218 
JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  3,  1903. 
Inarching  Vines:  A  (Juery. 
I  am  at  present  trying  an  experiment  of  inarching  Muscat  of 
Alexandria  drape  upon  Gros  Golmaii  variety,  fan  anyone  who 
has  tried  the  same^,  give  me  inforniiition  of  the  result? — D.  C. 
Point  Judging  at  Shrewsbury. 
No  doubt  the  details  I  am  going  to  draw  attention  to  re¬ 
garding  the  point  judging  in  tlie  great  Grape  class  at  Shrews¬ 
bury  will  have  occurred  to  others,  and  many  will  allow  point 
judging  still  leaves  something  to  be  desired.  The  decision 
arrived  at  by  the  judges  clearly  shows  that  for  cultural  skill 
Messrs.  Buchanan  were  leading  by  nine  points.  Taking  for 
granted  that  the  varieties  exhibited  by  Mr.  Goodacre  wei-e 
higher  quality  varieties,  and  consequently  deserving  higher 
points,  yet  this  still  deserves  looking  at  in  another  light.  No 
doubt  the  best  Grape  growers  in  the  countiw  were  consulted 
regarding  the  framing  of  this  class;  still,  they  allow  for  the 
inferiority  of  certain  varieties,  and  as  the  Me.ssrs.  Buchanan 
gained  in  seven  bunches  the  maximum,  and  being  in  every 
bunch  so  near  UlS  only  half  a  point  off  the  maximum,  while 
Mr.  Goodacre  only  secured  the  maximum  in  one  bunch,  and  in 
one  case  three  points  behind,  this  leaves  it  clear  Mr.  Goodacre 
won  by  equality,  and  not  by  cultural  skill. 
No  discredit  is  inferred  to  anyone,  .judges  or  exhibitors,  and 
I  only  try  to  show  that  judging  by  points  does  not  give  all  we 
can  desire.  Cultural  skill  should  be  the  first  consideration.  The 
views  of  others  on  this  question  would  be  acceptable. — W. 
Benbow,  Overross,  Ross-on-Wye. 
Judges  at  Flower  Shows. 
I  fully  agree  with  “Judex”  in  his  remarks  on  the  above 
(page  117)  in  your  Journal  for  August  6,  whei*e  he  says  that  with 
the  exception  of  large  shows  judges’  fees  are  not  plentiful  nor 
high  enough  for  men  to  seek  engagements.  But  good  men  have 
no  need  to  seek  engagements.  This,  as  a  secretary,  I  know 
from  experience,  and  have  found  that  if  any  committee  wants  to 
secure  the  best  men  as  judges,  they  mu.st  fix  dates  of  next  show 
early  and  engage  their  men ;  otherwise  they  may  be  too  late. 
It  is  the  men  with  no  qualifications  for  judging  at  all  who  do 
the  seeking,  men  who  are  blind  to  their  own  ignorance  and 
ovenvhelmed  with  the  ambition  to  appear  as  men  of  import¬ 
ance.  These  are  the  men,  as  “Judex”  says,  who  shine  better 
at  the  luncheon  than  at  the  actual  judging.  Of  course,  we  know 
it  is  possible  to  find  good  practical  men  in  high  positions,  who, 
in  spite  of  their  experience,  have  no  adjudicating  capacities  at 
all.  This  being  so,  I  think  it  would  be  doubly  impossible  to  find 
a  man  fully  qualihed  to  adjudicate  who  has  had  no  experience 
whatever.  For  a  man  Avith  no  practical  experience  at  all  to 
attempt  to  adjudicate  at  floAver  shows  is  a  direct  insult  to  the 
gardening  profession  in  general,  and  no  AAords  too  strong  can  be 
used  in  condemnation  of  the  acts  of  such  bumptious  individuals, 
even  though  they  may  assume  to  be  “  gold  medallists  in  horti¬ 
culture.”  These  men,  through  ignorance,  ofttimes  award  prizes 
the  Avrong  Avay  about,  Avhich  creates  dissatisfaction  amongst  the 
exhibitors,  and  brings  fioAver  sIioaa  s  into  disrepute ;  but  I  am 
pleased  to  say  that  during  my  long  experience  in  connection 
Avith  floAver  shoAvs  such  cases  seldom  occur. 
