PARK AND CEMETERY. 
402 
CHICAGO’S FALL FLOWER SHOW 
The fall flower shows now so uni- 
versally held in the principal cities 
of this country under the auspices of 
horticultural societies and florists’ 
clubs, and in the conservatories of 
the large city parks, are growing in 
number and interest. The plans for 
many of the exhibits are of a more 
spectacular nature than have been 
heretofore attempted. 
These features, if not allowed to 
overshadow the real purpose of such 
exhibits, may attract a large at- 
tendance which will be necessary, in 
many places, at least, to meet the in- 
creased premium lists. 
In many respects the 19th annual 
Flower Show of the Horticultural 
Society of Chicago, held in the Col- 
iseum, November 8-12, 1910, fully 
equaled and in some ways surpassed 
the mignificent displays of recent 
years. 
The famous gardens of Monte Carlo 
furnished Landscape Gardener Block- 
man, of the West Chicago Parks, 
with his theme for the general plan 
of the show. The main floor of the 
large building was set off with terraced 
beds, varying in form and artistically 
massed with palms, ferns and exotics. 
A vine-clad pergola connected 
handsomely arranged displays from 
the conservatories of Lincoln Park 
and the South Parks, and smaller 
structures of the same character with 
balustrades and concrete columns, 
added just enough of an architectural 
nature to carry out the scheme ef- 
fectively. Smilax was used exclusive- 
ly in draping the great arches and 
filling the intervening recesses. In 
point of quality, it is doubtful whether 
the chrysanthemums, roses, and car- 
nations have, as a whole, ever been 
surpassed; several new varieties were 
shown and all were exhibited to the 
very best advantage either in ter- 
raced beds artistically grouped, or 
tastefully arranged in tall vases after 
the judging. 
The number of exhibitors, notwith- 
standing the unusually liberal prem- 
iums, was not as large as might have 
been expected, and an unusual num- 
ber of counter attractions during the 
week, including grand opera and the 
illustrious Bernhardt materially reduced 
the attendance below that of former 
years. 
Among the special features were 
representations of city yards designed 
to show the right and wrong way of 
planting on 25 feet and larger front- 
ages. The yards were sodded, with 
the planting in one instance dis- 
tributed around the margin with the 
house and side fences a-s a back- 
ground, and in the other the pro- 
verbial round bed occupied the center 
of the yard with shrubs standing 
sentinel at equal distances. 
City lots 25x150 ft. were shown in 
miniature, on a scale of one-half inch 
to the foot. On these, cottages of 
papier mache occupied appropriate 
sites, and the surroundings were ar- 
tistically planted with trees, shrubs, 
etc. This was a suggestive feature 
and one that will bear amplification 
at similar exhibits in the future. 
The Horticultural Department of 
the University of Illinois was repre- 
sented by Professor J. C. Blair, chief 
of the department, and his assistant, 
Professor H. B. Dorner, in charge 
of the Florists’ Experiment Station 
work. Elementary landscape plans 
by students of the university were 
shown, with a small exhibit of 
chrysanthemums. Both Professor 
Blair and Professor Dorner delivered 
lectures, the former on “Ornamental 
Gardening” and the latter on the 
subject of “What Illinois is doing 
for the Florist.” Other lectures were 
delivered afternoons and evenings as 
follows: “The Use of Native Trees 
and Shrubs for the Home Grounds,” 
by Jens Jensen; “Insect Pests of 
Trees and Shrubs,” by John J. Davis, 
assistant state entomologist; “The 
Ornamentation of the City Lot,” by 
Howard Evarts Weed; “Landscape 
Architecture,” by Mrs. A. E. Mc- 
Crea; “Tree Planting,” by City For- 
ester J. H. Prost, and “How to 
Care for the Trees,” by Dr. Frank 
Johnson. These lectures, illustrated 
by stereopticon charts or actual 
specimens, were both entertaining 
and instructive, and with excellent 
music by one of Chicago’s leading 
bands, including a harpist and a solo- 
ist, provided an attractive program. 
Nursery exhibits at this time of the 
year are necessarily confined in great 
measure to leafless specimens of 
deciduous shrubs and trees, inter- 
spersed with evergreens in variety. 
The annex was well filled with dis- 
plays of this nature, appropriately set 
to represent winter with winding 
tanbark walks traversing the snow- 
covered beds of shrubbery. 
A new feature of the year was the 
information bureau, in charge of Mr. 
Charles Strombach, a veteran gar- 
dener and assistants, who answered 
the questions of visitors relating to 
horticulture and saw to it that all of 
the exhibits were plainly labeled. 
The judges for the show were Pro- 
fessor J. F. Cowell, of the Botanical 
Gardens, Buffalo; E. Allen Peirce, 
Waltham, Mass.; and W. L. Rock, 
Kansas City, Mo. 
GENERAL VIEW, CHICAGO FLOWER SHOW. 
