188 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
August  17,  18951. 
suggest  a  few  improvements  which,  if  adopted  by  those  societies 
providing  liberal  classes  for  Grapes,  would,  I  am  certain,  meet  with 
the  hearty  approval  of  both  judges  and  exhibitors  alike. 
As  I  have  least  to  say  about  showing  Grapes  I  will  commence  with 
this,  and  the  iirst  advice  I  would  give  to  an  exhibitor  is,  Always  bring 
your  best  Grapes  to  a  show,  and  if  the  awards  have  not  been  as  much 
in  your  favour  as  you  expected,  do  not  talk  so  loudly  about  the  fine 
specimens  you  left  at  home.  Always  show  for  a  first  prize.  Never 
bring  a  miserable  looking  thing  in  the  hope  of  picking  up  a  third.  If 
these  suggestions  are  adopted,  whether  you  are  successful  or  not  you 
will  gain  credit  by  your  exhibit.  During  the  last  twenty  years  I  have 
seen  staged  in  the  Waverley  Market  as  fine  Grapes  as  any  could  wish 
to  see,  but  1  have  also  seen  at  the  same  time  some  of  the  most 
miserable  looking  bunches  in  important  classes,  and  brought  long 
distances.  The  first  lesson  exhibitors  have  to  learn  is,  the  general 
appearance  of  a  bunch  of  Grapes  that  is  worthy  of  a  prize.  After 
this  lesson  has  been  thoroughly  mastered,  they  might  then  set  about 
trying  to  grow  them. 
Much  could  be  said  about  the  various  methods  of  placing  the 
Grapes  on  boards  and  carrying  them  to  their  destination,  but  to  enter 
into  particulars  would  take  up  too  much  time.  I  will  just  mention 
a  few  things  to  be  remembered  in  this  connection,  and  which  may 
prove  useful  to  the  exhibitor.  Always  take  firmly  built  bunches  in 
preference  to  loose  ones,  as  the  latter  get  rubbed  and  damaged  where 
the  berries  touch,  especially  if  the  distance  to  be  carried  is  considerable. 
The  bunches  should  be  placed  at  a  rather  steep  angle  on  the  boards, 
so  that  the  weight  of  the  bunch  is  more  on  the  stem  than  the 
shoulders.  Then  there  is  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  to  place  the  boxes 
in  a  railway  van.  A  railway  carriage  moves  and  shakes  sideways, 
never  endways.  If  the  boxes  are  placed  so  that  the  backs  of  the 
bunches  are  either  to  the  engine  or  end  of  the  train,  the  side-shaking 
of  the  carriage  will  set  the  bunches  swinging  like  the  pendulum  of 
a  clock,  causing  the  side  bunches  to  strike  against  the  sides  of  the 
box  and  otherwise  damage  them.  The  safest  way  to  set  the  boxes  is 
with  the  backs  of  the  bunches  to  the  sides  of  the  van.  We  often  see 
coloured  paper  put  on  the  boards  for  yellow  Grapes.  Now  I  do  not 
think  this  ever  does  much  good,  and  sometimes  it  gives  the  bunches 
a  greener  shade  than  when  white  paper  or  cloth  is  used.  This  I  con¬ 
sider  the  best  ground  for  all  varieties.  One  thing,  however,  is  worth 
remembering,  and  that  is  never  to  place  a  y  ellow  bunch  at  the  end  of 
a  stand  ;  put  it  between  two  blacks,  and  the  colour  will  show  up  much 
brighter. 
I  will  now  say  something  about  the  principle  upon  which,  in  my 
opinion,  all  Grapes  ought  to  be  judged.  This  is  a  matter  which 
principally  concerns  the  framers  of  prize  schedules,  and  for  them  more 
than  exhibitors  or  judges  my  remarks  are  intended.  In  connection 
with  prizes  for  collections  of  Grapes  definite  and  clearly  worded  rules 
and  conditions  are  required,  which  would  be  a  guide  to  exhibitors  in 
selecting  the  varieties  to  stage,  and  give  the  judges  some  ground  to 
work  on,  by  stating  the  principle  or  quality  the  collection  is  to  be 
judged  for.  As  it  is  at  present,  in  collections  of,  say,  four,  six,  or 
eight  bunches,  so  many  varieties,  we  constantly  find  the  higher  quality 
Grapes  classed  against  those  of  inferior  flavour,  but  superior,  perhaps, 
in  every  other  respect.  This  has  been  likened  by  an  eminent  gardener 
to  pitting  a  race  horse  against  a  cart  horse;  in  such  a  race  the 
competition  would  be  an  unfair  one.  Besides,  it  is  most  difficult  to 
judge  such  collections,  and  in  many  instances  no  judge,  however 
able,  can  give  satisfaction  to  himself  or  anyone  else. 
