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The Weekly Florists' Review* 



EXHIBITION VARIETIES. 



The shows are now over and in ac- 

 cordance with our usual custom for some 

 years past, we will look over the field and 

 see how the standard varieties hold their 

 own compared with the new comers. We 

 were afraid a year or two ago that Eaton 

 and Appleton would have a monopoly of 

 the prizes and that our shows would be 

 monotonous from the sameness of the 

 exhibits. That fear has certainly van- 

 ished and now we have a dozen varie- 

 ties that will size up as large or larger 

 than these two ever did. There has been 

 a feeble wail or two heard, as usual, that 

 the public was tired of the large blooms, 

 but anyone that attends a representative 

 show and takes the trouble to watch the 

 crowds carefully and listens to their com- 

 ments, will find that it's the largest 

 blooms that come in for the greatest 

 amount of admiration. 



While there was some room for criti- 

 cism anent the coarseness of Eaton and 

 Appleton, there is none about some of 

 the novelties, which are as perfect as 

 flowers can be. I give here a list of 

 varieties in their colors and will de- 

 scribe them in detail later. 



In yellow, Thirkell, Salisbury, F. S. 

 Vallis, General Hutton, Percy Plumridge, 

 Appleton and Cheltoni are the best. 



In pink, W. Duckham, Leila FiUdns, 

 Durban's Pride, F. A. Cobbold, Mrs. G. 

 Mileham and A. J. Balfour. 



In white, Merza, Ben Wells, Mrs. 

 Weeks, Eaton, Chadvrick and Nellie 

 Pockett. 



In red, S. T. Wright, Lord Hopctoun, 

 Maynell, Henry Barnes and H. J. Jones. 

 In odd colors, Mildred Ware, Mary 

 Inglis, W. R. Church, T. Carringtou. 

 Queen Alexandra, Harrison Dick and 

 Brutus. 



These thirty varieties will give any 

 grower such a choice of color and form 

 as to render him invincible on the show- 

 table if he grows them right. Last year 

 I said that Mrs. Thirkell was the king 

 of the yellows and the way it has been 

 exhibited this year fully bears out that 

 statement. Its only fault is the rather 

 bare neck when taken on the early bud, 

 which is the bud that produces the 

 largest flower. General Hutton makes as 

 large a flower, but it has a narrow line 

 of crimson running down the side of 

 each petal that detracts from it when 

 exhibiting it as a yellow, though in a 

 class of six sixes it makes a grand vase. 

 Lord Salisbury also often comes bronzy 

 red on a late crown and, while it will 

 come pure yellow from an early bud, it 

 can also be set up in the "any other" 

 class. It is more delicate in growth than 

 tho two preceding varieties and will drop 

 out sooner. Appleton was, as usual, 

 very prominent, but it is no longer the 

 only yellow, and Mrs. Thirkell will beat 

 it in the eyes of nine .iudges out of ten. 

 P. S. Vallis takes the place of yellow 

 Carnot. It is an easy grower, comes 

 .iust as large as Carnot and is much the 

 same color. Cheltoni, the yellow sport 

 from Nellie Pockett, will undoubtedly 

 be largely grown for next year. It is 



a lovely thing, but stock is already be- 

 ginning to run short. Percy Plumridge 

 beat Yellow Eaton at New York and was 

 very favorably commented on there. It 

 has all the earmarks of a good thing and 

 next year when it is sent out, will un- 

 doubtedly show up good. Yellow Eaton 

 I have omitted to mention as an exhibi- 

 tion yellow because I think it is out- 

 classed. As a matter of fact, white Eaton 

 is also, but the white section is not at 

 present so well filled as the yellow. 



In pinks, W. Duckham is the variety 

 of the year. It seems to have every de- 

 sirable attribute. The ten flowers of 

 this variety that won tho silver cup at 

 New York were the finest flowers in the 

 exhibition and either as a commercial or 

 an exhibition pink it will for years head 

 the Ust. Good pinks are getting num- 

 erous now. Durban's Pride is rather 

 pale and not much use for setting up as 

 a long stemmed flower, but Filkins and 

 Cobbold are both excellent, Cobbold 

 being a particularly strong grower. Mrs. 

 Mileham was set up very fine this year 



form. There seems no limit to its size 

 in the hands of some growers. 



The red section is now well enriched 

 and in collections of twelve or twenty- 

 five varieties they are telling colors. S. 

 T. Wright is the king of the batch, with 

 a glistening velvety sheen on its petals 

 that is not seen in any other red. All 

 of this section are now strong growers, 

 Barnes in fact being a very tall grower, 

 but its many virtues atone for that fault. 

 One good grower told me that this year 

 he had Eaton fourteen feet high, by 

 which it can be seen that we have giants 

 in these days. Barnes is a true Jap and 

 shows its color to the best advantage. 

 Maynell is the strongest grower of the 

 lot, though its color is not so fine as 

 Wright. It should be kept in the open 

 sunlight to make all the petals reflex nat- 

 urally. 



In the odd colored class, Carrington is 

 the only old variety, the others being 

 mostly novelties. Mildred Ware made a 

 grand record in England this year, and 

 next fall, when it is disseminated gener- 

 ally here, it will be a popular variety. A 

 much improved Lady Anglesey is nearest 

 to describing it. It is a Carnot seed- 

 ling and somewhat resembles that va- 

 riety in the arrangements of its petals. 

 W. R. Church has proved itself 'worthy of 

 all the praise I bestowed on it last year. 

 As set up at New York, it won the ad- 

 miration of everyone. Its color is unique 

 and telling, but I am afraid it takes an 



The vase of Wm. Duckham shown at New York. 



in several places, as was also A. J. Bal- 

 four. This latter is a splendid color. Its 

 only fault is a sparsity of petals that cuts 

 it down considerably in size. 



In the white class all the varieties 

 mentioned are well known and need no 

 comment, save Ben Wells. This variety 

 vrill rank high when known, for it is as 

 easy a grower as Eaton, immense in si'' 

 yet finely finished and gives no trouble 

 whatever. Merza is holding out in great 



expert to grow it to the best advantage. 

 It is a poor grower in the spring, being 

 hard to get growing away from its habit 

 of producing buds, but it richly repays 

 the trouble taken with it. Harrison Dick 

 will become a favorite with the store men 

 as well as an exhibition flower. The 

 ground color is yellow, which is thickly 

 overlaid with red, and the effect is very 

 pleasing. Mary Inglis is an immense, 

 large nctalcd flower that seems to pre- 



