December s, 188P. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTTCULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
489 
blooms were a week or ten days before the date of the exhibition, or 
what they would have been some time afterwards had they been allowed 
to remain until they had attained their full development. The duty of 
the judges, as I understand it, is to make their decision according to the 
condition of the blooms when presented to them, and exhibitors who 
have their blooms at their proper age on the day of the show will stand 
the best chance of winning. 
Passing on to a reference to the several sections, the incurved as 
representing the most perfect type may well have precedence. If we 
accept as one of the first principles the assertion that the incurved 
flower should be perfectly globular, we have in the Empress of India and 
its several sports a model for form, but a model varying so much that it 
affords scope for variation in taste and much greater scope for variation 
■of skill in producing it. We are told that a globe is unelegant and 
^meaningless by those unable to appreciate the graceful curves of a per¬ 
fectly finished bloom of the variety mentioned as a model or one of its 
progeny. But I will not pause to discuss this point, but at once state 
the exhibitor. Blooms belonging to the incurved group so well repre¬ 
sented by Madame C. Auliguier and Comte de Germiny should have 
their florets more or less incurved, not regularly, as in the case of such 
varieties as the Queen of England, but sufficient to show their true 
character. Comte de Germiny is generally presented in its true character ; 
but of the many hundreds of blooms of Madame C. Audiguier that I 
have had to examine during the season, not more than half a dozen 
have been in fairly good condition. They were very poor last year, and 
although the seasons may not have been particularly favourable, we must 
look to the cultivator for an explanation of the thin, flabby appearance 
presented by the majority of blooms, both this year and last. In the 
reflexed Japanese class, of which Elaine is still the best type, a certain 
regularity of form is of necessity admissible, and the florets should be 
somewhat regularly arranged and more or less reflex, although not with 
the formality characteristic of such varieties as Dr. Sharpe and King of 
the Crimsons. To the multitude of varieties that belong to the third 
section, it is not possible to do more than refer in general terms. I 
Fig. 62.—A PRIZE GROUP. (See pape 433). 
■that the more closely your bloom approaches a spherical form, the 1 
greater will be the chance of success. The flowers should be well filled 
up in the centre, and the florets incurve regular, and be well rounded at 
•the points, as indentations are disfigurements. Solidity is of hardly less 
importance than regularity of outline, for thinness is at once detected 
‘by the trained eye, and will heavily discount the chances of the blooms 
■taking a high position. A common defect in the incurved is flatness, 
which means a low crown, a poor centre, a sharp shoulder, and a want 
•of substance in the florets, and this default can only be avoided by good 
•culture, as the art of the dresser will not do much to remove it. 
The Japanese varieties, which rank next in importance, present a 
great diversity of form, but for our purposes they can be divided into 
three well-marked groups. These groups are the incurved Japs, the 
reflexed Japs, and those with florets more or less twisted. In the first 
and third of these groups large size is undoubtedly of importance, pro¬ 
vided it does not, as in such varieties as Condor, Etoiie de Lyon, and 
Mrs. F. Thompson, pass into coarseness. Size is of less importance in 
the reflexed Japs but it must not be overlooked. In all the sections 
fulness and decisiveness of colour are essential, for blooms that are thin 
or.ineffective in colour cannot possibly render service of much value to : 
have already stated that the blooms should be full and bright in colour, 
and it will now suffice to say that each variety should be presented in 
its true character, as represented by the finest types at the exhibitions. 
I would strongly recommend prominence being given to such distinct 
varieties as Belle Paule, Madame C. Audiguier, Boule d’Or, Edwin 
Molyneux, Stanstead White, and Grandiflorum. They usually carry 
more weight than flowers of more regular shapes, and I hope the quaint 
and fantastically formed flowers will ever continue to have proper value 
attached to them by judges, so greatly do they contribute to the interest 
of the exhibitions. 
To speak of the reflexed varieties at any length is unnecessary. They 
are as a class very unsatisfactory, for although a hundred years have 
now elapsed since the introduction to Europe of the reflexed there are 
not half a dozen varieties that are even fairly good. Christine and its 
sports are very coarse, Elsie and Cullingfordi are erratic, and it is not 
difficult to produce blooms of Chevalier Damage that will throw in¬ 
experienced judges off their guard and ensure disqualification for the 
collection, as happened at one of the metropolitan exhibitions this 
season. The proper form of the reflexed bloom is a half globe, and it 
should be free from any trace of thinness or confusion in the centre. 
