696 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 20, 1898. 
FLORICULTURE. 
The National Auricula Society. 
It is with considerable reluctance I venture to con¬ 
tinue the controversy concerning the National 
Auricula Society and myself, but as the Rev. F. D. 
Horner, as one of the chiefs of the “ Auricula Ring,” 
has taken up the cudgels in defence of the judge 
whose acts I have complained of, I am bound to 
carry the case a step further. 
At the annual meeting of the society in 1892, I 
contented myself with entering a strong protest against 
the appointment of Mr. B. Simonite as one of the 
judges at the Auricula show, on the ground, that at 
the previous exhibition he had assisted to stage, and 
afterwards to judge, some of Mr. Douglas’s exhibits. 
I thought this altogether unusual and most objection¬ 
able. I also objected to his bringing plants belong¬ 
ing to the Rev. F. D. Horner, dressing, staging, and 
judging them. My protest as a member the com¬ 
mittee was overruled, and I at once retired from that 
body, but at the request of the secretary afterwards 
resumed my seat upon it. 
I was quite willing to allow the matter to drop, 
but Mr. Simonite having in August last excused him¬ 
self from attending the annual meeting of the Oxford 
Carnation and Picotee Union, on the ground, as he 
stated in a letter to a mutual friend, that he would not 
meet me as I had 11 maliciously insinuated that he and 
Mr. Horner were destroying flower shows,” I at once 
wrote to him to justify or withdraw the statement, 
but repeated applications brought no response. As 
I had only in the committee of the National Auricula 
Society expressed my objection to Mr. Simonite being 
engaged as a judge, and the only paid judge, it was 
obvious that information made in the confidence of 
committee had been conveyed to him by a member. 
His letter followed close upon the heels of the meet¬ 
ing of the Midland Counties Carnation Society, at 
which the treasurer of the National Auricula Society 
was a fellow judge with Mr. Simonite, and the coinci¬ 
dence is at least remarkable. 
At the annual meeting of the National Auricula 
Society, held at the beginning of the present year, I 
entered a strong protest against words spoken in the 
confidence of the committee being made public to 
the prejudice of the speaker, as both unusual and 
unjustifiable. When Mr. Simonite was, as 
usual, nominated as the only paid judge I expressed 
an opinion that he would not come to London to 
meet me, expecting of course that he would object 
to do so upon the same grounds as at Oxford. It 
was said he would come ; then I further protested 
against an invitation being given to a person who 
had made charges against a member of the com¬ 
mittee which he "would neither justify nor withdraw, 
and especially against his judging under the peculiar 
circumstances anything I might stage in competition. 
To make such a protest as this was both natural and 
proper. But it was stated that in order to inspire 
confidence among the cultivators of show Auriculas 
it was indispensable that Mr. Simonite should be 
invited to judge them. By inviting him the mem¬ 
bers of the society practically endorsed the accusa¬ 
tion he had brought against me, and I at once with¬ 
drew from the society. One would have thought, 
knowing that I was a member of the committee, and 
certain to compete, that Mr. Simonite would have 
put forward the same objection to meet me in London 
as he did at Oxford, but he did nothing of the kind. 
What happened at the recent show ? The Rev. 
F. D. Horner came south, bringing with him a 
number of plants. On the morning of the show Mr. 
Simonite, though engaged as a paid judge, assisted 
Mr. Horner to dress and stage his Auriculas. I am 
happy to state that though it was said 
that it was absolutely necessary that Mr. 
Simonite, in order to inspire confidence among the 
growers, should judge the^show Auriculas, a sense 
of decency prevailed among the executive, and he 
was told off to judge the Alpines and other things, 
and this notwithstanding I had proposed Mr. 
Joseph Lakin as a judge in the Alpine classes. The 
treasurer always objected to him on the ground that 
he does not grow them, and that to accurately judge 
Alpines, a judge should be a grower of them, and yet 
neither the Rev. F. D. Horner nor Mr. B. Simonite 
grow Alpines. Again, in the class for a basket of 
Primroses, in which only true Primroses have been 
shown since its institution, they awarded Mr. 
