January  26,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
67 
THE  N.C.S.  MEDAL  AWARDS. 
In  the  report  of  the  past  year’s  work  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  I  observe,  in  relation  to  the  vexed  medal  award  question, 
the  Council  suggests,  though  in  veiled  terms,  that  trade  groups  at  the 
Drill  Hall  should  not  be  too  readily  awarded  medals.  I  do  not  assume 
Practically  it  is  difficult  to  prevent  trade  growers  from  exhibiting 
produc's  grown  by  others  for  them.  Nothing  is  more  common  than 
for  traders  who  have  special  stocks  of  their  own  to  pay  other  persons 
to  grow  the  same  tbr  them,  seeing  that  it  is  often  practicable  for 
others  to  present  them  in  superior  form.  Were  these  things  exhibited 
Pl(t.  14.— ARCHIE  RAY. 
that  the  Executive  of  the  N.C.S.  would  be  likely  to  follow  the  lead 
of  the  R.H.S.  in  this  matter ;  but  were  it  the  rule  that  no  awards  of 
medals  be  made  to  such  groups  in  either  case  there  would  be  no  room 
for  the  grumbling  of  which  I  have  complained  as  disfiguring  several 
Chrysanthemum  trade  lists. 
for  prizes  as  actually  grown  by  the  exhibitor  it  would  be  immoral, 
but  when  simply  presented  as  examples  of  varieties  or  stocks  produced 
under  the  best  culture  no  one  can  complain.  Of  course,  if  in  such 
case  anyone  were  to  publish  that  all  these  exhibits  “  were  grown  by 
us  personally,  and  in  our  own  establishments,”  that  would  be  false. 
