604 



HORTICULTURE, 



October 30, 1909 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



CONNECTICUT HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



Our second business meeting in Oc- 

 tober was held on the 22d Instant, at 

 the County Building, Hartford, with 

 President Huss in the chair. Much 

 routine business was transacted, in- 

 cluding the admission o£ two new 

 members, Thomas Muellin, of Berlin, 

 and Miss Bertha P. Dennis. James 

 M. Adams read an Interesting news- 

 paper article on the scientific culture 

 of the dahlia. 



The admission of a new lady mem- 

 ber makes pertinent the expression of 

 the earnest desire of the society that 

 there shall be more participation of 

 ladies in its beneficent work, and also 

 more personal attendance at its busi- 

 ness meetings, at which a question 

 box is always open for their inquiries, 

 and experts in almost all lines of 

 horticulture are ready and glad to im- 

 part information. It is the belief of 

 many of our members, that such affili- 

 ation and interest on the part of 

 ladies interested in the uplifting and 

 aesthetic art of horticulture, would 

 widen the usefulness and influence of 

 the society in this state. 



Plans are about perfected for our 

 annual chrysanthemum exhibition at 

 Putnam Phalanx hall, Hartford, Nov. 

 3 and 4. The decoration of the hall 

 will be in charge of A. Calverly, C. O. 

 Purinton and W. W. Hunt. As an ad- 

 vertisement, and partly as a philan- 

 thropic measure, fifteen hundred tick- 

 ets for children's admission will be 

 presented, gratis, to the superintend- 

 ent of schools of Hartford, Thomas S. 

 Weaver, for distribution, in his dis- 

 cretion, among the school children of 

 the city. It is expected lliat much in- 

 terest in the exhibition will thus be 

 elicited from the familits of the chil- 

 dren. Arthur T. Boddington's gratu- 

 ity of $25 for the best collection of 

 vegetables is likely to bring out a 

 splendid array in this very important 

 branch of horticulture, which Mr. Boi- ' 

 dington correctly believes has not 

 hitherto received the attention it de- 

 serves in horticultural fairs. The 

 rules of the Lenox Horticultural So- 

 ciety will govern in this special award. 



At our last meeting, in keeping with 

 the frequent practice of the members 

 to voluntarily exhibit some special ar- 

 ticles or plants, \V. H. Shumway, of 

 Berlin, showed three monstrous fruits 

 of the lemon, each over twelve inches 

 in circumference, grown in his green- 

 house in an 18-inch pot. They are 

 thin-skinned, and of very best flavor, 

 he states. Nothing like them in size 

 has ever been seen here before. They 

 were afterwards placed in a newspaper 

 window in Harlford, and have attrac- 

 ted much attention. 



Peter Zuger, who has held the posi- 

 tion of head gardener at Elizabeth 

 Park, Hartford, for eight years, and 

 who is one of o'lr most indefatigable 

 workers when there is business to be 

 done, has lately resigned his position, 

 and will remove to South Manchester 

 to enter the arena of commercial flori- 

 culture. He carries with him the best 

 wishes of our society; and, fortunately 

 tor us, he will be so near to Hartford 



that we look for his continued assis- 

 tance in the future operations of the 

 organization. He will remove to his 

 new field on the 1st of November. 



Our recent dahlia show fell on two 

 rainy days; and a deficit of about $50 

 is likely to occur, when we come to 

 strike tlie final balance; but we are 

 fortunate in the fact that the new 

 state law, now in operation, makes 

 ?200 of the funds of the Common- 

 wealth available to us for the payment 

 of premiums. 



The weather this autumn has been 

 very favorable to the growth of all 

 flowers, vegetables, and fruits. Chrys- 

 anthemums are in their glory. No 

 killing frost has yet occurred here- 

 abouts, on uplands. Farmers are still 

 enjoying succotash; and the writer 

 has the unprecedented pleasure, this 

 moniing, Oct. 25, of eating luscious 

 Goethe grapes ri.ght from the vine. 

 GEORGE W. SMITH, Sec. 



Melrose. Cnnn. 



NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM SO- 

 CIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



On October 6th the above society 

 held a conference and exhibition at 

 the Essex Hall, Strand. In the ab- 

 sence of the president, the chair was 

 taken by Mr. Thos. Bevan. 



The first paper was read by Mr. C. 

 H. Curtis on "Chrysanthemums as An- 

 nuals," in the course of which the au- 

 thor advised amateurs to raise their 

 plants for garden decoration annually 

 from seed. It was true that they would 

 mostly be singles, but sown early in 

 the year they would bloom the same 

 autumn and provide a mass of flowers 

 without the trouble of saving stock 

 from which to take cuttings. 