At  present  too  aiuch  scope  is  left  for  the  individual  tastes  of 
judges.  If  a  judge  finds  that  the  family  he  serves  does  not  like  a 
particular  variety,  and  he  does  not  grow  it,  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  he  takes  a  dislike  to  it  himself;  and  when  he  finds  this  variety 
in  a  collection  he  has  to  judge,  it  does  not,  as  a  rule,  find  much  favour 
in  his  eyes. 
How  often  do  we  hear  the  remark,  “  Mr.  So-and-so  is  to  be  a  Judge 
at  such  a  show  ;  no  use  in  taking  anything  but  the  highest  flavoured 
Grapes  there  ?  ”  Some  judges  may  perhaps  count  too  much  on  size 
of  bunch,  berry,  or  finish,  though  I  think  the  greatest  and  most 
frequent  offenders  are  those  who  ride  this  fad  of  quality  to  the  extreme. 
I  have  seen  first  prizes  given  to  collections  of  Grapes  containing 
several  bunches,  every  berry  of  which  was  beginning  to  shrivel  and 
the  footstalks  quite  black,  owing  to  their  having  been  over  a  week  cut 
from  the  Vine,  and  doing  duty  at  a  previous  show  ;  but  they  were 
judged  by  “  quality  ”  men,  and,  being  Muscats  and  Hamburghs,  were 
in  their  eyes  superior  to  highly  finished  and  fresh-cut  specimens  of 
either  Alicante  or  Gros  Maroc. 
Anyone  who  watches  the  staging  of  an  important  collection  of 
Grapes  will  see  how  keenly  the  exhibitors  themselves  criticise  the 
exhibits  as  soon  as  they  are  staged,  and  one  would  think  they  should 
be  as  fit  to  come  to  a  correct  decision  as  the  Judges  themselves. 
I  have  known  a  collection  which  was  almost  unanimously  voted  to  the 
first  place  by  the  exhibitors  not  getting  a  prize  at  all.  This  was 
the  result  of  the  Judges  tasting  fine  specimens  of  Alnwick  Seedling, 
which  the  collection  contained.  As  most  growers  know,  this  variety 
and  some  others  colour  up  quickly,  and  may  be  perfect  as  far  as 
appearance  goes,  though  the  flavour  is  not  at  all  developed. 
In  reference  to  this  point,  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Horticul¬ 
ture,  Mr.  John  Wright,  in  his  admirable  little  work  on  the  principles 
and  practice  of  judging,  says  : — “  If  we  find,  as  we  do,  the  heavy  cart 
horse  Grapos  and  the  more  refined  racer  types  exhibited  together,  they 
have  to  be  dealt  with.  This  is  a  difficulty  which  must  be  surmounted.  Id 
searching  for  the  best  aDd  most  equitable  way  of  doing  this,  we  must 
not  overlook  the  existence  of  an  indisputable  concrete  fact — namely, 
that  neither  late  Grapes,  late  Apples,  nor  late  Pears  can  be  judged  by 
flavour  at  a  summer  or  early  autumn  show,  but  they  can  be  for 
cultural  excellence.  A  determining  factor,  then,  is,  which  displays  the 
higher  cultural  merit  for  the  respective  varieties,  or  which  has  the 
fewer  faults  apart  from  flavour,  which  is  not  yet  in  some  varieties 
developed,  and  this  from  no  possible  fault  of  the  cultivator.” 
This  is  sound  common  sense.  It  is  no  doubt  right  of  societies  to 
encourage  the  growing  of  the  very  best  in  Grapes,  as  in  everything 
else,  but  they  should  also  take  into  account  the  fact  that  for  every 
cwt.  of  these  grown  there  are  probably  tons  of  the  more  popular 
cart  horse  kinds.  If  the  best  varieties  were  to  be  selected  by  counting 
the  number  of  times  a  particular  kind  appeared  in  a  winning  stand, 
similar  to  what  is  done  with  Chrysanthemums,  Hoses,  or  Dahlias,  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if  the  variety  which  came  at  the  top  of  the 
list  were  the  heavy  cart  horse  Gros  Maroc,  one  of  the  worst  flavoured 
Grapes  in  cultivation.  However,  my  point  is  that  these  two  sections 
should  be  classed  by  themselves  as  far  as  possible,  and  judged  on  their 
individual  merits,  and  not  left  as  it  is  at  present  to  the  individual 
tastes  of  judges. 
