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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  December  12,  1901. 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain, 
We  all  know  what  a  horticultural  exhibition  is,  or  what  it 
should  be.  It  should  be  a  collection  of  fruit,  flowers,  vegetables, 
brought  together  for  the  inspection  of  the  general  public,  or 
of  the  members  and  friends  of  the  society  organising  the  show. 
Everything  exhibited  should  be  brought  as  near  to  perfection 
as  possible.  It  should  be  the  whole  object  of  the  society  to 
further  horticulture  in  all  its  branches.  Each  exhibitor  should 
feel  an  interest  in  the  work,  and  have  a  love  for  it,  not  showing 
merely  for  a  prize ;  earnest  members  bring  success  to  a  society. 
But  in  how  many  instances  do  persons  show  in  order  to  further 
the  love  of  gardening,  and  not  solely  in  the  hope  of  securing 
a  prize?  In  very  few,  I  am  afraid.  Those  societies  which  are 
able  to  offer  valuable  prizes  are  sure  to  have  plenty  of  com¬ 
petitors  ;  those  not  able  to  do  this  do  not  attract  many  exhibitors. 
However,  we  know  that  we  have  some  who  will  do  this  simply 
for  their  love  of  the  cause,  and  it  is  to  those  few  that  our 
thanks  are  due  for  keeping  together  most  of  the  smaller  horticul¬ 
tural  societies  in  this  country. 
Exhibitors'  Mistakes— and  Remedies. 
Coming  to  the  subject  of  my  paper,  “  Exhibitors’  Mistakes,” 
how  many  persons  are  free  from  them?  Very  few,  I  venture 
to  say.  Many  a  ladder  has  been  made  by  these  errors,  each  rung 
of  which  might  have  written  upon  it  “  mistake,”  but  by  each 
of  these  mistakes  the  exhibitor  has  been  enabled,  by  remedying 
them,  to  mount  to  the  top  and  obtain  success. 
These  mistakes  frequently  commence  at  home,  especially 
when  the  exhibitor  is  a  young  beginner.  They  often  try,  and 
think  it  possible,  to  grow  almost  everything,  instead  of  se'ecting 
and  specialising  some  particular  branch.  The  first  step  should 
be  to  see  what  the  garden  will  grow  well,  fit  for  showing. 
Whatever  is  grown  should  be  grown  well ;  a  few  things  done 
well  are  much  better  than  a  large  number  which  are  only 
moderate.  Another  thing  to  be  considered  is  the  time  that  can 
be  given  to  the  work  of  preparing  for  exhibition.  Many  try 
to  do  too  much.  The  time  that  can  be  spared  for  the  purpose 
should  be  carefully  calculated  beforehand,  and  only  those  classes 
should  be  attempted  for  which  ample  time  can  be  spared. 
Many  a  prize  has  been  lost  by  not  allowing  the  time  to  put 
it  up  properly.  In  the  first  place,  if  cut  flowers  are  to  be  shown, 
the  box  or  tray  should  be  perfectly  clean,  and  every  flower  should 
be  so  placed  that  it  can  be  well  seen.  The  back  row  should  be 
high  enough  to  be  seen  above  the  others,  and  the  front  row  not 
so  high  as  to  hide  those  behind. 
Another  mistake  is  often  made  by  not  taking  sufficient  care 
in  blending  the  colours  of  the  blooms  so  that  the  whole  may 
harmonise.  It  would  be  very  bad  taste  in  arranging  them  to 
place  say  two  of  one  colour  immediately  together,  or  to  put  pink 
with  red.  The  object  should  be  to  have  the  stand  give  as  good 
an  effect  as  possible.  I  should  arrange  something  like  the 
following: — white,  red,  yellow,  pink;  white,  purple,  yellow,  and 
so  on,  never,  if  possible,  allowing  the  colours  to  clash.  They 
can  all  be  arranged  and  made  to  look  beautiful  if  the  exhibitor 
will  only  take  the  time  to  do  it  properly.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  a  box  of  flowers  properly  arranged,  standing 
up  well,  and  tastefully  blended  as  to  colour,  and  a  box  placed 
anyhow  on  the  table. 
Another  thing  I  should  like  to  draw  attention  to,  and  one 
that  is  often  overlooked,  is  the  placing  of  exhibits  on  the  exhibi¬ 
tion  table  and  not  naming  them.  I  think  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  that  all  exhibits  should  be  correctly  named.  It  is 
most  useful  to  visitors  to  the  show,  who  are  thus  enabled  to  take 
down  the  name  of  any  particular  thing  they  may  see,  and  which 
they  may  wish  to  try  themselves. 
