Jan. 31st, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
339 
Gardening is flie purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
t\t darkniitg iEorltr. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31st, 1885. 
Prizes and Awards. —It is well worthy the 
consideration of those who have the management 
of floral and similar exhibitions whether some 
very drastic reform is not desirable in the present 
method of awarding prizes. Of course, the 
distinction of first, second, and third or more 
must be either adhered to or be the basis of any 
classification of awards; but the present defect 
is found in the publication of certain prizes in the 
various respective classes without reference to the 
nature of the exhibits and the varying degrees of 
merit found in them. How often, for instance, 
do we see prizes, the first of which is just double 
in value that of the second, and three times as 
valuable as that of the third ? Those who prefer 
the old rut, or cannot see outside of it, doubtless 
think that the system is absolutely perfect and 
admits of no improvement. 
Let us, for instance, take a class for six dishes 
of fruit or for twelve kinds of vegetables ; very 
common ones indeed, and found in the schedules of 
all the leading Societies. The prizes are perchance 
three in number, and in value, say, £3, £2, and 
£L This is the common arrangement, and few 
cf$^t*on it. Yet we see the prizes are of such 
diverse value as that the first is one-third more 
than the second, and two-thirds more than the 
third; or, in other words, the second and third 
prizes represent a fall of 33J per cent, below 
those above them. But how stands it with the 
exhibits? Judges nowadays, if men of any 
capacity and experience, do not judge haphazard. 
They go through the collections before them with 
exceeding care, taking each dish separately, 
awarding points to each according to quality, and 
finally adding them up, give the first prize to that 
collection which shows the largest number. But 
in any ordinary competition, and especially at any 
good Show, it is always found that the difference 
in quality between the leading collections is 
exceedingly infinitesimal, and in no way com¬ 
parable to the wide divergences found in the 
value of the prizes. 
How common is it the ease that judges find 
first and second collections to be so remarkably 
close, that it is only after an additional scrutiny 
has taken place the award can be made. Really 
the first prize collection gets the maximum 
number of marks, and the second prize one or 
two below only. That is to say, that if the first 
prize collection represent one hundred, the second 
prize represents ninety-five, and perhaps the third 
one ninety, so near are they. Indeed, it is a toss 
up whether did another set of judges make the 
award the prizes might not be differently distri¬ 
buted. But the prizes are of an arbitrary nature 
and being fixed, the judges cannot distribute 
them consonant with the merits of the collections 
before them, and thus whilst relatively the first 
prize collection gets the Plum, the rest get little 
better than the stone. 
How, were it so arranged that, instead of fixing 
the prizes arbitrarily, the schedule simply stated 
three prizes given,” and a specified sum, as in 
the case we are considering, of £6 offered to be 
divided at the discretion of the judges, we should 
see the awards so far apportioned to the merits 
of the exhibits that the first collection would 
have 45s., the second 40s., and the third 35s., 
the respective merits of each being fittingly 
rewarded. Ho doubt the suggestion thus made 
will startle many of our readers who are so 
accustomed to the ordinary prize-giving routine 
as to believe that the present plan is a perfect 
one. Eeally, no plan can be more imperfect, as we 
have shown, and it is certain that were competi¬ 
tors at large canvassed they would say that the 
apportionment of prizes in accord with the merits 
of the exhibits would be the most fair and satis¬ 
factory. There have been cases in which the 
second prize in a class has been not more than 
half the value of that of the first, and yet the 
collection placed second has been so close to the 
first in merit as to have needed the utmost effort 
on the part of the judges to give a final decision. 
Surely in such ease, and it is typical of myriads 
of others, the giving of prizes so vastly dispropor- 
tioned is a monstrous injustice. 
In the report of that now very important body, 
the Hational Chrysanthemum Society, given 
in these columns last week, it was stated that 
the former champion class of forty-eight cut 
blooms, one-half of which were Japanese, and 
was always an unsatisfactory one, would in future 
bg divided into two classes, each of twenty-four 
cut blooms, one to be of Japanese and one of 
incurved flowers. This arrangement is so far 
objectionable that it makes the class no longer a 
champion one and creates no more interest than 
does the ordinary twenty-fours. Had the plan we 
have suggested been in operation we should not 
have heard any complaint as to the nature of the 
class, for it really was the champion class of the 
Show, had the large amount offered in prizes been 
apportioned more relatively to the merits of the 
best collections. Last year the first and second were 
within a few points of each other, and the second 
winner suffered greatly in pocket in consequence. 
