122 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  10.  1898. 
Mr.  Abbey  in  his  interesting  articles,  and  that  is  the  reference  to  the 
losses  occasioned  by  woodlice  and  wasps.  After  all  one’s  efforts  in  the 
production  of  these  luscious  fruits,  there  is  ofte^  considerable  losses  from 
these  enemies.  Where  nailing  is  resorted  to  woodlice  find  abundant 
shelter,  and  become  more  or  less  in  evidence  at  the  ripening  period.  The 
best  remedy  for  these,  no  doubt,  would  be  to  close  the  existing  nail  holes 
with  a  hard-setting  composition  during  the  winter  months,  and  where  possible 
to  adopt  strained  wire  instead  for  training.  They  are  not  easily  trapped 
when  they  can  find  so  much  shelter  in  the  walls.  Wasps  are  best  dealt 
with  at  the  nest  with  cyanide  of  potassium,  and  Davis’  or  Scott’s  destroyers 
if  they  persist  in  sampling  the  fruit.  Squirrels,  too,  have  a  strong  liking 
for  Apricots,  and  if  once  they  taste  them  nothing  less  than  shooting  or 
trapping  will  stop  them  ;  nets  are  not  of  the  slightest  use,  they  will  make 
passages  through  them  without  any  exertion.  —  W.  S.,  Rood  Ashton, 
Wilts. 
The  N.C.S.  Peoxy  Voting. 
Every  member  of  the  N.O.S.  owes  you  thanks  for  the  space  you  have 
given  in  its  real  and  permanent  interests.  Might  I  ask  whether,  on  so 
important  a  matter  as  practically  the  future  of  the  Society  depends,  every 
member  should  be  allowed  to  accord  a  vote  ?  The  annual  meeting  gene¬ 
rally  takes  place  in  London  in  the  evening,  and  of  course  only  a  very 
limited  number  of  members  can  attend.  I  think  a  poll  should  1)e  demanded 
or  proxies  allowed. — An  Absent  Member. 
All  Chrysanthemum  lovers  will  feel  thankful  to  you  for  affording 
space  in  directing  attention  to  the  pitiable  position  of  the  N.C.S.  But 
while  the  interest  in  its  condition  is  on,  could  not  something  be  done  to 
make  it  more  of  a  national  society  by  allowing  its  distant  members  to  take 
part  in  the  election  of  oflScials  without  the  expense  of  a  journey  to 
London  ?  Surely  nominations  might  be  made  before  some  fixed  date,  and 
then  voting  papers  be  sent  to  members.  A  thousand  halfpenny  stamps 
would  about  cover  the  cost,  and  we  should  at  least  feel  we  had  one 
other  privilege  beside  the  privilege  of  paying  our  suljscriptions. — 
J.  H.  SiLSBURY,  Hon.  Sec.  Shanhlin  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
Equal  Prizes  for  Premier  Blooms. 
I  SCARCELY  expected  to  find  that  another  exhibitor  could  relate  a 
similar  instance  to  that  which  I  referred  on  page  78  ;  but  on  opening  my 
Journal  of  last  week  I  was  surprised  to  find  it  was  so.  The  Editor 
requires  an  explanation  from  me  as  to  which  of  the  equal  best  blooms 
the  certificate  was  awarded.  I  did  not  see  the  Judges  after  their  decision, 
to  inquire  the  reason  for  their  choice  of  two  blooms,  when  the  conditions 
of  the  schedule  stipulated  for  the  “  best  ”  individual  bloom  in  the  show. 
The  cash  prize  was  to  be  divided  equally,  but  there  were  no  instructions 
from  Judges  or  Secretary  as  to  whom  belonged  the  “  bit  of  cardboard  ;  ” 
and  as  there  was  a  dual  claim  of  ownership  I  considered  the  certificate 
was  of  no  intrinsic  value,  and  did  not  therefore  contest  the  case.  Had  I 
done  so  it  may  have  generated  bad  feeling,  and  a  probable  “  scene  in 
court.”  I  may,  however,  say  that  Empress  of  India — a  fine  bloom — 
was  chosen  from  my  stand,  Mrs.  Alpheus  Hardy  being  drawn  from  my 
opponent’s  board.  By  a  curious  coincident  this  happened  in  the  same 
year  as  in  the  case  cited  by  “  Eorlorn,”  1893. — W.  S.,  Wilts. 
[Our  respected  correspondent  implies  that  the  certificate  was  with¬ 
held  from  both  exhibitors.  In  that  case  the  .Judges  were  consistent,  and 
admitted  their  incapacity  to  decide  the  point.  We  can  understand  its 
being  diflBcult  with  the  two  sections  in  competition,  and  though  we  have 
never  seen  a  bloom  of  Mrs.  Alpheus  Hardy  equal  to  a  high-class  specimen 
of  Empress  of  India,  it  is  of  course  possible  that  the  first-named  in  the 
contest  in  question  was  superior  to  any  that  have  come  under  our  notice. 
