426 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7, 1891. 
-•*-- 
Fancy Pansies. 
The interesting articles'which have been appearing in 
The Gardening World during the last three months 
have rendered a signal service to all lovers of this 
charming flower. The contributions of Mr. Dean, of 
Birmingham, and “Veritas,” are most suggestive, and 
have led many of your readers to keep a file of the 
issues in which they appeared, for reference. I am 
very pleased to see these two veterans in such hearty 
accord, and I hope to have the pleasure of introducing 
them to each other at the great Birmingham exhibition 
of 1891. 
To the selection of the best twenty-four Pansies, 
fancy and show, as given in your issue of December 
27th, as well as to Mr. Campbell’s sweeping remarks 
regarding the granting of' certificates I must take 
exception. A quotation from “ Veritas,’’ and another 
from Messrs. Dobbie & Co.’s abridged catalogue for 
1887, will serve as a text. Messrs. Dobbie & Co. 
suggest one mode of selecting the leading varieties; 
‘ ! Veritas, ” another. Both will commend themselves to 
your intelligent readers. Mr. Campbell’s list no doubt 
gives the number of voters, but it gives no indication 
of the value of their votes. I heartily endorse the 
weighty words of “Veritas.” He says, “If Mr. 
Campbell had asked each of the amateurs to place the 
Pansies in the order of merit, and had given several of 
their lists as received, they would have been much 
more instructive than the form presented, because 
each of the thirteen amateurs might think a Pansy good 
enough to be included in the best twenty-four, and yet 
all of them might consider it only the twenty-fourth 
best.” 
Messrs. Dobbie & Co., of Rothesay, say, “Last 
season (1886) we took a careful note of the leading 
Pansies which were shown in the first prize stands at 
the following exhibitions The International, at 
Liverpool; the Scottish Pansy Society’s, at Edinburgh ; 
the Waverley Pansy Society’s, at Galashiels ; and the 
West of Scotland Pansy Society’s, at Glasgow ; and 
having tabulated them, we find the following twenty- 
six varieties were oftenest shown : Catherine Agnes 
and Mrs. John Downie were on every stand, and the 
following were placed in order of merit in accordance 
with the number of times they appeared 
“ All interested in the Pansy will, we are sure, 
appreciate this election. It is the most open and 
disinterested way in which we can arrive at a true 
knowledge of what are the best and most reliable 
varieties of any class of flowers, and we hope to extend 
it in the interest of floriculture_generally. 
“ It is, however, perhaps necessary to point out that 
the newer high-class varieties of flowers cannot take a 
high-class position in an election such as the above, 
until after they have been in the market for a few 
years and well distributed.” 
This extract needs no explanation or comment ; it 
explains itself. Ought not the leading Pansy societies 
of Great Britain to take the hint, and make records of 
all the leading varieties from the prize stands, and 
forward them to be dealt with by a central committee 
in an intelligent and impartial manner ? 
On seeing Mr. Campbell’s list for the first time, 
while I had no doubt at all that so far as the facts 
stated were concerned he sent in a correct statement, 
I could see at a glance that it afforded only a very 
partial estimate of many of the leading high-class new 
varieties ; and in order to satisfy myself and the public, 
I wrote to the thirteen amateurs (by the way, some of 
them are practical gardeners), asking them to furnish 
me with a copy of the list they sent to Mr. Campbell, 
and to mark the varieties on the list in their order of 
merit. I also asked them if, in making up their lists, 
they took new varieties not in commerce into their 
consideration. Five of them, if not six, thought they 
might include new varieties, and they- did so ; five 
thought that new varieties should be excluded ; and 
three were unable to give a copy of their list from 
memory. I also asked another four of the best amateur 
Pansy growers in Scotland to furnish me with a list, in 
which they might, if they liked, include varieties not in 
commerce. With these four, and six of Mr. Campbell’s 
lists I now deal. 
To some, the tabulated list may seem complicated, 
and not easily understood ; but after very careful con¬ 
sideration I cannot see any other way of bringing out 
the opinion of the judges as to the real merit of the 
different varieties. If you cannot find space for details, 
you might at any rate give the average value of each 
vote, but I know that the details are wanted, and 
would be interesting to many of your readers. I may 
just add that I had some difficulty in bringing out this 
average. For instance, some had ten votes, some five. 
How could I so divide these as to bring out the average ? 