The  rule  Avith  us  is  to  divide  the  classes  in  the  schedule  into 
divisions,  and  then  to  appoint  one  or  more  judges  for  each  divi¬ 
sion,  being  careful  to  select  men  aa’Iio  are  experts  in  the  groAV- 
ing  of  the  things  they  are  appointed  to  judge.  But  in  the  case 
of  small  shoAvs,  Avhere  the  AA'ork  to  be  done  reejuires  only  one  set 
of  judges,  then  men  Avith  a  good  all-round  knoAvledge  should  be 
selected. 
I  can  aa'gII  understand  “Judex”  getting  on  so  Avell  Avith  his 
colleague,  “the  amiable  person  anxious  to  please  everybody,”  for 
the  simple  reason  that  it  avouIcI  be  impossible  for  this  ignorant, 
but  amiable  person  to  have  an  opinion  of  his  OAvn.  The  latter, 
no  doubt,  is  not  the  AAmnt  of  good  intention,  but  rather  the 
Avant  of  experience.  I  knoAv  of  such  a  one  Avho  has  a  happy 
knack  of  quickly  scanning  over  the  exhibits,  then  turning  round 
cn  his  heels  ancl  Avith  an  a’r  of  great  a'^suianoe  at  cnce  says,  “I 
have  done.”  He  then  aAvaits  the  decision  of  his  colleague  before 
stating  Avhat  he  has  done  ;  but  the  fact  is,  he  has  done  nothing, 
and  is  simply  aAvaiting  his  colleague’s  opinion  in  order  that  he 
may  confirm  it.  At  the  luncheon,  should  they  be  coraplimentod 
upon  the  soundness  of  the  judging,  “  it  is  us  ”  ;  but  should  any 
acB’erse  comments  be  made  by  an  unsuccessful  exhibitor,  then 
on  the  cjuiet  he  complains  that  it  Avas  “he,  not  me.”  After  all, 
it  is  no  compliment  to  a  practical  man  to  harm  his  opinions  con¬ 
firmed  by  one  entirely  ignorant  of  the  subject  at  issue. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  much  more  than  a  compliment  to 
haA^e  one’s  judgment  endorsed  by  a  man  more  practical  than  one- 
.sclf ;  and  as  good  judging  contributes  so^  much  to  the  peace  of 
mind  of  the  exhibitor,  and  consequently  to  the  future  success  of 
exhibitions,  let  ais  hope  that  this  little  correspondence!  may 
engender  carefulness  on  the  part  of  committees  in. the  selection 
of  judges,  and  that  in  future  Ave  shall  hear  no  complaints  as  to 
“  bogus  judges  or  touts  ”  having  been  appointed. — An  Old  Hand. 
Notes  on  Culinary  Peas. 
NotAvithstanding  the  general  untoAvard  nature  of  the  present 
year,  the  Pea  crop  is  very  good  Avith  us  here.  The  two  later 
soAvings,  Avhich  are  noAV  coming  into  blossom,  have,  lioAveA^er,  the 
appearance  of  likely  being  of  no  use.  They  seem  to  have  been  at¬ 
tacked.  just  Avhen  about  a  foot  in  height,  Avith  a  disease  of  some 
kind.  The  leaAms  haA*e  yelloAved  upAvards  from  the  roots,  and  at  the 
present  time  there  is  only  about  a  foot  of  green  at  the  top.  On 
examining  the  roots  I  find  no  .signs  of  any  insects,  but  they  are, 
nevertheless,  quite  dead,  and  of  a  blackish  appearance.  I  do 
not  remember  ever  before  coming  across  a  similar  disease,  if 
disease  it  is.  There  is  not  the  least  symptom  of  mildew,  and 
before  the  roAvs  Avere  attacked  they  Avere  in  the  most  luxuriant 
health. 
