692 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 30, 1888. 
The Derbyshire Agricultural aud Horticultural 
Society will hold its annual exhibition on August 29th 
and 30th. The schedules of prizes offered in the Hor¬ 
ticultural department is a very comprehensive one, 
and includes some liberal amounts for groups, besides 
special prizes for vegetables, given by Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons and Messrs. E. Webb & Sons. 
Autumn and Winter Berry-bearing Trees.—A 
Yorkshire correspondent writes :—It is pleasant to walk 
along the country lanes and to observe how grandly 
the autumn and winter berry-bearing trees are flowering 
and setting their fruits, and thus providing an 
abundance of food for the birds, and materials for 
decoration at harvest thanksgivings and Christmas 
festivals. The Hawthorn and the Alder have been 
very fine, Pyrus aria and P. aucuparia are perfect sheets 
of flowers, and by the look of the Hollies w'e may 
expect them to be covered with berries, as they are so 
full of blossoms at the present time. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—At the meeting of 
the Council, held on Tuesday last, a report was read 
from the sub-committee appointed to consider the 
question of the arrangements for 1889, and it was 
decided to give publicity to the following notice: — 
“ That the Council, having now in hand the composi¬ 
tion of the Fruit and Floral Committees for 1889, would 
be glad to receive suggestions from the general body of 
Fellows as to any Fellows wRom they may consider 
eligible to serve on either committee.” Letters of 
thanks were read from the Royal Society, Linnean 
Society, and Society of Antiquaries for the contributions 
of flowering and fine-foliage plants sent on the occasion 
of their respective annual soirees. A letter from the 
solicitors was read, promising that the new bye-laws, 
duly revised, should be put before the Council within a 
fortnight. 
Trade Notes : The Non-Guarantee Clause. — 
Reynolds v. J. Wrench & Sons. —This case, which 
involved the question of the validity of the non- 
guarantee clause used by wholesale seedsmen, came on 
in the Court of Appeal before Lord Esher and Lords 
Justices Lindley and Lopes, on the 21st inst. It was 
an appeal by the defendants from the refusal of the 
Divisional Court (confirming the judgment of Mr. 
Justice Denman) to allow their counter-claim against 
Mrs. Reynolds for damages claimed under the circum¬ 
stances reported in a previous number (p 557). The 
Court dismissed the appeal, and the question is now, 
therefore, finally decided unless the defendants take 
the case to the House of Lords, which it is understood 
it is not their intention of doing. The clause has now 
been upheld by every Court before which it has been 
argued. -- 
JUDGING COTTAGERS’ GARDENS 
Fresh from a spell of judging about a couple of dozen 
cottagers’ gardens scattered broadly over a wide district, 
on a dripping wet day, I gladly endorse the general 
justice and wisdom of your thoroughly practical leader 
on this subject last week. Judging by points is in¬ 
dispensable when the gardens are so widely scattered, 
and it is equally needful to enter the points on the spot, 
or else they will all become much mixed or muddled 
immediately afterwards. 
As an old hand at this sort of work, I would also 
venture to caution your correspondent against being 
greatly or at all influenced by the size of the gardens 
or the ways and means of their occupants, as these 
have proved seas of treacherous and uncertain depths 
and have wrecked many very able jurors, besides ex¬ 
hausting the interest and enthusiasm of not a few keen 
cottage garden competitors. Once enter into the ways 
and means, including amount of assistance and number 
of helpers, and we begin to hold a sort of inquest on 
the social status and financial standing of the com¬ 
petitors, rather than judging their horticultural taste, 
capacity and products. No ; the gardens must be 
taken as we find them, and judged absolutely on their 
merits, among which, neither size, the amount of the 
labour bill, nor the distance the cottager lives from his 
garden must have any place. 
The best-kept, best-cropped, most skilfully, tastefully, 
and profitably-furnished garden must win the highest 
prize, no matter how these qualities are produced, so 
long as no rules are broken nor conditions set aside in 
their cultivation and furnishing. The moment we 
attempt to go behind the record of merit, writ large on 
the gardens themselves, ws are lost in a mere maze of 
uncertainty and doubt that neither our friends or 
neighbours, nor the general public, can understand ; 
whereas, by rewarding the best gardens only—apart 
from all extraneous considerations, such as size, 
distance, or means of working the gardens—we justify 
the awards, and convince all of the impartiality and 
knowledge of the judges. 
