone varieties are 
cultivated and exhibited at this centre. 
On the following day York and Hull commence their shows, both 
being well supported by exhibitors and public alike. The latter perhaps 
is the more important of the two, offering as they do greater induce¬ 
ments to exhibitors. This Society can justly lay claim to offering the 
largest prizes for cut blooms this year. No less a sum than £10, in 
addition to a silver cup, heads the prize list for twenty-four incurved. 
The class is made easier also for exhibitors through its not being 
distinct. Duplicates are allowed in six blooms. The Japanese blooms 
are provided for in a similar manner as regards the amount of prizes, the 
only difference is that they must be distinct—a reasonable clause in this 
case. Numerous small classes are also provided for open competition. 
The same remark applies to amateurs also, and to those who reside 
within a given radius. This Society is also noteworthy for offering the 
largest prizes for a group of Chrysanthemums interspersed with foliage 
plants. No less a sum than £6 is offered in addition to the 20-guinea 
challenge cup offered by G. Bohn, Esq., as the first prize. It is not too 
much to say that this Society has the best exhibits of this kind of any 
Society in existence. Those persons who admire skilful arrangement of 
flowering and foliage plants combined during the dull month of 
November should go to the Artillery Barracks in Hull, and if they are 
not impervious in this respect they will not regret the journey, be it 
long or short. 
Edinburgh follows the next day to Hull, the site, as usual, being the 
Waverley Market, which has no equal in the kingdom for such a display. 
No society that I know has made such rapid progress in the quality and 
quantity of the exhibits in such a short space as this—the Scottish 
Horticultural Association. Offering most liberal prizes, the manage¬ 
ment have ample grounds for such an undertaking, and being practical 
men there is no wonder at the progress made on the other side of the 
border. True, the standard in the incurved flowers falls below that 
usually seen in England, the bulk of their strength lying in the quality 
of the Japanese blooms.—E. Molyneux. 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 
Conference at the Royal Aquarium—October 12th. 
As briefly announced in our last issue, a conference was held, under 
the auspices of the National Chrysanthemum Society, at the Royal 
Aquarium, Westminster, on the above date, to consider the advisability 
of increasing the size of show-boards for exhibiting Japanese blooms. 
Sir Edwin Saunders, the President of the Society, occupied the chair, 
and he was supported by Mr. R. Falconer Jameson (who had come espe¬ 
cially from Hull for the purpose of attending the conference), Mr. R. 
Ballentine, and Mr. R. Dean, the Secretary. About one hundred members 
were present, amongst them being many of the leading Chrysanthemum 
growers. 
After a few introductory remarks from the Chairman, Mr. Dean pro¬ 
ceeded to read a number of letters which he had received from affiliated 
societies, in response to a circular asking for opinions as to the proposed 
alterations. The majority of these thought that an increase of size was 
necessary, whilst a few considered the existing boards large enough. 
Mr. Rundle, however, who represented the Leicester Chrysanthemum 
Society, said that the committee of the latter organisation thought an 
alteration most desirable, the boards for various numbers of blooms 
being made proportionately larger than those now in general use. A 
paper by Mr. C. E. Shea (who, being in Italy, was unable to be present) 
was then read by Mr. R. Dean, following which came essays by Mr. R. 
Falconer Jameson and Mr. Herbert Fowler. The papers, which pressure 
on our space compels us to slightly abridge, are given below. 
Show-Boards for Japanese Chrysanthemums. 
BY MR. CHARLES E. SHEA. 
For some seasons past there has been evidence of the existence, on the 
part of many exhibitors, of a growing feeling of dissatisfaction with the 
present regulations concerning the show-boards required, or permitted 
(as the case may be), to be used for the exhibition of Japanese Chrysan¬ 
themums. Hence it has been decided, and I think wisely, to take 
advantage of the present October show to invite a full and free discus¬ 
sion of the subject, with the result, it is to be hoped, that a sufficient 
expression of opinion on the one side and the other will be obtained, so 
that the real wishes of the general body of exhibitors may be made appa¬ 
rent for the information and guidance of the Society. 
