NORTH OTAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1465, 13 December 1879, Page 5

NORTH OTAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

" . ,■ (.From the Onmai;u Mail.) . ,; i .The BpriDg show of this was held in the Volunteer Hall on Saturday, and ,waß unquestionably one, of .the fineßt.of the many fine shows held by the Society.; The hall was well filled with' a, splendid collection, of plants of almost, every description usually found at,ex;hibitiona of the kind, .but the grandest, display wast undoubtedly made in ' the department for cut roses. , Of the queen of .flowers thgre, was the. finest collection ever seen iri.Oamaru,;,J3oth in regard to the number! of exhibits .and* the varieties. The principal exhibitors of, blooms of roses were,Messrß Ilorsyth (wh© showed, six dozen), ,H. . Connell, G. R. ; Taylb>, J. Q',Meagher,. M. T.- Sprafct,.,iß. ■■ Huddlest,6n^,aad Gr. Glen. ,Of bouquets theiejwas /ai^ery nice show, the most noticeable of these being the bouquets made by the children in the High School, in cbndpetitidn'for the prize given by. the Rector (Mr Peattie). Thirty-six entered for tbisi and the competition (mostly: amongst girls). was a very keen . one} many pi 'the bouquets being very pretty.' 1 In pot arid 'greenhouse plants there was also a grand, display. MrForsyth, gardener to the Hon. Mj. Holmes', made; a splendid display; more particularly" in regard' to fußchias, of which he showed fine spscimensof eight different varieties. 'Of roses ia pots he 'had. also a very nice show, and <, in almost every other claas he was strongly, represented, and it, may fairly be 1 said :that to' him were the .Committee chiefly indebted' for the attractiveness of t&e show. 1 ' Mr W..H. Heywood ' was another large exhibitor, and successful competitor, l ; showing, amongst other plants, two varieties of coinferse ooleus, Mrs Eloomfield ' arid begonia metallica— tooth' really ifine plants), two specimens, erica ventrioora superba (really • beautiful), and a good, show of .stove and other plants. Although not oompetingfor the prize offered by the Society, Mr John Falconer was a large, exhibitor with a splendid variety of yoUng plants. Amongst his exhibits were a fine saneohezia, a coleus, zucca alaefolia variegata, hydrangea Japonica, alba yariegata, a number of fine ferns, and a beautiful specimen of the happy thought geranium, a new plant. Mr H. Connell, in addition t to competing ia several clatsas, had a fine collection of plants on exhibition only, . including three varieties of fuchsias, one of them a very beautiful variegated specimen. He also showed a number of tri-colour geraniums, some excellent ferns, and a variety of other plants. Dr do Lautour, amongst a variety of plants, I

showed some firie well-bibomedj calceolaria^ petunias, and many other plants j j but perhaps the most attractive of his exhibits Was a splendid lot of pansies sent for exhibition only. Mr Ireland snowed some very nice fuchsias and bi' colour and tri-colour geranipms,- his collection greatly 'assisting to make the show complete. Of fruit there '^was* very naturally at this early 'date a email collection. MrJDawson and Mr Hartley each showed some delicious strawberries, while the latter had on show some fine cherries!' -'f Big gooseberries'' were exhibited by Mr Broad and Mr Walsh. There was avery good show of vegetables, the chief exhibitors being Messrs Dawson (gardener to Mr E. Monlove); Heywood, Hartley, Forsyth, James, White, Clydesdale, and Walsh. The judges were— Messrs J. Falconer, J.Kidd,,., Leith (of Ngapara), MTherson (gardener; to, , Mr J". Reid, Elderalie), J. Lewiß (Timaru),tand, . J., Lemon. , Judging , was commenced at 12 I o'clock, and by 2 the doors were thrown, open ' !to public, of .whom a largo number w.ere present during the afternbon. ' >; ' ' ' ''/ I ; > i ■ ii' ' *1 ■ '<( \ I. '.' •'!>' '