December 22, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
547 
to attract exhibit, from a ,c^ ™c g J 
as an additional reward to pre-eminent and deserving skill 8 Ihe 
ambition to possess them being a great stimulus to superior culture and 
determination to succeed wherever they are offerod t P f ;t y ■, i 
understood that the challenge vase is “an addition”’to the money prize' 
the eh?l°l Unt °! the n m °? ey prize must not be reduced to make way for 
the challenge trophy. I would then ask, Who would not rather comnete 
should mlk tet +h F - 1Ze Wlth the tr0phy 8x1(16(1 than without it ? Societies 
should make their money prizes as large as possible leavinTit tor 
gentlemen of wealth and position to add the challenge trophy g Gentie- 
men are more willing to give a piece of plate to be won under the usual 
challenge conditions than they would be to give itto be wonin one vear 
*o sooner had the challenge vase been handed to Mr Mease at the Hull 
Show this year than Lieut.-Col. Gleadow generous*oStoreplace*! 
Mr. Bardney refers to instances where ill feeling has been created 
in consequence of challenge vases being given to be the nronertv of thp 
^ do ™ prev^TmLnde'r! 
dn not 5=1 , tn f 1 to r th , c a PP b cation of his reference. Employers 
do not value these cups for their intrinsic worth, and it is the custom to 
“ ak *°: er th :i r ri ue to the it i8 to be hope! S theIS 
f employers that the instances to the contrary known to Mr Bardnev 
"rrr i0n& Your correspondent refers to the poor competiS 
0 fth h e e ^; ,en fhilw < ; at the u Hu ,!! Sh0W in comparison 1 ^ with lvalue 
season and kl Jto hT T (loubfc ° wm S Partly to the lateness of the 
and also , t0 tbe reluctance to compete with Mr. Mease, who was 
Mav l Tw w dlsad vanta -? e by the lamented death of his late employer. 
fufeih^ . WaS ? eVer handed by a Committee to a success¬ 
ful exhibitor with greater pleasure than this one was ? 
ft would be useful to know if exhibitors would prefer cups of reduced 
to!™* W 7 M ° ne ye T in place of more valuable challen^ Whfes 
SmlndF^irT- US ™ conditions. Edw. Harlan d, Joint Uon'S c. 
null ana, East Riding Chrysanthemum Society. 
A REPRESENTATIVE CHRYSANTHEMUM CLASS 
The excellent suggestion of ‘ M. N. C. S.’ for increasing the number 
of blooms shown and the manner of displaying them requires some 
consideration, especially from those who, like myself, ale growers 
e 5 hibftor=h 0rS -- , think TT ‘ M - N - C - S -’ that 11 would be advisable for 
exhibitors having large collections to choose from to stage seventv-two 
Ut l ^ thlnk lt Would add to the uniform and effective 
f of the stages to mix the Pompons and singles with the large 
f a , ; ’ t ’ f° r lf lhes6 lattor were shown as suggested, with stem and 
nle 5 p°nf DOt leSS l 5 a f 4 lnches above the b °ard, it would make the benches 
toTTlf soal 1 ewbat uneven appearance. As to what varieties should be 
d TiT® ^venty-two, might I suggest the following which I 
mI Iw- b ° T, improvement, and would bring more competitors ? 
diftinlf 1 i W ° Uld u 1)6 j Tvvelve Japanese distinct, twelve incurved 
distinct, twelve reflexed, not less than eight varieties ; twelve large 
tont n M neS n 1 \ Var j? tie 8 x ; twelve Japanese Anemones, four var eties ; and 
ITi AT' Rundle > fou . r Mrs - Dixon, and four Mrs. G. Glenny. I 
think the vjilueof the prizes should be revised also ; say : First. £12 • 
-f 7 ; 5 hird V £4 ’ f° urtb > £2 - And perhaps it would increase the 
popularity of our shows if competitors were allowed the option of takin 
their prizes in hard cash.”—W. Drover. 
