July 27, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



579 



EXHIBITIONS AND 



MEETINGS. 



♦ 



National Rose Society 



Belfast. 



JULY 19. 



For the lirst time in its history the 

 National Rose Society paid this year a vit^it 

 to Ireland^ and having regard to it^ success, 

 the wish expressed by Colonel Sharman Craw- 

 ford, at the opening ceremony, that it would 

 not be the lat^t time the society would come 

 to Ireland, can hardly fail in its realisation. 



Within recent years horticulture has re- 

 ceived largely increased attention in the 

 North of Ireland, more especially in the gr-aat 

 district of whicii Belfast is the centre, and 

 some two years ago the Irish Eo^e and Floral 

 Society was formed, Avith Colonel Sharman 

 Crawford as it« president, and Mr. H. P. 

 Pinkerton as hon, secretary and treasurer. 

 Last year the society commenced active oper- 

 ations by holding an exhibition of roses and 

 other summer flower^, and this proved so 

 successful that this year's exhibition was 

 extended, and the National Rose Society was 

 invited to hold its provincial exhibition at 

 Belfast in conjunction therewith. The 

 ir vitation was readily accepted, for a desire 

 had for several years bean felt by many mem- 

 bers of the Council that, on the first favour- 

 able opportunity an exhibition should be held 

 on the other side of the Irish Sea. The pre- 

 liminary arrangements for the show were 

 made without the slightest difficulty, and 

 Friday, July 19, was hxed as the most suit- 

 able date. 



The exhibition was held on this date in the 

 gardens of the Botanic Garden Park, than 

 v.luch no more suitable spot for a rose or 

 other flower show could be found within the 

 United Kingdom. The park' is extensive, 

 richly furnished with grand trees and hand- 

 some slirubs, and laid out with so much taste 

 as to aftord an excellent example of the land- 

 ecapist s art. There was a glorious exhibi- 

 tion of roses, and this was supplemented by 

 remarkably fine displays of sweet peas and 

 lu^rdy flowers. The Irish Society carried out 

 its part of the arrangements so well as to 

 evoke the heartiest expression of approval 

 from both exhibitors and visitors, and it pro- 

 vided some half-dozen marquees that were 

 spacious, light, and well ventilated. Thus 

 it A\ac> that the flowers stood well, and could 

 be enjoyed with the maximum amount of 

 pleasure by the crowds of visitors. It was 

 interesting to observe that not only were the 

 tents provided with ample means for ventila- 

 tion, but the ventilators were open and not 

 k;ept closed as at some of the English exhibi- 

 tions held of late in the hottest of weather. 



I'here were a goodly num^ber of the mem- 

 bers of the executive of the National Rose 

 Society present^ and the Rev. J, H. Pember- 

 ton, president of the society, was in strong 

 lorce, for he not only exhibited with mucii 

 success in several of the leading classes, but 

 1^3 was active in fulfilling the duties of his 

 ingh olhr-e. Mr. Edward Mawley, who, by 

 the way, was described as Sir Edward Mawley 

 (a distinction he well deserves) by one of the 

 speakers, was, as usual, in capital form, and 

 ^ir. I inkerton and other officers of the Irish 

 Society did all that could possibly have been 

 <lone to show that rosarians from England 

 ^-ere heartily welcome, and to ensure the 

 success of the exhibition. 



NURSERYMEN EXHIBITION ROSES. 



. The competition was very keen in the ma- 

 jority of cases, and the roses were, on the 

 ^>ho]e, of high quality. Very spirited was 

 contest m the trade class for thirty-six 

 Diooms, in which the premier award com- 

 prised, :n addition to the cash prize, a 

 vaJ liable trophy and a gold medal. In the 

 result Messrs. Hugh Dickson, Lim., Royal 

 iNurserifes, Belfast, occupied the place of 

 uonour with blooms equally remarkable for 

 their large size, freshness, and colour. Of 

 special merit were the blooms of Coronation. 



a superb pink flower that was awarded 

 gold medal m the needling class, and also 

 received the silver medal for the best bloom 

 ol any rose m the nurserymen's classes other 

 tlian H.T., T., or N.; Gladys Harkness, 

 Lavid Gilmore, Edward Mawley, Lyon, H. 

