The Georgia Horticultural Society has adopted a by-law which provides that no medal, diploma or money shall be awarded by this society as a testimonial of excellence for any fruit, plant, flower or vegetable offered for exhibition. The verdict of the special committee shall be the highest commendation of the society. We should hardly suppose that such a great departure from established custom will be a success. But there is nothing like a practical test, and we are glad the Georgia Society undertakes it.

It seems to us the true line of reform is in discriminating verdicts, the jury giving the reasons for the excellence, and the society taking the steps by wide publicity to do honor to their own verdict and to the merits of the exhibitor. The most praiseful verdict is of little satisfaction to the exhibitor if he has to put the record of it between the covers of some book in his library. To be of any real value to him he must "blow his own horn," in regard to it in the end. If the societies were to take this "blowing of the horn" in their hands, it might then be some fair set-off for the lack of money premiums. At any rate we are glad that the action of the Georgia Society, looks like the beginning of the examination into the old stupid system of competition which we have so long urged as needing reform may have the exhibition tables spread before them in your report. Pardon me if I refer to some of the reports of the past year. For instance, in that of last March we find the following: 'From Wm. Bennett, a Dendrobium aggregatum majus. Extra good.' There are many such comments throughout the reports of the year.

Undoubtedly the specimen was ' extra good,' but had I not seen the plant I would have wondered what an extra good plant was like, and if I were an inexperienced orchid grower, with a specimen of the same variety fifteen inches high, having four spikes of thirteen large perfect flowers each, I would have, from reading the report only, vainly wondered how my plant compared with the one shown. And it must be remembered that besides our membership in New York and vicinity we have members in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan, whose personal contact with our exhibitions is confined to reading your reports."