Douglas a first prize for a basket of Polyanthuses, 
although one is distinctly differentiated from the 
other in the schedule of prizes. I wondered then 
and wonder still, how it was the secretary of the 
National Auricula Society allowed a basket of 
Polyanthuses to be staged as a basket of Primroses. 
It may be said, why did you not protest ? Because 
it is useless to protest against irregularities when a 
member of the Auricula ring is interested, and so I 
kept quiet. 
Having now re-stated by case against the National 
Auricula Society, and my more recent experience of 
its practice, I proceed to notice a few particulars 
mentioned by the Eev. F. D. Horner on p. 532. 
My first point is the heated Auricula houses at Read¬ 
ing. I can say in reference to the single exception, 
that I have been in the Auricula houses of both Mr. 
T. E. Henwood and Mr. W. Badcock, when artificial 
heat was being applied to the development of the 
flower, I am depending upon what I have seen, Mr. 
Horner upon hearsay. I do not condemn the em¬ 
ployment of artificial heat by any one ; all I contend 
for is that the growers of Auriculas in unheated 
houses or frames compete at a disadvantage with 
those who employ artificial heat. Two growers at 
Reading cultivate wholly in cold frames—one is Mr. 
Thomas Fife, the other Mr. J. Gibson. The support 
of the former is lost because plants are shown from 
his town, grown and bloomed by means of artificial 
heat. Mr. Gibson supports the society, but cannot 
compete, his plants are not fully in bloom at the 
time of the shows. I should not have alluded to the 
matter of artificial heat, had not Mr. Douglas stated 
in one of the gardening papers that at the time he 
was writing, the temperature in which Auriculas 
were growing should not be allowed to fall below 40°; 
as at that time we were in London experiencing 
nightly 12 0 and 14 0 of frost, I was at a loss to 
understand how the temperature could be maintained 
without artificial means. 
That the Rev. Mr. Horner should be found 
practically approving of the meanness which makes 
known matters spoken in the confidence of the com¬ 
mittee, and the expression of a libellous statement 
which is neither justified nor withdrawn, is, to my 
mind, regrettable. I have already in this paper shown 
the society’s " pettifogging " ways. The sub-editor of 
a gardening paper, not at all friendly to myself, told 
me a few days ago that the arrangements of the 
annual Auricula Show, at the Drill Hall, are so bad 
generally, that he would personally have nothing 
more to do with reporting it. The arrangements for 
the staging are almost always about as confusing 
and uncertain as they can well be, and yet they are 
on a very small scale. The society is “ obscure ” in 
the sense that its existence is known only to a few, 
and for the reason that so little publicity is given to 
it. Were it not for my own exertions no report of 
its annual meeting would appear in the gardening 
papers, the recognised representatives of the garden¬ 
ing Press never being invited to attend. 
The theory upon which our London flower shows 
are conducted, is, that the judges have no knowledge 
of the ownership of the plants to which they are 
called upon to make awards. To this end, all the 
exhibitors’ cards at our Auricula shows in London 
are turned face downwards. The fact that a judge 
dresses, stages, and then judges flowers is inconsis¬ 
tent with this practice, and a man who is trusted for 
special fairness and for knowledge, ought not to be 
placed in a position which imperils the exhibition of 
these qualities and their free and unbiassed employ¬ 
ment. Mr. Horner’s sarcasms and his imputations 
against myself will not turn me aside from the manly 
protest I am making against the judging arrange¬ 
ments at our Auricula shows, which favour too much 
of self-interests, and which operate to exclude from 
the post of judge men admirably qualified for the 
office, because they happen to have fallen under the 
displeasuie of an official.— R. D. 
Preparing for Battle ! How we Composed the 
Twelve-bloom Stand. 
The day before the show is of momentous import, 
and everything gives place to the preparation of the 
lovely flowers for the coveted prize stands. Visitors 
are ignored, or admitted to watch the work only on 
condition of absolute silence and obstructing neither 
light nor air. But the visit of two young friends, 
and the interest they showed in the work, have 
suggested to me that a description of the proceedings 
may have a usefulness for others who, like our 
friends, may desire to join in the race for honours 
and the excitements of competition. 
