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Flower Show in Cape Breton. — 



Mrs. George Kennan, of Breton Cottage, 



Baddeck, sends the following account' 



clipped from Halifax Chronicle, of a 



flower show in Baddeck managed by a 



young ladies' club, which might do credit 



to the management of some of our 



affiliated Horticultural Societies. 



" With a view to encouraging the cultiva- 

 tion of flowers and the ornamentation of 

 homes and grounds with blossoming plants 

 and shrubs, the Young Ladies' club, of Bad- 

 deck, decided about a year ago to have a 

 flower show, with prizes for the best speci- 

 mens of cut flowers and potted plants. Al- 

 though a flower show was then a new thing in 

 our village, and our flower growers had made 

 no special preparations for it, the display of 

 blossoms and plants was so good and excited 

 so much interest that the club decided to have 

 another similar exhibition this year. Inviting 

 the co-operation not only of the towns people, 

 but of flower lovers in all the surrounding 

 country, the young ladies of the club went 

 energetically to work in July, and on the 2nd 

 of August had their show in complete readiness 

 for public inspection. When the doors of 

 Masonic hall were thrown open at two 

 o'clock last VV ednesday afternoon, the decora- 

 tio s of the spacious room and the extent of 

 the floral display were a complete surprise, 

 even to those who had expected most. The 

 upper part of each side wall was appropriately 

 ornamented with gardening implements, 

 arranged in tasteful geometrical patterns ; 

 along the dado underneath ran a long shelf, 

 banked with moss, which supported a dense 

 fringe of blue speedwell, yellow Canada lilies 

 and tall leafy perennials of various sorts. 

 The stage was set with a garden scene, repre- 

 seuting a flower border with achillea, panther 

 lilies, Siberian fi)x-glove, larkspur and aconite, 

 growing against and half concealing a rustic 

 fence. Upon narrow green terraces, under 

 and in front of the stage, were massed a hun- 

 dred or more blossoming house plants, flanked 

 by huge clumps of larkspur and spiry fox- 

 glove seven or eight feet in height ; and near 

 the centre of the hall, in the shade of two 

 leafy, white-stemmed birch trees, was an 

 artificial pond, filled with blossoming water 

 lilies and bordered by a dense growth of wild 

 flag, interspersed with ferns, English and 

 Japanese iris, the white and purple spikes of 

 fringed orchis, and many other aquatic or 

 moisture-loving plants. 



On green tables, set around the sides of the 

 hall at acute angles to the walls, were hun- 

 dreds of vases and pots of cut flowers and 

 l)lossoming plants, most of which had been 

 entered in the competition for prizes. Among 

 the flowers exhibited were roses of many kinds, 



annual poppies in great variety, phlox 

 mignonette, eschscholtza, potentilla, calen- 

 dula, alyssum, digitalis, ageratum, aconite, 

 speedwell, white lupine. Young's evening 

 primrose, clematis, lychnis, cornflowers, 

 Canterbury bells, mallows, anemones. Cape 

 hyacinths, nasturtiums, sweet peas, mari- 

 golds, herbaceous, spiraeas, hollyhocks, da- 

 hlias, annual chrysanthemums, and half a 

 dozen or more varieties of lily, including 

 elegans, Canadense and auratum. 



Mr. .1. H. Harris, of the Nova Scotia nur- 

 sery, Halifax, who manifested a most cordial 

 interest in the exhibition, not only sent a 

 fine collection of cut flowers, including cannas, 

 dahlias. Cape hyacinths and auratum lilies, 

 but presented the club with a large number 

 of small potted plants, to be distributed 

 among people who had no flowers, the club, 

 at the same time, oflFering a prize for the plant 

 of this collection that should show the best 

 care. 



Flowers and potted plants were also sent to 

 the show from places in the country as far 

 away as Middle River and St. Ann's, and after 

 having been carried twelve or fifteen miles in 

 jolting wagons some of these country flowers 

 took prizes. 



At four o'clock on the first day of the ex- 

 hibition a procession of pretty and tastefully 

 dressed flower girls marched with flower 

 baskets through the hall and around the 

 square in which stands the Telegraph house 

 and the Bras d'Or house, and in the evening 

 there was a floral tableail, arranged to illus- 

 trate a poem read by Mr. Alexander Graham 

 Bell, and written for the occasion by his 

 father, Mr. Alexander Melville Bell, of 

 Washington, D.C. 



On the evening of the second day the de- 

 corated flower show posters, painted by mem- 

 bers of the Young Ladies' club and already 

 used as advertisements were sold at auction, 

 and the Hon. J. J. McCabe announced from 

 the stage the names of the prize winners in 

 the flower competition. 



Great interest in the show was manifested 

 both by tourists and towns-people and the 

 attendance on both days was very large. 



PiCTON. — We must commend the 

 energy of the directors at Picton, who 

 have just completed their arrangements 

 for a summer flower shower. The fol- 

 lowing is the circular just sent out (Aug. 

 9th) to the members. The idea of a 

 promenade concert is an excellent one, 

 for the flowers give topics for conversa- 

 tion, and the music enlivens everybody. 

 The plan of sending out a conveyance 



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