Makch 10. 1(1(14. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



757 



General View of the Exhibition of the American Carnation Society, Detroit, March 2 and 3. 



many a rase that was almost good enougli 

 •for a first premium had to drop back 

 into the ' ' also ran ' ' class. Competition 

 was very keen and in many classes the 

 .judges had a haT<\ job to decide. I was 

 told b.v one of the .judges that it took 

 them full.y fifteen minutes to decide be- 

 twefn two vases of fifty blooms and even 

 then there was room for doubt. There 

 never was more universal satisfaction 

 with the judges' report than this year, 

 which speaks well for their ability. 



Jlost of the blooms came through in 

 good shape and were in good condition 

 when staged, due to the moderate weath- 

 er and arrival on schedule time. Over- 

 feeding was very apparent in the exhibits 

 of several firms and several learned a les- 

 son at a high cost. One firm had sev- 

 eral thousand blooms, most of which were 

 asleep within three hours after unpack- 

 ing. No other reason than overfeeding 

 could be given, as blooms which came 

 from the same locality and others shipped 

 much farther held up until the very last. 

 This has suggested to my mind that there 

 ought to be some arrangement whereby 

 the vases that show, up best by noon of 

 the second day should receive some kind 

 of premium. The keeping quality of 

 the carnation is one of its good points 

 and a little more attention should be 

 paid to it. 



One of the surprises was the fine show- 

 ing made by Adonis. Judging by the 

 reports of its behavior the past winter no 

 one expected it to make more than just 

 an average showing, but it was almost 

 the only variety shown in the scarlet 

 classes and it carried away nearly all 

 the premiums. The vase of 200 shown by 

 the E. G. Hill Co. easily carried away 

 that premium, although those blooms 

 were the ones left after the flowers for 

 the fift.v and 300 classes had been se- 

 lected. 



Mrs. Lawson showed that it is still to 

 be reckoned with when a deep pink is 

 wanted and it is grown properly. It was 



the only variety shown in that class ex- 

 ce])t Dorncr's Eclips?, which took the sec- 

 ond premium, and Thompson's Nelson 

 Fisher. 



Enchantress was shown in all stages, 

 good, bad and indifferent. This variety 

 sliowed more than any other the effects of 

 overfeeding. One firm had hundreds of 

 blooms and all went to sleep within a 

 few hours, while on the other hand the 

 100 blooms staged by W. K. Partridge 

 lield up fine to the close of the show. 

 Harlowarden was it in the crimson 

 classes, while Dorothy Whitney had her 

 own way in the yellow classes. These 

 facts certainly prove one tiling and that 

 is that the carnation is being greatly im- 

 proved. Almost without exception the 

 premiums were capturetl by varieties of 

 very recent introduction and many of 

 them are. not on the market .yet. 



Most of the varieties being dissemi- 

 nated this year were shown in fine shape 

 and if any of them failed to win in their 

 class it was not because the blooms were 

 not fine, but simply because another lot 

 of blooms was still finer. In white Lad.y 

 Bountiful and The Bell? from Dorner's 

 were grand. F. Burki, from J. Murehie, 

 looks like a good thing. Mr. May's ex- 

 hibit would have been helped by another 

 (lav on the plants. All these were way 

 ahead of the other whites, except Alba, 

 from the C. C. Co., which took first prize. 



In pink Ethel Ward looked well and 

 captured first in its class. Our own In- 

 dianapolis was not entered for competi- 

 tion, but it won many friends by its fine 

 color and keeping qualities. Nelson Fish- 

 er was too soft and went to sleep. In 

 red we expected to see Flamingo sweep 

 the boards but not a bloom was seen at 

 the show. Crusader was fine. In varie- 

 gated Mrs. Patten was very fine and so 

 was Judge Hinsdale. Ward 's crimson. 

 The President, has the best color and 

 form of all the crimsons up to date. F. 

 R. Pierson 's Daheim was asleep when it 

 arrived. H. Weber & Sons' New' Bav- 



break showed up very fine and should 

 make a good variety. 



There were a good many seedlings 

 shown and among them were some grand 

 things. Some competed for premiums 

 and won out over the standard varieties. 

 Fiancee easily distanced all others. Cardi- 

 nal was shown in tine shape and took first 

 in 100 scarlet. We would like to have 

 seen this and Flamingo side by side. 

 Richmond Gem won a certificate with its 

 fine color. This should prove a good 

 bread-winner. J. E. Haines is a "fine 

 large scarlet, which I want to see more 

 of. Dailledouze Bros. ' No. 14-t is cer- 

 tainly a grand thing. They were the 

 largest blooms in the hall and attracted a 

 great deal of attention. No. lOOOA, by 

 Witterstaetter, is also a fine thing^ so 

 fine that the judges could not decide 

 which was the better, this or Daille- 

 douzes' white. Mrs. Vesey brought a 

 variegated seedling that was grand, ex- 

 cejit that it lacked a little in the stem. 

 Red Lawson was shown by Palmer & 

 Son and it looked nice by night, a trifle 

 dull by daylight. Eclipse, a pink shown 

 by Dorner, is a very fine thing; it took 

 second in the 100 Lawson shade. PhyUis 

 came in poor shape and was not scored. 

 After seeing it in fine shape last fall, I 

 did not recognize it at all. There were 

 many others of more or less promise, but 

 the above looked the best to me. 



On Frida.y a number of us went to 

 F. Holznagle 's, one of the neatest places 

 I have ever seen. The stock is all in 

 fine shape, as is proven by the fine vase 

 of roses he brought to the show. There 

 is a house of Lawson that is fine and an- 

 other house of mixed varieties, all fine. 



On the wa.v home Mrs. B. and myself 

 stopped oif at Lafayette, where Lady 

 Bountiful and The Belle reside. Both 

 are enjoying the best of health and pros- 

 peritv. and it was a delight to look over 

 several benches of each. The set of nov- 

 elties thev are seufling out is certainlv 

 very attractive anel just the thing for 



