and added an extra Members-only day (Wednesday) to its now-traditional Thursday one. Public access to the Show was therefore restricted to Thursday and Friday. 11 The demand is now so intense that since 1988 all tickets have been sold in advance to manage and control the numbers. Everyone complains constantly: the Press grumbles about its ticket allocation; the public grows weary of beating sun or pelting rain and never finding enough places to sit; some exhibitors dislike the rule forbidding them to sell their plants until the end of the last day, while others object to bought-in plants rather than self-cultivated ones going on display at the Show. Until 1987 it was daunting, because there was no limit on visitor numbers. Its known that, in 1987, there were 247,000 visitors. There may have been even more before that but we do not have accurate numbers.
braced his secondary defenses. On the 6th, officers were told that "the offensive is imminent." Tension mounted. The 7th passed without enemy action, and the 8th: Ludendorff had postponed the attack for two days to bring up more guns and munitions because, he said, "thorough preparation was essential to success." The French waited tensely but with confidence. At midnight on June 9 the front from Montdidier to Compiegne erupted in a fierce, pelting hurricane of high-explosive, shrapnel, and gas shells. For three hours a German artillery concentration that averaged one gun for no more than ten yards of front poured a continual stream of fire onto the French positions—and Ludendorff's urgent demand for ammunition became clear. But this time, for the first time since Ludendorff began his stupendous series of triumphs, there was no surprise. Painvin's manna had saved the French. A little before dawn 15 German divisions charged forward
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