322 



HORTICULTURE 



September 7, 1907 



DAHLIA SHOW AT BOSTON. 



The dahlia show at Horticultural 

 Hall, Boston, this week is unquestion- 

 alily the finest exhibition of dahlias 

 ever given in America. With the ex- 

 ception of a few exhibits of other s^^a- 

 scnable flowers the entire space of the 

 two large halls and the loggia ha.* 

 been given over to the dahlia gronpis 

 thus affording abundant room for stag- 

 ing, -which has been done to perfec- 

 tion and for the visitors to move about 

 with freedom. 



The provisions of the prize schedule 

 for the various classes of blooms have 

 been well taken advantage of, the en- 

 tries in all classes being numerous and 

 the quality of the flowers throughout 

 is remarkable for uniformity of size 

 and poise while much good taste has 

 been displayed in the arranging and 

 contrasting of colors. The sensation 

 of the show is A. H. Wingett's Charles 

 Lanier a four-year-old seedling of 

 enormous size and vigor, deep yellow 

 in color, which may be appropriately 

 described the Col. Appleton of the 

 dahlias. The flowers, which came in 

 excellent condition all the way from 

 Lenox are shown in one of the large 

 vases occupying the centre of the 

 stage in the lecture hall. 



Without going into details of the 

 many exhibits we should especially 

 mention the long table contributed by 

 W. W. Rawson Co., which is an excel- 

 lent example of the decorative possi- 

 bilities in dahlia staging. Tall vas?s 

 filled with long-stemmed flowers in 

 riUffses of color occupy the centre of 

 the table; these are Hanked by lower 

 vases and the whole is bordered wi'h 

 single blooms shown in the usual 

 manner, there being nearly 3000 flowers 

 in the entire exhibit. This display is a 

 great relief from the monotony of the 

 other tables with their thousands of 

 individual blooms arranged with math- 

 ematical precision. 



Sidney Hoffman makes the first at- 

 tempt at a public demonstration of the 

 uses of the dahlia in floral work, with 

 a large table centre piece of long- 

 stemmed scarlet and purple cactus 

 dahlias, a large wreath of pure white 

 blooms of several varieties and a han- 

 dle basket of huge pink blooms. 



As above mentioned all classes of 

 dahlias are well represented but the 

 greatest interest of the growers seems 

 to centre in the show and decorative 

 sections, the latter especially being 

 shown in far greater number than 

 ever before and blooms from six to 

 eight inches diameter are plentiful. 

 The cactus class is also shown in 

 marvelous perfection but new or sen- 

 sational variei-ies are not as frequent 

 as in the previously mentioned classes. 

 The pompons barely hold their own 

 and the singles are shown only in 

 moderate numbers, the only advance- 

 ment apparent being in tiie number of 

 varieties of the 20th Century type. 



Outside of the dahlias there are a 

 number of other displays worthy of 

 notice. .J. Heurlin's long table of 

 hardy herbaceous flowers shown so ad- 

 mirably and plainly labelled with in- 

 teresting information cannot be passed 

 without a word of commendation. 

 The wonderful development in the 

 gladiolus as shown in the sensational 

 display of B. Hammond Tracy is a rev- 

 elation as to the possibilities with the 

 Nanceianus combinations of Draco- 

 cophalus, Gandavensis and Sandersoni 



MICHELL'S FLOWER SEED SPECIALS 



MICHELL'S GIANT CYCLAMEN 



Grown for us by one of ifie IcTdiiiR gri'uers in 

 Europe and cannot be excelled for size of bloom and 

 richness of coloring. loo ooo 



seeds seeds 



QIQANTEUM WHITE $0.75 $6.00 



PINK 7S 6.00 



RED 7S 6.00 



WHITE with EYE .75 6.00 

 MI.XED 60 5.00 



NEW BABY SMILAX 



of delicate and handsome appearance ; the individual 

 leaves are much smaller than the regular Smiia.x; 

 as graceful as the Maiden Hair Fern. \ rapid 

 grower, and produces many more shoots than the old. 



NEW CROP 



25 seeds $0 75 1 250 seeds $5.00 



5ff " 1.25 SCO " 9.50 



(00 " 2.25|lO0O ■• 18.00 



Our Fall Prico LIsI of Bulba How Roady 



HENRY F. MICHELL CC, 1018 Market St., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



A SWEET PEA QUARTETTE. 



Snapshot '.>!' ll^.ltlill,^ irum left lu 

 right) Robert S>denham, sweet pea 

 specialist, Rirmingham. Eng; W. Atlee 

 Burpee, Philadelphia: .Alfred Wat- 

 kins of Watkins & Simpson, London. 

 England: and W^m. Cuthbertson, of 

 Dobbie & Co., Rothesay. Scotland — 

 taken on the trial farm of Watkins & 



Kuiipsi'ii. rdto.i, ICusland. July, 1007. 

 (This picture is especially interesting 

 in connection with the sweet pea re- 

 view in our issue of .i^ugust 17, 1907 — 

 which see. Mr. Burpee has returned 

 with a full honey bag from his Eu- 

 ropean trip, and we hope to get ou: 

 share of it soon.) 



blood. Several of Mr. Tracy's seed- 

 lings vi'e in beauty with the best of 

 the Lemcine productions. R. & .1. 

 Farquhar & Co., make a superb dis- 

 play of lancifolium, auratum and pbilip- 

 pinense lilies that fill the hall with 

 fragrance. 



A liandsome group of greenhouse 

 plants from Mrs. .T. L. Gardner oc- 

 cupies the further end of the large 

 hall. A dozen specimens of Cleroden- 

 dron Fallax with their showy heads of 

 Vermillion bloom are brilliantly effec- 

 tive. 



The fruit and vegetable display is 

 not large. E. L. Lewis and Ed. Par- 

 ker are each represented by fine col- 

 lections and Wni. McAlMster, gardener 

 for Mrs. J. C. Whitin. is the only com- 

 petitor in the hothouse grapfe class. 

 In his collection the new Diamond 

 Jubilefe attracts much admiration. 

 Thos. T. Watt, gardener at Wellesley 

 College, shows some fine rt?lery re- 

 markable from the fact of its having 

 been grov;n on light gravelly soil with 

 the addition of leaf mold and ferti- 

 lizer. 



BAMBOO CANES 



TOUGH AND STRONG 



6 ft. long — $ I per 100; $6 

 per tOOO; $11 per 2000 



They cost about 10 per cent, more than 

 other kinds, and they are 10 times better. 



STUMPP & WALTER CO., - 50 Barclay St., New York 



