612 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May it, 1898. 
FLORICULTURE. 
The National Auricula Society. 
I have read with great regret the paper by my good 
friend ' R. D.’ at page 596 of your last issue. As an 
old florist, and one who has had a large experience 
of exhibitions of special florists’flowers. I am bound 
to say I have no sympathy with the complaint ‘ R. D.' 
makes as to the appointment of judges, nor the 
slightest respect for the theory he avers London 
shows have hitherto been conducted upon, viz., that 
"judges shall have no knowledge of the ownership 
of the plants to which they are called upon to make 
awards." I deliberately say in the case of the 
Auricula or the Carnation, I know no one worthy to 
judge from whom this knowledge could be withheld 
■—to the fully informed there are indications outside 
all question as to their ownership—therefore 
the affectation of concealment is a delusion 
and a snare, opening the door to a charge of 
culpable partiality easily made, impossible to 
be refuted, and resulting, as unhappily appears in 
this case, in a sense of injury which cannot be 
appeased. Nor, to my surprise and regret, is my 
friend historically accurate in his statement of the 
practice of London flower shows. Some forty-five 
years ago, in the late forties, when the late Dr. 
Lindley was leading the Royal Horticultural Society, 
a disappointed exhibitor averred certain of the judges 
having knowledge of certain collections had, with 
guilty partiality, awarded prizes to these collections 
in defiance of all warrantable judgment. The 
Doctor replied with unanswerable force, that whilst 
mistake and error might be admitted in all human 
judgment, and left no stain, a charge so easily made 
—so frequently the resource of the disappointed 
competitor, imputing dishonour of the gravest 
kind to the judge—was intolerable, and such as 
no one should be exposed to. Therefore, that 
no such pretence should be possible in the 
future he ruled that all exhibits should be labelled 
with the name and address of the exhibitor prior to 
the entrance of the judges, and be in their full view, 
and this was a practice which obtained, to my certain 
knowledge, up to the death of Dr. Lindley. And as 
I saw in this practice an answer to imputations un¬ 
scrupulous individuals had launched against the 
executive of the Midland Horticultural Society in 
connection with its earlier exhibitions, I promptly 
adopted, and always since in exhibitions where my 
voice could prevail, have maintained this practice. 
I have no knowledge of the beginning of this con¬ 
troversy, and desire to avoid even the semblance of 
taking sides. But I feel bound to say I utterly 
dissent from the expressed desire of ' R. D.’ to 
eliminate seedlings or varieties not in general com¬ 
merce from the exhibition table, or the adoption of 
a special class for old varieties, and equally strongly 
I dissent from the assumption that A having ren¬ 
dered floral service to B in the preparation of his 
flowers is thereby incapacitated from giving an 
opinion as to their merit when compared with C’s. 
Most of all, I regret to see the reference to the 
communication I received from Mr. B. Simonite, 
wherein he spoke of his inability to act as judge for 
the Carnation and Picotee Union last August. I 
have not retained that communication and can only 
speak from memory, but I am sure my friend has 
exaggerated its tenour far beyond warrant. I placed 
that note in his hands in the full expectation that a 
word of explanation would dissipate the difficulty, 
but when, to my regret, I found it might only lead to 
wider divergence of feeling, I stringently declined to 
permit its publication or use for hostile action 
This much of explanation I feel bound to give in 
vindication of myself, and I hope that the tension of 
feeling, of which ' R.D.’ has apparently been a 
sufferer, may speedily pass away.— E. S. Dodweli. 
-- 
Swallowing fruit stones.--A German paper states 
that a very peculiar patient is at present under 
treatment at the Augsburg State Hospital. A man, 
aged forty, had set himself the task of swallowing 
some 250 fruit stones. Having finished this extra¬ 
ordinary meal, he experienced excruciating pain. 
While under treatment on the first day in the 
hospital the medical men succeeded in removing 
200 Hazelnut stones. The man had taken all this 
trouble to place his life in jeopardy for a wager of 
five shillings. 
JUDGES AND JUDGING. 
