398 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Feb. 21st, 1885. 
I am disappointed to find that no one seems to 
have thought it worth while to discuss this interesting 
subject, other than Mr. Holmes, as it leads to the 
inference that exhibitors are indifferent, and yet the 
propositions are put forward entirely in their interests, 
and for the securing of the more equitable adjustment 
of prizes according to the value or merits of the 
respective exhibits. Even under our present system, 
the prizes are as a rule too few in the classes and thus 
relatively too high. £10 would be far more equitably 
distributed in six prizes than in three only, for say 
what may be in favour of the present method, all 
must admit that collections are too often left without 
prizes that are relatively as good as those which obtain 
them, and to exclude them from any share in the 
prizes is to deal harshly with the exhibitors. A 
reform in prize awards is inevitable, and will come 
in good time.— The Writer. 
I had hoped and expected that we should have seen 
ere now in your columns some further expression of 
opinion either for or against the somewhat startling 
suggestion in reference to an entire rearrangement of 
the prize and award system as at present carried out 
at most, if not all, of our Exhibitions. One deduction 
from this silence it is, I think, fan to make—viz., that 
exhibitors and judges alike do not yet see their way 
clear to adopt or even support the proposed new 
departure. While I do not for a moment contest that 
the present system is complete or without its anomalies, 
yet I do hold that, to say the least, there are equally 
grave objections to the proposals that have been 
placed before us. 
In theory, and to those who deal with figures only, 
the proposal would, I am aware, seem to leave nothing 
to be desired ; but to those who live and have their 
being in the realms of practical experience I do not 
think it will commend itself. Inasmuch as this 
discussion cropped up in reference to Chrysanthemum 
Exhibitions, it will be fan to take a Chrysanthemum 
schedule by way of illustration. Take, then, as an 
instance, a class of twenty-four incurved blooms, and 
as “ The Writer ” proposes, let one hundred represent 
the maximum number of points obtainable by the 
stand. 
This will, of course, represent as nearly as 
possible four points as a maximum per bloom. The 
first stand has been awarded by the judges the full 
number of points, the second stand has twenty-three 
equally good flowers, but the twenty-fourth is not 
worth a single point, and this stand is in consequence 
awarded ninety-two as against ninety-six to the first 
stand. This is sufficient, of course, to place them first 
and second respectively, but if the actual cash is to be 
divided in accordance with the relative values of 
ninety-two as compared with ninety-six, I submit that 
the second prize taker would receive far more than the 
value of his stand entitles him as compared with the 
first, and for the reason, as all Chrysanthemum 
growers will bear me out, that it is easy enough to put 
up eighteen, twenty, and even twenty-two first-class 
flowers distinct, but the difficulty of finding the 
twenty-third and twenty-fourth is greater than all the 
rest put together, and is certainly not at all represented 
by the 4 per cent, as it would be under the proposed 
new system. Here, then, anomalies would at once crop 
up in practice that do not appear in theory. Again, in 
putting up a stand of twenty-four blooms it is easy 
enough to find, as I have said, the first seven well 
known varieties, but as the stand is made up so the 
difficulty increases in finding match flowers, therefore 
an equal number of points to the last six flowers as to 
the first six in no way represents the real value of the 
former on the Exhibition table, and this is a fact I 
venture to say not lost sight of by practical judges 
under the present system. 
Since “ The Writer’s ” last communication on this 
subject the plan has been developed to this extent, that 
judges are only to record the number of points to each 
exhibit, the apportionment of the cash to be left to 
the committee. To my mind this is a most undesirable 
arrangement, and likely to lead to much bitter strife 
and contention, for the simple reason that in nine 
societies out of ten the principal exhibitors are also 
members of the committee, and would be consequently 
making their own money awards. The last conten¬ 
tion seems to me quite met by existing regulations— 
viz., that judges may withhold prizes where exhibits 
are not considered worthy of an award. This occurred 
twice or thrice last November to my certain knowledge 
—in one case a first was deservedly awarded, but the 
next in order only received a third prize; and in 
another case both first and second were withheld and 
only a third awarded.— WilliamHolmes,Hon. Secretary, 
National Chrysanthemum Society. 
