THe Ontario Horticultural ExKibition 



LOVERS of flowers, fruit and vegclubk-s lu 

 Canada have reason to congratulate them- 

 selves upon the success of the third annual 

 Ontario Horticultural Exhibition held last 

 week, Nov. 6-10, in Massoy Hall, Toronto. The 

 attendance, in spite of one rainy day, was con- 

 siderably more than twice as large as last year. 

 The total number of entries in all departments 

 was some 2,000 greater than ever before. The 

 quality, also, of the exhibits was much ahead 

 of previous years. 



The. increased attendance was due to two 

 reasons: the running of half-rate excursions to 

 Toronto from all parts of the province and the 

 presence of the Black Dike Band. This latter 

 feature proved a costly attraction, but it went 

 far to make the exhibition enjoyable to "the 

 indifferent public," and thus to place the ex- 

 hibition on a better footing for the future. 



There will be a deficit, how large has not been 

 ascertained. It is believed, however, that it 

 will be little, if any, larger than last year, and 

 that it will be possible to pay everything in full, 

 as was done a year a^o. There is reason to 

 believe that the exhibition, at last, has been 

 placed on a permanent basis. In time it may 

 rival, in its way, even the famous Royal Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition of London, England. 



Visitors were lavish in their praises of the 

 different exhibits. They were equally as en- 

 thusiastic over the large cauliflowers as they 

 were over the American Beauty roses. The 

 fruit excited as much interest as did the decorated 

 dinner tables. The fruit and vegetables ap- 

 pealed to the inner man, while the flowers were 

 a feast to the eye and mind. Combining the 

 different branches of horticulture in one grand 

 show has proved to be a movement in the right 

 direction. It has met with the approval of the 

 public. From now on, no florists are likely to 

 even suggest the holding of a flower show of 

 their own. This is a day of combines, and this 

 combination has proved a success. 



The arrangement of the exhibits was different 

 from last year, and proved more attractive. 

 The decorated dinner tables were placed in front 

 of the stage, with a partition dividing them. 

 The chrysanthemum groups were at the top of 

 the stage, in the same position given the orchid 

 groups last year. The latter were placed at the 

 east side of the hall and showed up to excellent 

 advantage. The mixing of exhibits of fruit and 

 flowers on the same tables, which last year was 

 not liked by many, was omitted. Each table 

 was devoted to one class of exhibits. The box 

 fruit was displayed in the basement, as also 

 were the vegetables and the made-up floral 

 work. Exhibits from the Ontario Agriciiltirral 

 College were placed both in the main hall and 

 in the basement. 



PLANTS AND FLOWERS 



The arrangement of the chrysanthemum 

 groups was not equal to former years. This 

 was owing to the place in which they were locat- 

 ed not bemg adapted to the displaying of groups 

 of this nature. The palms and decorative plants 

 used in these banks were better than in former 

 years. Many of them were exceptionally well 

 grown. The judge had no easy task to pick the 

 winner. 



In the orchid groups the judge again pro- 

 nounced for quality as against quantity. There 

 has never been as grand a display of orchids 

 seen in Canada. The public probably did not 

 realize how rare the collection was. 



Some fine specimens were exhibited in the 

 classes devoted to palms, ferns and decorative 

 plants. The chrysanthemum bush plants were 

 not as good as is usually seen, owing to the 

 bloom not being developed. Had the exhibi- 

 tion been 2 weeks later, some fine plants would 

 have been shown. One of the plants measured 

 over 6 feet through. The single stem chrysan- 

 themum olants were a surprise to many. Such 

 good Dioom Was not expected for the season. 



The decorative plant cla.ss biouylit out ^.uiiic 

 splendid specimen plants of better quality than 

 those usually seen. 



In the cut bloom classes there was a fine dis- 

 play. The quality of the chrysanthemums was 

 high for the season. The exhibits in the carna- 

 tion sections were not as numerous as last year, 

 and the quality of the bloom was not up to the 

 usual standard. The competition in the rose 

 sections was keen. The quality of the bloom 

 shown was much above the average. 



The entries in the "made-up-work" were not 

 so numerous as last year, but the class of work 

 shown was an advance. The skill of the floral 

 designer was made manifest in the keenness of 

 the competition. 



DECORATED DINING TABLES 



The decorated dinner tables were judged by a 

 committee of ladies selected by Mrs. Mortimer 

 Clark. Their decisions were a surprise to some 

 of the exhibitors. J. S. Simmons won first prize, 

 A. Jennings second, Thos. Manton third, and J. 

 H. Dunlop's table, set up by H. G. Dillemeuth, 

 fourth. After the decisions were made The Can- 

 adian Horticulturist interviewed the ladies 

 to find the reasons for the decisions. The ladies 

 said that all of the tables were overdone; there 

 were too many flowers used and they were ar- 

 ranged too high, so much so that they would 

 obstruct the view of the guests. The principal 

 objection to Mr. Simmons' table, outside of the 

 flowers being too high, was the tying of the 

 ladies' corsage flowers with a silk cord. This is 

 only a matter of opinion. On the Jennings and 

 Manton tables were bon-bon dishes that were 

 not in keeping with the other dishes. They 

 should have been either cut glass or silver. The 

 fourth prize table evidently had a large amount of 

 time and thought expended to produce the results 

 but, in the opinion of the ladies, it was overdone. 

