424 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  15,  1902. 
moss  to  this  and  kindred  species  to  conserve  moisture  and  the 
verj'  frequent  application  of  vater,  these  liaving  a  tendency  to 
fine  down  the  compost.  Tlie  plants  like  a  sliady  position  in  a 
warm  and  moist  house,  and  when  growing  freely  will  give  little 
trouble.— H.  R.  R.  e  ^  ^ 
Points  for  Exhibitors. 
The  Wokiug  Horticultural  Assoeiatio)i  publislied  its  annua]  report 
and  statement  of  accounts  for  1901  a  short  time  ago,  and  with  that 
report  (which  is  very  satisfactory)  they  include  some  hints  to  exhiljitors 
drawn  up  by  Mr.  J.  Wright,  V.iM.H.,  County  Instructor  on  Horticulture 
to  the  Surrey  County  Council.  These  we  print  hereunder  for  others’ 
guidance.  We  must  mention  that  in  regard  to  the  finances  of  the 
Woking  Horticultural  Association  there  was  a  gain  on  the  previous 
year,  the  total  balance  being  £27  8s.  7d.,  as  against  £19  13s.  9d.  in 
1900.  The  lion,  secretary  is  Mr.  M.  Rose,  Elm  Villa,  IVoking  Village, 
Woking. 
Faults  and  Merits  in  Produce  at  Shows. 
1.  If  anything  is  so  overgrown  as  to  be  coarse,  that  is  a  fault. 
2.  If  anything  is  too  small  to  be  useful,  that  is  a  fault. 
Potatoes. — \  ery  large  and  unsliapely,  specked,  or  deep-eyed 
tubers,  or  those  very  small,  defective.  XVell-shaped,  even-sized,  clean, 
speckless  tuliers.  with  shallow  eyes,  vieritorious. 
,  Tap  Roots  (Beet,  Carrots,  Turnips,  and  Parsnips). — Crooked, 
fangy,  cankered  roots,  whether  huge  or  small,  defective.  Smooth, 
straight,  clean,  well-coloured  even-sized  roots,  meritorious. 
Onions. — Large  bulbs,  if  thick  necked,  soft  and  maggoty,  defective. 
Bullis  all  of  good  even  size,  firm,  sound  and  clean,  with  thin  stems  or 
necks,  meritorious. 
Leeks. — Stems  thin,  tapering,  soft,  not  well  blanched,  discoloured, 
defective.  Stems  thick,  uniform,  firm,  well  blanched,  spotless  and 
pure,  meritm'ious. 
Peas  and  Broad  Be.vns. — Very  large  pods  if  hollow  (not  filled), 
or  pods  brown  with  age,  containing  hard  seeds,  defective.  Pods  of 
good  size,  green,  fresh  and  well  filled  with  tender  seeds,  urndtorious. 
Kidney  Beans  (Dwarf  or  Runner). — Pods  brown  or  pale  in 
colour,  thin,  tough  or  stringy,  even  if  laige.  defective.  Pods  of  good 
size,  fresh,  green,  fleshy,  and  In-ittle;  me7'itorioJCS. 
Cabbages. — Hearts,  no  matter  how  large,  if  soft  on  the  one  hand, 
or  split  on  the  other,  or  cateiyiillar  eaten,  defective.  Hearts  of  good 
size,  firm,  yet  fresh  and  tender-looking,  and  surrounding  leaves  perfect, 
ineritorious. 
Cauliflow'Ers. — Heads,  however  large,  if  brown  or  yellowish  and 
beginning  to  open,  defective.  Heads  of  good  or  medium  size,  close, 
speckless,  white  and  clean,  mei'itorious. 
Lettuces.  Heads  loose  and  soft  on  the  one  hand,  or  pusliing 
flowmr  stmns  on  the  other,  and  leaves  tough,  defective.  Heads  firm, 
fresh,  with  no  visible  flower  stems,  leaves  crisp  and  tender, 
meritorious. 
Celery.— Stalks  thin,  soft,  specked,  not  well  blanched,  and  flowei' 
stems  pushing  in  the  plants,  defective.  Stalks  thick,  firm,  crisp, 
speckless,  clean,  well  blanched,  and  no  flowmr  stems  visible  when  cut, 
meritorious. 
Cucumbers. — Fruits  old,  unshapely,  irregular  in  size,  soft, 
yellowish,  with  long  neck  and  nose,  defective.  Fruits  young,  straight, 
firm,  fresh,  tender,  green,  even  in  size,  short  neck,  and  nose  with 
flower  adheidng,  merito^dous. 
