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HORTICULTURE 



May 28, 1910 



THE GREAT ORCHID SHOW 



An Unprecedented Display 

 Juluis Roehrs Company Wins the Big Prize 



These lines will be in type hours be- 

 fore the orchid exhibition at Horticul- 

 tural Hall, Boston, is opened to the 

 public. As we write the staging and 

 arrangement are not completed, names 

 of exhibitors have not been placed on 

 any of the groups and hence this must 

 be only a partial preliminary report on 

 the show. But we have gathered to- 

 gether sufficient notes to tell in a gen- 

 eral way what is to be seen, and no ; 

 doubt they will be interesting to our 

 readers even if but fragmentary. 



The main hall has never presented 

 an appearance at once so brilliant and 

 satisfactory to the eye. The centre 

 spaces are occupied by the enormous 

 specimen azaleas in bloom from Prof. 

 C. S. Sargent's estate bedded in sod 

 and encircled by gravel paths, and the 

 massing of the colors is most effective, 

 the white and light tints grouped in 

 the two first beds and the bright reds . 

 massed at the farther end of the hall 

 where they make a rich bac'sground. 

 On the right, occupying nearly the en- 

 tire east side of the hall, are the great 

 orchid gi-oups in competition for the 

 premier prize, arranged by Lager & 

 Hurrell and Julius Roehrs Company. 

 Lager & Hurrell's arrangement repre- 

 sents a tropical jungle with trees over- 

 hanging a waterfall, with phalae- 

 nopses, oncidiunis and Dendrobium 

 thyrsiflorums swaying from the lofty 

 branches. The wnole conception is ar- 

 tistic in a high degree. 



Julius Roehrs Company make a pro- 

 digious display of great variety and 

 novelty. The central feature is a tall 

 Dicksonia antarctica draped with odon- 

 toglossums. To right and left are cat- 

 tleyas by thousands, dendrobiums, cy- 

 pripediums, miltonias and phalae- 

 nopses and a host of other gems. 

 Among some of the things shown now 

 for the first time here are Cattleya 

 Disseldorfli Undine, a white hybr'd be- 

 tween Intermedia alba and Mossiae 

 Wagneri. Trichopelia Hennessi, also 

 pure white, Dendrobium Regium, beau- 

 tiful pink, and four new Odontiodas. 

 Beyond in the next alcove is the 

 Roehrs' group of stove plants, spark- 

 ling with scarlet anthuriums. The tar 

 ■end of the hall, beyond the Sargent 

 azalea group, is occupied by a group of 

 250 superb specimen Cocos Weddeliana 

 from the Establishment Horticultu- 

 rique Lyon of Ghent. Belgium. 



On the west side of the main hall 

 are seen a grand group of decorative 

 foliage plants from Harvard Botanic 

 Garden and the exhibits of W. A. 

 Manda arranged with the unique 

 boldness always characteristic of the 

 arrangements by this master of deco- 

 rative art. His orchids are suspended 

 in profusion from branches and rough 

 bark and moss receptacles and re- 

 flected in mirrors ingeniously placed 

 to simulate water. There are also 

 some gigantic rhododendrons in bloom 

 in tubs, from the Hunnewell estate. 

 .■\mong the smaller groups in this 

 hall is one of Xephrolepis Miller! 



frqnv Mt. Desert Nurseries, a new 

 fern which is best described as a very 

 dwarf form of Whitmani. with foliage 

 even more finely divided and closely 

 resembling the Lace Fern, Cheilan- 

 thtfs elegans. 



In the lecture hall are located a 

 number of very extensive groups. 

 The central space is occupied by the 

 big orchid group from the Roebling 

 conservatories at Trenton, N. J. This 

 is a unique arrangement in the form 

 of. a vast double pagoda, the doors 

 and arches adorned with suspended 

 plants and the whole placed in a set- 

 ting of ferns. 



On the stage is an enormous col- 

 lection of rare plants from R. & J. 

 Parquhar & Co., comprising most of 

 the Chinese introductions of E. H. 

 Wilson, many of them in bloom and 

 including probably more novelties 

 than any group ever before staged in 

 this country. A new iris, raised by 

 James Farquhar, from a crossing of 

 Palida Dalmatica with Kaempferi is 

 exceedingly interesting, as are also 

 some of Pfitzer's new ever blooming 

 show pelargomiums and a superb 

 seedling, zonal, raised by George Mel- 

 vin and named Mrs. Chas. Pfaff by Mr. 

 Farquhar. Splendid orchid groups are 

 st'agpd in this hall by' J. T. Butter- 

 w'orth, showing cultural skill of the 

 highest degree. Another magnificent 

 group comes from Walter Hunnewell. 

 Joseph Manda's group of orchids— 

 mainly cut flowers— attracts much at- 

 tention and admiration for its skillful, 

 artistic effect, the orchid stems being 

 inserted in great profusion between 

 the leaves of a variety of bromeliads. 