Little need be added to what you have so well 
said on judging by points, &e., only matters are some¬ 
what simplified by separating keeping from cropping, 
and confining it to cleanliness, tasteful arrangement, 
training, &c. Possibly, the wise people that do their 
cottage gardening in the east may be more cute after 
the main chance than most of their countrymen ; but 
I never yet met with a cottage gardener in East Anglia 
who grew too many flowers, or found that they took 
less labour than vegetables. The state of the portion 
devoted to flower culture, and even its area, should 
determine the gain or loss of a point in regard to 
keeping. With all you say about the wisdom of 
encouraging the cultivation of a greater variety of 
vegetables, and of the finer sorts, I most heartily 
concur. When prizes were first offered for the best- 
kept and cropped gardens, they were mostly filled with 
Potatos, Cabbages, Broad Beans, and Onions. Now 
there are few flowers or vegetables grown in noblemen’s 
or gentlemen’s gardens but what may also be met with 
in those of the cottagers, while Carrots, Parsnips, 
Runner and French Beans, Cauliflowers, ridge Cucum¬ 
bers, Marrows, Tomatos, salading, Rhubarb, and Peas 
of the finest strains are as plentiful as Blackberries. 
Perchance progress has been made in substituting the 
finer for commoner fruits. Strawberries are also grown 
in most cottage gardens, while Roses are everywhere— 
all over the outbuildings, smartening the piggeries, and 
looking in at the cottage windows in all directions.— 
D. T. F. _ 
Your leader in last week’s issue is a very seasonable 
one, and will no doubt be of service to many who 
undertake to judge cottage gardens. In some districts 
cottage garden societies are highly thought of, and much 
good work is being done by such bodies. I have been 
the secretary of a society for the last five years, 
which has done a good deal to promote a love of horti¬ 
culture amongst cottagers. It was formed mainly for 
their benefit, but with a view to making an annual 
show attractive to the public, we offer a few prizes to 
gentlemen’s gardeners, amateurs, single-handed garden¬ 
ers, ladies and school children, as we find it impossible 
to draw the general public by cottagers’ produce alone, 
and without wide support it would be impossible to 
make both ends meet, no matter how great is the 
economy practised. "We have this season formed a new 
class for cottagers, or in other words, divided them into 
sections A and b. It was found that pre-eminence 
amongst some exhibitors existed, as it always does, over 
their neighbours, owing to increased attention given 
and a better knowledge of the many various little arts 
required to enable anyone to grow and show satis¬ 
factorily ; although perfectly legitimate, the successes 
of a few of the cultivators soon caused dissatisfaction 
amongst other exhibitors, so that with a view to lessen 
the amount of grumbling and to obtain more competi¬ 
tors, a new class has been made for those cottagers 
whose weekly wages do not exceed 15s. This definition 
will no doubt be a difficult one to deal with, as where 
men are not in regular employment it is not easy to 
get at the amount of wages received, but time will prove 
the wisdom or otherwise of the step taken. 
Last year we had thirty-five gardens entered for the 
prizes in, as it was then, one class ; but the different 
parishes (six) each have separate prizes, both a first and 
a second. Thus, in all, twelve prizes were awarded. 
A champion prize was also given for the best garden in 
the whole district included within the society’s bounds— 
a radius of five miles from a central point. Much 
interest was manifested in the award of the last-men¬ 
tioned prize, which we find acts as a double incentive 
to competitors, as it not only adds to the value of the 
prizes won—this special one being a pound in value— 
but is an additional honour which is much coveted. 
Three members of the committee—practical gardeners— 
are chosen to act as judges, and although they know 
well each exhibitor, not a breath of suspicion as to 
partiality has come to their knowledge. The men who 
are appointed annually to act in this capacity think 
too much of their reputation to stoop to favouritism in 
any way, and thus they are trusted to deal out even- 
handed justice to every competitor. 
