October S, 19l0 



HORTICULTURE 



501 



THE VINCENT DAHLIA SHOW. 



Diihlins nt Vinr-ent's. 



The fourth annual Dahlia Show and 

 Harvest Home Festival of Richard 

 Vincent, Jr., & Sons Co., White Marsh, 

 Md., wa.? held Sept. 27-30. The big 

 packing department was transformed 

 into a great iioral hall, artistically ar- 

 ranged. The expert massing of the 

 dahlia blooms against green foliage 

 backgrounds brought out effectively 

 the wonderful colors. On one side 

 were blooms bedded in moss — over 200 

 varieties and each kind labeled — and 

 here the florists as well as the layman 

 congregated. The displays of "Cen- 

 turys," Cactus types and "Collarettes," 

 were simply magnificent. To the or- 

 dinary citizen the show was not only 

 very interesting but educational as the 

 varying types illustrated the wonder- 

 ful evolution that has been going on. 

 Here were to be seen all specimens of 

 the graduated advancement from the 

 miniature pompon on up the line to 

 sizes prodigious. 



Attractive as was this interior dec- 

 oration still more so were the acres of 

 dahlias, bowing their colored beauty 

 as the breezes came and went. The 

 acreage of dahlias is not as great as 

 in former years. But 26 acres in one 

 "block," is quite a patch to see. The 

 long rows of blooms looked like vari- 

 ous colored ribbons. Among some 

 new types developed by this firm, 

 seedlings, are William Pierce. Mrs. 

 Charles L. Seybold, a magnificent deep 

 rose daintily edged with white, of pro- 

 nounced peony type; Mrs. C. W. Bas- 

 sett, also a deep rose pink. There are 

 several additional seedlings yet un- 

 named that will "make good." Every 

 visitor went home with a huge armful 

 of dahlias. 



There were 10 acres of cannas in 

 bloom including some of the most re- 



cent introductions, and florists learned 

 something about the value of new vari- 

 eties both in bloom and foliage quali- 

 ties. In addition to these multitudes 

 of dahlias and cannas, geraniums were 

 seen by the acre also. The cut shown 

 is a section of one of the houses which 

 contains eight such sections. Dahlias 

 are raised by the million and there are 

 fully 100,000 geraniums. 



Besides all the foregoing, vegetable 

 plants are raised by the million and 

 shipped all over this country. This 

 annual event is visited by thousands 



MUSHROOMS IN EUROPE. 



The mushroom has become an article 

 of diet in the Saxon household to such 

 an extent, and the interest in its de- 

 velopment and use has taken such hold 

 on all classes of people that a mush- 

 room exhibition is a popular event in 

 Saxony. In an exhibition now being 

 held there are about 100 varieties of 

 mushrooms displayed in moss or In 

 grass, according to the manner in 

 which they grow. They are divided 

 into five groups, known as savory, edi- 

 ble, worthless, suspicious, and poison- 

 ous mushrooms. There is also exhibit- 

 ed a specially constructed wagon for 

 gathering mushrooms, adapted for the 

 use of school classes when making ex- 

 cursions in the season. Preserved 

 mushrooms are also shown, together 

 with instructive literature as to gath- 

 ering, drying, preserving, and cooking. 



The Saxon government, in order to 

 prevent any likelihood ot poisoning 

 through imperlect knowledge of the 

 various species of edible fungi, has di- 

 rected that regular, systematic instruc- 

 tion be imparted in the elementary 

 schools to familiarize children thor- 

 oughly with mushrooms. As illustra- 

 tions and models are insufficient to ac- 

 quaint pupils with the different species, 

 it is directed that the kinds that are 

 likely to be confused with poisonous 

 varieties shall be displayed in some ap- 



every year. Gardeners' Clubs go in a 

 body. Visitors are not only local, but 

 come from a number of states. A 

 special train was run each day from 

 Baltimore. 



C;uinas at Vioceut's. 



propriate place In the school. Chil- 

 dren are encouraged to gather speci- 

 mens and bring them to the teacher, 

 when the mushrooms will be studied 

 and classified. 



It is stated that the summer cottage 

 of Mrs. R. D. Evans, at Beverly, Mass., 

 which has been occupied for the past 

 two seasons by President Taft, is to 

 be torn down and an Italian garden in- 

 stalled on the grounds. 



Gerauhiuis at Vincent's. 



FREE STRAWBERRY BOOKLET. 



The Missouri State Board o£ Horti- 

 culture has just issued Bulletin No. 3, 

 entitled "Strawberries." This treatise 

 was written by an experienced grower 

 in the famous strawberry district of 

 Southwest Missouri. There is a full 

 discussion of all the principal points 

 connected with growing this fruit for 

 the home and for market purposes. 

 For the first time much valuable In- 

 formation is made available not only 

 concerning the planting and care of 

 strawberries, but the extent of profits 

 that may be expected per acre where 

 grown upon a large scale. These fig- 

 ures have the advantage of having 

 been taken from actual experience. 

 The list of varieties discussed is the 

 fullest and most complete of any to be 

 found in any recent publication, the 

 number described in detail being 82. 



This bulletin may be secured free 

 upon application to W. L. Howard, 

 Secretary, Columbia, Mo. 