 Pinkerton, a beautiful flower of a ricJi cream 

 colour, tinted with rose; Mrs. Foley Hobbs 

 Gloire de Chedane Guinoisseau Ethel Mal- 

 ctlm W. C. Dickson, Mrs. Theo. Roosevelt, 

 Charles Leiebvre, Mrs. Stewart Clark, Leslie 

 Holland, King George V., Archie Gray, and 

 Siowball. Messrs. Alex. Dickson and Sons, 

 Newtownards, followed closely for s-cond 

 l>lace with fljiely-finished blooms. Messrs 

 S. McGredy and Son, Portadown were 

 third with a fine set of blooms. Messrs. Hugli 

 Dickson, Lim., were first also in the class for 

 seventy-two varieties with an excellent col- 

 lection, in which Mrs. Humphreys, a Ijeauti- 

 ful rose of a pleading soft, yellow hue with 

 deeper centre was fine. Messrs. A. Dickson 

 and Sons were a close second with a stand in 

 which those two brilliantly-coloured roses, C. 

 J. Grahame and LesUe Holland were splen- 

 didly represented. Very keen was the contest 

 for the first place in the class for twenty-four 

 varieties, three blooms of each, }:>etween 

 Messrs. _ Hugh Dickson, Lim., and Messrs. 

 Alex. Dickson and Sons, and in the result the 

 first and second awards were made in the 

 order of the names. Very fine in the first- 

 prize stands were two blooms of Gloire de 

 CLedane Guinoiiseau, Leslie Holland 

 Snowball, Jonkeer J. L. Mock, David Gil- 

 mour, Mrs. S. Ross, and Mrs. D. McKee. 

 Remarkable for their high development were 

 the bloo?ns of White Killarney, Lady 

 Greenall, Caroline Testout, Mabel Drew, 

 George Dickson, Lady Barham, and Edward 



Mawley, shown by Messrs. A. Dickson and 

 Sons. 



The chief class in the second of the sec- 

 tions set apart for nurserymen was that for 

 tlurty-six varieties, and in this the premier 

 position was occupied by Mr. George Prince 

 Ix)ngworth. Berks, who staged Madame j! 

 Gravereaux, Mrs. Dudley Ross, Earl ol W'ar- 

 wick, Hugh Dickson, and Juliet in superb 

 cfmdition. Mr. J. Walsh, Portadown. was a 

 capital second. Mr. Prince was first also 

 for sixteen varieties, three blooms of each, 

 v/ith a level set of hJooms, and Messrs. E. 

 Smith, High Street, Belfast, was second. 



There was a spirited competition in the 

 trade classes for teas and noisettes, and the 

 blooms were large m size and characterised 

 by freshness. For eighteen varieties Mr. G. 

 Prince was a splendid first, and especially 

 noteworthy were the blooms of Miss A. de 

 Rothschild, Mrs. Myles Kennedy, Madame 

 Jules Gravereaux, W. R. Smith, Molly Shar- 

 man Crawford, White Maman Cochet, Mrs. 

 E. Mawley, Comtesse de Nadaillac, Ernest 

 Metz, and Souv. d'Elsie Vardon. Messrs. 



Hugh Dickson, Lim., were a good second. 

 The first place for twelve teas was occupied 

 by Mr. J. Mattock, Oxford, and Mr. J. 

 Walsh and Messrs. F. E. Smith and Co. were 

 second and third, the blooms being merito- 

 rious throughout. 



OPEN TO NURSERYMEN 



AMATEURS. 



AND 



This section contained much to interest, 

 inasmuch as it included the classes for twelve 

 new roses and twelve blooms of any new 

 rose. In the first of tiiese two Messrs. Hugh 

 Dickson, Lim., were first with a stand con- 

 taining finely-develoj)ed blooms of Mrs. 

 Richard Draper, Marquise de Ganay, Mrs. 

 Maynard Sinton, Mrs. A. E. Coxliead, Ethel 

 Malcolm, King George V., Souv. M. L. Ter- 

 rier, Mrs. S. Ross, Mrs. Foley Hobbs, Leslie 

 Holland, Evelyn Dauntesey, and Countess of 

 Shaftesbury. Messrs. S. McGredy and Son 

 were second, and Mr. AV. Bentley, Belgrave, 



Leicester, third, both stagfing well. Messrs. 

 Alex. Dickson and Sous liad in their stand a 

 superb bloom of their new crimson George 

 Dickson, whicli was awarded the silver medal 

 for the "best bloom of a H.T. in the trade 

 classes, which is the second time it has 

 secured the H.T. medal at the N.R.S. -exlii- 

 bitions this season. The first prize for twelve 

 blooms of a new rose was secured bv Messrs. 



Hugh Dickson, Lim., with superb specimens 

 of the brilliaiitly-coloured Leslie Holland. 

