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T HE U A :\ A D i A A il O R 1 i C I 



L 1{ i S J- 



The Canadian Horticulturist 



PufaUsbed br.Tb* Horticultural 

 Publisbiag Cooipanyt Limited. 



Offidal Otzan of Canadian Horticultural Council 



The Canadian Horticulturist U publislitd the first of 

 each month in two editioiit, as follows: 



FLORAL EDITION 



Devoted to the interests of amateur horticulture — 

 landscape gardcninK, floriculture, fruit and vegetable 

 zardenlng — and to the work and proxress of Horticultural 

 Societiea. 



Subscription Rates.— 60 cents a year; $1.00 for two 



^""' FRUrr EDITION. 



Devoted entirely to the interests of commercial fruit 

 and vegetable growers — oflicial organ of Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association and of Niagara Peninsula Fruit 

 Growers' Association. 



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Communications should be addressed 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 

 Pcterboro, Ontario. 



W. B. Cariey, Ottawa, J. W. Crow, Guclph, J. E. 

 Brown, KingsvLllc. Directors: William Hartry, 

 Scaforth ; F. S. Wood, London ; Dr. A. C. Lester, 

 Hamilton; V. V. Trull, St. Thomas; Professor 

 H. L. Hutt, Georsftown, E. H. Caughell, St. 

 Thomas; Mrs. E. Kcker, St. Thomas; J. H. 

 Bennett, Barrie; Mrs. G. Symington, St. Thomas; 

 John F. .Marr, Guelph; A. P. Conley, St. Thomas 

 and Miss K. Lewis, St. Thomas. 



H. H. (iroff, Simcoe, Ont., tlie pioneer hybrid- 

 izer of Canada was elected honorary president of 

 the Society. 



It was decided to institute a vigorous member- 

 ship campaign during the coming year with the 

 view to increasing the membership by several 

 hundred. It is now one hundred which is satis- ^ 

 factory for a society that has been in existence ' 

 for less than one year. 



• horticultural 

 Societies 



^o 



Ontario Gladiolus Show 



THE first Ontario Gladiolus Show which was 

 held at Alma College, St. Thomas, August 

 23 and 24 was an outstanding success. As 

 Dr. Bennett of St. Thomas remarked, " there 

 never was a finer collection of gladioli. Not only 

 were all the old favorites on display but dozens 

 of new creations, that had never been exhibited 

 before." This opinion was endorsed by the 

 many prominent horticulturists and gladiolus 

 hybridizers from all part, of the province and 

 the United States. 



The wonder flower of the Show was "Dr. 

 Bennett," Diener's new creation, the blooms of 

 which are very large and of a unique flaming 

 scarlet shade, with traces of heliotrope in the 

 centre. 



Among the many exhibitors were M. F. Wright 

 of Sturgis, Mich., creator of "Louise," who had 

 a large collection of this flower; W. L. Hutt, 

 Georgetown, Ont., with a collection of over one 

 thousand blooms; John F. Marr, Guelph, Ont., 

 one of the largest amateur gladiolus growers in 

 Ontario; Rev. W. McKay, Weston, president of 

 the O.H.A.; Peter Vos & Son, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich.; Campbell Bros., Simcoe Ont. ; consisting 

 of several thousand of Groff's hybrids in charge 

 of Miss Annie Campbell. This was by far the 

 largest exhibit in the show, the display occupy- 

 ing the entire west section of the hall. S. A. 

 Haist, Fenwick, Ont.; ThelMimico Horticul- 

 tural Society, with 600 blooms of 100 varieties. 

 These flowers were picked from the members' 

 gardens in all parts of Miraico; James Ogilvie, 

 Hamilton gaol; C. W. Ward, F. V. Smith and 

 Lyman's Flower Shop, St. Thomas; Dick's 

 Flower Shop. London. In addition to the large 

 trial ground adjacent to the college, St. Thomas 

 also had a large exhibit. 



Among the prominent visitors was V. R. 

 Hinkle, St. Joseph, Mich., president of the 

 American Gladiolus Society. 



Annual Meeting 



At the first annual meeting of the Ontario 

 Gladiolus Society, which was held August 24, 

 the city of Guelph was selected for the 1923 

 convention and show. 



Officers were elected as follows; President, 

 Dr. P. E. Bennett, St. Thomas; First Vice- 

 president, W. Brown, Elora; Second- Vice Pre- 

 sident, T. Ward, St. Thomas; Secretary-Treasur- 

 er, J. F. Marr, Guelph; Regional Vice-Presidents 



Niagara Falls 



The first annual flower show of the local horti- 

 cultural society was held in Queen Victoria Park 

 on August 12 and 13. Despite its being a first 

 show the numl>er of entries and the attendance 

 of visitors was splendid. 



Entries for the various clisses were not numer- 

 ous, but competition was keen. Among the ex- 

 hibitors were The Horticultural Society of St. 

 "Thomas, with a large exhibit of gladioli ; Dobbies 

 Florists, Niagara Falls, an exhibit of wedding 

 bouquets and flower baskets and vases of cut 

 flowers; G. Emery with a splendid display of 

 cut annuals. Much interest was also taken in 

 the Children's Section. The show was formally 

 opened on Saturday afternoon accompanied by 

 music by the Scotch Pipers and an orchestra was 

 in attendance in the afternoon and evening. 



Canada^s Three Iris Shows 



Fred H. Byshe, Forestry Branch, Ottawa. 



IT does not seem fitting that the events in- 

 dicated by the above caption should be 

 allowed to pass without some comment in 

 our leading Canadian horticultural magazine. 