Mr. William Wells gave a paper on 

 the "Origin, History and Culture of 

 the Early Flowering Singles." Late 

 m.arket chrysanthemums were deeilt 

 with in two papers — one on the com- 

 mercial side and the other on the aes- 

 thetic. 



In conjunction with the conference 

 there was an interesting display of 

 earlies. W. Wells & Co. staged early 

 Japanese and early singles in good 

 form and in large numbers. W., J. 

 Godfrey had a fine collection of very 

 large show blooms, shown singly in 

 tall vases. J. B. Riding put up a neat 

 collection of Cactus and Decorative 

 dahlias, Michaelmas daisies and early 

 chrysanthemums. A nice exhibit also 

 came from Frank Brazier in which 

 .Michaelmas daisies wei^ daintily inter- 

 mingled \\ith chrysanthemums of ex- 

 cellent quality. Mrs. Norman Davis 

 and Gladys Blackburn were immense 

 blooms. Tom Edwards, a new yellow 

 Jap. and Empress, a fine incurving 

 Jap., both had first-class certificates. 

 Then tliere weie seedlings at present 

 unnamed. Aster aniellus Onward was 

 a most efi:ective variety. 



Other exhibitors were J. H. Withy, C. 

 Payne. Mileham and Martin Silsbury. 

 whose new large creamy white seedling 

 Japanese was awarded a first-class cer- 

 tificate. 



The conference was attended by a 

 large number of well-known enthu- 

 siasts. 



NATIONAL DAHLIA SOCIETY OF 

 GREAT BRITAIN. 



If the first show of this society for 

 the season was interesting, the sec- 

 ond, which took place in the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens on the 21st of Sep- 

 tember was far and away in advance. 

 The flowers generally were of a higher 

 aveiage quality and the variety was 

 enormous, every section from the old 

 Show type to the more modern Peony- 

 flowered being well represented. 



Trade exhibits weie conspicuous by 

 their importance and high standard of 

 excellence in setting up. A gold medal 

 was awarded to J. T. West, who on a 

 table 36 ft. long, staged Cactus and 

 Pompons in fine form. Dobbies also 

 had a gold medal for another big dis- 

 play most handsomely arranged. The 

 Peony-flowered varieties seemed to in- 

 clude every known variety. The Sin- 

 gles, the Collarettes, the Pompons, the 

 Cactus, the Pompon Cactus, the Show 

 and other Decoratives were immense 

 in number and impossible to enumer- 

 ate. 



T. S. Ware & Co. had a run of 50 ft. 

 long. Decoratives, Peony-flowered and 

 Cactus predominated. The front was 

 set oiT with a row of Isolepis gracilis 

 in pots and at intervals in the group 

 were huge vases containing pale blue 

 delphiniums. 



Another grand group 50 ft. long was 

 staged by Hobbies, Limited. These 

 flowers were mostly of the Peony and 

 Cactus sections, set up in very tall sup- 

 ports with plenty of autumn greenery 

 by way of relief. They, too, had a gold 

 medal. 



In the competitive class the leading 

 exhibitors were J. Cheal & Sons, J. 

 Burrell & Sons, Keyes, Williams & 

 Co., S. Mortimer, Sealer, John Walker, 

 J. Stredwick & Sons, Chas. Turner, 

 etc. 



Artistic displays and floral decora- 

 tions in which the dahlia was the lead- 

 ing feature found expression in many 

 prettily arranged vases, baskets, 

 wreaths and epergnes. Any attempt 

 at enumerating the various leading 

 varieties in the different sections would 

 be an invidious task, but certainly tiie 

 old Show varieties, the Pompons and 

 the Singles were in splendid form. The 

 more modern race of Peony-flowered 

 appear to be largely increasing but in 

 many of the more recent kinds the 

 flowers appear to be ragged, wishy- 

 washy things, only fit to ornament 

 distant odd corners of the garden. 



CHICAGO FLORISTS' CLUB. 



The weekly meeting of the Chicago 

 Florists' Club for the furtherance of 

 the Flower Show was held at the Un- 

 ion restaurant. Reports showed every- 

 thing well under way. The effect as a 

 whole is to be that of a Japanese 

 Garden. An acre of sod will be used. 

 A committee was appointed to look 

 after the welfare of the ladies at the 

 flower show and especially the night 

 of the theatre party. 



The following names were proposed 

 for membership: A. Miller, August 

 Bergland, Albert Erickson, D. A. Rob- 

 ertson. John Schottsman, Harry 

 Frank. 