For fifteen years I have been an annual visitor to 
my friend’s collection, and with him watched and 
noted new and old, and compared notes of things 
present and things past. Fifteen years are a marked 
interval in a life, and alas, now neither my friend nor 
myself are, as we were at the beginning, good for 
sixteen hours of close work amongst the flowers. 
Then we rose at four a.m., and rested only when old 
Sol failed to give us light. Now it is different; less 
than half such hours suffice to exhaust our strength. 
But I must halt, or my readers will cry me tedious. 
Well, we have risen, not at four, but at six ; some 
six dozen flowers, each dropped in a separate bottle, 
have been selected; and brush and tweezers and 
other needful appliances at hand, the wotk of 
•' laying” (to quote Hogg) the petals commences. 
Quickly, almost with bated breath, our Mentor gives 
a first lesson : “ Have the flowers in their separate 
bottles before you, and never lift one from a back 
row over those in front, remembering a drop of 
water is sure to flow from the stem, and if it falls 
upon its peers it will leave a stain almost ineffaceable, 
quite enough in a close competition to lose a first 
place.” Then the work went on silently, patiently, 
until a score of flowers had been prepared. Then 
lesson number two : The prepared flowers, still in 
bottles, are arranged in competing order, and their 
effect is carefully studied. How shall the beauties 
of combination or the force of contrast be best 
developed? How the ‘‘higher quality, the better 
growth, the more symmetrical form, the brighter 
colours, the better markings, and the greater variety ” 
be more enhanced ? The conditions of competition 
are, “ twelve blooms, flakes or bizarres, dissimilar.” 
How shall we most ensure dissimilarity ? " Not much 
difficulty in this, with the wonderful variety of 
markings, the especial property of flakes and 
bizarres,” says our friend. Take " two flowers from 
each of the six classes is the recent dictum of a 
great authority,” remarks one of our visitors. “A 
sound rule in the abstract,” says Mr. D., “ all other 
conditions being equal, but not at all to be servilely 
followed. You may have a class wholly inferior, 
and thus you are bound to avoid it. Let the aim be, 
consistent with individual excellence in the flower, 
to attain the most effective picture.” “ Ay,” said 
our old friend, “ florists are poor indeed who cannct 
appreciate art.” So changes—once, twice, thrice— 
were tried, until the most pleasing effect seemed 
gained. 
Then the exhibition box, polished to the smooth¬ 
ness of plate glass, set at the exact angle fitted most 
effectively to display form, proportion, perspective, 
was called into use, and the flowers, previously 
viewed necessarily upon the level, were dropped into 
their places respectively, and arranged until every 
beauty was made most prominent- -every defect most 
masked. 
Then the box with its precious freight was 
consigned in its cupboard to the cool cellars of the 
Cottage. 
And so we went to the Picotees. “ Here,” said 
our friend, " the markings lack the force and variety, 
the masculine beauty of the flakes and bizarres, and 
we have to look for elegance, gracefulness, harmony 
•—points always of great beauty, to many eyes 
indeed mere pleasing than the strident character of 
the stripe.” And again, after the due “ laying ” and 
arrangement of the petals, the flowers were subjected 
to the same trials and the same critical inspections 
described for the flakes and bizarres. That com¬ 
pleted, the box went to its companion in the coolness 
of the cellar. 
Then came the miscellaneous—seifs, fancies, and 
yellow grounds, and here was wealth of choice, 
almost to a burden. Upon one point, dear to old 
and practised florists, absolutely essential indeed to 
the longitudinal markings of flakes and bizarres, or 
the graceful curve of the edged Picotee, the smooth 
edge, many of the varieties in these sections fall 
behind their fellows of longer development; but 
their infinite variety, and marvellous beauty of form 
and colour, compel an admiration always growing 
larger and wider as year by year I see more of them. 
“And,” said Mr. D., as he took up a specimen of 
singular excellence, but with a delicately fimbriate 
edge, “ drop the condition requiring the flower to be 
shown upon the card, and this delicate fimbriation, 
which is out of harmony with the smooth edge of 
the card, and therefore harsh to the eye, is no longer 
