156 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



'larly interests us here. The management have 

 ■provided a magnificent conservatory, six hundred 

 feet long by about one hundred and ninety-four 

 feet wide, excellently adapted to display and 

 preserve a great collection of plants of every 

 variety. Now what do we find ? A large and ex- 

 cellent collection from Mexico.Guatemala.and some 

 portions of Central America, consisting mainly of 

 Cacti and Orchids, and a pretty and interesting 

 lot of Palms from Jamaica. This, together with a 

 very fair display of greenhouse plants by the few 

 nurserymen of New Orleans, will be found to com- 

 prise the bulk of the exhibit. The immense glass 

 house looks empty ; the beautiful and varied col- 

 lections we have been led to expect, and naturally 

 do expect to see in connection with this great fair, 

 are missing. Who is responsible ? Why are the 

 hundreds of nurseries all over the country not re- 

 presented here? In no other industry is there 

 such a conspicuous lack of enterprise. All, save 

 the growers of plants, arewell represented. Many 

 medals and money premiums have been offered 

 but have evidently been no inducement. If for 

 no other reason, one would suppose that a proper 

 business spirit with a view to the extension of their 

 trade, would have induced a number of establish- 

 ments to have exhibited such specimens as they 

 have facilities for growing in a superior manner or 

 in large numbers. 



But without further comment let us say, that it 

 is not too late to remedy this error ; the extreme 

 cold of winter is now over and plants may be for- 

 warded with safety ; the conservatory is in the 

 hands of practical gardeners who will keep plants 

 in as good condition as in their owner's hands ; 

 and the exposition will be open and visited by from 

 twenty to fifty thousand people daily for the next 

 month. Let the nurserymen without further hesi- 

 tation make up and forward such specimens as 

 they deem worthy of showing. A collection of 

 from ten to a hundred plants from each establish- 

 ment would soon fill this beautiful greenhouse and 

 make it an attraction second to none within the 

 great scope of this enterprise. In almost all cases 

 growers make specialties of certain plants and can 

 with very small expense or labor exhibit a portion 

 of their stock. Then we should have groups of 

 Camellias, Azaleas, Marantas, Begonias, Ferns, 

 Palms, Dracsnas and attractive plants of various 

 other varieties, which being brought together under 

 one roof would, in addition to the beauty of the 

 display, facilitate comparison and prove of great 

 benefit to the buyer and grower. Let this matter 

 be taken in hand at once. No. 14 Camp St., N. O. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



BY B. 



The Spring Exhibition of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, which opened March 19th 

 and continued until Friday the 20th, was without 

 question the best ever held in Boston ; and in fact 

 in no other part of the country has such a varied 

 and rare lot of spring flowers been gathered to- 

 gether in one hall for exhibition. Outside, the 

 temperature was continuously below freezing, and 

 had it not been for this fact, the hall would have 

 failed to hold all the exhibits which were promised. 

 About ten thousand persons visited the show, and 

 the crowd was so great that on several occasions 

 admission was denied to those in waiting, until the 

 hall could be cleared. At the entrance of the 

 hall was a stand of forced Roses and Azaleas from 

 Mrs. Francis B. Hayes, the central specimen being 

 Rhododendron Veitchianum laevigatum with great 

 fragrant flowers of the purest white. Among the 

 Roses was a fine plant of Paul Neron with flowers 

 of extraordinary size. Next to this stand was a 

 low platform 55 feet long and 6 feet wide with an 

 elevated center devoted mainly to spring flowering 

 bulbs, the display of which was far superior to 

 any ever made before, and next to the Orchids 

 constituted the glory of the show. Hyacinths, 

 Tulips, Narcissi, Jonquils, Crocuses, Anemone 

 Coronaria, Lilies of the Valley, were shown in the 

 finest specimens ot the newest varieties, and in 

 bewildering profusion like the most brilliant bed 

 in the flower garden filled with the choicest selec- 

 tion of plants. Besides the bulbs there were grace- 

 ful and delicate Heaths, fragrant Violets in pots. 

 Primulas and Pansies growing on the plants, far 

 more attractive than the cut flowers in flat dishes. 

 The most notable Narcissus was the new "Sir 

 Watkin " a gigantic form of incomparabilis. This 

 and Poeticus ornatus attracted much attention, 

 together with the Tenby Daffodil or N. obvallaris. 

 The latter is a compact and beautiful Narcissus. 

 All were shown by Edward L. Beard, who also 

 had a lot of Cyclamen, the finest type ever shown, 

 of compact habit, brilliant colors, and bearing 

 immense flowers. On this center platform were 

 grouped not less than a thousand pots of every 

 conceivable form of spring flowers, forming a 

 sight long to be remembered when once seen. At 

 the end ot the hall, grouped upon the platform 

 with a backing of tall palms, ferns, &c., were the 

 Orchid collections embracing about 100 plants, 

 many of them unique specimens. F. L. Ames, of 

 No. Easton, exhibited Dendrobium Ainsworthii 



