1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



95 



British Honduras varieties. Several are in bloom, 

 such as Epidendrum, Odontoglossum, and 

 Oncidium in variety ; also, Lycaste, and Cat- 

 tleya Guatamaliensis. A local firm, Maitre & 

 Cook, exhibit over 30 varieties of Palms ; they 

 have also a general collection, in which may be 

 noticed a splendid specimen of Blechnum Brazi- 

 liensis, and another, of Astrapaea Wallichii, a 6;ood 

 thing ; also a collection of Rex Begonias, and 

 outside, roses and ornamental stuff. 



Prof. Morriss, from Jamaica, has the most in- 

 teresting exhibit in the building, consisting of 

 over 50 varieties of Palms, and the nomenclature 

 is perfect. Such good things as Areca lutesens 

 and rubra, strong ; Elaeis guinaensis and others, 

 choice but small, in Bamboo pots ; a splendid lit- 

 tle case of Hymenophyllums and other rare 

 ferns ; over 40 varieties of su^ar cane ; a col- 

 lection of Cinchona, together with a collection of 

 all the fruits and nuts that have been acclimatised 

 or are peculiar to that Island. 



The next largest exhibit of general interest is 

 from California. John Rock, of Santa Clara 

 county, is well to the front with fruit trees, roses, 

 conifers, evergreen and deciduous flowering and 

 other ornamental stuff; such Palms as Corypha 

 australis, Chamserops humilis and excelsa, Pritch- 

 ardia filifera and van robusta, and others ; all 

 well grown, handsome stuff. 



A great many shining lights in the horticultural 

 world have been here lately, among them Prof. 

 Lemmon, from Cahfornia, and Mr. Hovey, of 

 Boston. A walk through the houses, is a pleasure 

 not often enjoyed in a hfetime, with a plantsman 

 of such taste and discrimination as Mr. Hovey. 

 Mr. McRoberts while here represented A. Brack- 

 enridge, the great orchid grower, near Baltimore. 

 Gardener to Prof. Richardson, New Orleans. 



THE NEW YORK CHRYSANTHEMUM 

 SHOW. 



BY GENERAL NOBLE. 



This magnificent exhibit deserves a record in 

 your journal. It was held at Horticultural Hall, 

 28th street. New York, about the 8th of November 

 last. This hall is about 50 by 75 feet in area. No 

 other flowering plant was' shown. 



1 confess that I was very green, till I saw this 

 show, about the wonderful variety of tint, and style 

 of flower and of culture which this plant can claim. 

 I think a good many of your readers will confess to 

 the same ignorance. 1 always loved the flower. 

 There was an instinctive cheer in its brilliant 



masses, sheltered in some nook, or beneath the 

 southern windows of your home. My heart 

 warmed to them as the courageous rear guard of 

 retreating summer, against the grim advance of 

 wintry drear and frosts. But this New York show 

 revealed to me capacities of the plant for floral 

 loveliness and magnificence that filled me with de- 

 lighted wonder and surprise. I now sympathize 

 with the heathen Chinee and his neighbor of Japan, 

 who look upon the chrysanthemum as the rival of 

 that floral queen, the rose. 



The area of the hall was girt with a brilliant 

 mass of gorgeous flowers. Around its sides, there 

 ranged a belt of potted plants, from 8 to 10 feet 

 wide. The grenadiers of the tribe stood against 

 the walls, crowned on single stems 7 to 9 feet high, 

 with flower heads 3 feet across. From these stal- 

 warts gradually descended blooms of lesser stature 

 and more bushy culture, till their flower heads 

 stood not more than two feet above the floor. Thus 

 that hall was girt with a terrace belt of rich and 

 brilliant tints, and lovely styles of blooms which 

 no pen can paint. Not only every shade of the 

 spectrum had place among these colors, but their 

 variety realized the wonderful range of tint in their 

 combinations. 



Through this amphitheatre, so walled around by 

 floral loveliness, ranged four broad tables, solidly 

 mantled by the cut flowers of the chrysanthemum. 

 In variety of tint and style, and in size of flowers, 

 these tables rivalled the potted plants. Many 

 were doubtless new varieties of this plant, showing 

 the wonderful aptitude of the seedlings to take in 

 divers shade of colors and styles. Some flowers 

 were as regular and staid in their petals as a double 

 dahlia or an aster. Others sported a plumage as 

 loose and curly as a cupid's locks streaming in 

 the wind. Some were no bigger than a button, 

 while others stretched out from that size to six 

 inches across their petals. 



To some of your readers, those rich and perfect 

 trusses of bloom, hfted on their tree stems 9 feet 

 above the floor, may be a familiar sight and habit 

 of the plant. I confess that to me, those tall and 

 slender trunks, stiffened by rods to uphold those 

 brilliant masses of color, were a wonder and a sur- 

 prise. I had never even dreamed of such a floral 

 possibility, except in the woody standard of the 

 rose tree. 



One of the exhibitors kindly told me how the 

 feat was done. In the spring you choose a shoot, 

 stout and vigorous, and pinch, cut and keep down 

 all the rest. As that fixed on to make your stal- 

 wart gets stature and stoutness, pinch out all its side 