 The shades on the candelabra did not harmonize 

 with the other colors on the table. The fish 

 knife and fork were incorrectly placed. There 

 was too much space between the cutlery. A 

 table cloth should have been used, and not lace 

 mats, as, in serving a dinner, the top of the table 

 would have been damaged by the hot plates. 

 The setting was more suited for a fruit luncheon. 

 A guest seated at the table for one and a half 

 hours, they thought, would find the electric 

 lights very trying on the eyes. The proper 

 method of lighting a table is to have the fights 

 on a level or just below the eyes. There was, 

 they thought, too much ribbon used on this 

 table. By many of the general public, who did 

 not take note of these points, this table was liked 

 the best of all. The dishes on the tables were 

 minutely examined by the judges, even to the 

 salt dishes, and the unanimous opinion was that 

 the tables were not equal to those of last year. 

 The judges were surprised to find so many of 

 the tables decorated with orchids. A greater 

 variety of flowers would have been better. 

 They found it difficult to judge the tables in the 

 afternoon owing to the tables being set for an 

 evening effect. The judges recommended that 

 next year the exhibitors should produce a sim- 

 pler effect in their decorations. 



THE fruit exhibits 



The show of fruit was an advance on anything 

 of the kind held in Canada. The competition 

 was closer both in plate fruits and in commercial 

 packages. A. McNeill, Chief, Fruit Division, 

 Ottawa, said that Ont. is the pupil of B.C. in 

 packing, but at the recent fair at New Westmin- 

 ster, B.C., there was no packing that equalled 

 some at the Toronto show. It is fair to say, 

 however, that the general run of box fruit from 

 B.C., seen in our markets, is much better than 

 that put up in Oat. 



While the packages at the shoW were a superior 

 lot, a number of defects were noticed. The 

 sides of the boxes, in many instances, were too 

 thin; the best thickness is from ^ to J^ an inch. 

 The tops and bottoms were too heavy; these 



312 



bhould Ije not more than 5-16 of an incli 1 he 

 ends of the boxes, as a rule, were correct, which 

 is % to no more than Ji of an inch thick. Some 

 boxes had cleats running up and down on the 

 ends; this is unnecessary and adds to the cost. 

 A few boxes were roughly sawed. Smoothness 

 is necessary to good appearance; fine saw cut 

 or planed material is best. On the whole, the 

 finish of the boxes was good, but some exhibitors 

 forgot to put cleats across the top and bottom 

 at the ends. This is a grave defect as, though 

 not detracting from strength, it docs not protect 

 the bilge. The kind of material used was fairly 

 good ; elastic woods, like spruce, are better than 

 bass wood. 



The character of the pack-system showed a 

 great improvement over past efforts. In a few 

 boxes inferior packing more than offset the 

 quality of fruit. A number of exhibitors'failed 

 to pack with due regard for the proper bilge. 

 There was not a great variety of styles in packing. 

 Evidently packers spent their energy in select- 

 ing apples of suitable size, rather than in select- 

 ing a pack to suit the size of apple. On many 

 boxes, lace paper added to the appearance, but 

 packers should see that it is placed only on the 

 sides and not continuous around the box. In 

 some boxes were found apples that had defects 

 sufficient to disqualify them; among these, con- 

 siderable "ink spot" or "fly spot" was noticed. 



Some poor branding was noticed. The judges 

 discriminated against lead pencil markings. 

 None of the branding was quite up to the stand- 

 ard. In many cases the stencil was used when 

 the steel die would have been better. The latter 

 is neater and the printing can be done when the 

 boxes are made, except the grade and tier 

 marks. Mr. McNeill suggested that Ont. grow- 

 ers should mark the number of tiers on the box 

 as well as the grade. 



The pears in boxes were put up equal to the 

 best CaUfomia pack. The peaches, also, were 

 well packed. They had been wrapped and kept 

 in cold storage. The way in which they came 

 out showed the value of both the storage and 

 the wrapping. Some growers had neat labels 

 on the. wrappings, that showed the fruit to good 

 advantage. 



In the competition in barrelled fruit, every 

 feature of good barrel packing was illustrated. 

 It is believed there will not be found in any part 

 of the world better barrel packers than in Ont. 

 Most of the barrels used were 8-hooped and, 

 other things being equal, these scored a point 

 or two more than those with only 6 hoops. 



A featm-e of the fruit shown on plants were 

 the county exhibits. Among the most notice- 

 able were the counties of P. Edward, Durham, 

 Northumberland, Lambton and Norfolk. Ox- 

 ford Co. sent some beautiful Baldwins; Norfolk 

 and the united counties of Northumberland and 

 Durham, a fine display of Spys. While the 

 county exhibits were good, they did not give a 

 fair comparison of what each county can do. 

 The size of the exhibit from a particular county 

 does not count for much in estimating the fruit 

 industry of the county. A county, unimportant 

 in fruit matters, might send an exhibit larger 

 than those sent by more important counties. 

 The prize list should be arranged in a manner 

 that will bring out more exactly the comparative 

 capabilities of the different counties. 



There was a large and excellent display of 

 table fruit. A noticeable feature to the obseri'er 

 was the way in which the immense red apples, 

 like Wolf River, appealed to the general pubUc, 

 when otherwise such varieties are of no particular 

 value. There were some Cayugas that measured 

 14J^ inches in circumference. Most of the 

 apples were highly colored and well finished. 



Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed 

 over the decisions of the judge on plate apples. 

 Wrong judgment was shown in many classes. 

 In Spys, the awards seem to have been made with 

 eyes closed. First prize Fameuse were scabby. 



