August  28,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
205 
not  to  say  uncabbage-like  learning,  often  though  good  enough 
in  a  small  way,  leads  to  a  peculiar  form  of  mental  aberration, 
immensely  inimical  to  the  right  about  attention  so  necessary 
in  the  duly  equipped  practitioner  in  the  art  of  gardening. 
Therefore,  as  poor  simple  minded  Euclid  would  say,  this  requires 
no  demonstration,  it  is  a  self  evident  truth. — Kepoukos. 
- --- 
Rose,  Dorothy  Perkins. 
I  recently  noticed,  amid  a  fine  large  stand  of  cut  Roses  on 
the  stall  of  Messrs.  Perkins  and  Son,  of  Coventry,  in  the  Bir¬ 
mingham  Market  Hall,  a  bunch  of  this  new  American  raised 
variety.  It  is  a  seedling  from  Wichuraiana  (not  Wichuriana  as 
it  is  often  mis-spelt)  crossed  with  Gabriel  Luizet.  It  has  colour 
of  Bridesmaid  (a  light  pink),  comes  in  large  clusters,  and  the 
growth  is  that  of  Crimson  Rambler,  and  sweetly  scented.  Mr. 
Perkins  remarked  that  his  plants  of  this  new  and  desirable 
variety  have  made  remarkably  fine  growth  planted  out  in  his 
nurseries  this  year.  The  flowers,  which  appear  to  be  very 
persistent  or  durable,  are  produced  until  late  in  the  autumn. 
Dorothy  Perkins  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  of  the  hybrid 
Wichuraiana  Roses;  such  for  instance  as  Alberic  Barbier,  Ever¬ 
green  Gem,  Gardenia,  Jersey  Beauty,  Rene  Andre. — G.  [We 
thank  our  correspondent  for  directing  attention  to  the  name  of 
Wichuraiana  (pronounced  Wish-ur-i-ana).  In  England  the  name 
is  almost  invariably  spelt  Wichuriana,  but  the  Americans  render 
it  as  Wichuraiana.— Ed.] 
- - 
Hints  for  Show  Committees. 
One  of  the  most  important  aids  to  the  reporting  of  exhibits 
is  the  ready  accessibility  of  the  names  of  the  prizewinners  and 
the  schedule  classification,  and  has  been  variously  adopted  by 
the  compilers  thereof.  At  the  recent  Shrewsbury  Show,  through 
carelessness  or  ignorance,  many  of  the  class  numbers  on  the 
entry  cards  were  pasted  over  by  the  prize  slips.  The  stamping, 
also,  of  the  prize  numbers  disfigures  the  cards,  and  often  renders 
the  words  beneath  indistinguishable.  Such  faults  could  easily 
be  remedied  by  allowing  a  sufficient  blank  space  at  the  bottom 
of  the  entry  card  to  affix  the  pi'ize  slip  or  stamp,  and  the 
necessarily  extra  depth  of  the  card  would  hardly  be  worth  con¬ 
sideration.  The  name  of  the  gardener,  also,  should  be  included, 
with  the  name  of  the  employer  and  residence.  The  non-observ-  , 
ance  of  this  frequently  applies  to  the  minor  shows,  the  secretaries 
forgetting  that  the  dual  inclusion  is  of  equal  interest  to  the 
employer,  gardener,  and  the  visitor,  including  assistance  to  the 
Press  man.  Another  little  matter  worthy  of  attention  is  the 
usual  practice  of  the  judges,  when  marking  the  awards  on  the 
back  of  the  cards,  using  an  ordinary  blacklead  pencil,  and  I 
have  frequently- — so  also  have  the  officials  whose  duty  it  is  to 
append  the  numbers  of  the  prizes — experienced  an  unnecessary 
difficulty  in  finding  the  prize  card,  owing  to  the  almost  undis- 
cernible  pencil  marking.  To  obviate  this  fault,  when  acting  as 
a  judge,  I  invariably  use  a  large  blue  garden-label  pencil,  and 
was  agreeably  surprised,  when  judging  at  a  recent  local  show, 
to  find  the  astute  secretary  fortified  with  half-a-dozen  of  such 
pencils  for  the  use  of  the  judges.  This  is  all  the  more  worthy 
of  mention,  considering  that  he  is  the  secretary  of  an  entirely 
recently-established  show. 
In  the  preface  to  the  report  of  the  Shrewsbury  Show’  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  last  wreek  it  was  pertinently  remarked 
that  a  point  worthy  of  notice  was  the  facility  for  competitors 
to  find  the  exact  spot  whereon  to  stage  their  various  entries, 
the  printed  entry  cards  being  tacked  down  on  the  edges  of  the 
tables  or  other  staging,  thus  rendering  a  commendable  service 
to  all  concerned.  But  Shrewsbury  generally  leads.  Another 
matter,  though  perhaps  a  small  one  comparatively,  which  is 
worthy  of  attention  at  shows,  is  the  turning  of  the  blank  side 
of  the  whole  of  the  entry  cards  downwards  upon  each  exhibit 
after  the  adjudication  is  finished,  and  not,  as  too  often  is  the 
case,  leaving  them  during  the  exhibition  in  the  position  men¬ 
tioned ;  and  wrere  an  official  “  told  off  ”  by  the  secretary  for 
the  purpose  indicated,  it  could  be  quickly  effected.  Yet  another 
apparently  small  item  in  the  arrangement  of  the  various  exhibits 
in  their  respective  classes,  is  a  distinctly  defined  divisional  line, 
by  a  broad  chalk  mark  or  other  suitable  material,  this  being  the 
more  necessary  where  overcrowding  of  space  occurs.  For  want 
of  attention  to  this,  judges  have  been  known  to  commit  excusable 
mistakes  in  judging  the  entries  of  another  class  or  section. 
