A NOVEL EXHIBITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5629, 1 December 1879, Page 5

A NOVEL EXHIBITION.

of t l, o moss unique erht'-'U :-is which l.«-.vs v' ft ce w ibis citv i ' time v-ru-d, oG" on r; aturdr=" -f T «. '■"< •?"• -»t the v;crk»>r.>p r>l :vlr. V>\ J. ■•'..ruber, Chapel-aci st, uarneiy—a -josiun-iicive wg-.-t----ablc exhibition by the workmen iu his employ. It arose in this wise: —Mr. Marks's employees had on several occasions been loud in their admiration of the splendid specimens of vegetables which came from his garden, at his residence, Mount St John, He informed them that th .-re was no mystery or legerdemain nbout the thing; it was merely a question of time and industry, and each of them, in his own little garden plot, if he went the right way about the matter, might be equally successful. Mr. Marks is one of those men who doe* not believe in virtue b?ing solely its own reward, and has also an awkward habit of calliog "a spade a spade." He accordingly announced to his workmen that, as a stimulus to the cultiva tion of the bucolic virtues, he would give ft first prize of £2, a second of £1, aud a third of a spade, for the three best exhibits of vegetables grown in their own gardens. The exhibits were placed in a row in the workshop on Saturday afternooo, aud the visitors were loud in their commendation of their quality and appearance, and as highly creditable to those who had produced them under tha circumstances above stated. Amongst the visitors was Perkyn Middlewick (Mr. H. Liogard); but although it was admitted on all hands that u the butterraau" was an excellent- authority on "good Dossctt," he was scarcely r o reliable a judge of green peac, kidney potatoes, or cauliflower; and Mr. Lippiatt's services were invoked for the occasion. Th« rampetitors aud their exhibits were as follows :—No. 1 : J. Crick Mechanic*' 13ay, cabbage, turnip? and peas : No. 2 : S. Jackson, Parn?U, cabbage, potitoes and peas ; No. 3: J. Grove, New North Koad, potatoes, cabbage aud peaa; No 4; \V. Caminell, Pousonby, turuips, p<\as and cabbage ; No. 5 : Obades Watson, Kara igahape, turuips, cauliflowers and cabbage; G; U. Wheeler, Newton, tur. Ips and peas. Tho potatoes were of the kidney and rose-leaf varieties, and the turnips, silverball and orange-jelly. Mr. Mnrks nlso exhibited a splendid assortment of vegetables, just for the fun of tho thing, and by way of contrast. After a careful aud critical inspection, Mr. Lip.uatt aljudged the awards as under: lat prize (£2), Charles Watson; 2ud priz-3 (£1), S. Jackson ; 3rd prize (a spadt), H. Wheeler. The awards having been made, the workman were called in to leatn the decision*, and they tumbled up pretty much as the "faithful Commons" are wont to do to hear a gubernatorial speech, and when the successful aspirants saw tho two sovereigns, one sovereign, and a spade surmounting their respective exhibits, their hearts got as big as those of their own cabbages Mr. Lippiatt threw out a very excellent hint— namely, that on a future occasion the con- ! test should not be between man and m m in ; the same employ, but between the em- | ployees of one ti/m and those of another, i Thus, those ambitious iudividuals who are ever sighing for other worlds to conquer, might have their aspirations gratified by a fresh outlet in producing the "big gooseberry "or the mammoth pumpkin. Tl .■ exhibition of Saturday was the result of a "happy thought" on the part of Mr. Maiks, happily carried out, and the result was, in conscqu:mce, a marked success