One variety had five votes and five blanks. It is 
obvious that every blank represented a place lower 
than twenty-fourth. Well, to give a uniform place 
to all blanks, I adopt for the twenty-fifth place the 
figures 25, with which I fill up all the blanks, then I 
add up all the figures for each variety and divide the 
amount by ten—the number of voters. The result 
brings out the average value as correctly as I know 
how to do it. Whether this mode of dealing with a 
rather difficult subject is the best or not that might be 
adopted, I cannot say; it ought to afford food for 
thought, and perhaps lead some of your intelligent 
readers to devise some more excellent way. A most 
successful Pansy grower, one of the thirteen amateurs, 
Mr. Hamilton, of Lochwinnoch, suggests another plan. 
It is a tabulated form as under : 
<D 
N 
m 
Form 
Colour 
Maggie A. Scott ... 
6 
5 
6 
David Rennie . 
6 
6 
4 
Lord Hamilton 
5 
6 
3 
D. Morrison ... 
6 
6 
4 
Mrs. John McConnell .. 
4 
4 
5 
Miss French. 
2 
6 
5 
a S 
t. r^i 
5 o 
21 
22 
20 
20 
19 
18 
Mr. Campbell’s want of faith in certificates, I take 
it, refers only to those granted at small country shows, 
which he calls “local”; not to the Scottish Pansy 
Society’s exhibition, the Waverley exhibition, or to 
such a central society as that now being inaugurated at 
Birmingham. Surely such names as Grieve, Goodall, 
Dean, Barrowman, Stewart, Sutherland, Allen, and 
many others that I could easily mention should be a 
sufficient guarantee of .genuineness and value of certi¬ 
ficates bearing their signatures. At the same time I 
shall be very pleased to see a central committee, 
composed of both Scotch and English judges, formed, 
whose duties it will be not only to grant certificates, 
but to pronounce upon the leading varieties of Pansies, 
both show and fancy. 
Some of your correspondents have asked for a 
Name and Residence of Judges who sent in 
Lists in Order of Merit. 
Robert Stewart, Lenzie. 
David Russell, Bishopbriggs . 
Alexander Kemp, Motherwell. 
A. S. Glass, Dalmellington. 
George Ross, Laurencekirk . 
W. A. Thomson, Penicuik . 
David Strachan, Penicuik . 
William Frater, Linlithgow. 
Andrew Barrowman, Beeslack, Midlothian.. 
Henry Hamilton, Lochwinnock . 
Total of Votes for each 
Divided by 10—the number of Voters—give the 
Average Value of Votes . 
supplementary list, giving the names of other varieties 
that come in after the twenty-four best. If desired, I 
will be happy to furnish it. It goes up to nearly 
seventy varieties ; many of them might be well up in 
the twenty-four. Meantime I have trespassed too far, 
and probably have run the risk of getting my com¬ 
munication cut down.— Andrew Irvine, Kyles of Bute, 
Tighnabruaieh. 
Fancy Pansies. 
Mr. Andrew Irvine, Tighnabruaieh, in his catalogue 
for 1891 publishes a statement questioning my honesty 
in dealing with the lists of fancy Pansies sent me for 
the election of Pansies published in The Gardening 
World of 27th December last. He states that David 
Rennie is at the top, and has sent the statement abroad 
to the public, and I wish to put myself right with your 
readers. I herewith send you correct copies of all the 
lists I received. I find in going over the lists again that 
a slight mistake of one vote was made in connection with, 
the variety Kate McArthur, which should have had four 
votes instead of five; and I should have mentioned 
that there were altogether eight that had five votes 
each, besides those in the election list—James Campbell, 
Mrs. G. P. Frame, Neil Leitch and Mrs. Mark, five 
votes each. With the exception of the above mistake 
I think your readers will find the votes perfectly 
correct. I have the original lists beside me, and they 
are open to the inspection of any one who may care to 
examine them.— M. Campbell, Blantyre, N.B. [Mr. 
Campbell has sent us the lists referred to, but we regret 
we cannot find room for them.— Ed.] 
The National Pink Society. 
Midland Section. 
From Mr. Charles F. Thurstan, Penn Fields, Wolver¬ 
hampton, we have received a copy of the rules and 
schedule of prizes for the Pink show to be held at 
Wolverhampton from July 14th to 16th. The compe¬ 
tition is confined to members of the society paying an 
annual subscription of not less than 5s., and nine 
classes are provided, ranging from twelve distinct 
varieties of laced Pinks to single blooms of red and 
purple-laced varieties. While offering the greatest 
encouragement to the true florists’ laced varieties, the 
society, we are glad to see, has not forgotten the more 
popular border sorts with which young growers mostly 
make a commencement in Pink culture. 
