442 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTCRIST. 



OMr Alfolol^l^dd i(o)@o(i1^o©s, 



WuousTO'K. — The once hospitable doors of old 

 Knox church were thrown open last night for the 

 first time since the old church was deserted by its 

 congregation for their new building The days of 

 the old church are numbered, and in a short time 

 it will be torn to the ground, but even in its palm- 

 iest days it seldom presented a brighter appearance 

 than it did last night. If Knox were an Irish 

 church anyone might have. supposed on seeing the 

 lights and' the flowers and hearing the music that 

 " Sure, it must be a wake, plaze yer honor." being 

 held in hotior of the passing away of the old 

 church, but as Knox is not Irish, a more prosaic 

 explanation must be found in the fact that the 

 Horticultural Society had rented the building to 

 hold their annual exhibition of flowers and fruit. 



The so.-iety were very happy in their choice of a 

 building, as the church lends itself well to pur- 

 poses of decoration. The exhibit this year was 

 also an exceptionally fine one, and a great deal of 

 artistic taste has been displayed in the arrange- 

 ment of the great variety of plants and flowers. 

 The galleries were draped in red, white and blue 

 bunting, which formed a very eil'ective background 

 for the green foliage of the plants. The draping, 

 by the waj-, was done by Mr. Smith, of John White 

 & Co. Between the posts of the gallery hanging 

 baskets were suspended and Chinese lanterns. 



The centre of the building was occupied by a 

 large rectangular bed. composed of palms, foliage 

 plants, geraniums, etc., and banked with ferns. 

 Two large banana palms belonging to Mr. J. S. 

 Scarft". and a handsome palm, the property of Mrs. 

 J. J. Hall — the latter is for sale — were the most 

 notable features of this bed. 



The pulpit was elaborately decorated, and, if 

 there are sermons in flowers as well as stones, 

 many eloquent sennons must have been preached 

 last night. A very handsome rubber plant, the 

 property of Mr. \V. H. Van Ingen. occupied the 

 centre of the reading de«k ; baskets of asparagus 

 spengari, belonging to Mr. Hoar and Mr. Thos. 

 Douglas, Brock street, were placed at the sides 

 and in front, while clusters of golden rod and sun- 

 flowers gave the needed touch of color. 



A long table placed across the front was devoted 

 to cut flowers, as were also two tables at the back 

 of the building. Along the sides stands were ar- 

 ranged on which were displayed the different ex- 

 hibits. 



CUT FLOWERS. 



The display of cut flowers was a very fine one. 

 Conspicuous amongst these were the large bou- 

 quets of geraniums, salvias and petunias that were 

 brought from the garden at the Central school. 

 There were also some fine specimens of asters, 

 gladioli, zinnias and other seasonable flowers. 



There was not a very large disnlav of frtiit. but 

 it was of a verv fin ■ qu dity. Mr. John McLean 

 had an a-;sortment of plums and pears a number 

 of baskets oF which were oflfered for sale and dis- 

 posed of befo-e the evening was over. Mr. Jas. 

 Canfield showed pears, plums and peaches ; Mrs. 



H.J. Finkle, grapes and plums ; Mr. J. S. Scarff, 

 grapes. 



Doyle tV Son have a splendid display of plants 

 of different varieties. I heir ferns are exception- 

 ally fine. A great many beautiful specimens of 

 the Boston and maidenhair fern were shown. In 

 fact, one large stand was devoted solely to these 

 varieties. Another large stand was occupied by 

 palms, begonias and geraniums. This exhibit is 

 worthy of special attention from all horticultural 

 enthusiasts. 



Amongst the private collections Mr. Jas. Scarff 

 showed the greatest number of plants. Nearly the 

 whole south side of the building was occupied by 

 his exhibit. Mr. Scarff has devoted most of his 

 energy to begonias, and had a great variety of 

 fancy-leafed, tuberous rooted and rex begonias. 

 He also showed some fine foliage plants. 



Mrs. George McPiierson's exhibit was a beauti- 

 ful one, and included a great variety of different 

 plants, probabl}- more variety than any other ex- 

 hibit. Besides a lot of cut flowers, she showed a 

 fine specimen of the day lily in full bloom, palms 

 of several different kinds, begonias, a century 

 plant and cacti. All looked in the pink of condi- 

 tion, and showed signs of care from a practiced ■ 

 hand. 



Mrs. John Pascoe showed two fine specimens of 

 begonias in full bloom and with fine foliage. 



5lrs. Hoar supplied a number of hanging baskets, 

 one of asparagus spengari deserves special mention, 

 and also two large stone vases of trailing nastur- 

 tiums. 



ilr. D. C. Richmond exhibited hanging baskets 

 and two large pots of varied flowers. 



A window box belonging to Mrs. H. J. Finkle 

 excited a great deal of admiring comment. It is 

 ten or twelve feet in length and is filled with a great 

 variety of plants, coidylina, foliage plants, geran- 

 iums, petunias, etc., forming one of the handsomest 

 window boxes to be found in the city. 



Mr. C R. Reid's collection of cacti was an in- 

 teresting study. He possesses a great many var- 

 ieties of these freak plants and not satisfied with 

 nature he has brought art to bear upon them and 

 has grafted dift'erent varieties of cacti on to each 

 other. One plant has specimens of six different 

 varieties grafted on to its stem, forming a curiosity 

 that it would be difficult for a botanist to name. 



Thomas Douglas, Brock street, had an exhibit 

 of great variety. He showed a companula per- 

 sicaefolia in full bloom and of great beauty, the 

 only plant of that variety shown. It is placed in a 

 conspicuous position in front of the pulpit and 

 should not be missed by anyone. Mr. Douglas 

 also shows a magnificent sweet-scented geranium, 

 an asparagus fern of exceptional beauty, and a 

 basket of asparagus spengari. 



The pleasure of looking at the flowers was verj' 

 much enhanced by the excellent impromptu 

 concert that was given during the evening. A 

 pianauto. operated by Mr D W. Karn, gave a 

 gi'eat variety and number of selections and the 

 following well known vocalists rendered solos in 