 So far as I am aware no iris exhibition has been 

 held by a horticultural society in Canada 

 previous to this year, though this statement is 

 open to correction. 



The first of these three exhibitions was held 

 by the Westboro Horticultural Society on June 

 2, last, at Woodroffe, a suburb of Ottawa. The 

 second was held at Ottawa on June 3, by the 

 Ottawa Horticultural Society, and the third on 

 June 8 and 9, by the Toronto Horticultural 

 Society. It would thus appear that Ontario 

 has led the way and it is to be ioped that next 

 year will find other provinces, as well as other 

 Ontario societies, emulating and surpassing the 

 efforts of the societies above named. In view 

 of the extraordinary development of the tall 

 bearded iris within the past five or six years, 

 and the beautiful forms now available of this, 

 one of the most exquisite of our hardy garden 

 flowers, no progressive society can afford any 

 longer to fail to provide for the iris in its ex- 

 hibition programme. 



Now a word about each of these three shows. 

 For the Westboro show the Woodroffe Club 

 placed their club house at the disposal of the 

 society. As there are but few amateurs in 

 Ottawa or vicinity who have as yet large collec- 

 tions of irises, the classes were arranged for the 

 benefit of those with modest collections, and 

 the result was competition in each of the twelve 

 or thirteen classes provided. The committee 

 had done its local advertising well, and there 

 followed the most largely attended show in the 

 history of the Westboro society. Many of these 

 visitors saw specimens of the better sorts of 

 irises for the first time, and were obviously im- 

 pressed. Such persons are the stuff out of which 

 iris "fans" are made, and the iris exhibition is 

 one of the best means of developing such fans. 



The Ottawa show was held in the Normal 

 School Hall the night following. Here, having 

 a larger membership to draw upon, the exhibi- 

 tion was larger and the competition keener. 



Many really excellent specimens were shown,' 

 and both exhibitors and ofiicers of the society 

 were aroused to enthusiasm by the obvious 

 success of the experiment. When 1 say that iff 

 both of these shows ribb ms were given 

 prizes instead of cash, the success achieved, i« 

 the more impressive. 



The show at Toronto in Jenkins' Art Galleries 

 was of an entirely different order, and was con- 

 ceived and executed on a much larger scale. 

 The few days elapsing between the Ottawa and 

 Toronto shows made available many othCT' 

 flowers than irises. These were employed freely 

 to create many fascinating floral effects. I 

 shared the privilege with my friend, W. g. 

 Saunders of judging this show, and I shall not 

 soon forget the large floral exhibits staged iii the 

 several recesses along the walls, with indirect 

 illumination to heighten the general effect. 



The individual irises were the great attraction; 

 to iris lovers, and here the amateur whose know- 

 ledge of the new varieties may have teen con- 

 fined to the catalogues had a rare feast. There 

 were — Tristram, Marsh Marigold, Dimity, Dora 

 Longdon, Knysna, Clematis, (Bliss' seedlings), 

 ■Mme. Gaudiehau (Millet), .Alcazar, Medrano, 

 Raffet, Moliere, Balterine, Ambassadeur, and 

 Magnifica (Vilmorin) all in splendid form. A 

 single specimen of the latter shown by Professor 

 Milner justified its name, and was without 

 doubt the most striking iris of the show. The 

 wealth and variety of material shown by Miss 

 Blacklock was a distinct contribution to the 

 success of the exhibition, and one was impressed 

 by the vast amount of work that can be accom- 

 plished with a slight physique, when urged by 

 an indomitable spirit. 



Another outstanding item was Dr. F. G. 

 Bethour's new iris seedlings, four of which were 

 selected by the judges for the American Iris 

 Society's award of Honourable Mention. It will 

 interest iris growers to know that these seedlings 

 were produced without hand pollination. Dr. 

 Bethour grows only the best irises, and allows 

 natural agencies to pollinate his plants. 



Altogether, the exhibition was full of interest 

 and made a beautiful picture to place in one's 

 gallery of memories. If the picture is shadowed 

 in so far as the two judges are concerned, it is 

 by the untimely death of J. S. Wallace, one of 

 the enthusiastic supporters of the exhibition, 

 than whom I have met no more engaging person- 

 ality in a decade. To have been his guest and 

 to have enjoyed his friendship was a priyileg* 

 and an inspiration. His friends will miss him. 



Funkias 



These are shade loving perennials, noted fot 

 the beauty of their foliage as much, if not more, 

 than their Lily-like blossoms. The winter, how- 

 ever severe, affects them scarcely at all, and, as 

 sure as April comes, they give evidence of new 

 growth. Then is the time when they can be 

 divided, and this is really necessary every two 

 years or so, inasmuch as they grow rapidly. 

 Soil is not of very great importance in the case 

 of Funki«s, as they will grow in any moderately 

 good material, but shade and moisture are im- 

 portant if one desires to have them at their best 

 April is a most suitable period to remove them, 

 and they are not long before they become estab- 

 lished. Some of them are noted for noble- 

 looking foliage, and can be planted with good 

 effect in conjunction with ferns. — Gardeninj 

 Illustrated, 



If your soil is heavy, dig in plenty ot sifte< 

 coal ashes. Use the same around the roots a 

 perennials to keep out slugs. Lime is also goo<: 

 to prevent loss from slugs. These pests caus« 

 the mysterious disappearance of many seedlings 

 They work during the night when the ground il 

 cool and damp; then hide under stones, boards 

 etc., during the daytime. In the evening thej 

 can be hunted with a flash-light, hat pin and ok 

 pan; and during the day by turning over th« 

 objects under which they are concealed. 



Readers are requested to send for reproductio 

 photographs of their orchards or gardens. 



