June 3. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
149 
admiration is one of the greatest enemies to progress ; 
humility and felt-inferiority are the first steps to com¬ 
parative perfection. Few of us country blue-aproners 
could view such a sight the other Saturday without a 
feeling of down-taking. This, if somewhat painful, is 
cheeringly hopeful. The utility of such exhibitions, not 
only in the Metropolis, hut in our provincial towns, is 
now no matter of debate. It is constantly apparent in 
the stimulus afforded to increased energy ; seen in the 
yearly improvements at Regent’s Park and Chiswick; 
seen in the stir and friendly rivalry, even among those 
who do not exhibit; and seen, perhaps most of all, in 
the industry, good cultivation, and neatness, observable 
in the cottage gardens in the neighbourhoods where a 
flourishing society exists. 
Yet there must be some drawback to these exhibi¬ 
tions, or why should we find the same plants, year after 
year, brought by the same exhibitors, the masses of 
growers, as a whole, being content, or seemingly con¬ 
tent to witness, and to be influenced privately by that 
witnessing, instead of trying to share the honours ? Or 
why, again, should we find at one period, provincial 
exhibitions highly flourishing, patronized by all the 
great and the fashionable in the vicinity, and attended 
on show days by the masses of the middle classes, and 
no small portion of the fustian jackets; and then, before 
long, witness these same shows almost deserted; the 
committee in difficulties; compromises entered into; a 
sort of living death, and then a final break-up, to be 
resuscitated again after some years, pass through the 
same ordeal, and meet with a similar fate ? Or why, 
again, do we find employers of gardeners at one time 
actively patronizing, then becoming lukewarm, then 
telling the gardener that they do not mind subscribing, 
but they would rather drop the exhibiting part ? Rea¬ 
sons for all this there must be, and many of these our 
own experience and observation would enable us to 
give; but, instead of doing so, I would try and reach a 
part of the reasons, indirectly, in a few hints to em¬ 
ployers, exhibitors, and societies, believing that many 
of our readers are now more than ever interested in the 
subject, and that future disappointment and unpleasant¬ 
ness may he avoided by timely consideration. 
1st. Gentlemen intending to exhibit, must bear in 
mind that the subjects to be exhibited must receive 
every necessary and timely attention, be looked upon, in 
fact, as the chief thing in the gardening establishment, 
1 for the welfare of which other things must be secondary. 
Here is a case : your means are limited, you delight in 
flowers in pots, and cut flowers in winter and spring. 
If by their room, or their required condition, as respects 
temperature, &c., they interfere either with the well¬ 
being, or the requisite time of blooming, of your favourite 
specimens, then you must give up the privilege of many 
flowers in winter, unless you obtain them from other 
structures. I, not very long ago, heard a gentleman 
complain that his geraniums were not so bushy and nice 
as another person’s he mentioned. The first were grown 
under the shade of vines; the second in a house, near 
the glass, with a shade only when required, and the 
necessary temperature at will. The same rule holds 
with respect to fruit; if various sorts are grown, unless 
the same temperature suits all, the principal object must 
have the preference. For instance, fine grapes and 
peaches may be obtained from one house, but to get 
extra fine fruit for a prize, the interests of either one or 
the other must be partly sacrificed. And so on with 
everything else, whether as respects getting a few early 
vegetables, or a large stock for the flower-garden : there 
must neither be a cramming to suffocation of specimens, 
nor a deficiency of duo treatment, as respects tempera¬ 
ture and ventilation. True, many of the most success¬ 
ful competitors, like you, have very limited means, but 
they also take care to limit wliat they grow. No present 
gratification is allowed to interfere with a future effect. 
Possessing only one or two houses, the wish to have 
them always gay with bloom, and the cramming them 
for ornamenting flower-gardens and balconies, are some 
of the greatest drawbacks to the showing of good 
specimens. 
2nd. Where room is limited, and much wanted from 
it, labour is increased. Wherever plants are grown as 
supernumeraries, such as in houses appropriated to 
other purposes, they must he moved whenever the tem¬ 
perature, &c., becomes unsuitable. Wherever this has 
to take place to any extent the labour is greatly in¬ 
creased. Fine results are often thus obtained ; but the 
labour, trifling in a single plant, becomes burdensome 
when the moving method is followed as a system. In 
fact, followed as it is in some places to a great extent, 
the expense for frequent changes would pretty well pay 
the interest of erecting suitable structures, where each 
tribe of plants could be kept to themselves. 
3rd. The best of everything intended to be shown 
must be procured, and procured early. Every exhibitor 
who wishes to stand in the first ranks must get every 
desirable novelty in his own department as soon as it is 
out. Getting it after a year or two gives him no chance 
with those who have preceded him. In all florists’ 
flowers, mere culture will ever rank inferior to superior 
quality in the flower; though a good thing, badly grown, 
will, also, most likely be thrown aside by the judges. 
The gentleman, therefore, who purchases little or no¬ 
thing, cannot expect that his gardener can do much as an 
exhibitor. I once heard an employer reproach a gar¬ 
dener, in a crowded exhibition room, “ that such-and- 
such things were so superior to his; why did be not have 
the same? Sure the garden cost enough.” A look, and 
such a look, was the reply. The gardens being large, 
did cost something for labour. It would not have been 
prudent, in a servant, there and then to have stated the 
pence spent in purchases for a twelvemonth, as even the 
vegetable and flower-seeds used had chiefly to be home- 
saved. In all such cases, and those analagous to it, it 
is generally best for employers, and gardeners too, to 
have their exhibitions at home. There may be some 
exceptions. For instance, 1st. When there are some 
good, old, valuable plants on the premises, which, when 
well-grown, always command attention. But for these 
there must be room and convenience. 2nd. When, by 
a peculiar arrangement, the gardeners have a personal 
and pecuniary interest in the plants grown. I was once 
much struck when told how little money the gardens of 
the employers of some of the most successful Metro¬ 
politan exhibitor's cost them. Such an arrangement as 
that mentioned solved the mystery. The plants, in fact, 
partly or altogether, were tlie gardener’s property, and 
recognised as such. It would rarely and seldom suit his 
purpose to hold such property in a country place ; but 
there is scarcely a gardener worthy of the name, but 
would strive to leave his employer’s place better than 
he found it; and this he will do by getting a sprig of 
this, and a cutting of that, from some brother more for¬ 
tunate than himself, who might again be glad of some¬ 
thing in exchange. These matters have their limits. 
Honourable men do not like to ask, unless they can 
also give. As it is, I question if any other class 
do so much, in this cheap way, to promote their 
employer’s satisfaction. And unless for their own gra¬ 
tification, it is perfectly disinterested, as not one plant, 
after it has stood in their employer’s premises, can they 
afterwards lay claim to as theirs, unless a specific agree¬ 
ment was entered into for that purpose. 
4th. The plants designed for exhibition must be held 
sacred. No dear lady’s scissors must ever approach 
them for filling her flower-glass, who, and whatever the 
company expected. If prepared, nothing should prevent | 
them travelling. I have known cases in point—“ Well, i 
