118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
August  6,  1903. 
judging  with  the  man  who  wants  to  have  things  all  his  own 
way,  and  tells  you  that  we  must  go  there  for  first  ”  and 
“  come  here  for  second  ”  without  stopping  to  consider 
whether  you  have  an  opinion  at  all.  Just  note  his  look  of 
withering  scorn  if  you  happen  to  disagree  with  one  of  his 
ready-made  decisions,  and  if.  when  he  has  taken  the  trouble 
to  point  out  your  ignorance  to  his  own  satisfaction,  you  still 
remain  unconvinced  and  will  not  give  way,  then  his  scorn 
gives  way  to  an  expression  of  profound  pity,  both  for  you 
and  also  the  misguided  society  that  asked  you  to  judge 
along  with  such  a  person  as  himself. 
A  much  more  amiable  person,  but  still  not  an  ideal  judge, 
is  the  individual  who  really  has  no  settled  opinion  of  his 
own,  but  is  possessed  with  an  overwhelming  anxiety  to 
please  everybody.  Of  course  he  doesn’t  succeed  ;  but  as  a 
rule  he  does  no  great  amount  of  harm,  and  when  asked  to 
take  the  initiative  in  making  an  award  to  a  plate  of  Potatoes 
he  coughs  and  hesitates,  strokes  his  chin,  turns  over  the 
tubers  again  and  again,  bends  over  the  table  and  looks 
closely  at  them,  then  surveys  them  at  a  distance,  and  comes 
eventually  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  rather  in  favour  of 
this  dish,  but  of  course  if  his  colleagues  prefer  any  other 
for  the  first  prize  he  is  quite  prepared  to  give  way.  This  is 
the  kind  of  man  who  shines  better  at  the  luncheon  than  at 
the  actual  judging.  He  is  possessed  of  a  nice  little  set 
speech,  which  he  delivers  on  all  occasions  in  the  same 
amiable  way,  and  tells  the  officials  what  a  splendid  show  it 
IS,  how  excellent  the  arrangements  are,  how  honoured  he 
feels  at  being  privileged  to  officiate  under  such  circum¬ 
stances,  how  pleased  he  shall  be  to  come  again,  and  so  on, 
and  so  on.  Taken  altogether,  he  is  a  nice  sort  of  fellow,  is 
the  ultra-amiable  judge,  and  when  quite  relieved  about  the 
right  thing  being  done  in  all  instances,  he  walks  round  the 
show  and  receives  the  congratulations  of  the  2orizewinning 
exhibitors  with  the  full  satisfaction  of  a  man  who  has  fear¬ 
lessly  done  his  duty. 
On  one  occasion  I  remember  having  a  colleague  of  this 
and  from  the  outset  to  the  finish  we  got  on  swimmingly 
together,  but  when  it  was  all  over  and  my  friend  was  look¬ 
ing  round  the  tent,  an  unforeseen  incident  occurred.  As  is 
usual  on  such  occasions,  one  exhibitor  was  dissatisfied  with 
a  decision  we  bad  rnade,  and  when  he  buttonholed  the 
amiable  judge  and  pointed  out  what  he  considered  to  be 
an  injustice  to  himself,  in  language  more  forcible  than 
elegant,  I  happened  to  be  on  the  outside,  and  there  was 
only  a  thin  wall  of  canvas  between  us.  Consequently  I 
overheard  the  remarks  of  my  colleague,  which  were  some¬ 
thing  to  this  effect :  “  Yes,  yes,  quite  so  j  I  see  ;  you’re 
right  ;  that  was  my  contention  all  along,  and  you  would 
nave  had  the  prize  if  it  hadn’t  been  for  that  other  fellow.” 
I  didn  t  stop  to  hear  any  more  as  my  train  was  due. 