Correctly  named  exhibits  are  also  instructive  to  young 
beginners,  who  may  perhaps  wish  to  make  a  start  in  exhibiting. 
All  names  should  be  distinctly  written.  This  naming,  I  think, 
is  more  particularly  useful  in  the  case  of  fruit  exhibits — Apples, 
Pears,  Ac.  Visitors  to  the  show  can  often  then  name  fruit  of 
their  own  growing  by  comparison  with  those  shown.  I  should 
like  to  see  all  societies  make  a  rule  to  the  effect  that  every¬ 
thing  exhibited  at  their  shows  should  be  correctly  named  if 
pos  ible.  By  doing  this  I  believe  they  would  greatly  aid  the 
work  of  horticulture.  I  would  not  go  so  far  as  to  disqualify 
for  being  without  names,  as  the  person  showing  may  not  be  in 
a  position  to  name  correctly,  and  no  name  is  better  than  a 
wrong  one;  but  everything  short  of  disqualification  should  be 
done  to  induce  competitors  to  correctly-  name  each  exhibit. 
Now,  going  back  to  the  arrangement  of  exhibits,  the  same 
mistake  is  made  frequently  in  vegetables  as  well  as  flowers.  One 
group  or  collection  of  vegetables  may  be  just  thrown  together 
in  a  confused  mass  in  the  basket,  while  another,  no  better  in 
point  of  quality,  will  have  every  vegetable  arranged  to  the  best 
advantage  to  catch  the  eye.  There  will  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind 
of  the  judges  as  to  which  is  the  best  exhibit;  that  arranged  with 
care  being  certain  of  the  verdict. 
Yet  another  error  into  which  disappointed  exhibitors  fall, 
and  one  of  very  bad  taste  I  consider,  is  that  of  airing  their 
fancied  grievances  publicly.  Of  course  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  judges  are  infallible,  and  are  always  right  in  their  decisions, 
but  in  nine  times  out  of  ten,  if  these  dissatisfied  persons’  oases 
are  thoroughly  looked  into,  the  award  of  the  judges  would  be 
upheld.  You  will  find  that  an  exhibitor  who  thinks  he  has  been 
unfairly  treated  will  usually  point  out  the  good  blooms  or  the 
good  points  in  his  exhibit,  not  looking  at  the  weaknesses  instead. 
The  remedy  for  this  is  obvious.  Competitors  should  look  out 
for.  the  unsatisfactory  points  in  their  exhibits,  and  not  wait  for 
the  judges  to  point  them  out.  If  they  do  this,  and  try  to 
strengthen  these  weak  places,  I  am  sure  they  would  feel  much 
more  satisfied,  both  with  themselves  and  the  judge’s  awards.  I 
had  the  honour  once  to  be  in  a  very  close  competition  in  a  large 
class  for  forty-eight  blooms.  I  had  to  be  content  with  second 
place,  but  not  before  the  judges  had  had  a  lot  of  trouble.  The 
blooms  were  all  pointed  over  more  than  once,  and  came  equal. 
The  arrangement  was  equally  good.  The  judges  were  in  a  bit 
of  a  fix.  The  prize  was  a  cup,  and  so  could  not  be  divided. 
However,  something  had  to  be  done,  and  after  an  hour  had  passed 
the  judges  spied  some  dust  on  the  boxes  in  which  my  flowers 
were  arranged.  This  lost  me  the  Cup. 
I  was,  of  course,  disappointed,  but  I  shook  hands  with  my 
opponent  and  congratulated  him,  and  I  meant  it,  too.  I  had 
made  a  mistake  in  not  having  my  tray  clean,  and  I  took  special 
care  never  to  repeat  this  mistake.  My  old  friend  is  still  in  the 
field  of  competitors;  sometimes  he  is  defeated,  but  he  always 
comes  up  smiling,  ready  for  the  fight  again.  He  believes  that 
a  person  who  knows  how  to  lose  well  will  know  how  to  win  well. 