 Another collection of great extent 

 and variety comes from the orchid 

 houses of E. B. Dane. Geo. L. Free- 

 man Company is on hand with a fine 

 lot of freshly collected plants and 

 the Macrorie-McLaren Co. have some 

 fresh phalaenopses. 



Among the most interesting and im- 

 portant plant groups from a commer- 

 cial standpoint is that of hydrangeas 

 in bloom from Thomas Roland. Par- 

 ticularly promising is a new sort which 

 appeared in an importation from Japan 

 two years ago and which Mr. Roland 

 has got fixed in pink and in blue vari- 

 eties. The flower bracts are cupped 

 in a way closely resembling the flowers 

 of some lilacs and have a hard, waxy 

 character entirely uniqve in hydran- 

 geas. The small exhibition hall is oc- 

 cupied by two mammoth groups o" 

 foliage and flowering plants from Ed. 

 MacMulkin and W. A. Riggs respect- 

 ively. Both are exceedingly brilliant, 

 the MacMulkin group displaying espec- 

 ially fine taste in arrangement. A 

 glowing border of yellow calceolarias 

 on the Riggs group is very effective. 

 Here also is a large display of speci- 

 men Fuchsia Black Prince from Walter 

 Hunnewell. M. J. Pope is on hand 

 with a group of healthy well-flowered 

 orchids, including an enormous speci- 

 men of Oncidium sphacelatum. 



In cut flowers the entries are not 

 many but all are superlatively good. 

 An arrangement of parrot and Rem- 

 brandt tulips by W. W. Rawson Co., 

 on a dark green velvet background is 

 stunning. William Sim shows an ar- 

 ray of sweet peas of the well-known 

 Sim quality and H. A. Dreer Is repre- 

 sented by a collection of hybrid teas, 

 outdoor grown, fine blooms, some of 

 them new varieties. Harry Turner 

 staged vases of three varieties of Mal- 

 maison carnations viz., Calypso, Mrs. 

 Trelawney and Lord Welby, flowers of 

 prodigious size. 



Just as we close the forms the news 

 reaches us that the $1,000 prize and 

 gold medal for display of orchids fill- 

 ing 400 sq. ft. of space has been won. 

 Second prize, $500 and silver medal, 

 goes to C. J. Roebling, and third prize, 

 $250 and bronze medal, to Lager & 

 Hurrell. Lager & Hurrell win the 

 gold medal for best recently intro- 

 duced orchid plant not previously ex- 

 hibited in the United States, and 

 Roehrs wins the gold medal for best 

 new seedling orchid plant not previ- 

 ously exhibited in the United States. 



LIST OF VISITORS. 



The list of visitors in Boston up to 

 Thursday afternoon includes the fol- 

 lowing; — De Forest W. Ludwig, Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa.; Theodore Outerbridge, Ber- 

 nuida; P. T. Barnes, Harrisburg, Pa.; 

 Julius Roehrs, Ed. H. Roehrs, J. A. 

 MuUer, Max Richter and Chas. May- 

 nard, all of Rutherford, N. J.; Henry 

 Hurrell and G. W. Strange, Summit, 

 N. J.; Louis Burk, wife and daughter, 

 Phila., Pa.; I. Rosnosky, representing 

 H. F. Michell Co., Phila., Pa.; Robert 

 Craig, George C. Watson and A. Peri- 

 cat, Phila., Pa.; F. R. Pierson, Tarry- 

 town, N. Y.; Paul de Nave, Fall River, 

 Mass.; M. J. Pope, Naugatuck, Conn.; 

 J. A. Newsham, New Orleans, La.; S. 

 R. Lundy, representative of W. A. 

 Manda, San Francisco, Cal.; W. A. 

 Manda and R. Karlstrom, South 

 Orange, N. J.; A. G. Handel and Peter 

 Duff, Oiange, N. J.; Joseph Manda 

 and J. Murray, East Orange, N. J.; Jas. 

 Goodier and Mr. Keeling, Trenton, N. 

 J.; Alex McDonald, Somerville, N. J.; 

 C. H. Totty, A. Herrington and AVm. 

 Duckham, Madison, N. J.; Winfried 

 Rolker, George F. Struck, James Mc- 

 Manus and A. F. Faulkner, New York 

 City; H. A. Barnard, of Stuart Low & 

 Co., London England; Adolph Saxe, 

 Dresden, Germany; J. S. Hay, repre- 

 senting H. A. Dreer; Harry Turner, 

 Castle Gould; D. F. Roy, Marion, 

 Mass.: Timothy McCarthy, Fred. C. 

 Green and James Hamilton, Provi- 

 dence, R. I.: Vernon L. Sherwood, Bar 

 Harbor, Me.; A. J. Loveless, Lenox, 

 Mass. These are only the advance 

 guard. Friday and Saturday will see 

 a much greater influx, which would be 

 far more so if it were not for Memo- 

 rial Day business which will keep 

 many away who would otherwise be 

 here. 