It is obvious that the onus of establishing an affirmative case calling 
for alteration of the existing practice rests with those who assail it, and 
it must be remembered that inasmuch as the rules of the National Chrys¬ 
anthemum Society, and of many other societies also, already permit the 
exhibitor of Japanese Chrysanthemums to stage his blooms on boards of 
any size, the case so to be made out must necessarily include the prin¬ 
ciple of compulsion, as well as proof that the existing regulation boards, 
with the 6-inch space between the blooms (centre to centre) are insuffi¬ 
cient for the requirements of modern showing—at least, so far as the 
Japanese section is concerned. 
For the sake of indicating the lines which the discussion must neces¬ 
sarily take, I would say that we who accept this onus probandi must be 
prepared to prove :— 
1, That uniformity of method of exhibition is so essential, or at least 
desirable, that compulsion upon the subject ought to prevail. 
2, That (the necessity for compulsion established) the existing regu¬ 
lation stand is insufficient for the adequate display of the Japanese 
Chrysanthemum, and that the necessity for an alteration outweighs the 
objections which may be urged against it. Then 
Lastly, The dimensions of the new board which shall be accepted as 
the regulation show-board of the National Chrysanthemum Society and 
its affiliated societies, and doubtless, of most if not all, of the leading 
Chrysanthemum Societies throughout the country. 
We have thus the map, or plan, of the discussion before us. Let us 
at once deal with point No. 1, compulsion, compulsory uniformity. 
One argument in favour of enforced uniformity at once presents 
itself, that of analogy. We have but to look at the methods of exhibi¬ 
tion of other flowers, notably of the great sister-queen—the Rose—to see 
that uniformity of staging is held to be an essential of fair competition. 
And I think that it requires but little consideration to recognise that this 
view is the correct one. The object of competitive exhibition is to te3t 
the comparative excellence of rival blooms, and it is obvious that it must 
tend to render this test more effectual if the conditions under which 
the several blooms are presented to the eye of the judge are as nearly as 
possible identical. In all scientific analyses and comparative examina¬ 
tion all matters tending to create varying conditions are carefully 
eliminated, and why should it be otherwise with the judgment of the 
comparative excellence of flowers ? It is a matter of common knowledge 
that the eye is very easily deceived as to the relative dimensions of two 
bodies of the same size but presented to the eye under different condi¬ 
tions, and some very ingenious devices, having this scientific fact for 
their basis, have been utilised as advertisements for Pears’ soap. So it 
is a fact beyond question that if the blooms of one exhibitor are staged 
on a stand with 6 inch, and another with 7 inch or 8 inch spaces, the eye 
of the judge will, in greater or less degree, be misled. And there is no 
room for such misleading when the results of twelve months of patient 
and skilful care are submitted for judgment, and the reputation of the 
exhibitor is at stake. So long as the size of the show-board is merely a 
matter of option a prudent exhibitor will hesitate to adopt a larger 
stand for his own exhibit while his opponent is using a board which 
gives to the blooms a relatively larger apparent size, and, by crowding 
them together, gives to a weak and shallow bloom the appearance of a 
solidity which it does not possess. All the surroundings of competitive 
exhibition ought, as far as possible, to be uniform, and it is, in my 
judgment, a fit matter for compulsion that, as with Roses so with 
Chrysanthemums, blooms should be staged by exhibitors upon stands of 
similar dimensions. 
We now reach the second point. Are the present show-boards, with 
the 6-inch spaces, sufficient for the effective exhibition of the Japanese 
Chrysanthemums of the present day ? At first sight the reflection 
naturally presents itself, that, inasmuch as the present boards were 
devised very many years ago when the blooms were not nearly ^of the 
dimensions now attained, either those who were then responsible for the 
selection of the dimensions were very much at sea upon the subject, or 
the dimensions then fixed must necessarily be entirely insufficient for 
present day requirements. It is difficult to avoid one or other of these 
alternatives. But, passing from mere inference to the evidence of our 
own personal experience, can we fairly say that the Japanese blooms of 
the present day can be satisfactorily judged when staged upon the 
present boards 1 My own opinion and experience is that it is not 
possible It is, with certain obvious exceptions, doubtless substantially 
true as’ stated by Mr. Norman Davis, that the present increase in 
dimensions of the blooms “ is not so much in size (diameter I presume is 
meant), but in the depth and solidity of the blooms.” And it is just 
these important aspects of depth and solidity which it is impossible for 
the judges to accurately estimate when the blooms are so crowded that 