I  have  mentioned  this  incident  in  order  to  show  how  careful  a 
competitor  should  be  in  the  little  points.  Remember,  it  takes 
very  little  to  turn  the  scales  when  the  weights  are  nearly  equal, 
and  that  little  may  mean  a  great  deal  to  the  exhibitor.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  point  out  a  few  mistakes  that  exhibitors  are 
most  likely  to  make,  and  if  I  have  not  made  it  quite  clear  as 
how  to  remedy  them,  I  would  say,  “  Learn  to  do  better  from  past 
mistakes.” — G.  Carpenter  Byfleet. 
The  Aspidistra. 
The  Aspidistra  is  a  plant  everywhere  grown  and  admired. 
It  has  been  well  christened  the  Parlour  Palm,  for  it  is  one  of  the 
few  plants  which  will  stand  and  flourish  in  our  “  parlours,”  un¬ 
like  other  plants  that  so  often  under  the  care  of  servants  often 
gradually  dwindle  away,  unable  to  stand  the  negligence  which 
our  house  plants  are  so  often  subject  to.  For  “  furnishing,” 
it  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  useful,  and  will  stand  draught 
and  knocking  about,  so  to  speak,  better  than  any  plant  I  know. 
Many  a  nursery  foreman  or  head  gardener  has  grumbled  his  heart 
sore  when  his  Palms,  Crotons,  and  such  like  come  back  after  a 
big  furnishing  job  in  a  sad  state,  with  leaves  dusty,  and  the 
plants  themselves  so  very  dry  that  it  takes  weeks  to  bring 
them  back  to  the  clean  and  healthy  condition  they  were  in  when 
they  were  sent  out.  Some  of  them,  perhaps,  die  a  premature 
death  on  account  of  the  draught  and  negligence  they  had  been 
subjected  to  while  out  on  hire. 
The  Aspidistra,  if  grown  well,  does  away  to  a  great  extent 
with  these  forebodings  of  the  nurseryman  and  head  gardener. 
I  say  if  well  grown,  because  they  are  often  grown  in  such  a  care¬ 
less  way  (on  account,  perhaps,  of  their  willingness  to  be  neglected) 
that  their  leaves  are  short,  thin,  and  sickly.  I  like  to  see  them 
with  long  leaves,  standing  pretty  well  erect,  just  drooping  at 
the  tips,  with  good  colouring ;  not  hanging  as  it  were  almost 
lifeless  about  the  top  of  the  pot,  and  so  dwarf  and  puny  as  to  be 
of  little  or  no  use.  The  variegated  type  is  certainly  the  best, 
although  the  green  variety  comes  in  at  the  right  time  for  inter¬ 
mixing  with  the  variegated  variety,  or  in  a  group  of  our  lighter 
coloured  foliage  plants. 
Although  the  Aspidistra  will  do  in  a  poor  light,  it  thrives 
better  when  given  plenty  of  room  in  a  cool  house  or  conservatory 
with  abundance  of  light.  A  good  plan  is  to  stand  them  on  a  pot, 
thus  giving  them  plenty  of  space  to  spread  out  their  graceful 
leaves.  It  likes  plenty  of  moisture  in  the  summer  time,  but 
should  be  watered  sparingly  during  the  winter  months,  in  a 
temperature  of  50deg  to  GOdeg.  They  should  not  be  allowed  to 
become  too  pot-bound,  and  should  be  shifted  in  March,  and,  if 
large  enough,  divided  so  as  to  work  up  a  stock.  The  compost 
should  consist  of  two  parts  good  loam,  one  part  leaf  mould,  and 
one  part  sharp  sand,  potting  firm.  To  obtain  long  and  well- 
coloured  leaves  a  little  of  Clay’s  manure  is  beneficial;  Clay’s 
being  the  favourite.  Given  two  or  three  times  during  the 
growing  season,  about  a  dessert  spoonful  to  a  6in  pot,  and 
watered  in,  always  allowing  a  good  drainage,  and  keeping  the 
leaves  thoroughly  clean  by  constant  sponging  and  syringing. 
What  gives  a  better  effect  than  a  group  of  well  grown  plants 
intermixed  with  several  of  these  most  useful  of  our  greenhouse 
friends  ?  I  have  often  thought  that  a  group  of  Chrysanthemums 
would  have  a  far  more  pleasing  effect  if  between  each  plant  a 
well  grown  Aspidistra  was  placed,  hiding  as  it  would  the  long, 
bare  stem  so  prevalent  nowadays  amongst  these  most  popular 
plants.  Too  much,  I  think,  cannot  be  said  in  favour  of  the 
Aspidistra,  and  a  more  useful  plant  will  be  hard  to  find. — 
H.  Kitley. 