Tomatoes. — Fruits  deformed,  irregular  in  size,  rusted,  over-ripe 
and  dingy,  or  unripe  and  green,  defective.  Fruits  of  good  and  even 
size,  speckless,  bright  and  glossy,  meidtoidous. 
Radishes. — Roots  old.  spongy,  tough,  and  flower  stems  showdng. 
defective.  Roots  young,  firm,  crisp,  clear,  leaves  close  to  the  root,  no 
flower  stem  showing,  meritoidous. 
V  egetable  Marrows. — Fruits  unshapely  or  if  so  old,  whether 
large  or  small,  that  the  rind  resists  the  pressure  of  the  thumb  nail, 
defective.  Fruits  good  or  medium  size,  well  matched,  Avell  shaped, 
tender  enough  to  admit  the  thumb  nail,  meritoydous. 
Rhubarb. — Stalks  crooked,  irregular,  hard,  dry  and  rusty  in 
appearance,  defective.  Stalks  sti’aight,  uniform,  well  coloured  and 
fresh,  meritorious. 
Herbs. — Bunches  brown,  dry,  withered,  mildewed,  or  rusty, 
defective.  Bunches  green,  fresh,  with  good  clean  leaves,  meritorious. 
tkr  as  possible  every  exhibit  should  be  properly  named. 
Points  to  he  Remembered  by  Exhibitors. — 1,  Judges  at  shows 
always  search  for  faults.  2,  Mixing  large  and  small  specimens 
together  in  a  dish  weakens  the  exhibit.  3,  Specimens  ■with  the  fewest 
faults  win  the  highest  prizes.  This  applies  to  flowers  and  fruits  as 
well  as  to  vegetables.  4,  Celery  and  roots  for  the  show  table  are 
often  injured  by  scrubbing  with  a  hard  brush  instead  of  washing  with 
a  soft  one  or  a  cloth.  5,  Exhibitors  who  fail  to  win  prizes  should 
search,  calmly  and  patiently,  for  the  cause  of  the  failure.  The  losers 
of  to-day,  who  profit  by  experience  and  persevere,  are  the  winners  of 
the  future.  6,  Experienced  and  unprejudiced  judges  have  only  one 
desire  namely,  to  do  justice.  7,  There  is  more  honour  in  exhiliiting 
well  in  a  strongly  contested  class  and  losing,  than  in  winning  a 
prize  with  weak  products  in  a  class  in  which  there  is  little  or  no 
competition. 
Literature. 
“  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Horticulture.’ 
As  each  of  the  volumes  of  this  master  production  was  issued, 
we  have  taken  the  opportunity  of  notifying  our  readers  of  the 
fact.  In  our  first  review  we  wrote  commending  the  pioneer 
volume,  and  have  become  more  strengthened  in  our  good  opinion 
of  the  publication  as  time  iiassed  and  successive  parts  appeared. 
And  now  the  last  is  with  us.  The  editor,  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey, 
furnishes  a  delightfully  interesting  “  Retrospect,”  which  supplies 
information  of  the  methods  by  which  the  Cyclopsedia  has  been 
produced,  and  of  the  resources  at  command.  This  Retrospect  is 
sub-divided  thus:  (1)  The  project;  (2)  The  office  details;  and 
(3)  How  a  genus  is  written  up.  Some  lines  are  expressed  in 
regard  to  Prospect — i.e.,  the  future  of  the  work.  So  far  as 
the  “  Gyclopaecha  of  American  Horticulture”  is  concerned, 
the  editor  had  resolved  and  reviewed  the  enterprise  for 
more  than  ten  years.  The  first  steps  ta.ken  toward  securing, 
such  a  standard  work  as  the  present  one  was  the  publication  of 
“  Annals  of  Horticuiture  for  1889,”  and  annual  volumes  followed 
on  the  same  lines,  these  being  a  witness  of  passing  events  and 
a  record  of  progress,  .  They  paved  the  way ;  facts  and  statistics 
became  orderly  arranged,  and  gave  experience  to  the  editor. 
Out  of  these  efforts  grew  Professor  Bailey’s  volume,  “  Sketch  of 
the  Evolution  of  Our  Native  Fraits,”  and  so  on.  A  comprehen¬ 
sive  horticultural  library  had  to  be  collected,  and  a  whole  army 
of  the  practitioners  had  to  be  enrolled  in  the  service,  to  write 
articles  on  special  subjects  of  which  they  had  unqualified  experi¬ 
ence.  “It  was  desired,”  says  Air.  Bailey,  “that  the  Cyclopiedia 
be  new — ^brand-new  from  start,  to  finish.”  The  illustrations  were 
to  be  newly  made ;  the  cultural  suggestions  ■written  directly  for 
the  occasion  from  American  experience  and  fi'om  original  sources. 
