November ii, 1S91.] 



Garden and Forest. 



539 



Exhibitions. 



Chrysanthemums in New York. 



IN one respect the Chrysanthemum show in Madison Square 

 Garden last week was far ahead of any exhibition of (low- 

 ers which has ever been held in this city. It was a remarkable 

 success financially, and this fact carries with it the promise of 

 the annual recurrence of this festival, with the offer of premi- 

 ums large enough to reimburse exhibitors for the very con- 

 siderable expense of preparing and transporting the material 

 for exhibition to the Garden. Last spring a beautiful show was 

 opened to the public at the Lenox Lyceum, but no one went 

 to see it, and heavy bills remained to be met by the local flor- 

 ists' club. This fall the Madison Square Garden Company 

 took the matter in hand through their manager, Mr. Morris- 

 sey, who is trained to the business of organizing exhibitions, 

 and by skillful advertising he brought crowds to see the flow- 

 ers, and Mr. William Plumb, representing the Florists' Club, 

 saw to it that the visitors found something to pay them for 

 their trouble. Good music was furnished every day and even- 

 ing, the flowers were renewed as they began to fade, and the 

 interest was sustained by novelties up to the close of the 

 week. 



It was really a Chrysanthemum show. Orchids were exhib- 

 ited, it is true, and admirable collections they were for the 

 season, by Siebrecht & Wadley and Pitcher & Manda. Here, 

 too, were large groups of Palms and Ferns from the same exhib- 

 itors, and a strikingly beautiful table of Ferns from Mr. Dreer, of 

 Philadelphia. Nor were Roses lacking, and they were of excel- 

 lent quality, as might have been expected from such growers 

 as F. R. Pierson Co., J. N. May, Ernest Asmus, S. C. Nash and 

 J. H. Taylor. There were Carnations, too, and a special day for 

 Mignonette and Violets, while the mass of French Cannas, by Mr. 

 James Dean was most instructive as suggesting the possibilities 

 of these flowers for winter decoration. But after all, the greater 

 portion of the immense exhibiting space was devoted to Chry- 

 santhemums, and largely to cut flowers, and the exhibition 

 seemed rich and varied in spite of the absence of the neat 

 little Pompons, the Anemone-flowered varieties, and the true 

 incurved or Chinese sorts which were very sparingly shown. 



Of specimen plants naturally grown, like those we are accus- 

 tomed to see at exhibitions in Philadelphia, there were none, 

 if we except a single plant of the variety called Daisy from the 

 collection of Messrs. Pitcher & Manda. This was a well-grown 

 plant completely covered with pure white and almost single 

 flowers which resembled large Ox-eye Daisies. The best-flow- 

 ered plants in pots were those from Mr. Adolph Ladenburg, 

 who won the first prize for a collection occupying a space of 

 not less than 250 square feet and arranged for effect. These 

 were tall plants, in ten-inch pots, placed close together, each 

 one bearing a few flowers, but so perfectly developed that 

 many of them would have ranked among the best of any class. 

 Indeed, there were no blooms of the variety Lilian Bird exhib- 

 ited which equaled those on Mr. Ladenburg's plants. The 

 prizes for standard plants were taken by Pitcher & Manda and 

 Mr. Spaulding. A great number of remarkably good plants 

 grown with a single stem were also shown by Mr. Spaulding, 

 but discordant colors were mixed up in such a way that the 

 decorative value of the flowers was obscured. Of course it is 

 impossible in an exhibition like this to arrange plants so as to 

 achieve the best pictorial effect of the display as a whole. It would 

 be a different matter if the plants were contributed for the pur- 

 pose of decorating the Garden, so that they could all be placed 

 according to some comprehensive artistic design. As it is, 

 the plants come in classes for competition, and this necessi- 

 tates some stiffness in the details of the arrangement. But, 

 after all, there were flagrant conflicts of color which might 

 have been avoided in several parts of the Garden. 



It was owing to some shortcomings of this sort that the 

 visitor on entering the garden experienced a sense of bewilder- 

 ment and confusion, but after he had become accustomed to 

 the glare and could note the details of the exhibition it was 

 plain that this surpassed all former shows in this vicinity in 

 the great profusion of well-grown flowers. These were to be 

 seen not only on the exhibition boards, but in all directions, 

 and in all available spaces there were splendid flowers with 

 long stems, well furnished with luxuriant foliage. The collec- 

 tion of varieties in vases, a new feature here, was alone suffi- 

 cient to establish the character of the exhibition. These col- 

 lections were composed of noble flowers with long stems, 

 each variety loosely arranged in a large tall vase. Almost 

 every group of flowers was a study and fit to decorate a palace. 

