750 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



Underbill, John Keane, E. G. Hill and Pitcher & 

 Manda. There were several good whites, two of which 

 received certificates of merit. One of these, "Miss 

 Francis Thorley, " was very much like the winner. It 

 was large, pure white, broad-petaled, and just touched 

 with hairs. "The Queen," which received the award, 

 is quite pure as to tint, incurved, with broad, loose 

 petals, and is slightly more refined in appearance than 

 the former. "Mrs. F. L. Ames," the winning yellow, 

 is of a clear golden shade, and has a rather flat, open 

 form, with many spoon-shaped petals. The bronze, 

 " Rob. Mclnnes," is near the color of " Harry May ; " 

 perhaps not so good in form, but with more breadth of 

 petal. " Emily Ladenburg " came forward again in the 

 seedling class, and won in " any other color. " This plant 

 is quite likely to be popular when well introduced, 

 being so dark, so good in form, and of wearable size. 

 "John Keane," the premium pink chrysanthemum, is 

 so dull in color as to hardly attract a second look, but is 

 very good indeed as to shape. Among the many which 

 received certificates of merit may be mentioned Pitcher 

 & Manda's "Mrs. Leslie D. Ward," and J. N. May's 

 " Gloriana " and "Portia." It is somewhat notable that 

 although in exhibition-blooms great size is an important 

 factor, if combined with good form, the growers them- 

 selves lean towards a medium-sized flower of fine form. 

 "Gloriana" is scarcely medium in size, very broad of 

 petal, slightly fluted and loose and graceful. In color 

 it is pale, creamy yellow. 



' ' Do you know, I think that is what we must come to, 

 at last," said one grower, referring to this graceful bloom. 

 " M — m : that's good ! " exclaimed another, as he singled 

 out " Portia " from the scores of candidates for honors. 

 The whole gamut of adjectives on the lips of the general 

 public could not have meant more. This dainty sort of 

 the dramatic name, is of fine shape and size, and of a 

 transparent, pale, sea-shell pink color. 



' ' Mrs. L. D. Ward " deserves notice as being a striking 

 example of the advance in color of the hairy forms ; its 

 color is extremely odd and pretty, a pale, pinkish apricot, 

 lined deeper. It is medium-full, medium-sized and 

 medium as to the plush-like surface. "Creole," some- 

 what in the style of " E. Ladenburg," is still darker, but 

 also duller in tint than the winner. 



Chryanthemum ' Geo. W. Childs," over which Phila- 

 delphia waxed so entnusiastic two years ago, and 

 which last spring sold for $1.50 a plant, created no great 

 sensation at New York. Many other kinds have broader 

 petals, are larger, and have better shapes. "Geo. W. 

 (?hilds" is yellow, with pure dark red lining, and when 

 perfectly reflexed no other red equals it in color and 

 velvety brilliancy. 



The exhibit of cannas by The F. R. Pierson Co., of 

 Tarry town, N. Y. , was superb. Backed by a.smilax- 

 wreathed mirror, it showed to perfection, and "perfec- 

 tion is no trifle." 



"Mad. Crozy," of course, was there, and some new 

 sorts, " Capitaine de Suzzoni," clear yellow, flecked with 

 orange, and ' 'Paul Marquant, " very large, with broad but 



pointed petals, color a combination of orange and 

 yellow, called apricot-red. The gem of the collection, 

 " Alphonse Bouvier," was very large, broad-petaled, 

 thickly-clustered, and of rich blood-crimson, the finest 

 color ever observed in cannas. " Madame Crozy " was 

 dulled to indifference, and would rate but medium in 

 size beside it as here shown. This is to retail next spring 

 at %\ per plant. 



The number of good carnations was perhaps not so 

 noticeable as last year. The award for the best seedling 

 went to Jahn Bros,, New Bedford, Mass., for a large 

 new white stiff-stemmed carnation of good substance 

 "Josiah Eaton, Jr." The most striking plant on exhibition 

 in this class was a seedling from the same firm, mottled 

 and flaked in pale apricot-yellow and red, the yellow, 

 perhaps, predominating. The bloom is very large, and 

 seemed to be of unusual substance, and the calyx 

 showed no sign of bursting. The growers shook their 

 heads, or laughed incredulously when speaking of Mr. 

 Thorpe's ideal carnation, for the nearest approach to 

 which a silver cup was offered. As none of them could 

 show blooms up to the requirement of "over three 

 inches in diameter," there was no entry in this class. 

 ' ■ We are not in sight of that yet, " said one. 



Several new roses were shown, among them "Mrs. 

 W. C. Whitney" (American seedling), " Madame Caro- 

 line Testout" (European seedling), and "Empress 

 Augusta Victoria." The last is ivory-white, of fine 

 shape, looser and more graceful than "The Bride," and 

 was declared the most promising forcing rose of recent 

 introduction. "Madame C. Testout" is clear pink, at 

 times seeming even prettier than " La France " in color. 

 In shape it is quite different, however, being more 

 globular, loose and graceful, but not quite perfect. It is 

 distinct and large, and has the tea fragrance. As ex- 

 hibited, the stems seemed not quite stiff enough. Both 

 these winning roses were shown by E. Asmus, and were 

 not exhibited here previous to 1892. 



After all, nothing prettier was seen than "Brides- 

 maid," for which the prize for the best twelve blooms 

 went to F. R. Pierson. This rose was in large display 

 for a new sort, and was exquisite in every case. As 

 shown, it was more even and pure in color than 

 "Mermet, ' with longer buds, loose, of perfect shape, 

 and upright as to stem. Need we ask anything better 

 in pink roses ? — Myra V. Norys. 



A Verbena Bed. — There is no finer bedding plant than 

 the verbena, and it is easy to start plants from seeds 

 early, so that they may begin their mission of brighten- 

 ing the world early in June. This was our plan last 

 year : About March i an old salt-box was sawn in two 

 pieces horizontally, the cover fitted in for the bottom of 

 one of the new boxes, and this filled with good garden 

 soil that had been put in the oven and heated just enough 

 to destroy whatever insect-life it might contain. As soon 

 as this soil was cool enough to feel simply warm to the 

 hands, a package of verbena-seeds was sown in it, the 

 seeds being placed about an inch apart and carefully 

 covered with soil. The box was then set in a warm. 