It  is  an  open  question  whether  there  should  be  two  or 
three  opinions  in  making  the  awards  at  shows.  As  a  rule, 
a  couple  of  judges  for  any  one  division  is  sufficient,  in  spite 
of  the  contention  that  three  heads  may  be  better  than  two, 
and  a  good  deal  of  time  is  saved  that  otherwise  is  spent  in 
useless  argument.  I  have  no  objection  to  acting  with  two 
others,  so  long  as  I  am  on  fairly  good  terms  with  one  of 
them,  but  if  the  other  two  are  in  coalition  then  you  are  the 
odd  man  out,  so  to  speak,  and  the  actual  part  you  play  in 
making  the  awards  does  not  amount  to  very  much.  It  is 
true  that  two  judges  may  fail  to  agree,  but  the  difficulty  is 
easily  overcome  by  calling  in  a  third  opinion  to  settle  the 
point ;  that  is  to  say,if  the  third  party’s  decision  is  accepted 
without  comment.  If,  however,  you  happen  to  be  the  third 
party,  and  each  of  the  disputing  judges,  instead  of  waiting 
for  ymir  opinion,  commences  bv  argument  to  prove  that  he 
IS  right,  then  things  are  not  altogether  so  easy,  especially 
it  the  man  whom  you  eventually  disagree  with  twits  you  on 
your  Ignorance  afterwards. 
In  spite  of  the  judging  rules  formulated  by  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society,  and  the  reams  of  copy  that  have  been 
Witten  on  the  subject,  the  question  of  size  v.  quality  in 
show  vegetables  remains  unsettled,  and  exhibitors  are  often 
non-plussed  in  consequence.  There  are  judges,  however, 
who  have  settled  the  matter  for  themselves,  and  when  a 
man  glances  at  the  schedule  and  observes,  “  This  is  a 
cottager’s  class,  we  must  consider  size,”  you  may  depend 
that  if  he  has  his  own  way  the  prize  cards  will  fall  on  the 
biggest  specimens  on  the  board.  By  another  rule,  the  same 
individual  has  his  own  idea  as  to  what  is  best  for  a  gentle- 
man  s  table,  and  when  adjudicating  in  the  professional 
division  it  is  the  smallest  produce  that  finds  favour  with 
him.  In  the  way  of  judges,  exhibitors  sometimes  pride 
themselves  on  knowing  their  men,  and  once  when  I  remon¬ 
strated  with  a  man  for  boarding  some  large  coarse  vege- 
tabls,  he  gave  me  a  knowing  wink  and  observed,  “  I  know 
my  men,  you  see  the  judges  go  for  size  here.”  As  it 
hafppened,  however,  the  judges  were  changed  on  that  occa¬ 
sion,  likewise  the  opinions,  and  the  exhibitor  who  knew  all 
about  it  was  intensely  disgusted  to  find  himself  thrown  out 
entirely. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  character  displayed  at  a  flower 
show,  particularly  when  the  judges  are  being  judged  after 
the  awards  are  all  made.  You  are  probably  acquainted 
with  the  man  who  never  exhibits,  nor  ever  grew  anything 
worth  exhibiting,  but  still  he  always  goes  round  to  see  if 
uie  judges  have  done  the  nght  thing,  and  if  he  is  able  to 
congratulate  them  on  this  in  all  cases  they  may  consider 
themselves  as  being  perfectly  competent.  Again,  there  is  the 
man  who  is  never  satisfied  unless  he  gets  a  prize  for  every¬ 
thing  he  shows,  and  is  prepared  to  raise  an  objection 
against  a  fellow  exhibitor  for  staging  twenty-nine  Goose¬ 
berries  when  he  ought  to  have  thirty  on  hi^  plate.  Over 
the  bar  in  the  refreshment  booth  this  man  disperses  judg¬ 
ment  on  the  judges  pretty  severely,  and  as  he  passes  out 
of  the  show  at  night  with  a  rejected  member  of  the 
Cucurbita  family  under  his  arm,  observes  in  a  disgusted 
tone,  “  Marrer  I  what  do  they  know  about  a  Marrer  V’  and 
you  have  his  candid  opinion  of  the  judges  on  that  occasion. 