We  have  to  confess  to  believing  in  the  dictum  of  a  celebrated  man  that 
“difficulties  are  things  to  be  overcome,”  and  we  know  from  no  small 
experience  that  the  easiest  way  of  evading  them  at  flower  shows  is  to 
give  equal  prizes.  In  the  case  of  money  prizes  it  may  be  equitable 
enough,  but  when  a  mark  of  honour  is  provided  in  the  form  of  a  cup  or 
medal  we  think  it  ought  to  be  won  by  the  exhibitor  who  leads  a  close 
competitor  by  half  a  point,  or  even  less.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  appraise  the 
value  of  two  individual  Chrysanthemum  blooms  on  the  point  basis  as  it  is 
to  determine  the  relative  values  of  two  stands  of  twelve  or  tweuty-four 
blooms  by  the  same  process.  Perhaps  neither  “  W.  S.”  nor  our  “Forlorn” 
correspondent  (page  108,  last  week),  who  got  the  money,  may  be  able  to 
say  whether  the  Judges  had  recourse  to  that  the  most  exact  of  all  methods 
or  not.  It  would  be  interesting  to  have  the  Information.] 
Belfast  Chrysanthemum  Show  Reflections. 
The  competition  for  the  Victoria  Diamond  Jubilee  medals  and  £100 
in  cash,  presented  by  the  Lady  Mayoress  of  Belfast  and  the  ladies  of 
Ulster,  and  distributed  over  seven  prizes  in  one  class,  was  undoubtedly 
a  feature  of  attraction  at  this  great  show.  Another  feature  observed  by 
many  visitors  to  the  show  was  the  manner  in  which  the  rules  of  societies 
can  be  ignored. 
Firstly. — In  the  second  prize  stand  in  the  .Tubilee  championship 
competition  for  forty-eight  blooms,  Japanese,  in  at  least  thirty-six 
varieties,  not  more  than  two  of  any  one  variety,  and  all  of  which  must  be 
in  commerce,  we  find  Mr.  W.  Mease  of  Downside,  Leatherhead,  exhi¬ 
biting  the  “  primrose  sport  ”  of  Madame  Carnot.  Since  then  it  has  been 
put  in  commerce  as  “  Mrs.  W.  Please.”  There  was  an  objection  lodged 
against  the  stand  on  account  of  this  bloom,  the  variety  not  being  in 
commerce,  but  the  officiating  .Judge,  Mr.  E.  Beckett,  Aldenham  House, 
Elstree,  qualified  it  by  declaring  it  to  be  Yellow  Madame  Carnot,  as 
introduced  by  Mr.  H.  .1.  .Jones  of  Lewisham,  and  after  being  adjudicated 
upon  it  was  re-labelled  as  such.  It  was  quite  evident  that  Mr.  Mease  had 
not  complied  with  the  rules  of  the  schedule,  and  if  Mr.  Beckett  had  ever 
seen  Yellow  Madame  Carnot  as  introduced  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones  he  could 
not  have  been  mistaken,  as  the  variety  before  him  was  a  very  pale 
primrose  in  colour.  I  considered  it  quite  as  distinct  from  Yellow  Madame 
Carnot  supplied  to  me  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones  as  Yellow  Madame,  Carnot  is 
from  the  original.  It  was  therefore  a  stand  which  some  judges  would  not 
hesitate  to  disqualify  on  account  of  this  bloom. 
The  second  feature  of  attraction  was  the  manner  in  which  .Japanese 
blooms  can  be  manipulated  with  cardboards  to  apjiear  to  the  best  advantage. 
Regardless  of  the  rules  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society,  which 
specify  that  all  .Jajjanese  blooms  shall  l)e  shown  on  cups  not  exceeding 
3  inches  in  diameter,  in  the  third  prize  stand  exhibited  by  Mr.  Henry 
Perkins  of  Greenlands,  Henley-on-Thames,  we  saw  a  fine  illustration  of 
cardboarding  blooms.  We  observed  a  bloom  of  Pride  of  Exmouth  with  a 
circular  cardboard  5^  inches  in  diameter,  a  thin  bloom  of  Mutual  Friend 
with  a  circular  cardboard  of  5  inches  in  diameter,  while  thirty-one  blooms 
in  all  on  this  stand  were  assisted  and  propped  with  cardboards  of  various 
shapes  and  sizes. 
The  object  attained  by  using  these  supports  was  quite  as  apparent 
as  were  the  advantages  derived  therefrom,  especially  on  suitable  subjects. 