The  sorts  aaIucIi  proved  excellent  croppers  here  this  year  are 
Gradus,  for  Avhich  I  have  not  enough  praise ;  Telephone,  a  splen¬ 
did  second  early ;  Duke  of  Albany,  and  Gladstone.  Autocrat 
and  Sharpe’s  Invincible  are  the  sorts  affected  as  above  stated,  and 
both  are  good  in  ordinary  circumstances. 
I  sow  more  of  Gradus  each  year,  for  its  general  merits  deserve 
it.  Far  an  early  crop,  Avorthy  of  the  name,  it  is  the  best  I  have  yed. 
come  across,  and  if  regulated  in  soAving  it  is  possible  to  give  a 
succession  far  on  in  the  season.  Telephone  also  is  a  sort  which 
does  remarkably  Avell  Avith  us  here,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
the  Duke  of  Albany.  I  find  an  occasional  dressing  of  lime  a  good 
thing  for  the  Pea  crop,  and  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  this  Ave  never 
dig  the  lime  into  the  soil.  We  spread  it  on  hot  in  spring,  and 
alloAV  it  to  Avork  its  Avay  down,  Avhich  it  Avill  soon  do. — D.  C., 
Hamilton,  N.B. 
Grapes  at  Bath  Show. 
Mr.  W.  Taylor,  formerly  of  Longleat,  and  more  recently 
manager  and  gi’OAAer  for  Alderman  Chaffin,  of  Bath,  has,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  recent  Bath  ShoAv  demonstrated  once  again  his 
unique,  and,  indeed,  his  marvellous  capacity  as  a  Grape  culturi.st. 
Not  only  did  he  defeat  that  noAv  famous  We.st-country  groAver, 
Mr.  Mitchell,  in  the  principal  class  for  Grapes  (eight  bunches), 
but  in  tAA'o  other  classes  he  took  the  lead  Avith  superb  examples. 
The  house  in  Avhich  they  are  cultivated  covers  but  a  small  area 
(something  like  2Gft  by  15ft  if  my  memory  seiwes  me  correctly), 
and  when  it  is  remembered  that  this  small  structure  has  been 
subjected  to  the  requirements  of  the  market  groAver’s  heavy 
crops  for  some  years,  it  is  nothing  less  than  remarkable  that  in 
so  .short  a  space  of  time  Grapes  of  the  highest  state  of  perfection 
have  been  produced.  Mr.  Taylor’s  name  and  fame  became,  Avell 
establi.shed  during  the  periods  spent  qt  Longleat,  and  later  at 
Bath,  and  the  authorship  of  “  Vines  at  Longleat  ”  helped  not 
only  to  make  his  name  familiar,  but  .shoAved  also  the  clear  grasp 
he  possessed  of  the  ino.st  minute  detail  and  requirement  of  the 
Grape  Vine. 
It  is  a  Avell-knoAvn  fact  that  Grape  culture  has  been  Mr. 
Taylor’s  great  life  study,  and  there  are  not  a  feAv  gardeners  and 
amateur.s,  particularly  among  Journal  readers, avIio  have  benefited 
from  advice  AA'liich  he  unselfishly  has  given  from  time  to  time. 
I  am  quite  sure  there  are  many  readers  Avho  Avill  freely  acknoAA'- 
ledge  Avith  admiring  pride  his  latest  triumph.  Muscat  of  Alex¬ 
andria,  betAveen  41b  and  51b  in  Aveight,  dense  of  bloom,  and  bright 
in  colour,  figured  strongly  in  his  exhibits.  Madresfield  Court, 
Gros  Maroc.  and  Black  Alicante  Avere  each  seA'erally  shoAvn  in 
beautiful  condition,  the  bloom  dense,  and  the  colour  deep.  There 
are  but  five  Vines  in  the  house,  the  oldest  being  about  ten  years 
planted  ;  others  have  been  introduced  Avithout  any  reconstruc¬ 
tion  of  border,  and  their  response  Avithin  the  past  tAvo  seasons 
to  this  clever  groAver’s  methods  is  nothing  less  than  phenomenal, 
and  Mr.  Marsh,  the  oAA’ner  of  the  Vines,  is  not  less  proud  than 
is  their  grcA’.'or  Eat’>fied,  Avith  th.c  p:'o~rcs'  made.  -VV.  S. 
