DAHLIA SHOW

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 69, 18 February 1939, Page 12

DAHLIA SHOW

OFFICIAL OPENING. VALUE OF HORTICULTURE. Stating that this centre had indeed been fortunate in being chosen as the venue for the first show in the North Island of the New Zealand Dahlia Society, which opened yesterday at the Showgrounds, Palmerston North, in conjunction with the annual exhibition of the local society, Mr A. \V. Just, chairman of the executive of the Palmerston North Horticultural Society, in extending a welcome to Mrs Knox Gilmer, of Wellington, patroness of the National Society, who performed the official opening ceremony, said that two shows were held yearly by the Dahlia Society; one in each island. He thanked those present for their attendance, and the stewards and judges, who had worked W'ell to ensure the success of the show'. The secretary (Mr J. Galland) had carried the first day through without a hitch, and for this he was to be commended.

There were a number of professional ■stalls, commented Mr Just, and these had helped to make the show attractive. It was his hope that the display of begonias and ferns exhibited by the City Council would be but the forerunner of many more such. A grant towards the erection of a begonia house at the Esplanade had been made by the council, and he considered that this should be supported by the citizens.

Other features were the stalls of the Women’s Institutes and the Townswomen’s Guild. These bodies had worked hard, and had succeeded in giving a good display. Concluding, Mr Just thanked the Dahlia Society for having given this city the privilege of starting the show. The official party consisted of Mrs Knox Gilmer, the Mayor and Mayoress (Mr and Mrs A. E. Ma-nsford), the former being president of the Palmerston North Horticultural Society, and Messrs J. A. Nash, A. W. Just, O. E. B. Anderson, of Christchurch, secretary of the Dahlia Society, the Mayor of Petone (Mr London) and Mason, an officer of the Dahlia Society. Mr j. A. Nash, patron of the Horticultural Society, said that the day was a red letter one for the society of which he was patron, in that the Dahlia Society’s Show was being held under its auspices. There were a number of men and women who had worked hard over a number of years to make a success of the shows which, as the years went by, became increasingly popular. He appealed to the citizens to rally around the society and to give it the help so necessary, ■and in this manner to give encouragement to those who had carried on its work over a long period. He congratulated those concerned on the success of the first national show here.

Mr Just presented posies to Mrs Knox Gilmer and Mrs Mansford and (in the unavoidable absence of Mrs Nash) to Mr Nash. Not only was it a privilege to welcome Mrs Knox Gilmer to Palmerston North as patron of the Dahlia vSociety, but also as Mayor of the citv. said Mr Mansford. He welcomed Mr London also. Mr Mansford said lie was pleased to welcome Mrs Knox Gilmer, whose work for horticulture was known from one end of the Dominion to the other, and he also congratulated her upon having gained the Loder Cup. PaJmerston North, continued Mr Mansford, was recognised as the garden city of the North Island. That had probably been largely contributed to by the beauty of the gardens in the Square. But the beauty of these gardens was in turn contributed to by the civic pride of the residents, which was made manifest in the manner in which they attended to their own gardens. The people were deeply indebted to the pioneers who had the foresight to set aside the ground for a. Square. On the eve of the celebration of Physical Fitness Week it was perlmi>s as well to ask where could not find a greater artist than one who beautified the ground about him? Mr Mansford, in conclusion, assured his hearers that as long as lie was Mayor the Oity Council would do all in its power to aid the Horticultural (society and that the begonia house, which had long been needed, would possibly become an actual fact within the next twelve months. FAITH IN HORTICULTURE.

Giving it as her reason for flaying consented to open the show, Mrs Knox Gilmer stated that she had. done so not because she was president of the Wellington Horticultural Society, but rather because of her great faith in horticultural activities and what they meant to New Zealand, now and in the future. Horticulture’s advancement w.os truly amazing much having been done to the hybridising and growing of flowers.

Congratulating the Palmerston North Society on the success of the show, the speaker stated that most societies now held shows during this season because of several flowers which seemed to be fashionable. The change, she felt, was warranted. She congratulated the Citv Council on tho excellence of its stall, maintaining that at times the Wellington Society could not do without the Wellington Council’s'exhibits. Mrs Knox Gilmer expressed herself as being pleased to see the exhibits of the various Women’s Institutes, which showed that those were doing noble work. The black backgrounds, which set off so well the beauty of the dahlias, was an arrangement upon which the Palmerston North Society was to be congratulated. Other societies, she said, could well take note of this.

Tli© speaker, in outlining the history of dahlias, said they had been named after a Swedish botanist, Dahl. The dahlia was a florist flower and the innumerable varieties in our gardens were the descendants of the original flower, which was cultivated in Mexico about the year 1802. “The formation of a Dahlia Society of New Zealand was started by a few enthusiasts during the Hamilton Dahlia Show in March, 1937,” continued the speaker. “A meeting was called and it was agreed to pursue the project, hut owing to the illness at that time of Mr Shailer. the society’s formation was delayed. The people of Christchurch then took the matter up, and last October a meeting was called, after which the society was incorporated. There were then over 100 memi>ers. Since the North and South Island executives and committees were set up the membership has been growing. Outlining the aims of the society. Mrs Knox Gilmer said that it had been formed with the object, _ inter alia, of undertaking the registration of ■the names of new varieties of dahlias raised in New Zealand; to establish testing grounds for seedling dahlias raised in this Dominion or elsewhere, or of new importations either alone or in conjunction with any other society in New Zealand; and to frame regulations in order to eliminate worthless plants. Mrs Knox Gilmer then declared the show open. Trophies to the winners of sections of the Dahlia Society’s Show were then presented by Mrs Knox Gilmer. Tbo stewards were Mesdames A. W. Just. Stidolph. Bn.yes, D. James. F. W. Pool. L. T. Brown, AV. J. Phillips. R. A. McKenzie, H. Downing. A. J Shailer, Robertson, Louisson. Prideaux, J. Galland and Miss N. Wood-

house, and Messrs F, J. Melhuish, W. A. Wylie, G. H. Dawick, J. Adamson, W. L. H. Chapman, S. Shailer, A. J. Shailer, J. B. Morgan and G. Bush. The show was continued to-day and will be brought to a fitting conclusion this evening with a presentation of orchestral music. A constant stream of people passed through the hall enjoying the beauty of the exhibits today.