A  thin  bloom  can  be  made  to  look  much  larger  and  fuller  when  not 
pulled  down  too  tightly  without  seriously  detracting  from  the  depth.  In 
fact,  when  carefully  and  properly  done,  as  it  was  in  this  case,  it  makes 
a  considerable  improvement  on  a  stand  of  blooms,  and  places  a 
co-exhibitor  at  a  disadvantage  who  shows  his  blooms  on  the  hona-jide 
regulation  cups.  I  have  not  yet  met  an  individual  Irish  exhibitor  of 
Chrysanthemums  who  has  ever  had  any  experience  in  using  extraneous 
aid  in  setting  up  blooms  further  than  the  regulation  cup  prescribed 
by  the  N.C.S; 
Some  readers  may  ask.  Why  did  you  let  this  question  lie  dormant  so 
long  ?  I  would  rather  an  older  exhibitor  had  taken  the  matter  up,  but 
as  an  Irish  exhibitor  who  made  his  dehtit  in  this  class,  I  have  dared  to 
throw  down  the  gauntlet.  Thanking  you  in  anticipation  for  insertion,  and 
for  the  information  it  may  elicit  for  the  benefit  of  your  many  “  Mum  ” 
loving  readers. — Peter  Brock,  The  Gardens,  Glenmor,  Drogheda. 
An  International  Chrysanthemum  Audit  in  France. 
I  have  read  with  interest  “  Sadoc’s  ”  criticisms  (page  84)  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  of  27th  .January,  and,  as  affording  a  guide  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  autumn  queen  in  England,  I  agree  with  him  that  it  is 
of  little  value  ;  but  as  to  the  audit  being  “  purely  a  sentimental  one,”  I 
think  he  has  drawn  a  wrong  inference.  I  consider  that  the  audit  furnishes 
strong  evidence  that  many  of  the  varieties  which  succeed  in  England  are, 
broadly  speaking,  failures  in  the  other  countries  named,  and  the  vice-versa 
has  often  been  witnessed  in  England,  notably  in  the  case  of  American 
varieties. 
Reading  from  the  Journal  (page  63)  of  20th  .January,  it  also  appears 
that  the  audit  comprises  “the  best  fifty  Chrysanthemums,”  and  from 
the  prominent  position  given  to  some  well-known  “plant  varieties,” 
such,  e.g.,  as  W.  H.  Lincoln,  Wm.  Tricker,  and  others,  I  think  it  may 
be  reasonably  assumed  that  “large  .Japanese  exhibition  blooms”  was 
not  solely  in  the  minds  of  the  organiser  or  of  the  voters.  Possibly 
“  Sadoc  ’’  has  overlooked  this  point.  However,  in  an  Italian  audit  I 
should  certainly  place  Le  Colosse  Grenoblois  in  the  first  half-dozen  and 
Mrs.  C.  Harman  Payne  (which  loses  its  coarseness  to  a  considerable 
extent  here)  and  Philadelphia,  perhaps  the  finest  .Japanese  incurved,  in 
the  first  twenty-four,  which  would  also  include  Good  Gracious,  Viviand 
Morel,  and  Australian  Gold  ;  but  Mons.  Chehon  de  Leche  would  take  a 
lower  position  with  me.  The  colour  of  Madame  Ed.  Roger  has  probably 
something  to  do  with  its  being  fourth  in  the  list,  but  if  it  prove  to  be  a 
good  .Japanese  incurved  it  will  take  a  high  place  here. 
Of  course,  in  such  an  extensive  and  mixed  audit  it  is  undesirable  to 
place  too  much  reliance  ;  but  from  several  years’  experience  in  this 
country  I  do  not  find  very  much  fault  with  it.  Audits  of  Chrysanthemums  in 
England,  obtained  by  even  a  limited  number  of  voters,  rarely  give  satis¬ 
faction  or  by  any  means  receive  universal  approval,  and  I  venture  to 
think  that  all  audits  of  the  golden  flower  are  most  reliably  made  from 
representative  exhibitions  when  statistics  are  recognised  as  facts. — 
H.  BriscOE-Ironsids,  Pallanza,  Lago  Maggiore,  Italy. 
Sheffield  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
The  annual  meeting  was  held  in  the  Society’s  rooms.  The  Museum, 
Orchard  Street,  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  2nd  inst.,  for  the  election  of 
the  officials  for  the  current  year  and  the  passing  of  the  accounts  for  the 
year  ending  December  31st,  1897.  Mr.  John  J.  Newsham  was  elected 
Chairman.  The  Secretary  then  read  the  statement  of  accounts,  which 
had  been  previously  passed  and  certified  by  the  Auditors.  The  balance 
in  hand  on  the  general  account  is  now  £96  11s.  4d.,  being  an  addition  on 
the  year’s  working  of  £11  10s.  3d.,  which  was  considered  satisfactory, 
taking  into  account  a  much  increased  payment  for  prizes  at  the  last 
annual  exhibition  in  consequence  of  the  increased  number  of  competitors 
