November 6, 1302. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



781 



General View of the New York Show. 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW YORK 

 SHOW. 



I am well aware that your able New 

 York correspondent will give you the 

 fullest details of the Madison Square 

 "Flower and Sculpture Exhibition;" yet 

 as I looked forward very much to seeing 

 it, and have little else to say this week, 

 1 may be excused for a few comments on 

 what appealed to me. 



When I entered the immense building 

 about noon Thursday all was chaos, and 

 a herculean task was before the com- 

 mittee. I thought if Mr. Harry Bunyard 

 came out of this without a collapse, he 

 should be exhibited as a remarkable phe- 

 nomenon. Order gradually came and by 

 6 o'clock, when the doors were opened, 

 there was little evidence of the con- 

 fusion that reigned a few hours before, 

 yet it was another twenty-four hours be- 

 fore the thing looked finished. This was 

 not the committee's fault, as but litile 

 time was given them to build the arches, 

 etc., and put on the decoration?, 'i'et 

 there were flagrant cases of exhibitors 

 holding back their exhibits until they 

 saw what other firms were going to r^how. 



The committee of judges on cut flow- 

 ers, of which I was one, followed strictly 

 the clause in the rules which said, "All 

 exhibits shall be correctly named." It 

 was harsh and severe, and many vases 

 of carnations were ignored, whatever 

 their quality, simply because they had 

 no name attached. This no doubt carried 

 a lesson for the future, but vhy not 

 then enforce another rule and regulation, 

 which read, "All articles for competition 

 must be in position on Thursday, Octo- 

 ber 30, by 12 noon." The latter is far 

 more important, but was ignored, and 



perhaps always will be, yet it seems orly 

 reasonable that if one rule is winked at, 

 all might be. 



The display of orchids by Lager & 

 Hurrell and Henry Siebrecht & Son was 

 grand. The group of Nephrolepis Pier- 

 soni was only what you would expect 

 from the beautiful fern, and if it had 

 had a setting of white paper instead of 

 oak leaves and sawdust, it would have 

 been far more effective. There was a 

 splendid specimen of another new neph- 

 rolepis exhibited by Mr. John Scott, of 

 Brooklyn, which he calls Nephrolepis 

 Scottii. I admire the name, and the 

 plant was a beauty, a narrower frond 

 than Bostoniensis and more drooping, a 

 wonderfully effective specimen and 

 grown in an 8-inch pan. Nephrolepis 

 Anna. Foster was also well represented, 

 but the fact is these contemporary neph- 

 rolepis are sadly handicapped this year 

 by the gem that began its existence in 

 Tai rytown. 



there was a display of garden vege- 

 tables by Mr. Duckham, so excellent in 

 quality and variety that I lived back 

 forty- five years to the time when I 

 jumped over beds of leeks, salsify and 

 celery to make a short cut to the walls 

 where tliere were waiting for mj' thiev- 

 ing hand some lucious peaches and nec- 

 tarines. There are some tempLilions in 

 life when conscience is a dumb organ 

 or gone on a visit, and a boy and fruit is 

 one of them. 



I am no judge of statuary, perhaps 

 slightly of the living, but in stone or 

 bronze, I pass. I think what little there 

 was of it was a relief to the sombre green 

 of palms and evergreens which occu- 

 pied the greater part of the space. "The 



Father of His Country" on a charger 

 was the most conspicuous object in tiiat 

 line and the color of the horse gave you 

 tlie impression that the boys had thrown 

 a shower of eggs at it and succeeded in 

 their marksmanship. In a horse sale 

 catahtgue it would be described as a 

 "dun splashed with yellow," but perhaps 

 it was just as art decrees, and so with 

 all the rest, I needed a higher education 

 to properly appreciate the display of 

 statuary. 



Now what I am going to say about 

 the chrysanthemums, carnations and 

 roses is written with no attempt to erit- 

 ii'ize or be funny or unjust, but with a 

 sincere desire to be truthful to the facts 

 as they existed. The rose show wa.s not 

 as good in quantity or quality as any 

 one of a dozen growers could have made 

 singly had they so been inclined, and but 

 for the fine exhibit of Canadian Queen 

 from the Dale Estate, it would have 

 been ridiculous. One hundred dollars for 

 100 American Beauties, and not an on- 

 try. In classes for 50 blooms of roses, 

 nine classes, there was just one exhibit. 

 Bridesmaid. Mr. J. N. May offered $100 

 for 50 blooms of Mrs. Oliver Ames. Not 

 one bloom of this vai'iety was to be seen. 

 American Rose Co. offered $100 for 50 

 blooms of Ivory. We failed to find a 

 flower of this fine white rose. 



Tlie carnations, considering the earli- 

 ness of the season, were far better rep- 

 resented than the roses, both in quantity 

 and quality. Some fine vases of Lawson 

 vvere staged, but the gem of the collec- 

 tion were two vases of Enchantress all 

 the way from Joliet. Coming this dis- 

 tance and looking well, even on Sunda}', 

 speaks well for this grand variety. Mr. 



