A Floral Festival

Evening Star, Issue 21933, 21 January 1935, Page 13

A Floral Festival

JUDGES AND STEWARDS

A Town Hall and Concert Chamber literally packed with multi-coloured blooms of fragrant beauty—that is the sight that will first greet the eye and confirm the happy augury that the 1935 New Zealand National Horticultural Show, for which 2,000 entries have been received, will eclipse all previous efforts. And such a signal triumph is all the more meritorious and to Dunedin s credit, in that this is the first occasion since the show was instituted five years ago that this flower festival has been held in this city.

Every square foot of available space is fully taxed, and when the show is officially opened to-morrow afternoon

National Horticultural Show Opens To-morrow—Record Entries

the Dunedin public will be given the novel opportunity of viewing the pick of the dominion’s flowers at their best. When a ‘ Star ’ reporter paid a brief visit this morning to what could bo described as a corner of fairyland, the two large auditoriums presented a scene of activity. There did not appear to be room among the exhibits to drop a proverbial pin; yet space for entries from other centres has to be found. To cope with the last-minute rush both halls are being kept open all to-night. The mayor (Rev. E. T. Cox), who will perform the opening ceremony at 2.30 p.m., has invited the mayors of South Island cities and towns to be present during the two days of the show, and, besides the expected gathering from that source, a large influx of visitors from every corner of New Zealand has already commenced. The Railways Department, with its customary foresight, has given its co-operation by running trains from the north and the south.

No less than five subsidiary conferences, allied to the annual conference of the New Zealand Horticultural Trades Association, which commences its sitting to-morrow morning in the Y.M.C.A. lecture hall, will be held during the week. One of the most important events of the week from their point of view will be the delivering of the Banks lecture by Mr J. Scott Thomson, the wellknown Dunedin botanist. This is the first occasion on which the lecture, the outstanding one of its kind in New Zealand, has been delivered by a resident of Dunedin.

A special van was commissioned by Canterbury growers to ensure that their exhibits, which will occupy a space of 40ft by 15ft, would arrive in the best of condition. Mr C. H. Moir, one of the dominion’s leading gladioli fancers, will have an individual entry of 600 of these choice flowers, and he is loud in his praise of the Railway Department’s co-operation in the trans-

port of his province’s goods. Forty to 50ft of benching will be required to

display his entries, which include six special gladioli of the smokie variety, in order to give local enthusiasts an idea of the requirements needed for the competition of a cup he has presented to the Otago Horticultural Society.

The following are the judges and stewards of the various sections of the

show. —Sweet peas, Mr G. Attwood; stewards —Messrs G. Errington and Ryan. Dahlias, Mr T. Waugh; stewards—Messrs H. Hungerford and E. Page. Gladioli (amateur class), Mr S. D. MacDonald; steward, Mr R. Fountain. Pot plants, Mr S. P. Mansfield; stewards—Miss J. Sonntag and Mr G. Semple. Provincial displays—Messrs O. W. Corner, E. Hutt, R. Black, and T. G. M'Kenzie; stewards—Messrs T. Y. Turner and L. A. Rhodes. Gladioli (open), Mr B. H. Teague; stewards —Messrs C. De Berry and H. J. Trevena. Cut flowers, Mr B. P. Mainsfield; stewards—Miss J. Sonntag and Mr C. Semple* Decorative

work, Mrs E. L. King; stewards—Mrs Jones and Mr Percy 0. Vallange. Fruit, Mr G. H. MTndoe; stewards —Messrs J. Nelson and Lloyd Williams. Children’s sections, Mrs E. L. King; stewards —Mrs Jones and Mr Percy O. Vallange, Vegetables, Mr John Tait; stewards—Messrs M. Scott and J. Fleming.

BY PLANE AND TRAIN

Modern means of transport are an important factor for consideration if the displays from other centres are to look at their best when the judges come to make their awards for the show. Specially is this so in the case of cut flowers. Growers have taken every advantage of the speedy aeroplane during the past week, and several large consignments have been despatched from as far north as Auckland. Other entries which have not been brought all the way south by aeroplane, have been carried between terminal points in both islands with very satisfactory results. The geographical position of Dunedin, which would have militated against many exhibits coming forward from prominent competitors in other parts of New Zealand, has thus been centralised by the efficiency of modern transport. The Railways Department has also given even assistance, both to the travelling public to the festival, and to exhibitors’ requests, special vans being used on the express trains for the flowers.