74 



ANKALS OF HORTICULTUIti!. 



Following Pitcher & Manda on the south was the most 

 extensive and best collection of begonias with decorative foliage 

 at the Exposition (16), shown by E. G. Hill & Co. This exhibit 

 comprised nearly one hundred varieties, representing the best 

 of those now in cultivation. Among the meritorious kinds 

 were Count Louis Erdody, Inimitable, Anna Dorner, Minnie 

 Palmer, Madame Leboucq, Bertha McGregor, and a number of 

 distinct seedlings. The plants were large and well arranged, 

 making, altogether, one of the best displays in the Horticultural 

 Building. A large collection of cacti was shown beyond this 

 by Mrs. Anna B. Nickels, of Laredo, Texas. The extremity of 

 the curtain was occupied by a general collection of palms, 

 stove-plants, gardenias and others, shown by Massachusetts 

 (11), Missouri (12, 12), J. C. Vaughan (13), Albert Fuchs, 

 Chicago (14), and Texas or Galveston (15). Opposite the 

 dome, on the west (9), stood a large collection of cycads from 

 Pitcher & Manda, including about thirty varieties. The south 

 curtain presented, on the whole, a certain continuity and pro- 

 gression of effect which was pleasing, especially when seen from 

 the gallery of the dome. It rose gradually from the low group 

 of stove-plants in the foreground to the taller ferns and palms 

 in the rear, and the bright colored foliage and flowers gave it 

 a finish which was lacking in other parts of the building. 



The north curtain was much more heterogeneous in its 

 effects. It contained, however, a wonderful collection of plants, 

 especially in the great tree-ferns and massive stag-horn ferns 

 from New South Wales (2, 2, 2, 2), which extended, like a 

 tropical forest, down the center of the great hall. The curious 

 dwarf trees of the Japanese garden (3) excited no end of com- 

 ment, and properly so, for the Japanese display in this building 

 was excellent. This is discussed in the following pages. Upon 

 the right entrance (4) from the dome to this curtain, Ontario 

 showed one of the best masses of palms and other tropical 

 plants in the entire Exposition. Across the extreme end of the 

 room (1, 1), Trinidad interposed a bold group of palms and 

 bamboos. There were two large competitive exhibits of Indian 

 azaleas in the north wing of the Horticultural Building. These 

 were from Otto Olberg, Dresden (5), and Ch. Vuylsteke, 

 Loochristi, near Ghent (6). The plants were massed in a 

 small space, so that they presented an almost continuous sur- 

 face of mixed and dazzling color. The one distinguishing 

 feature of the collections was the great variety in color, mark- 

 ings, size and texture of the flowers. The plants were uni- 

 formly well grown, although they were not superior in this 

 respect to specimens which may be seen in any good American 

 collection. An idea of the great variety of the display can be 



