CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VI, Issue 1856, 4 December 1884, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor,

: Sir,—As Mr.Park has published to your readers a private conversation 1 had with him with regard to the late 'Flower Show, permit me to give the gist of many previous conversations on the same subject. I hold that for some time past the shows of the Horticultural Society have been lamentable failures, as of locally grown flowers, and a reference to the entry lists of the past two or three years will show that competition has gradually fallen off'to almost nil, The late'sh.ow. whicli is held up as a great success was rather better than its predecessors, but can- the society claim a success for it when the number of floriculturists who did not compete are considered 11t requires no argument to prove . that flower-growing is a favorite pastime in Masterton j a walk round the town will show numbers of well kept gardens bright with flowers, and a not inconsiderable number of greenhouses, but the owners of the gardens and many of' the greenhouses too, are not ijepresented at the iliows, and the society cannot claim to be successful; until it, can attract a' majority in place of the small minority it now has. It seems strange that while there are so many growers there should be so few exhibitors of flowers but the reason is not far to seek. A majority.of the growers are people, in humblecircumstances—cottagers-- who can give their spare; time tp-their flowers,;' A. majority of the exhibitors are people ingood circumstances, who can, riot only give their own • time, but employ., that of othm, and who can, moreover, buy front time to time the iiew'estand choicest plants with which to compete, and the cottagers believe jihat they/cannot, hope for success in competitions when so many advantages are held against them, In former years the Society on its present basis was all that was required for the place, ..but while the place has been growing the Society has been standing still, its conditions of competition are nearly the same now as they were six 01' eight years ago, and have become, absolete. The remedy for this state of things is obvious. The Society must make a .step iii, advance, and seek to win the confidence and obt'ain the co-operation of the cottagers, and this will never be under present conditions of competition. Those conditions then must be altered, and the sooner the better./or the Society. I have been accused of harboring.onmity to the Society and of seeking to injure it ; but this is not the : case, I contend against what I hold to be unfair conditions of competition. When these are altered, as I hope they will soon be, I shall • again compete for the Society's prizes, not in the cottager's class which I hope to see instituted/but against tho best the; district can show, ■' ' I am, (|c,,. • . '. W>J. M, Ejasthope,