Lastly,  though,  doubtless,  not  exhaustively,  the  naming  of  the 
exhibits,  as  far  as  it  may  be  possible,  by  the  exhibitors  should 
be  insisted  upon,  both  from  an  educational  point  of  view  and 
an  aid  to  successful  reporting.  As  an  instance  of  the  non- 
observance  of  this  important  matter,  I  noticed  at  a  recent  show 
about  two  dozen  dishes  of  Peas,  and  a  host  of  Potatoes,  unnamed. 
As  a  remedy  for  this  sort  of  neglect,  probably  a  few  “  disqualifi¬ 
cations  ”  by  the  judges  would  have  a  potent  effect.  The  non¬ 
naming  omission  is  not  confined  to  cottagers  and  amateurs, 
who  may  be  comparatively  new  to  exhibiting,  but  the  professional 
exhibitor  is  too  often  a  sinner  in  this  respect,  and  I  have  seen — 
for  example-large  collections  of  fruit  totally  unnamed.  The 
foregoing  notices  and  suggestions  may  be  considered  as  trifles. 
Trifles,  howmver,  contribute  to  perfection,  and  perfection  is  no 
trifle.  Possibly  others  may  be  induced  to  add  to  the  above 
items. — Bibmingham. 
Shakespeare  and  Horticulture. 
It  is  a  regrettable  fact  that  the  works  of  Shakespeare  and 
kindred  subjects  are  not  more  generally  studied  in  the  lodge  of 
the  young  gardener  than  my  experience  of  bothy  life  forces  me  to 
conclude.  If,  after  a  day’s  work,  a  youth  can  take  up  a  volume 
of  Shakespeare  and  read  and  enjoy  its  classical  beauties,  I  feel 
sure  his  time  cannot  be  more  profitably  employed.  The  occu¬ 
pants  of  our  bothies  should  endeavour  to  gain  a  taste  for  high- 
class  literature,  and  when  this  is  once  acquired,  its  gratification 
will  be  found  much  pleasanter,  and  certainly  more  advantageous, 
than  bewailing  any  defects  which  may  be  found  in  their  tem¬ 
porary  homes.  It  is  surprising  how  a  person  of  studious  habits 
will  adapt  himself  to  his  surroundings  and  resign  himself  to  minor 
discomforts,  providing  he  has  access  to  his  books.  By  this  I  do 
not  infer  that  such  a  one  is  indifferent  to  domestic  neatness  and 
method;  quite  the  contrary;  for,  having  a  naturally  refined 
instinct,  he  will  appreciate  refinement  in  every  aspect,  yet  will 
Cordyline  australis  in  flower. 
(See  page  126.) 
solace  himself  by  study  should  he  be  placed  in  objectionable 
environments,  wdiile  some  others  will  be  discontented  and 
irritable. 
Year  by  year  the  price  of  good  books  diminishes,  and  the  days 
of  ignorance  are  vanishing.  Time  was  when  the  young  man  of 
the  working  class  had  perforce  to  stand  in  silent  awe  before  the 
public  schoolboy,  with  his  little  Latin  and  less  Greek  ;  but  now  it 
is  frequently  possible  to  meet  in  comparatively  humble  walks  of 
life  a  studious  youth  w’ho  can  talk  of  the  Greek  heroes,  and  dis¬ 
cuss  the  alleged  difficulties  of  pons  asinorum  with  the  best  of 
grammar-school  scholars.  Even  if  a  youth  has  no  taste  for  classic 
lore  or  Euclid,  still  it  should,  at  any  rate,  be  his  aim  to  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  the  powders  and  possibilities  of  his  native  tongue, 
and  to  attain  this  end  nothing  is  more  helpful  than  the  careful 
perusal  of  Shakespeare.  That  mighty  intellect  has  exalted  the 
English  language  to  a  height  and  majesty  far  above  that  of  any 
other  nation ;  he  has  tempered  it  in  the  fiercely  hot  passions 
of  Othello  and  Shylock,  in  the  white-hot  demon-craft  of  the  bloody 
Richard  of  Gloucester,  and  has  moulded  it  to  receive  in  Desde- 
mona,  Juliet,  and  Miranda  some  of  the  most  beautiful  conceptions 
of  love  and  virtue  that  have  ever  been  portrayed. 
In  this  article  I  propose  to  notice  briefly  a  few  of  the  allusions 
of  the  Bard  of  Avon  to  flow’ers  and  horticultural  matters.  It  must 
be  pleasing  to  gardeners  and  botanists  to  know’  that  our  great 
national  poet — nay,  more,  the  master  mind  of  humanity — has 
bowed  before  the  charm  and  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  little  way- 
side  flower,  and  has  spoken  many  times  of  horticultural  techni- 
