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JCLl 6, 1011. 



ThcWcekly Florists' Review. 



NATIONAL SWEET a>s 



PEA SOCIETY 



THE FHILADEIJ>HIA MEETING. 



Low, 



Officers Elected. 



President — "William Sim, Cliftondale, 

 Mass. 



Vice-president — Mrs. Seth 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Secretary — Harry A. Bunyard, New 

 York city. 



Treasurer — Arthur T. Boddington, 

 New York city. 



Recording secretary — John H. Pep- 

 per, New York city. 



Executive committee — ^J. K. M. L. 

 Farquhar, Boston, Mass.; Harry Turner, 

 Yonkers, N. Y.; W. Atlee Burpee, Phil- 

 adelphia, Pa. 



Next meeting place — Boston, date to 

 be set by executive committee. 



The Exhibition. 



The third annual meeting and exhibi- 

 tion .of the National Sweet Pea Society 

 of America was held in Horticultural 

 hall, Philadelphia, June 29 and 30. The 

 exhibition which was open to the pub- 

 lic and advertised in the local papers, 

 drew a good attendance, both Thursday 

 and Friday, and it was interesting to 

 see the care with which the leading va- 

 rieties were noted by the visitors. This 

 is a step in the cultivation of the great 

 field of popular education. The weath- 

 er, which has been anything but favor- 

 able for sweet peas, up to two days be- 

 fore the show, was simply ideal — clear 

 and bright, not too warm, bringing out 

 the colors splendidly. 



The exhibition, taken as a whole, is 

 said by competent judges to be the 

 finest yet held by the society. While 

 many exhibitors helped to make the 

 show, one stood preeminently above the 

 others. This exhibit was made possi- 

 ble by fall planting. Many small and 

 would-be exhibitors said that they 

 would have made a far finer exhibit 

 later in the season, but the hot, dry 

 spring had spoiled their chances. 



The Burpee Exhibit. 



The exhibit of W. Atlee Burpee & 

 •Co., covering the entire north side of 

 the main hall, comprised 142 varieties 

 of the best standard sorts and many 

 novelties, some of them never before 

 eeen. It captured the society's silver 

 medal for the best collection of sweet 

 peas, six certificates of merit for the 

 novelties, and the North American cup 

 for a new color, Vermilion Brilliant, 

 that may be described as a rose scarlet. 

 Among their other notable varieties 

 were: Sterling Stent, clear, shining or- 

 tinge, a new English variety not yet 

 offered in America; No. 875, pale lav- 

 ender; Irish Belle, warm rosy lavender; 

 Fordhook Fairy, white with faint blush. 

 The Burpee exhibit was beautifully 

 staged, the tasteful arrangement en- 

 hancing the excellence of the individual 

 vases. Pampas grass was used as a 

 background, while the monotony of 



rows of even vases was relieved by a 

 step at the back and by so-called tro- 

 phies or pyramids of pocket vases that 

 gave the effect, when filled, of a rich 

 flower column. These pyramids, stand- 

 ing over four feet high on the table, 

 were each completely filled with a sin- 

 gle variety. They were: Marie Corelli, 

 brilliant rose-carmine or red; White 

 Spencer, pure white of largest size; 

 Countess Spencer, lovely pale pink; Hel- 

 en Lewis, large, wavy, orange-colored 

 standard, rosy salmon wings; Dainty 

 Spencer, white, edged pale pink; George 

 Herbert, bright rosy carmine; Mrs. 

 Boutzahn, buff or apricot ground with 

 delicate pink flush; Florence Nightin- 

 gale, pale lavender; King Edward Spen- 

 cer, red, almost a crimson. Every de- 

 tail of culture and of arrangement be- 

 spoke the master hand and reflected the 

 greatest credit on George W. Kerr. 

 There were many other excellent ex- 



of white sweet peas, gracefully ar- 

 ranged, that attracted much attention. 



Miscellaneous Exhibits. 



There were two orchid exhibits: one 

 of thirty-two varieties from Joseph A. 

 Manda, West Orange, N. J., that con- 

 tained many fine specimens of rare and 

 commercial sorts; the other of extra 

 well-grown commercial varieties from 

 the Julius Eoehrs Co., Rutherford, N. J. 

 The front of the stage was occupied by 

 Bertrand H. Farr, Reading^ Pa., with an 

 exhibit of sixty-three varieties of Jap- 

 anese iris that lent pleasing variety to 

 the scene. John Lewis Childa, Floral 

 Park, N. Y., had a vase of his beauti- 

 ful yellow calla, Elliottiana. Henry A. 

 Dreer occupied a large part of the foyer 

 with a fine exhibit of water lilies and 

 Japanese iris. There were six tanks of 

 nymphseas in hardy and tender varie- 

 ties, the foliage lending a natural ef- 



-^jf 



William Sinu 

 (President-elect of the National Sweet Pea Society of America.) 



hibits of sweet peas, showing fine, well- 

 grown blossoms. The effect of several 

 of the exhibits was heightened by the 

 use of asparagus, relieving the white- 

 ness of the tables and bringing out the 

 soft colors of the flowers. The classes 

 for the retailers were neglected. Robert 

 Kif t exhibited a bride 's shower bouquet 



feet to the cut flowers, which were blue, 

 pink, yellow and white. The tanks were 

 banked with ferns. The iris were 

 displayed in Japanese vases, each va- 

 riety in a vase by itself. This exhibit 

 was particularly interesting. 



The balance of the foyer was filled 

 by a variety of outdoor flowers, con- 



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