We find that these annual inspections of the gardens 
from which produce is to be shown at the annual exhi¬ 
bition are much appreciated by the competitors, for 
the reason that it prevents any remarks being made as 
to illegal exhibiting and unfair practices, such as are 
often indulged in. Our competitors know that as an 
inspection of the gardens takes place some time previous 
to the exhibition, were they to stage produce at the 
show other than what the judges saw in their garden, 
they would assuredly be found out and reported. The 
schedule states that the entries must be made for the 
garden prizes by a certain date—sometimes ten or 
twelve days before the annual exhibition. The secre¬ 
tary then advises all the competitors by the same post 
as to the day on which the inspection will take place, 
so that no excuse can be made, as is often done where 
no notice has been sent in this way : “ If I had known 
you were coming, I should have given an extra brush 
up to the garden.” The notice gives an extra in¬ 
ducement to doing their best to show what can be 
accomplished in the way of presenting a tidy garden. 
I think it is much better to see what they can and do 
do than to go without giving them any previous 
warning. 
The wording of the class reads thus :—“For the best 
kept and cropped garden.” This is considered a better 
. way of putting it than “For .the best kept garden,” 
for the reason that any garden may be extra well 
“ kept,” but the crops may be very poor. “ Kept,” I 
take it, means simply tidiness. Now, if this con¬ 
dition is faithfully carried out, the exhibitor has fulfilled 
his share of the contract, and if he really has the 
cleanest garden, there is nothing to prevent him from 
taking high honours, but if he does it is certain to lead 
to dissatisfaction. 
All gardens should be judged by a system of points 
for each crop, good or bad. Comparison in this case 
will not do. Our plan is to take all the crops as we 
come to them, allowing as many points as their merits 
deserve, fixing the maximum at six. Each crop is 
entered in a book, and the number of points given is 
put opposite each subject ; these are totalled up at the 
finish, and the competitor taking the highest number 
wins. Sometimes there is a great diversity in the 
number of points gained ; for instance, while in one 
parish the winner totals ninety points, in another 
part of the society’s district a first prize garden cannot 
get beyond thirty points. Some cottagers, through 
necessity it may be, grow mainly Potatos—in this case 
the full number of points, and occasionally an extra one 
is awarded—but how can such a garden compare with 
that of a cottager who cultivates really well so many 
extra crops, compared with his rival ? The garden 
with the greater variety of subjects shows that a greater 
interest is taken in the work, because mixed crops 
require much more time and attention in sowing, 
planting, and a variety of other details to bring the 
crops to perfection. Where good plots of Broccoli, 
Brussels Sprouts, and Winter Greens exist, it shows 
industry and tact in looking ahead for the winter 
supply, and such crops receive their just reward. 
Flowers, too, find equal encouragement, and due regard 
is also paid to serviceable crops, such as Potatos, which 
are a mainstay to the cottager’s family. It is impossible 
that these in plenty can be done without. By entering 
all the crops into a book future reference is easily 
obtained in case of dispute between the competitors. 
I will give two examples of the manner of judging 
cottagers’ gardens as practised by us last season. A. 
represents the winner of the parish prize and also the 
champion prize. 
A Points. 
Brussels Sprouts . 5 
Cabbage . 3 
Leeks . 2 
Peas. 3 
Turnips .. 5 
Broccoli & Winter Greens 3 
Lettuce . 1 
Eschallots . 1 
Carrots . 4 
Parsnips . 4 
Beet. 1 
Scarlet Runners. 4 
French Beans. 4 
Spring Onions . 2 
Autumn do. 3 
Potatos . 5 
Tomatos . 2 
Cucumbers. 4 
Celery. 5 
Rhubarb. 4 
Cauliflowers . 1 
Marrows . 4 
Broad Beans . 4 
Raspberries. 2 
Red Currants. 1 
Gooseberries . 4 
Black Currants . 1 
Flowers . 5 
Order . 6 
B. Points. 
Cabbage . 1 
Scarlet Runners. 6 
Peas . 3 
French Beans. 4 
Tomatos. 2 
Potatos . 2 
Red Cabbage . 1 
Marrows . 4 
Broad Beans . 3 
Celery. 3 
Parsnips . 3 
Turnips . 2 
Carrots . 2 
Lettuce . 1 
Spring Onions . 4 
Autumn do. 1 
Rhubarb. 1 
Beet. 4 
Winter Greens . 2 
Black Currants . 2 
Raspberries. 2 
Red Currants. 2 
Flowers . 2 
Order . 3 
Total . 93 Total ..60 
Thus it will seen that B. loses several points on the 
same kinds of vegetables, also upon flowers and 