RIVAL CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOWS. 
• 4 -wv U ® ALE , in bis admirable letter published in last week’s Journal 
with the above heading has, I believe (though I am sure quite uninten- 
,1 s^newhat misrepresented our position as members of the 
Sheffield and \\ est Riding Chrysanthemum Society. He says “ There 
ought only to be one representative exhibition,” and as an abstract 
proposition I cannot but agree with him in this, but as a matter of fact 
1 contend there is not and never has been more than one “ renresen- 
tative exhibition ’ held in Sheffi- Id. “ The Sheffield and Hallamshire 
Gardeners Mutual Improvement Society ” is not a Chrysanthemum 
Society, nor can its exhibition in any way be looked upon as repre¬ 
senting Chrysanthemum culture in this district. The Society was 
formed about twel ve 3 ears since for the purpose of promoting the mutual 
improvement pf its members, firstly by monthly meetings- at which 
lectures are given, or essays read, and discussions promoted upon 
horticultural topics ; and secondly by making small grants of money 
from the funds of the Society in cases of need through sickness or 
eath in a member’s family. The Society has from its commencement 
Deen strictly limited in its membership to men employed as gentlemen’s 
gardeners either head or under men. Any person not so employed can 
only enter the Society as an honorary member, and as such cannot 
participate in any of the privileges or have any vote in the manage¬ 
ment of the Society’s affairs The Society thus formed progressed very 
satisfactorily during the first years of its existence, and received a 
fair amount of support and patronage from the employers of its 
members, and especially from its President, Ven. Archdeacon Blakeney, 
v.u., Vicar of Sheffield, who has from the first been its staunch and 
consistent friend and supporter. 
^ cry early in the Society s history it was decided to inaugurate an 
annual exhibition, limited to members of the Society, to be held in the 
Gutters Hall, and as there was then no Chrysanthemum Society in 
vnetneld, or any public exhibition in November, that month was fixed 
upon in which to hold it. Chrysanthemums were, however, at that 
time in Sheffield, as in many other towns, very indifferently grown and 
tha^a sbnwnf PL WaS £° m the first real ’y more of a Primula show 
hold i J f Ch 7 santh emums. The Society has thus continued to 
ment to tbt 5r? U! * ™ the Cutlers’ Hall from nearly its commence- 
I bffiieTton i P Q 7 Q y -w r , ; but Wlth tbe exception of one season only, 
strirtl J U ? ‘ the P resent one, each of its exhibitions have been 
viewed a W d t0 ltS °nu members > and each year until the present, 
laualfed to“ ,0 Cb, T santb emum show, the exhibits have not 
qUaIlty ? f£lowers th ose to be found at the numerous 
the t commenPP, ama f te f r l ShOWS ’ held at Yarious hotels in Sheffield. At 
had attond5d ° f he P rcsent *fson, recognising the success which 
Sheffield w I n°- ? reV1 °“ S exhibitions of our more recently formed 
West PiJing Chrysanthemum Society with its open and 
stolnl T d , scbedul6 > the Committee were stimulated to make one 
classes°one to'T f ' ;,r forty-eight blooms, or, to be strictly accurate, two 
blooms’ ?/° iwT ty 1° Ur lncur . ved and on e for twenty-four Japanese 
A,” . but " lth the sole exception of these two classes the exhibition 
As^Mp 8 in previous y ears, strictly limited to members of the Societv. 
- Uda e remarks . the addition of these two open classes 
fddh m, 1 Hp r ° Ve i d v^ e whoI e character of their show, but with such 
conskWd h ex hibition could not, scarcely more than formerly, be 
% re P rL 'sentative one. Mr. Udale also claims for this Society 
shove ™ r° P rl( ; r ' ty ’ ■, 9 ertalnly as a representative Chrysanthemum 
show we dispute this claim on the grounds as above given. 