I have read the remarks on the proposed alteration 
in the system of awarding prizes, to Chrysanthemums, 
for instance, but, for my part, I do not look upon the 
suggested alteration as likely to prove an improve¬ 
ment. “ The Writer,” p. 372, by insisting that the 
number of points given to each collection shall be 
marked in the judges’ books, adds materially to the 
labours of the judges, not in merely marking the 
number of points instead of simply the first, second, 
and third awards, but by giving them the unnecessary 
trouble of finding out how many points each stand of 
blooms is worthy of. It is not in all cases, by a very 
long way, that “ pointing ” the blooms is necessary to 
determine how the first, second, and third prizes 
shall be disposed off, as in some cases one collection 
is such a long way ahead of the others that it is seen 
at a glance which is the first, and so on with the 
other prizes; but to give the number of points each 
stand of blooms is entitled to, each bloom must be 
examined and the points totalled up, which will take 
time and give much extra trouble to the judges, who 
often enough have so much to do that it is difficult 
to get through the work in the short time usually 
allowed. 
I do not know that were the system adopted, as 
suggested, of awarding the prizes by the number of 
points, and making such a small difference in the 
value of the first and second prizes, that the blooms 
shown would be quite as good in quality as they are 
now, and they would not, I think, be ’presented in 
such good condition all through the show. Many 
exhibitors when they place their stands alongside 
of others have an idea how they are likely to stand, 
whether first, second, or third. Now, knowing that 
they were very close in point of merit, and assuming 
that they judged rightly that A. was first and their 
own collection—say B.—was a close second, B. would 
say, “ A. will get £2 5s., and I, B., shall have £2 ;— 
the difference is so slight I shall not trouble to alter 
them,” whereas if there was more risk at stake—say the 
first prize was £3 and the second £2, the greater would 
be the incentive to take a little extra trouble with the 
blooms, when perhaps by taking one or two flowers 
from the stand and giving them an extra ten minutes 
with the tweezers might make a vast difference in 
the award of the prizes. 
I do not say that this want of energy at the 
finish would take place with an exhibitor who was 
competing in the champion class, because as a 
rule in those classes the honour of being first is a 
great consideration with exhibitors, but in the smaller 
classes it would take place, and the blooms would 
suffer in quality because it often happens that a 
person competing in the large class competes also in 
the smaller ones, and I ask, Why. should the small 
classes suffer ? Many people might say that the man 
who acted as I have stated ought not to show at all, 
and some again do not, perhaps, look upon showing 
as a matter of honour so much as of gain, but with 
cut blooms of Chrysanthemums it is a tedious matter 
staging in many classes, as many who have tried it 
know. 
I do not see that making a class for forty-eight 
Japanese blooms and another one for the same 
number of incurved varieties is an advantage over the 
older plan of combining the two sections. I consider 
it no easy task to muster forty-eight blooms of either 
Japanese or incurved flowers, and I have had a little 
experience in this matter. Perhaps Mr. Holmes will 
explain u-hy it is better than the older way of offering 
the prizes, as he ventures to predict great things 
from the new departure made by the National 
Society. 
I do not consider that the judges labour under 
any very great difficulty with regard to awarding 
prizes to collections that are much inferior to the first 
prize lot. All judges ought to be empowered to 
withhold prizes where they are considered unworthy. 
Because the prizes are offered it does not follow 
that they must be given, and judges, as a rule, are 
quite able to decide that point to the advantage of the 
committee.— An Exhibitor. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
“ Venetian ” Flower and Fruit-Houses.— I send 
you a plan of a new house for flower and fruit-growing, 
introduced by Messrs. Skinner & Board, Stokes Croft, 
Bristol, and which I consider has many advantages 
over other houses, and for Orchard - house trees 
especially. I should be much pleased if some of 
your readers who have been using this style of 
house would give me their opinion of them.— J. 31. 