Still  the  flower  shows  continue,  and  the  judging  is  per¬ 
formed  next  year  much  about  in  the  old  way.  Dissatisfied 
spirits  sometimes  drop  out,  but  as  a  rule  they  forget  their 
grievances  and  come  up  smiling  at  the  next  show,  when  the 
decisions  of  the  judges  are  judged  over  again.  In  the 
meantime  articles  are  written  describing  right  and  wrong 
ways,  and  the  usual  paragraphs  appear  enlarging  upon  the 
incapacity  of  judges,  though  none  of  the  latter  take  them 
in  a  personal  sense,  so  they  do  neither  good  nor  harm. 
Judges  do  not  seem  to  alter  much,  and  as  a  body  act 
honestly  and  according  to  their  lights,  and  if  they  go  home 
quite  unconscious  of  the  kind  and  unkind  things  said  about 
them  by  those  who  claim  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  private 
judgment  over  their  decisions,  it  is  just  as  well  for  their 
peace  of  mind  that  it  is  so. — Judex. 
Testing  Seeds. 
Seeds  may  fail  to  germinates  from  a  variety  of  causes,  even 
when  eixposed  to  the  proper  degree  of  warmth,  moisture,  and 
oxygen.  They  may  be  too  old,  they  may  not  have  been  suffi¬ 
ciently  mature  when  gathered,  the5'  m.ay  have  become  too  dry, 
they  may  have  been  subjected  to  freezing  before  sufficiently 
dry,  they  may  have  been  stored  when  danqr  and  thus  subjected 
to  undue  heating,  or  they  may  have  been  damaged  by  insects 
or  fungi  either  before  or  after  maturity.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
plant  seeds  in  soil  to  test  them,  since  the  seed  te.ster  is  much 
more  convenient.  This  useful  device  consists  of  two  circular 
pieces  of  clean,  moderately  thick  cloth  of  rather  loose  texture,  a 
table  plate  that  is  not  warped,  and  a  pane  of  glass  large  enough 
to  cover  the  plate.  The  cloths  are  dipped  in  water  and  .squeezed 
a  few  times  while  under  the  water  to  press  out  the  air.  They 
are  then  wrung  out  until  moderately  wet,  spread  over  the 
bottom  of  the  plate,  and  the  seeds  to  be  tested  are  placed  be¬ 
tween  them.  It  is  well  to  use  a  hundred  or  more  seeds  of  each 
sample,  as  a  larger  number  will  show  the  per  cent,  of  vitality 
more  accurately  than  a  smaller  one,  and  the  lo+  should  always 
be  well  mixed  before  taking  the  sample.  The  plate  should  be 
kept  covered  with  the  glass  to  prevent  evaporation  from  the 
cloths,  and  it  may  be  placed  in  any  room  of  comfortable  living 
temperature.  The  seeds  should  be  frequently  examined,  and 
may  be  removed  as  they  sprout,  when  by  subtracting  the 
number  that  fail  to  sprout'from  the  number  put  in.  the  percent¬ 
age  of  vitality  may  be  readily  computed.  The  cloths  should 
be  placed  in  boiling  water  a  few  minutes  before  using  them  for 
a  second  test  to  destroy  any  spores. 
Attar  of  Roses. 
The  increasing  prosperity  of  the  attar  of  Rose  industry  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  eight  years  the  area  under  cultivation 
has  nearly  doubled,  having  reached  the  figure  of  13,700  acres. 
Last  year’s  crop  was  expected  to  be  one  of  the  largest  on  record, 
but  a  week  of  scorching  winds  reduced  the  yield  by  a  quarter. 
The  damage  done  to  the  quality  of  the  Roses  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  3601b  of  flowers  were  rec]uired  to  produce  one  ounce 
of  attar,  or  twice  the  usual  quantity.  The  yield  totalled  about 
7.5,000oz,  as  compared  with  13o.000oz  in  1900.  Last  year’s  crop 
is  estimated  at  25, 000,0001b  of  Rose  flowers. 