«h 0 ffi S bC T fr6quentl y stated in this Journal there are in and around 
•ind oofl sreat and ann n ally increasing numbers of enthusiastic amateur 
nro!lnoTnaT 5 i°T rS fl ° f the 5 °' ver ’ many of whom are successful in. 
onr T T reall .y fine flowers, but none of whom until the formaion oft 
Ti/ lT C ° U d fT‘ blt tbem in Sheffi dd otherwise than at the shows 
held, as before stated, at public houses, from the fact that they were 
Even m TT < ^ t f ley n bead “ ltted ’ as members of the Gardeners’ Society. 
T 'ffl m 1- ’ Udale himself, at that time gardener at Shirecliffe Hall, 
Irnf Aw T tour ° r five consecutive years annually producing 
some of the first examples in the kingdom, both of trained specimen 
tjws ° f exhibition blooms, was debarred from exhibiting in 
Sheffield from the fact of a technical objection being raised bv the 
Committee as to his membership of the Gardeners’ Society. What, 
however, Sheffield Chrysanthemum growers most strongly objected to 
was the fact that this Society, spite of its very limited character, chose 
to give to their Show the title of “ The Sheffield Chrysanthemum Show * r 
tnus giving a very false impression to patrons as to what was really 
being done in Chrysanthemum culture in this district. Under these 
circumstances the Walkley Amateur Floral Society took the initiative 
y ca ling together a meeting of all the best known growers to discuss 
the matter, which was largely attended, and at which a resolution was 
adopted that tbe Gardeners’ Society be appealed to “ that they form 
open classes at their show so as to allow of anyone, gardeners, amateurs, 
or cottagers, competing by paying an entrance fee,” and a promise was 
made to assist such Gardeners’ Society to the utmost extent in pro¬ 
moting and maintaining such open classes. This appeal was duly made 
and sustained for a considerable time by repeated letters to the Secre¬ 
tary of the Gardeners’ Society, but which met with a most peremptory 
refusal on the part of the Committee to entertain the proposition, and 
the idea had finally to be abandoned, in consequence of which a second 
gathering of growers interested took place, and the decision was unani¬ 
mously come to, to establish the present Sheffield and West Ridin°- 
bociety. & 
No reason has ever yet been found for regretting such decision, 
as our Society has been a success from its commencement and has 
met with most hearty support as well from the Sheffield wealthy 
classes as from the very numerous amateur gardeners who now rank 
as ordinary members of the Society to the numbrr of about 150. 
.from the success our Society has just achieved, financially and other¬ 
wise, at our recent Show, we are fully assured of our ability to stand 
alone, as at present, and to continue our work with increasing success ;• 
but Mr. Udale is correct in asserting that nine-tenths of our members 
would welcome the opportunity for blending the two Exhibitions so as 
to make one equal to any held in the country, and which we think to be 
quite possible of realisation. 
What we would suggest in the matter is that the Gardeners’ Society 
continue to carry on the work of mutual improvement and pecuniary 
benefit of its members for which it was originally formed ; that they 
c-.ase to hold their annual Show, which has for years past proved to be 
a financial failure, and that such of their members who are most in¬ 
terested in Chrysanthemum culture take office upon the Committee of 
our Society, so as to have a part in the formation of our schedule and 
in the management of our Society. This, I believe, would have an 
effect in strengthening both Societies, as numerous gardeners who now 
hold aloof from the Mutual Improvement Society would thus be induced 
to become members, and the Show of the Chrysanthemum Society 
would be greatly improved by the introduction of more exhibitors in the 
classes for groups and specimen plants. That such a dream may be 
very near its fulfilment is my earnest wish.—W. K. Woodcock, lion. 
Seo. Sheffield and Wat Riding Chrysanthemum Society. 
A CHRYSANTHEMUM CATALOGUE. 
Many growers like myself hope that when the National Society 
issues the next edition of the Catalogue it will be thoroughly revised 
and brought up to date. It is defective in several respects, and does 
not contain all the varieties now in cultivation. A large committee 
should be appointed, and ample time allowed for the compilation of the 
work.—H. 