Although there appears to be some little personal 
feeling in the discussion raised in your columns re¬ 
specting the employment at the Auricula Show of an 
expert to judge, who is also an assistant, and 
occasionally an exhibitor, yet I cannot help think¬ 
ing some good may result from it, because there can 
be no question but that the very base and foundation 
of confidence in exhibiting for prizes in competitions 
is found in the entire honesty and impartiality of the 
judges. It does sometimes happen that the capacity 
of judges maybe called into question, though happily 
rarely. That, however is not the case in this 
instance because the judge whose acts are criticised, 
all the floricultural world knows is a very capable 
man, so far as concerns show Auriculas and some 
other flowers. 
As I understand the case, it is not perhaps so 
much actual partiality, as of possible partiality 
arising from the fact that any man, however ordi¬ 
narily honest he may be, yet comes to the con¬ 
sideration of the merits of respective exhibits in the 
competition with some feeling of bias, because he 
himself knows them and their owner, and it may be 
has done his utmost to make them presentable. 
Now, it does not matter what is the nature of the 
show or of the exhibits, or under what conditions 
competitions may be held and judging takes place, 
but it is a matter of almost absolute impossibility to 
prevent judges in all cases from having what may be 
called physical knowledge of the exhibitors and of the 
things they may have to j udge. But there is a wide dis 
tinction between this physical knowledge and mental 
knowledge. In the former case the judge knows and 
that is all. In no sense does it trouble or affect his 
mind. In the latter case the knowledge so far is 
impressed upon his mental faculties that there is bias 
in favour or against, a form of bias that the judge 
cannot help if he would, and which will force itself 
into the decision, yet unconsciously. Thus in all 
cases it is so much better forjudges to have no know¬ 
ledge whatever of the exhibitors, or else in the other 
case if there be knowledge, it shall be of the mere 
physical and not of the mental kind Judges and 
their awards must be not only merely absolutely 
honest and impartial, but they must have no 
semblance of being otherwise .—An Old Judge. 
-—.*»- 
ROSES UNDER GLASS. 
Now' that Roses are coming rapidly into bloom 
out of doors, there is not the same demand upon 
those plants grown under glass. Roses in pots, 
especially the Tea-scented and Noisettes, are still in 
full growth and flower. There is a great advantage 
in having these in two batches, and to secure an 
extra early one we must soon commence preparations. 
Fairly strong, and well matured growth is what we 
need, and unless this can be managed, it is of little use 
attempting to force a Rose early. 
Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid Teas. 
We will touch upon these first, both classes being 
much alike as regards habit of growth, &c. I have 
coupled them the same as I shall the Teas and 
Noisettes. It is even more necessary to secure well- 
ripened growth of these than of the Tea-scented 
class. We will suppose you have been growing h. 
perpetuals for early bloom, and to aid in showing off 
the softer colours of the Teas. By the way, only the 
dark varieties are worth pot culture, lighter colours 
being of more service when chosen from the Teas, as 
these continue to flower longer and are much more 
free. As the h. perpetuals seldom produce a second 
crop of bloom of any merit, they are apt to be neg¬ 
lected after the first and main crop is realised. This 
should not be the case, as if neglected at this time 
the plants seldon do well for another season. A little 
care in affording sufficient water, with a few doses of 
some liquid stimulant, and an occasional syringe is 
all they need. This will conduce to fairly strong 
growth, and by the time these notes can appear the 
plants may be stood on the north side of a hedge for 
the summer season. Do not keep them dry, nor must 
they have too much water, or the growth will break 
prematurely. The aim should be to keep them 
growing very steadily until growth is completed, and 
then to allow this to mature thoroughly. Never let 
the wood shrivel for want of moisture; a sprinkle 
overhead will prevent this to a large extent without 
the necessity of much root watering. By the end of 
September prune the plants and stand them in a cool 
pit or frame until they commence to break. Here 
they may stay until the early part of December. At 
pruning time let the pots be well overhauled, the 
drainage made good, and some of the surface soil re¬ 
moved. This may be replaced by a rich loamy com¬ 
post. Remove to the house in December, but by no 
means hurry the plants until the beginning of 
January. A temperature of 45 to 50 degrees up to 
this time is ample. Whe re a succession of bloom is 
wanted, choose out the forwardest plants and intro¬ 
duce them to the house a fortnight to three weeks 
before the next batch. The six best dark h. per¬ 
petuals for forcing are General Jacqueminot, Countess 
of Oxford, Eclair, Fisher Holmes, Prince C. de 
Rohan, and Souvenir de C. Montault. 