 Never before have the capabilities of the Chrysanthemum 

 been so effectively displayed in this city as in this class, 



where their highest effectiveness was brought out in arrange- 

 ments of one color. Such a display will do more to popular- 

 ize the flower than any other form of exhibit which has yet 

 been devised. These flowers were from Peter Henderson & 

 Co., Ernest Asmus, J. N. May, J. Roehrs, Dailldouzc Brothers, 

 Flalbush, J. H. Taylor, Bayside, and when it is remembered 

 that the exhibitors are market growers and that the flowers, 

 though their best, were not specially grown for exhibition, it 

 will be understood that the culture of the Chrysanthemum is 

 well understood here. The flowers were deep and full and 

 averaged about six inches in diameter. The varieties which 

 seemed to be most useful to this class of growers, judging 

 from those shown, were the following : White — Mrs. Alpheus 

 Hardy, Jessica, Miss Minnie Wanamaker, Domination, Ivory, 

 Robert Bottomley. Yellow — W. H. Lincoln, Harry Widener, 

 Gloriosum, Rohallion. Pink — Mermaid, Mrs. J. N. Gerard, 

 Excellent, Ada Spaulding, Bride of Roses, J. R. Pitcher, 

 Syringa, and a few darker colors, as Ed. Molyneaux, Mrs. Irving 

 Clark, Moseman, Louis Boehmer, but the whites, yellows and 

 pinks were in the largest numbers. It should be said that the 

 flowers of Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, which somehow have hitherto 

 failed to fulfill the wonderful promise of its introduction, 

 were marvels of beauty as shown in this class, pure in color, 

 refined in texture, perfect in form, but lacking somewhat in 

 strength of stem. They were shown by Peter Henderson 

 &Co. 



There were a very few vases with mixed varieties, the most 

 noticeable one, shown by J. Brydon, of Yarmouthport, Massa- 

 chusetts, containing the best-grown flowers in the entire exhi- 

 bition, each one being perfect in color, depth and solidity. 



On Monday the competition in cut blooms was keen and the 

 classes well filled. The first prize for fifty varieties went to 

 E. A. Wood, West Newton, Massachusetts. These flowers 

 were staged in glasses, with stems a foot long, showing foliage, 

 the latter an innovation which, it was rumored, had influence 

 with the judges. The flowers were good enough, however, to 

 win on their merits. It is worth noting that on the next day 

 the foliage had mostly wilted. The culture of the Chrysan- 

 themum as a greenhouse flower seems to result in making the 

 leaves very susceptible to change of temperature. The first 

 prize for twenty-five flowers, and also for twelve, was taken by 

 Dailldouze Brothers, while the first for twelve Chinese and 

 twelve Anemone-flowered varieties went to William Tricker. 



The stand of twelve contained Gloriosum, G. F. Moseman, 

 Viviand Morel, Magicienne, Domination, Jessica, Sunflower, 

 Excellent, Mrs. J. N. Gerard, Ivory, Ed. Molyneaux and Mer- 

 maid. 



A very good show of twelve, and one of twenty-four were 

 made by an amateur, F. T. Underhill, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 

 who also secured the Havemeyer Cup. 



Ernest Asmus captured the first prize for six blooms with 

 Minnie Wanamaker, Mary Wheeler, W. H. Lincoln, Mermaid, 

 Rohallion, Jessica. 



The prizes for new seedlings not yet in commerce brought 

 together a large number of promising flowers ; a few of ex- 

 ceptional merit and great gains. The Mrs. Herman Oelrichs 

 Cup was awarded to Thomas Griffin, gardener to Mr. A. La- 

 denburg, for Emily Ladenburg, a fine incurved flower, velvety 

 red, inclining to a mahogany shade, a nearly pure self color, 

 the reflex being very dark. If this seedling holds its present 

 character it will be a great gain. The Mrs. Henry Clews Cup 

 went to J. Brydon, Yarmouthport, Massachusetts, for Miss 

 Mabel Simpkins, an incurved white in the way of Ivory, but 

 more pointed. The Mrs. W. C. Whitney Cup, for a pink va- 

 riety, was given to Mr. E. G. Hill for Edward Hatch, an extra- 

 large globular flower with wide petals. This was also certifi- 

 cated. The Mrs. Edward Winslow Cup and certificate were 

 given T. H. Spaulding for E. Hitzeroth, a large lemon-yellow 

 flower. 



The Mrs. J. F. D. Lanier Cup was taken by Pitcher & Manda 

 with Harry May, a very solid and large bronze incurved flower, 

 which was also certificated. The Mrs. A. Ladenburg Cup was 

 well bestowed on Mr. T. H. Spaulding for H. F. Spaulding, a 

 large incurved apricot variety. Very distinct. The Miss Bird 

 Cup was also taken by Mr. Spaulding with Colonel William B. 

 Smith, a fine yellow flower flecked with red. To Mr. Spauld- 

 ing also went Mrs. Astor'sCup for the best collection of flowers 

 not yet in commerce. 



First-class certificates of merit were 

 Pitcher & Manda for Mrs. E. D. Adams ; 

 Snowflake and Brydon, Jr.; to Robert 

 Dean, a beautiful pink flower, O. P. Barrett, 

 C. B. Whilnall and Mrs. Robert Craig. There were numerous 

 other seedlings of more or less merit, the best of which were 

 probably Ruth Cleveland and Lillian Russell, both pink, and well 



awarded Messrs. 

 to J. Brydon for 

 Craig for Maud 

 a mahogany red, 



