JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
419 
iTov.ii.ber 17, 1987. 3 
Shlffl^ r ;^ h w W i°p' ) ? Ull ’^ !lr f 18,ey ' T ’ mD,on - Bolton, and Wimbledon 
Ramsbottom Show S ' g ’ ftDd ShoWS ‘ [ Sho " s - 
24th Sunday after Trinity. 
Wolverhampton Show. 
Bedford Show. National Chrysanthemum Socie y—Floral Cemmittee,’ 
WINNING AND LOSING PRIZES. 
2^2lrn 
J- no period of tlie year is greater interest 
manifested in the floral world than during 
the present month, when the prizes offered 
for Chrysanthemums are being keenly con¬ 
tested for. Many of these have been lost and 
won now, yet many more remain to be decided. 
It is. curious to observe how showing—that 
,-' s ’ winning and losing prizes—brings out the 
ldiosyncracies of individuals; and as a rule it is notice¬ 
able that those who are the most jubilant when winning the 
honouis provided are, obversely, the most depressed, not 
to say annoyed, when they happen to lose them. Occasion¬ 
ally we find an unsuccessful exhibitor so overcome by a 
defeat that he cannot restrain himself, and the only relief 
he appears to find consists in abusing the judges, who in 
his view have committed the glaring mistake of inspecting 
the exhibits with their own eyes instead of his. It is 
reported that when Canon Hole had once been adjudi¬ 
cating at a Rose show, a disappointed exhibitor was so 
violent m the denunciation of tlie awards that the Canon 
was moved to rebuke him in this gentle but not to be 
forgotten manner— l< My friend, I always said if ever I 
went crazed it would be over the Rose.” It was very 
sympathetic, no doubt, but very keen, and it is said the 
man of noise collapsed. 
After some experience of shows and showing I have 
found that no competitor is so unpopular, even with 
persons whom he regards as his friends, as one who gains 
for himself the notoriety of being a “bad loser;” and, 
on the other hand, no one wins such general respect as 
an exhibitor who accepts his defeat manfully, or who at 
least does not impute sinister motives to the adjudicators 
noi pioclaina the incapacity of officials of at least equal, 
and probably of far greater, experience than himself. 
It would perhaps be difficult to mention a better loser 
at floral contests than the late Mr. Charles Turner of 
enough. Even if lie should think the adjudicators had x 
made a slight mistake, which is a joossible occurrence, he 
took care not to make another mistake by a torrent of 
verbal abuse in the show, or writing ill-judged letters to 
the press assertive of his own superiority, not as a culti- 
vatoi alone, but as a judge of his own handiwork. An 
ex nbitor who does such things may be a good judge and 
honest in his convictions, but he cannot make the public 
believe m his strict impartiality. That is not the way 
to get mistakes rectified; and if by accident they occur, 
no judges worthy of the name, and no directors of a show, 
would hesitate to put right what was alleged to be wron^ 
if their attention were called to the matter in a reason¬ 
able manner;. and if after a t earching re-examination of 
the pioducts in competition no reason is found for alter- 
^°. 386.—Yol. XV., Third Series 
ing the awards the disappointed contestant, who still 
storms, simply makes himself ohnexious and does injury 
to a . society, because. cultivators have no pleasure iii 
enteiing the lists, against him. Mr. Turner, ivlien lie 
happened to sustain a defeat, used to pass it off with a 
pleasant shrug of his shoulders and a well-known obser¬ 
vation—“Ah, well! we must try again, and do better 
another time.” That is a spirit which all admire—a 
manly utterance implying conscious strength, and a per- 
seveting nature that never fails in the end, not in winnin 0, 
puzes only, but the. wide and unfeigned respect of all 
who are connected with shows and showing. 
It is fortunate there are so many exhibitors in the 
Anysanthemum ranks who, though liard-workin° gar¬ 
deners, yet are true gentlemen in putting the best con¬ 
struction on decisions that may happen to be adverse to 
their own interests, and not attributing motives that are 
the reverse of honourable to persons who can have no 
other motive than to do what is right in each case, and 
who, if they should happen to err through whatever cause, 
would be the first to hasten to rectify the error if it were 
brought to their notice in time for them to do so. They 
would do this in the maintenance of their own reputation 
as an act of justice, so to say, to themselves as well as 
to others; and only the thoughtless, prejudiced, or those 
capable of swerving from the path of duty could refuse to 
admit that such is the fact. The few who are differently 
constituted render themselves by their scarcity the more 
conspicuous, and are pitied accordingly. The man who 
cannot lose a prize without losing his temper is out of 
place as an exhibitor, and will best consult his own peace 
of mind and the comfort of others by winnin° fame 
at home, as he may be quite capable of doing, and as 
many have done in the past and as others will do in the 
luture. 
Exhibiting is made pleasant or the reverse by the 
conduct of those who. engage in it, and beyond any doubt 
those who receive their honours without ostentation, and 
bear their losses bravely, command the most esteem. No 
better, evidence of this is necessary than that afforded by 
an episode at the National Chrysanthemum Show last 
year, when Mr. C. Gibson, by an accident of his own, 
placed himself out of competition in a class in which he 
was the best exhibitor. His manly bearing on that, as 
on all occasions whether he wins or loses, led to the 
peifoimance of an act as graceful as it was gratifying_ 
the granting of a silver cup to him, which must surely be 
one of his most prized possessions. Had he been one of 
the unenviable few who rejoice in the defeat of others 
and rebel against their own, his discomfiture would 
have .been regarded as befitting, and certainly no sub¬ 
stantial token of sympathy would have been forth¬ 
coming under the circumstances. The judges who 
disqualified. him did their duty, and he knew it, hence 
acquiesced in the decision. He has more recently won 
the great prize at Kingston, and is thus rewarded for his 
perseverance through several contests. However near he 
was previously to the goal, not a murmur escaped him, 
and it was his high-minded conduct in this respect- 
retiring with grace and a resolve to try again, that caused 
such an unanimity of congratulations to be expressed on 
Ins well won triumph. 
Nothing is more pleasant in a show and more agree¬ 
able to all connected therewith than to see a loser bearing 
his defeat bravely. In this is displayed the character of 
the man, and it commands general approval. On the 
other hand nothing is more painful and pitiful in con- 
No . 2042.—Yoi, L XXVII., Old Series. 