 Mr. Prince was second with Mrs. Folev 

 Hobbs. ^ 



There was a strong competition for the 

 prizes for twelve blooms of any hybrid per- 

 petual, and it wa*i interesting to find all the 

 exhibitors staging Fran Karl Druschki. Very 

 fine were the blooms of this famous rose in the 

 fiist-prize stand from Messrs. Alex. Dickson 

 and Sons. Messrs. Hugh Dickson, Lim., and 

 Mr. G. Prince were second and tliird with 

 good blooms. M r . W . B-ut ley scored 

 in the class for twelve blooms oi%i hybrid 

 tea with flowers of J. B. Clark in a high 

 state of development; Messrs. Hugh Dickson, 

 Lini.,^ second with Countess of Shaftesbury. 

 Mr. G. Prince was first for tweh^e blooms of a 

 tea-scented variety with White Mama n 

 Cochet at its best. Messrs. Alex. Dickson 

 and Sons were second with Mrs. Foley Hobbs. 



VASES AND BASKETS OF ROSES. 

 Exhibition blooms in vases were admirably 

 shown, and the several collections formed a 

 dit:tinct and attractive feature. In the class 

 for twelve varieties, five blooms of each, to 

 be staged in twelve vases. Messrs. S. McGredy 

 and Son were first with a line set of blooms, 

 those of Dean Hole, E. .Mawley, Mrs. Foley 

 Hobbs, and Mrs. D. McKee being especial Iv 

 ntritorious. Messrs. Hugh Dickson, Lim.', 

 followed for second place with a set iii which 

 the Lyon was seen at its best. i\Iessrs. Alex. 

 Dickson and Son, who woro third had the 

 brilliantly-coloured A. K. W illiams in espe- 

 cially fine condition. Messic.. llngh Dickson, 

 Lim., scored for a vase oi nine blooms of 

 Harry Kirk. 



Roses shown in j)Iain ba.skets formed a very 

 attractive feature, and the several contribu- 

 tions to the classes postsessed much value 

 educationally. On the whole ihvy wvrv far 

 superior to tha majoiity of tlios-c >h(^\\n at 

 the Society s Metropolitan exliibition, lor the 

 cxliibitors^ while using sufiicient blooms to 

 make the baskets tlioroughiy attractive, 

 avoided the mistake oi crowding the blooms, 

 lu the class for nine baskets, Messrs. Hugh 

 Dickson, Lim., t>*)tained picniit^r honours 

 v.ith a set in which Lady rin ic was finely 

 shown, and in the smaller class for five 

 baskets Mes.srs. S. McGredy and Son were first 

 with tastefully-arraaged baskets, in which 

 that of the brilliant red G. C. Wand w;is 

 of special merit. Mr. E. J. Hicks, Twyford, 



was second in the .atter class, and Mr. J. 

 Mattock third. 



DECORATIVE ROSES, OPEN. 



The contributions to the classes for decora- 

 tive or garden roses were numerous, and they 

 coLtributed appreciably to the int:n-e>t of the 

 exhibition. The flowers staged in these 

 classes were highly attractive, but tlie backs 

 of the stages erected by some of the exhibi- 

 tors were a seriour> disfigurement to the tent, 

 and should not have been allowed. The jxK-t 

 of honour in the class for eighteen varieties, 

 t > be shown in vases or other receptacles, w as 

 1 ccupied by Mr. J. Mattock, who had Arthur 

 11. Goodwin, Irish Glory, Mrs. Segond Weber. 

 Burdon Job, Orleans, American Pillar. Mrs. 

 il. Stevens, and 'Simplicity in capital condi- 

 tion. Messrs. Hugh Dick(son. Lim.. \\\n-e 

 >econd. The competition w as keen in the 

 cla.ss for twelve bunches, and Mr. E. J. Hicks 

 was first with Rayon d'Or, Madame Al^el 

 Chiitenay^ Excelsa, and Countcsse de Cayla 

 as his ibest. The competition for the fsecond 

 place between Mr. G. Prince and the Rev. 

 J. H. Pemlx?rton was so close that there was 

 not half a point difference in the merit of the 

 collections; in the result the awards were 

 made in the order of the nanie.H. 



AMATEFKS. 



Amateur rosarians wore in strone force, 

 and on the whole tlicy nt.i«_;<il i l'nii7)> of tine 

 quality. There \\< >i\ <n' von t iitrio.-^ in 

 the trophy class for tw^ty-iour blooms, all 

 niore or less good, and in Mie result the hand- 

 some trophy, the gold medal and cash j)rize, 

 constituting the first prize, were awarded 

 to Mr. P. Den!iison, of Fx^amington, who is 

 one of the most po2)ular of amateur rosarians, 



