222 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 1', 1887. 
than sixteen competitors, the fruit on the whole being far 
more meritorious than in the “Jubilee” sensation, in 
which common hardy fruits, including Gooseberries and 
Currants, figured conspicuously, and from which Pine 
Apples were excluded. Yet the amount offered in the 
classes in which there was such good competition—and, 
as, the report indicates, splendid fruit—bore no compari¬ 
son to that awarded in the class in which there were just 
three competitors, in which anything that could be had 
appears to have been scraped together for making up the 
requisite number of dishes. It is recorded that in the 
eight-dish class five prizes were awarded, and if there had 
been only the orthodox three it is fair to assume that 
some exhibitors would have had nothing for as good fruit 
probably as !n the class over which £50 was distributed. 
It would seem to be regirded almost as a crime for 
exhibitors to question the manner in which prize money is 
distributed over schedules, or the awards made by judges 
at s1iow t s. They have an indisputable right to do both, 
and, in the former case especially, good reason for their 
objection to the existing order of things of the nature of 
the examples referred to. As to judges at shows, they 
are public functionaries engaged in a public duty, and the 
best of them not immaculate. They are open to criticism, 
and they ought to be. If it were not for public criticism 
of the decisions of honest, able and experienced men on 
the judicial bench, many a wrong verdict would have had 
to be endured that has been righted, and other errors of 
judgment have probably been averted because of the very 
criticism that some, with the best of motives, condemn. 
Cases are well known where the verdicts of judges at 
horticultural shows have been reversed by the very judges 
who made them, when something they had overlooked had 
been brought to their notice just before the shows were 
open to the public—for it is most difficult for alterations 
to be made afterwards. When judges are in threes two 
of them may agree, yet the one who disagrees may be 
right. This has been so more than once, and afterwards 
admitted. Prizes have been awarded that have been 
almost unanimously condemned, and the judges who 
awarded them would gladly have revised them if some 
points had been brought to their notice before the shows 
were open to the public. Persons who have had experience 
in the inner working of shows know that the facts are as 
stated, and yet the judges of flowers, fruit, and vegetables 
above all other judges, must be above criticism ! Why ? 
Competent judges who are conscious of having made no 
mistake can afford to be criticised, and it is only those 
who have a lurking doubt as to whether the} have erred 
or not who are afraid of it; and efforts made to prevent 
the public discussion of a public matter are very apt to 
engender a feeling that there is reason for discontent, 
while actually no valid reason may exist when the matter is 
fully investigated. “ Protests ” by disappointed exhibitors 
are estimated accordingly, but the dissent of competent 
men who are not disappointed is entitled to respect. 
There are always as good judges in a great show as those 
who happen to be chosen to make the awards; and in 
nineteen cases out of twenty the opinion of the unpreju¬ 
diced majority of these expert cultivators is in harmony 
with the awards; but that is no reason why the twentieth 
case, if wrong, should not be pointed out. 
It can never be forgotten that exhibitors who protest 
against awards made to their own produce place them¬ 
selves in a delicate position, for if they are as fair and 
impartial as the judges are they would equally protest 
against being adjudged a prize in excess of the merits 
of their produce as they would when they feel its value 
underestimated. Take as an example the last public 
protest. hupposing the judges had placed the first- 
prize card on the Grapes exhibited by Mr. Ward, it is- 
morally certain that there would have been much dissent; 
and in that case, being as impartial as the judges and as- 
desirous of doing justice to all—to the promoters of the show 
and exhibitors—he would have protested against being 
awarded the first prize. It is by that test that complaints 
are judged; therefore unless a complainant is on very firm 
ground indeed he will strengthen the position of the 
judges he condemns, and thus it is that these officials, 
being cultivators of standing, adjudicators of experience, 
and men of high character, have not the slightest dread 
of public criticism, for if they have they are scarcely fit 
to occupy the important public position that makes them 
so prominent as that to which they are or were elected.— 
Experientia docet. 
GOOD MUSHROOM CULTURE. 
Since “ Mushrooms for the Million ” appeared very few, if any, 
articles have appeared in the Journal on the cultivation of the 
Mushroom until the one appeared under the above heading at page 
158. Many gardeners still fail in their cultivation, and however 
valuable outside beds are for early and late supplies, I may say that 
for a constant supply through the winter, and especially through a 
winter like the past, it does not do to trust to outside beds aione. 
Last winter we were fairly successful in their production, and the- 
following notes may be acceptable to some readers, especially as 
they differ in some instances from the article at page 158. 
I fully endorse “ E. Y. R.’s ” estimate of the manure to be used, 
but it takes us about three weeks to collect sufficient droppings for 
a bed, so it is laid out in an open shed about a foot in depth, and 
turned occasionally until a sufficient quantity is collected, when it is. 
thrown into a heap and turned every day, or every other day as re¬ 
quired, until the manure is in a proper condition—not too wet or 
too dry. When ready it is taken to the Mushioom house and 
formed into a bed, placing it in layers and beating firmly as the 
work proceeds. In the article in question 80° is given as the 
highest point the temperature of the bed should rise to. Our beds, 
generally rise to 100° or 110°, and sometimes more. If it rises 
above 100° we bore holes over the bed so as to prevent it over¬ 
heating. When the temperature falls to 85° the holes are closed 
and the bricks of spawn laid on the top of the bed and turned 
every morning. The spawn soon commences running, and by the 
time the temperature is down to 80° the bed is spawned, and the soil 
which has previously been placed in the house to warm is put on 
and the whole beaten down solidly. When the temperature of the 
bed falls to 70° mats, about a couple in thickness, are laid on the bed, 
and allowed to remain there until the young Mushrooms appear, 
when the mats are removed, and the bed receives a gentle watering 
with soft water at a temperature of 80°. The mats are again laid 
over the bed, but are not now placed directly on it, but are sup¬ 
ported 3 inches off it with strips of wood. The temperature of the- 
house is kept at from 55° to 60°, and is damped every morning. We 
have gathered Mushrooms in three weeks from the time the spawn 
was inserted, but a month is about the rule. 
Laying the spawn on the bed brings it on a week in advance, 
and there need be no fear of inserting bad spawn. It is not an 
original idea, but it is not practised nearly so much as it ought to be. 
I also think that Mushroom beds are allowed to cool too much 
before inserting the spawn : G5° is far too low, 75° to 80° is nearer 
the mark. The mats, besides keeping up the temperature of the 
bed, keep the soil in a uniform state as regards moisture. When 
the surface is not covered the soil is apt to get too dry, and so 
take a larger quantity of water than is good for the bed. Over¬ 
dryness of the dung before being made into a bed is often the cause 
of many failures ; it had much better be a little too wet than too 
dry. —A. Young. 
FLOWERS IN EAST LOTHIAN. 
One great advantage we who live north of the Tweed have over 
those who are located in the southern counties of England is the 
comparative coolness of the nights, no matter how hot and drying 
the day may be. Thus it occurred that plants which were languish¬ 
ing in the daytime under the intensity of the sun’s heat and for 
lack of moisture, were in the morning hours upright and seemingly 
little the worse for the previous day’s ordeal. Phloxes were the 
only flowers well cultivated which refused to be comforted. 