But as the severance is now effected, and it is of 
no use crying over spilt milk, we would suggest, 
to insure that the class shall still be a champion 
one, that all competitors be compelled to show in 
both, that the classes be judged solely on the 
merits of the respective collection, by distinct 
sets of judges; that each set shall accurately 
calculate the number of points awarded to each 
collection, and then, in comparing each award, 
add the points gained by an exhibitor in one 
class to the number [obtained in the other, and 
award the prizes to those having the highest 
numbers in combination. Thus the combined 
classes would still remain the champion class of 
the Show. 
As announced, the prizes in each class are to 
be £10, £6, and £4, a total of £20, or £40 in the 
two. But suppose it be announced, instead of 
arbitrarily fixed prizes, that £40 be set apart for 
six prizes in this combined champion class, the 
judges may, in comparing their points, so dis¬ 
tribute that amount that the competitors get 
rewarded absolutely in proportion to the merits 
of their collections. Thus the distribution 
of the £40 in the form of six prizes of the value of 
£10, £8, £7, £6, £5, and £4, would be a much 
more equitable arrangement, and offer far 
more encouragement to competitors than is now 
found. We should like to hear the opinions of 
our exhibitor readers on the proposal thus sub¬ 
mitted. 
Wanted, a Situation. — We very heartily 
sympathize with all that large body of gardeners, 
young and old, as well as with all those asso¬ 
ciated with other departments of horticulture, 
who from week to week seek through advertise¬ 
ments those situations they so much need, and 
which seem so difficult to obtain. We are 
not prepared to affirm that, in common with 
other trades and vocations, gardening is not 
suffering from the condition of chronic dulness 
which seems to beset everything at present. 
That may be a matter of opinion, but it docs seem 
as if there were either growing up more gardeners 
than there are places for them, or else places 
are declining in number. It would, of course, 
be very difficult to prove the latter hypothesis, 
and it would not be pleasant to know it as a fact. 
Naturally, our hopes as those of all associated 
with gardening, are that gardening is a rapidly 
growing and expanding vocation, and that its 
requirements in the future cannot well bo 
estimated. But if gardening is receiving a 
temporary check, it is hoped that it may be but 
temporary, and that those large numbers of 
excellent gardeners of varied experience, who 
from day to day or week to week seek for places, 
may soon find them. 
Specially are our sympathies with that section 
of applicants for situations who may be classed 
as, if not old, at least staid gardeners. It is one 
of the peculiarities of the profession, one more 
evident in gardening, perhaps, than in any other 
vocation, that when a good man obtains a good 
place he is apt to regard himself as a sort of 
fixture, almost provided for, for life. It is 
pleasant to think of the hundreds of men in * 
the profession who seem to be literally garden 
fixtures, and whose positions, so long as they are 
honest and faithful servants, seem unassailable. 
It is to such positions, such prizes of the pro¬ 
fession, that other men may well aspire, though 
of necessity all cannot obtain. When, as some¬ 
times happens, however, through death or some 
family mischance or other misfortune, gardeners 
who have grown or are growing grey in their 
employer’s service, suddenly find themselves 
thrown upon the world, then their position is 
indeed one to invite sympathy; for their chances 
of getting any similar post are sadly handicapped 
by age, whilst scores of first-class younger men 
are in the field as anxious competitors. 
It is true that at this season of the year the 
rush for change seems to be chronic, but none 
will assume that the large number of present 
applicants for situations are the victims of a love 
of change, indeed anyone having a fair position 
has ample reason to pause ere he seeks for a 
change, when he scans the lists of applications 
for situations constantly being made. It may be 
that, perhaps, the concentration of such a large 
number of applications into the columns of one 
particular paper seems unduly to accentuate the 
present state of the gardening labour market, and 
that the apparent needs of so many would be less 
evident if the applications were distributed over 
more of the gardening newspapers. Certainly, it 
should be more beneficial for advertisers to do so, 
because their applications would come to the 
notice of a vastly larger body of readers. When 
we observe really good men, who have been cast 
out of a place through no fault of their own, 
advertising week after week without effect, it is 
easy to realize how bitter becomes that hope 
deferred which makes the heart sick. Let us 
hope that for all those who need berths so badly 
there is a good time near at hand. 
Earth Moisture. —A whilom correspondent 
writes :—“ I grubbed up some useless Apple-trees 
the other day, and was surprised to find how 
wonderfully dry the soil was beneath.” We fear 
our good friend’s experience is that of thousands 
who find just now the subsoil remarkably dry 
for the season of the year. Those who think a 
little, and are endowed with a sense of fore¬ 
casting, are looking forward to the coming 
summer with feelings of deep anxiety. Just 
now everything is couleur de rose. Ho winter 
