212 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  7,  1899. 
SALOPIAN  NOTES. 
Prefatory. 
If  they  could  be  well  outlined,  there  are  many  side  lights  con¬ 
nected  with  the  great  horticultural  show  of  the  Shropshire  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  in  that  inimitable  show  place,  the  Quarry,  Shrews¬ 
bury,  which  would  be  interesting  to  many  a  gardentr  living  out  in  the 
distant  country,  whose  heart  was  at  Shrewsbury  all  the  week,  but 
who  was  not  able,  from  pressure  of  circumstances,  to  visit  the  Show 
himself,  but  would  like  to  have  a  vision  of  it,  if  only  a  bluned  and  an 
imperfect  one.  I  thought  it  possible  that  I  might  assist  in  a  small 
way  by  illuminating,  from  my  point  of  view,  the  efforts  of  the  regular 
writers  who  did  the  Show  for  us,  and  did  it  so  well  (as  we  read  in 
our  Journal  this  week),  and  so  complete  the  picture. 
A  Personal  Note. 
I  am  happily  situated  to  see  the  Show.  The  good  wife  of  the 
writer  is  a  true  Salopian,  born,  bred,  and  educated  in  the  parish  in 
which  the  Quarry  stands  ;  baptised,  confirmed,  and  married  in  the  fine 
and  almost  unique  church  of  St.  Chad,  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
Quarry  grounds.  We  come  to  relatives  on  a  farm  not  far  out  of  the 
town  (whose  garden,  by  the  way,  in  this  droughty  season,  was  fuller 
is  to  see  the  way  they  settle  down  to  a  good  talk — professional, 
hygienic,  meteorological,  or  domestic.  It  is  also  very  delightful  to 
be  introduced  to  some  writing  comrade  of  our  Journal  by  its  genial 
Editor,  who  appears  to  take  the  liveliest  interest,  and  to  have  tho 
highest  gratification  in  making  his  colleagues  know  one  another.  It 
is  amusing  to  think  how  different  we  appear  to  each  other  in  person 
than  the  picture  we  have  formed  of  one  another  by  our  writings,  and 
it  is  deliciously  satisfying  to  find  any  whom  we  have  considered 
rather  faddy  and  censorious  to  be  one  ot  the  kindest,  most  genial  and 
reasonable  of  men.  And  for  a  small  “  spade  and  wheelbarrow  ” 
gardener  to  rub  elbows  and  exchange  greetings  with  some  of  the 
highest  gardeners  in  Great  Britain,  even  with  the  Queen’s  gardener,  is 
something  for  him  to  remember  all  his  days. 
A  Judging  Note. 
Nowhere  in  the  kingdom,  I  should  say,  is  the  judging  by  points 
more  generally  done,  or  better  done,  than  it  is  at  Shrewsbury,  and 
nowhere  is  it  more  necessary  that  it  should  be  so  done,  as,  to 
differentiate  the  relative  qualities  of  the  respective  exhibits  in  any  one 
class  would  be  a  human  impossibility,  with  a  strict  sense  of  justice  and 
equity,  without  this  safeguard.  Take  a  low  one,  the  classes  for  collec¬ 
tions  of  vegetables.  For  the  sis  prizes  offered  by  the  Messrs.  Sutton 
Photo  by  Mr.  h.  U.  Hughss,  Shrewsbury. 
Fig.  42.— THE  SHREWSBURY  JUDGES. 
Back  row— P.  Blair.  A.  C.  Townsend.  A.  Dean.  N.  F.  Barnes.  G.  Pearson.  J.  Louden.  H.  W.  Adnitt,  Hon.  Sec. 
Second  row — Rev.  W.  Serjeantson.  W.  Beacoll.  T.  P.  Blunt.  E.  Gilman.  A.  Outram.  W.  Crump.  J.  Ranger.  J.  Lambert.  J.  Hudson.  W.  W.  Naunton,  Hon.  Sec. 
Third  row — N.  H.  Pownall.  J.  Douglas.  J.  W.  McHattie.  J.  Wright.  O.  Thomas.  W.  Miller.  J.  Wallis.  W.  Speed. 
Fourth  Row — J.  Birch.  F.  W.  Roderick.  R.  Milner. 
of  Roses  than  my  own  is,  especially  of  Gloire  de  Dijons),  and  stay 
the  Show  week  each  year.  1  am,  therefore,  in  a  position  to  see  the 
Show  in  all  its  stages,  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest.  I  see  the 
rough  and  raw  preparations,  and  the  order  rising  out  of  disorder;  the 
huge  vans  arriving  and  unloading,  the  undressing  of  plants  from  their 
swaddling  wraps,  and  roots  and  other  things  out  of  packages ;  the 
inevitable  disorder,  litter,  and  untidiness,  and  the  gradual  getting  of 
everything  into  shape  ;  into  the  order  and  beauty,  and  glory  of 
Wednesday  morning.  I  get  a  chat  with  the  men  from  all  quarters ; 
from  gardens  and  nurseries  large  and  small,  and  learn  how  things  are 
going  in  their  respective  districts,  and  many  other  little  things  besides. 
A  quiet  observer  and  listener  learns  much. 
A  Chatting  Note. 
That  pleasant  chat  of  friend  with  friend  in  and  around  the 
Secretary’s  tent  at  Shrewsbury  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the 
Show,  of  the  Judges  and  other  gardeners,  is  by  no  means  one  of  the 
least  interesting  of  the  side-lights  of  the  Show.  What  an  enjoyable 
thing  it  is  to  stand  by  and  hear  the  “  Ha  !  here  you  are.  I  am  glad 
to  see  you!”  and  to  watch  the  hearty  handshake  of  two  gardener 
friends  who  perhaps  have  not  met  since  last  year;  how  gratifying  it 
there  were  thirteen  collections  set  up.  On  examination  nine  of 
these  were  of  such  apparent  average  quality  that  it  was  necessary  that 
these  nine  should  be  pointed,  and  pointed  they  were,  with  the  result 
that  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  of  the  six  prizetakers  there  was 
only  a  question  oi  about  eight  points.  Now  by  a  mere  visual  inspection 
and  superficial  examination,  to  arrive  at  the  relative  merits  of  these 
would,  as  I  have  said,  have  been  a  human  impossibility,  and  mistakes 
would  inevitably  have  been  made.  In  the  highest  classes,  those  of 
decorated  dinner  tables  and  the  great  Grape  class  of  this  year,  the 
points  are  put  down  on  paper,  the  number  representing  the  value  of 
each  item;  these  are  totalled  up,  and  the  point  papers  put  up  by 
the  side  of  the  different  exhibits  so  that  all  may  see  how  the 
judgment  has  gone.  As  excellence  in  growing  and  exhibiting  grows, 
this  system  of  judging  by  points  will  have  to  become  a  positive 
law  in  judging,  and  the  R.H.S.  manual  on  judging,  with  the  bints 
given  by  our  Editor  in  his  pamphlet  on  horticultural  societies  and 
shows,  lay  down  the  law  with  great  clearness  and  equity. 
A  Photographic  Note. 
It  was  a  happy  thought  of  the  Hon.  Secretaries  of  the  Shropshire 
Horticultural  Society  to  celebrate  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
