THE message was passed on in the wee sma’ hours, long after the lecture was over, when he was slurping a dram with Doug Semple. The man from the south confided, that the judges down south were employing a new technique. Douglas, in turn, passed on the word to us at our next monthly meeting in Glasgow.

It really was quite simple. It ensured that the absolute minimum of exhibitors risked having their dahlias disqualified for being “oversize”. All that was needed was for the judge, at the start of his duties, to nip round the entries, checking that the blooms in every vase went through the rings. Giving them a quick early clearance. Plenty of time for the actual judging later.

Now, being a suspicious type, I assumed that this message from the upper echelons of the National Dahlia Society really was a nod and a wink that we Scots should adopt this modern practise. It sounded doubtful to me at the time. It sounds even more dangerous now. And I am certain that many of us, in the interim, have had more time to think it through.
Let us take a real life example from the 1994 London show. David Boyd had checked and re-checked his entry in the all important individual dahlia championship. The signal was given to clear the hall. Presumably, (deploying the new judging procedure) the judges grabbed their rings and rushed round the aisles, ensuring that no bloom at that moment in time was oversize.

By the time they came to actually judge the top class, David Boyd’s entry was in a state of some disarray. His vase of “Kenora Challenger” contained blooms which were in the process of doing a dying swan act. Two of the stems were in a state of collapse. Now this danger could all have been avoided had the judges - in their prejudging lap to check on size - also eyeballed the stems at the same time. Never mind the size, feel the stems.

Why stop there, at size and stems? What about centres? In that prejudging trip up and down the aisles the judges could check the size.. .and the stems.. .and while they are at it they could give the official okay to any centres in danger of cracking up. Am I being facetious? Of course I am - but I am simply trying to illustrate how stupid and, indeed, unfair is any form of prejudging.

The rules for judging state. -‘All exhibits must be judged as seen at the time of judging AND NOT AS THEY POSSIBLY WERE, OR MIGHT BECOME”. I don’t have a degree in English language but that seems very clear to me. Any judge, indulging in any form of prejudging, such as giving advance clearance on the question of size, is in breach of the rule book.

I can well appreciate why such an innovation would be welcomed by many of our top showmen. They are the exhibitors who, at the big shows, watch over their babies right up until the bell. Ringing and re-ringing. Assessing and reassessing. Substituting a bloom if necessary. Sometimes substituting a reserve vase. Lesser mortals have long before headed home for some sleep before a day shift.

It would seem, too, that this suggested new judging technique is simply a natural response to the growing obsession, in recent years, to produce dahlias right on the ring limit. Big, it seems, is beautiful. Put up a refined vase of small decs, at a respectable six inch diameter and you risk being labelled, indeed, as being “small”. Raisers appear to be aware of this trend and, unless it is my memory playing tricks, that seems to be reflected in an increase in the number of recently new varieties that require being “grown down” rather than “up”.

Yet, I refer the wise man from the south to his society’s own judging rules. Blooms, it states quite clearly, will be assessed primarily on their overall quality - that means the quality in the main areas of formation, centre, freshness, colour and stem. These five factors, the book reminds us, are of -‘paramount importance”. No matter how hard I scan the rules I don’t see anything to suggest that bonus points should be awarded because an exhibit has succeeded in scraping through the ring. Indeed where giants are concerned the rules warn that overall quality must be the chief consideration rather than size.

It would appear to me that dahlia judges must examine all the entries in a particular class, all together at the same time, covering every aspect of assessment. How judges devote their time to the schedule before them is their own affair. My own method is not a secret. I start with the single vase classes. I leave the top classes and top awards to the last, using all the time I have at my disposal. I don’t pretend to always get it right. But leaving key decisions as late as possible certainly lengthens the odds against the little disasters that are waiting to happen. Like an incident witnessed towards the end of the 1994 season at a major Scottish show. There, blooms in the Best Vase of Dahlias in Show had been CANED to make the exhibit look presentable for the paying public about to enter. I have no doubt that these same stems looked smashing first thing in the morning.