Hitherto  there  has  been  too  much  reliance  on  books  written  by 
Europeans  and  Old  World  practitioners ;  the  “  Cyclopaedia  of 
American  Horticulture  ”  once  for  all  dispenses  with  the  need  for 
such  assistance.  It  is  a  record  of  the  state  of  Horticulture  in 
North  America  at  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  centuiy,  and  an 
invaluable  record  on  that  account,  even  if,  as  has  been  suggested, 
America  is  not  yet  ripe  for  such  a  ponderous  and  embracive 
compilation.  A  complete  set  of  ilij Journal  of  Horticulture  was 
included  in  the  reference  library. 
It  would  occupy  more  of  our  space  than  can  be  given  to  follow 
'the  Professor  through  the  whole  of  his  Retrospect,  but  the  book, 
at  the  price  of  one  guinea,  is  within  the  reach  of  most  people,  and 
ought  to  be  secured.  The  engravings  are  very  numerous  ;  indeed, 
it  has  been  an  inviolable  rule  that  wherever  the  book  opens  an 
engraving  will  be  seen.  The  number  of  half-tone  full-page  plates, 
too,  is  large.  Beginning  at  “  Radish,”  and  concluding  “  Zygo- 
petalum,”  volume  iv.  comprises  529  pages,  each  closely  set  in 
small  but  distinct  type,  and  measuring  7-2-in  broad  by  lOjin  long. 
Where  necessary,  the  same  subject  is  treated  of  by  different 
experts  representing  different  States,  where,  of  course,  conditions 
of  treatment  vary  with  latitude  and  longitude.  The  individual 
States  are  the  subject  of  special  statistical  and  critical  essays. 
The  genera  and  species  are  treated  according  to  an  original 
key-scheme,  and  not  alphabetically,  which  pursuance  is  some¬ 
what  confusing  till  one  become.s  acquainted  with  its  working, 
and  then,  no  doubt,  it  is  a  help.  Professor  Bailey  hopes  that  this 
Cyclopa?dia  will  never  be  revised.  It  is  hoped  that  subsequent 
progress  may  be  recorded  in  annual  volumes,  and  that  if  new 
issues  of  the  original  ones  are  called  for,  mere  errors  should  be 
corrected;  but  beyond  this,  the  plates  should  be  left  as  they  are. 
“The  Book  ol  ihe  Rose.”^ 
The  hearty  reception  of  the  first  edition  of  Mr.  Foster  Melliar’s 
book  has  led  to  the  production  of  edition  two,  which  has  been 
thoroughly  revised.  The  very  welcome  twelfth  chapter,  entitled 
“Manners  and  Customs,”  has  practically  been  re-written,  for, 
as  the  author  candidly  remarks,  “  Seven  years'  additional  experi¬ 
ence  should  certainly  bring  a  little  further  wisdom.”  This 
“Alanners  and  Customs”  chapter  is  a  criticism  of  the  qualities 
or  lack  of  them,  of  a  large  number  of  varieties  of  Roses.  “  Among 
Roses  there  are  a  great  many  ‘  little  ways  ’  belonging  to  different 
tribes,  families,  and  indi-ridual  varieties,  and  many  an  otherwise 
excellent  sort  has  a  nasty  habit  of  doing  this  or  that  or  the  other 
which  just  prevents  its  being  as  good  as  it  might  be.”  The  fol¬ 
lowing  is  a  sample  paragraph  of  Air.  Foster  Melliai-’s  appraisement 
of  the  H.P.  variety  Charles  Lefebvre :  — 
“  Charles  Lefehvre  (Lacharme,  1861).— Synonyms,  Alarguerite 
Brassac  and  Paul  Jamain.  Of  strong  growth,  with  stout,  stiff, 
smooth  wood  and  fine  foliage,  requiring  strong  soil.  The  secondary 
1  “  Cyclopwdia  of  American  Horticulture,”  by  L.  H.  Bailey,  assisted  by 
Wilhelm  Miller,  Ph.L).  Fourth  volume,  R — Z.  Macmillan  &  Co..  Ltd.  -Is.  net. 
2  ”  The  Book  of  the  Rose,”  by  Rev.  A.  Foster  Melliar,  M.  A.  Second  edition^ 
1902,  with  thirty-three  illustrations.  London  :  Macmillan  &  Co.  Price  6s.  net. 