Potting Tuberoses. —Kindly give directions to an 
amateur for Potting Tuberoses, and oblige.— K. R. _ 
[Pot them in well-drained o-in. or 6-in. pots, filled 
with a mixture of peat, loam, well-rotted manure, and 
sand, and put them in the soil as deep as a Hyacinth. 
Give them one watering and no more until they 
commence to grow, and plunge them in gentle bottom 
heat. “When they give signs of flowering remove the 
plants to a cold house.—Ed.] 
Top.enia Bailloni.— I shall feel much obliged if you 
will kindly furnish me with information as to the 
treatment required to grow Torenia Bailloni from 
seed, more especially details as to the soil, temperature 
and amount of moisture best suited to the plant.— 
Chas. V. Smith .—[Torenia Bailloni is a showy bright 
golden-yellow flowered stove annual, which, with T. 
Fournieri and the better known T. asiatica, is well 
worthy of cultivation for furnishing hanging baskets. 
Sow the seeds at once in well-drained pots filled with 
a compost of peat, leaf-soil, sand, and a little loam, 
and place the pots in a Cucumber-frame or propagating 
frame, where the seeds will germinate freely. As soon 
as the seedlings are large enough, pot them on in a 
similar compost, and still keep them in the frame, 
unless you have a warm house, until they are finally 
shifted into 6-in. pots for blooming. Water with care 
and moderation until the pots are filled with roots 
when they will take plenty of it.— Ed.'] 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Maiu'CHal Neil Rose.— 3. Ledbury —You started it into 
growth too soon after potting it, hence there is now insufficient 
root action to meet the demands made by the foliage. Keep the 
plant as quiet as you can until ir has made more root growth. 
Tou will not do much good with this Rose in a pot, and we 
strongly advise you, if you can, to plant it out in a border. 
Names op Plants. — Ireland. —1. Polypodium aureum. 
2. Nephrolepis tuberosa, 3. Asplenium cieutarium. 4. Adian- 
turn formosum. 5 Davallia Mooreana. The Violet appears to 
be Marie Louise. It. H. F. —1. Pteris serrulata angustata. 
2. One of the many forms of Pteris serrulata cristata, and not 
a particularly good one. 3. Onychium japonicum. 4. Not 
recognizable without fructification. 5. Asplenium coneinnum 
apparently: if so, grown in too much heat and badly infested 
with thrips. 6. Adiantum formosum. 
Erratum. —At p. 372, col. A, twenty-first line from the 
bottom, for “ 15 to 15 per cent.” read “ 15 to 25 cents.” 
Alternantheras.— Colic— Put the stock plants in heat at 
once to start them into a free growth. They will lose their 
colour under such treatment, and throw up strong green shoots 
which are the best for propagating. The colour will return 
after the cuttings have rooted. 
Fuchsias. — C ■ H. W .—If you want them in flower early, 
bring the plants out of the cellar at once, prune them as much 
as is necessary, and put them in the greenhouse to break. Water 
very sparingly until the young shoots make their appearance, 
when the roots should be shaken out of the old soil, be reduced 
and re-potted in smaller pots. Let the soil be good sandy 
loam and old cow manure, and put in a good layer of the latter 
over the drainage. 
Communications Received.— E. M.—W. H.—R. H. F.— 
J. C — R, L.—J. L.-H. C.— H. R. I.—J. W. S.-P. B.- 
D. P. L.—I). & Co— E. W. B.—W. R. 
Trade Catalogues Received. 
Yiccaxs Collter & Co., Central Hall, Leicester.—Choice 
Flower Seeds, Aquatics, New and Rare African Plants, &c. 
P. J. Kane, Kells, Co. Meath.—Vegetable "and Flower 
Seeds. 
—— 
LONDON SEED TRADE. 
February 18th, 1SS5. 
Messrs. Hurst & Son, of 152, Houndsditcb, and 
39, Seed Market, Mark Lane, report a slow trade for 
Agricultural Seeds at rates current last week. Supplies 
continue large, and moderate prices rule for all 
varieties. 'White Clover and Alsike are now cheaper 
than for many years, and qualities are much above 
average. Tares firm; no change in value of Bird 
Seeds. 