Teas and Noisettes. 
So much alike are these that our leading authorities 
do not agree as to which class several of the best 
known belong. Among this class we get yellow, 
orange, buff, apricot, peach, coppery-yellow, and 
fawn. All shades of these colours are well repre¬ 
sented, and no Roses are more free in growth or 
bloom and so admirably adapted for pot culture. 
Like the hybrid perpetuals these may now be stood 
out of doors, that is, the earliest batch. The later 
ones may still remain in the house for a few weeks 
until their second or third crop, as the matter may be, 
are secured. It is always best to move them after 
their bloom is secured, and while they are most free 
from young growth. Stand them in the same position 
and treat them similar to the hybrid perpetuals. It 
is difficult to secure so apparent a ripeness in the 
case of Teas and Noisettes. There are two distinct 
classes in these sections, viz., the strong and vigor¬ 
ous climbers that make an annual growth of from 
4 to 15 ft. ; and those of ordinary vigour. As long as 
the stronger growers, like Marechal Niel, Climbing 
Niphetos, William Allen Richardson, &c., continue 
to grow, they should receive no check whatever. 
The secret in cultivating these varieties is to get 
as long a rod as possible, one, two, or three upon a 
plant, according to size and age, being far more 
profitable than a number of medium growths. In 
order to secure this, the growths should be removed 
as soon as they have flowered, cutting them back to 
the most healthy eyes breaking from the base, and 
treating them very generously. Well matured rods 
will carry bloom from almost every eye throughout 
these strong shoots, and as they only flower well 
once a year—like the bulk of the hybrid perpetuals— 
they are much better cultivated in this form. To the 
inexperienced it looks to be the wrong treatment to 
cut away so much healthy wood as usually remains 
after the flowers are over ; but, however well this 
may look, it is practically useless unless grown into 
long shoots, and as these almost invariably break 
from the bottom, it is folly to exhaust the plant by 
sustaining the weaker and shorter wood. On no 
account must these climbers be hurried in their 
ripening, nor will they bear a hasty forcing at the 
commencement. After they have broken into new 
growth some 2 to 3 in., an increase in the temperature 
will do no harm. A few plants that may have 
ripened much earlier and more efficiently than the 
rest may be forced into bloom by Christmas, indeed 
such plants are by far the most reliable for producing 
winter bloom.— Experience. 
-- 
A HANDSOME GREENHOUSE 
CLIMBER. 
A correspondent sends us to be named a flower¬ 
ing shoot of a very showy, but not widely known or 
grown greenhouse plant, Kennedya prostrata Marry- 
attae. There are something like eleven species of 
Kennedya, all natives of Australia, and the finest 
and showiest of all is K. prostrata Marryattae, a variety 
by no means the most common. Most of them that 
are fairly common in cultivation have a flowering 
period, after which they show nothing but leaves for 
the rest of the season. The leaves consist of three 
oblong, blunt, wavy leaflets bearing in their axils 
short racemes of large, light scarlet, Pea-like flowers 
much larger than those of other species in cultivation, 
and these are produced for many months in suc¬ 
cession as the twining stems continue to elongate. 
The stems, when trained up under the rafters of 
a greenhouse or conservatory, give off laterals that 
hang in the most interesting and effective manner, 
owing to the great profusion of flowers. It was 
introduced in 1834, and is far from being so common 
as it ought to be. The accompanying illustration 
of the tip of a flowering shoot will serve to give an 
idea of the appearance of the plant. 