What is a Laced Pink? 
Those who have attentively looked through the 
schedule of prizes offered by the Royal Horticultural 
Society during the present year, will have noticed there 
are two classes for Pinks in the schedule lor June 23rd. 
One is for twelve blooms of laced Pinks distinct, another 
is for six bunches of border Pinks, laced flowers excluded. 
Not feeling quite sure what the words in italics really 
meant, I wrote to the secretary of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society to know if Pinks with a coloured 
ground, but laced—of which we have several, Lord 
Lyon for instance—were excluded. The assistant 
secretary politely acknowledged my letter, and said it 
had been sent on to Mr. Wilks, who would reply, but 
added that he did not think any laced Pinks could be 
shown in that class. In a few days I received, I 
suppose from Mr. Wilks, a letter to him from Mr. 
Harry Turner, in which he ridiculed the idea anyone 
could suppose that any but; the florists’ laced Pinks 
were excluded. Now as Mr. Turner had something to 
R.B. Mr. Hamilton did not furnish a complete list. He named only six varieties, as in tabulated form sent herewith. 
David Rennie 
Maggie A. Scott 
Lord Hamilton 
Agnes Mabel 
George Anderson 
Archie Buchanan 
Mrs. Atkinson 
Robert Jamieson 
Donald Morrison 
Mrs. John 
McConnell 
1 
Mrs. John 
Downie 
Alexander Smith 
1 
Pilrig 
John James 
Ashton 
Miss French 
Lord Rosebery 
Alexander Ollar 
James Alexander 
James Campbell 
Maggie R. S. 
Cocker 
Mrs. John Ellis 
Endymion 
John Taylor 
Evelyn Bruce 
1st 
2nd 
3rd 
4th 
5 th 
6 th 
7 th 
8th 
9 th 
10 th 
11th 
12 th 
13th 
14 th 
15th 
16th 
17 th 
13th 
19th 
20th 
21st 
22nd 
23rd 
24th 
2 
4 
3 
1 
8 
5 
7 
6 
18 
11 
13 
25 
10 
14 
22 
9 
21 
17 
25 
25 
24 
12 
25 
25 
1 
15 
3 
25 
8 
10 
5 
17 
12 
25 
16 
25 
11 
6 
25 
2 
25 
14 
4 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
1 
3 
2 
4 
11 
6 
13 
15 
12 
25 
9 
8 
16 
21 
14 
17 
18 
22 
25 
23 
25 
25 
10 
19 
1 
6 
5 
2 
9 
7 
14 
11 
8 
10 
21 
15 
4 
12 
19 
24 
13 
25 
25 
17 
25 
25 
25 
2 
12 
8 
1 
7 
21 
25 
13 
9 
25 
25 
16 
25 
25 
25 
25 
10 
14 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
22 
1 
4 
2 
5 
6 
13 
12 
24 
7 
11 
9 
18 
20 
14 
8 
25 
25 
22 
25 
17 
16 
19 
25 
23 
1 
4 
24 
2 
3 
5 
11 
9 
25 
7 
6 
8 
15 
13 
20 
25 
25 
25 
25 
18 
12 
17 
25 
25 
1 
12 
5 
2 
7 
25 
14 
15 
25 
23 
22 
4 
25 
25 
25 
25 
17 
16 
6 
19 
25 
25 
10 
25 
2 
1 
10 
6 
7 
3 
12 
9 
25 
5 
4 
8 
16 
14 
17 
21 
25 
25 
25 
19 
13 
18 
25 
25 
1 
2 
3 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
4 
5 
25 
25 
25 
25 
6 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
13 
63 
65 
73 
91 
120 
138 
144 
145 
147 
150 
152 
167 
169 
181 
198 
204 
205 
210 
213 
215 
216 
220 
239 
1t 3 o 
6t 3 o 
64 
7 3 
'To 
9 mg 
12 
134 
w O 
!4| 
14^ 
14 i 7 (j 
15 
154 
18 vo 
16i 9 o 
18 Jo 
19-5 
20f 
20s 
21 
21 i 3 q 
214 
2l| 
22 
23 1 % 
