80 
THE FLORIST. 
sprinkle over the’seeds some of the same light soil, barely sufficient 
to cover them; and lastly, thoroughly bedew it with water by the 
use of the finger and a clothes-brush. In a day or two, when the 
seeds begin to swell, some of them may partially reappear on the 
surface ; if so, they must be sprinkled with soil as in the first instance. 
It is most essential that the whole of the earth in the seed-boxes be 
kept moist: hence artificial watering, with a fine-rosed watering- 
pan, will from time to time be required. 
Hull. 
ON THE APPOINTMENT OF REFEREES, 
AND THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR GRANTING TO DESERVING SEEDLINGS 
REFEREE-CERTIFICATES OF MERIT. 
The giving and the obtaining of first-class certificates for seedling 
flowers appears to me to be at present confined within too narrow 
limits. I do not say that flowers are rejected which ought to obtain 
certificates, for I am not now speaking of the judgment exercised, 
but rather of the small opportunity of submitting seedlings for such 
judgment. The exhibition of seedlings, and the obtaining of first- 
class certificates, seem to me to be principally confined to a few 
growers in the neighbourhood of London. The metropolitan exhi¬ 
bitions are undoubtedly the most important ones, and it must be 
naturally expected that the seedlings there shewn will be mainly 
exhibited by those who live within an easy distance of London. Yet 
there may be, and doubtless are, many enthusiastic florists, raisers of 
seedlings perhaps nowise inferior to those shewn in London, who, 
owing to the distance they live from the metropolis, are unable to 
exhibit their pets for a prize. 
This has always appeared to me hard and unsatisfactory. Let 
me invite the manager of the Florist to supply to some extent this 
want. Let the persons they select to judge each sort of flowers be 
called the Florist Referees, and when they have a really deserving 
good flower sent to them for inspection, let them return to the raiser 
a referee-certificate of merit — a small valueless card would suffice. 
This would not, of course, prevent a seedling being shewn in public 
for a first-class certificate, but it would at once give to a really good 
flower an unmistakeable character. 
To render such a method practicable, some simple conditions 
must be declared, such as these : 
When flowers are sent to compete for a referee-certificate there 
must not be less than three blooms of each seedling. They must be 
carefully packed so as to avoid such damage as might destroy the 
character of the flowers. 
They must be distinctly named; and for the benefit of the public 
the names of the approved flowers and of the raisers must be declared 
in the next Number of the Florist. 
Such an arrangement would, in my humble judgment, be much 