Some  years  ago  at  the  Hoyal  Caledonian  Society’s  Autumn  Show, 
in  the  class  for  one  bunch  of  white  other  than  Muscat  of  Alexandria, 
the  variety,  or  rather  the  bunch,  which  received  the  first  prize  was 
named  Bowood  Muscat.  Now,  as  every  judge  should  know,  Bowood 
Muscat  and  Muscat  of  Alexandria  are  not  distinct,  but  one  and  the 
same  variety,  and  are  so  classified  by  the  Hoyal  Horticultural  Society. 
But  that  does  not  matter ;  the  Judges  in  this  case  were  quite  justified 
in  following  their  own  opinion,  as  the  schedule  left  them  a  free  hand. 
At  the  very  next  Show  however,  I  think  it  was  in  the  Waverley 
Market,  an  exhibitor  was  disqualified  for  having  Bowood  Muscat  aud 
Muscat  of  Alexandria  in  his  stand  of  four  bunches,  the  Judges  in  this 
instance  not  considering  them  distinct  varieties.  This,  all  will  admit, 
is  very  unfair  to  exhibitors.  All  the  so-called  varieties  of  Muscat  of 
Alexandria,  as  well  as  Gros  Maroc  and  Cooper’s  Black,  the  various 
strains  of  Hamburghs,  and  a  few  others  ought  to  be  taken  in  hand  by 
the  framers  of  schedules  ;  and  whether  they  follow  the  classification  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  or  not,  they  should  distinctly  state  in 
the  schedule  how  these  varieties  are  to  stand  for  the  purposes  of  their 
exhibition.  This  would  be  a  guide  to  the  exhibitor,  and  simplify 
matters  for  the  judges. 
I  will  now  suggest  a  few  alterations  which  if  adopted  would,  I  am 
certain,  give  greater  general  satisfaction.  We  will  take  the  two 
collections  in  the  Hoyal  Caledonian  Society’s  schedule  as  types  of  many 
others  throughout  the  country.  These  are  worded  at  present  as  “Six 
bunches  Grapes,  not  less  than  three  varieties,”  and  “  Four  bunches, 
distinct  varieties.”  Now,  one  of  these  collections  ought  to  be  shown 
and  judged  for  quality  or  flavour  and  the  other  for  appearance.  I 
would  say  that  the  four  bunches  be  the  quality  class.  These  might  be 
scheduled  to  read,  “Four  bunches,  distinct  varieties,  quality  to  be  the 
first  consideration,”  or  a  list  of,  say,  eight  or  a  dozen  well-known  high- 
flavoured  varieties  might  be  given,  the  bunches  to  be  selected  from 
this  list.  But  whichever  of  these  two  ways  were  adopted  the  quality 
or  flavour  not  to  be  determined  by  tasting,  as  this,  while  men’s  tastes 
differ  so  much,  is  a  most  unsatisfactory  way.  Besides,  it  would  open 
the  door  to  miserable-looking  bunches  with  no  cultural  merit  to 
recommend  them,  for  very  often  a  bunch  of  small  and  shrivelled 
berries  possesses  a  very  high  flavour.  The  quality  would  be  determined 
by  the  judges  knowing  the  varieties. 
For  what  is  at  present  the  six  bunch  class  I  would  suggest,  “  For 
the  best  six  bunches  of  Grapes,  not  less  than  four  varieties,  superior 
cultivation  and  finish  to  be  the  first  consideration.”  This  would  still 
allow  the  high  quality  Grapes  to  compete  in  the  class,  as  when  well 
grown  and  highly  finished  samples  of,  say,  Madresfield  Court  or 
Muscat  of  Alexandria  are  seen  they  have  few,  if  any,  equals,  even  for 
appearance  ;  but  it  would  insure  that  the  second  and  third-rate  Grapes 
would  be  at  no  disadvantage  through  their  inferior  flavour.  The 
exhibitor,  then,  who  showed  the  highest  cultural  skill  in  tabling  six 
of  the  handsomest  bunches  with  fewest  faults  would  receive  the  first 
prize,  as  justly  entitled  to,  and  which  he  seldom  gets  by  the  present 
rules— or  rather,  the  present  want  of  rules. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  I  mention  not  les3  than  four  varieties, 
instead  of  not  less  than  three,  as  it  is  at  present.  The  four  bunch 
collection  is  more  difficult  to  get  up  than  the  six.  Besides,  as  it  is  at 
present,  an  exhibitor  who  happens  to  have  one  variety  particularly 
fine,  as  is  often  the  case,  can  stage  four  bunches  of  this  variety  ;  the 
other  two  may  be  only  middling  samples  ;  and  if  the  four  bunches 
