DUNEDIN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. THE SUMMER SHOW.

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 10

DUNEDIN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. THE SUMMER SHOW.

The Dunedin Horticultural Society opened a. most successful summer show in the Garrison Hall on Wednesday. Notwithstanding the fact that the. weather during the present month has been very unfavourable from tho horticulturist's point of view, the entry list showed a substantial increase, and there was very close competition in some of the rose classes. Unfortunately tho fixture was rather late for some of the exhibitors, and many choice roses were rather aged, but. generally speaking, the flowers were in good condition, and a show date cannot suit everyone. Tho arrangement of the tables was excellent, and the very best decorative effect was secured. Some entries were made on the morning of tho show, but this is rather late, and it is to be hoped the society will insist on entries being received prior to show date. During the evening the show was very well patronised, but the attendance showed a regrettable falling off from that of last year. The, society, ! however, id to be highly congratulated on the very fine quality of the exhibits, taken as a whole. The champion competition in roses attracted very great attention and some keen rivalry. Tho premiership for single blooms was really divided into two sections — one for the premier tea or noisette rose, and one for the premier hybrid perpetual. The premier tea rose was discovered in a superb specimen of the Mrs Edward Mawley variety, shown by Mr A. Crooke. This was a really magnificent bloom and a perfect one of its type. It was regarded by the judg-e as really the champion rose of the show. It may be remarked that the championship at the National Rose Society's show in England 1 was awarded to a bloom of this variety. The premier hybrid perpetual was a beautiful Marquis Litta, shown by Mr H. Clarke, as gardener for Mr R. Glendining.. This was a, lovely specimen, very large, and of beautiful form and tinting, and it was included in the champion collection. The great contest, of course, was in the classes for 36 roses, named varieties, and 12 roses h.p., these being tho championship classes. Mr R. Glendining carried off the first award in both. In the class for 36 roses, besido the premier h.p., there was a lovely sulphur yellow Medea, a beautiful bloom of the sweet-scented La France, a very handsome red Mrs Havry Turner, a good Mamon Cochet, a rather undersized but very riehlycoioured Charles Lefebvra, and a good specimen of the fancy Antoine Ravoria. Mr J. M'Laren, of Oamaru, was second with a very fine stand including" some remarkably good blooms, but they were just a little too old, the season having evidently been earlier in the Oamaru district. This collection was noticeable for a magnificent specimen of Mrs E. Mawley (just going off), a Mildred Grant (a new variety, rafcher too old), and a nice specimen of the Bessie Brown variety; but the best bloom was a General Gallien of quite a new shade, a sort of pink-and-yellow mixture ; and another good blcom was a Mrs W. J. Grant, sometimes called Belle Siebrecht. The third prize lot came from Oamaru, but it was poorly set up, and the flower? had gone off very much. In the class for 12 roses, h.p., Mr R. Glendining' s collection, which was beautifully set up and especially nicely arranged, included a very nice speoiin&n of Liberty, a heautiful Antoine Ravoria, a very good Liberty, and a Marquis Litta of very deep-marbled shade. The second prize collection, shown by Mr J. Hungerford, was noticeable for a beautifully dark and rich specimen of the Sir Robert Stout variety, and a fine snow-white Frau Karl Druschki, which was a lovely bloom, but rather undersized. A Bessie Brown was included, which was past its prime, but an exquieitely-shaped though small A. K. Williams was beautifully fresh. Mr A. Marshall's third prize collection contained a conspicuous bloom of Caroline Testout. Mr R. Glendining secured another first in the class for 24 roses, h.p. The blooms were somewhat undersized, but they were nicely set up. and the colouring was good. Specimens of Duke, of Wellington, Liberty, and. Captain EDayward were conspicuous in this lot. In the class for 12 roses, h.p., four varieties, Mr A. Marshall was first, and his lot contained thiee good Caroline Testout specimens. In the class for six roses in their own foliage Mr Marshall was beaten by Mr J. Hungerford, who had a really magnificent specimen of Sir Robert StoutMr Marshall's blooms were undersized, but included a superb Duke of Wellington. Amongst these collections were 24 roses for exhibition only, shown by Mr W. E. Sargood (G. Harvey, gardener), but they would have appeared better if set out on green moss. The hybrid tea roses were good all I through. In the class for 12 roses, tea or noisette, an exhibitor (Mr A. Millar) was disqualified for including hybrid teas, otherwise his exhibit would have been awarded second place. Mr A. Orooke's collection, which secured the first prize, included the champion Mrs Edward Mawley and a beautiful Empress of Russia. Fine specimens of Lady Roberts and Mamon Gochet were also included. In the amateur j class for three varieties of roses Miss L. Booker was awarded pride of place. She showed three magnificent specimens ot Rosieriste Jacobs. The Rev. E. Ward was successful in tho amateur classes for six roses, h.p., and tix roses, tea or noisette. Amongst the tea roses was a beautifully set-up stand shown by Mr J. H. Seidelin, who had beautiful specimens of August Comte and the climbing Niphetos. Pansies were very few, but the sweet peas were a feature of the show, and th&y could not have been in better condition. The competition in sweet peas was very keen, and Mr E. A. Hainel, gardener for Judge Ward, bad a particularly fine lot forward, securing a fivafc against eight other exhibitors. The collection included splendid specimens of the Black Knight and Prince of Wales varieties. In the class for amateurs, Mise Nina Reid was awarded first for a particularly wellgrown lot. Mr A. Bryan, of Oamaru, took first awards in the annuals, iris, and delphinium classes. In carnations a j?ar-

tioularly beautiful collection was shown by Mr J. Rennie, of Port Chalmers, whose best flowers were some beautiful fancy blooms of the Mrs A. Tuckett variety end a deep red seedling of Uriah Pike. In the open class for collection of 24 varieties of cut flowers the competition was very keen indeed, but the honours were carried off by Mr W. Hitchcock, who showed some very fine Malmaison carnations, a beautiful specimen of Ventricocsa, and nice roses, heliotrope, spirea, iris, columbine, and gladioli. Mr J. M. Ritchie was second with a good collection containing some beautiful poppies, heliotrope, and roses. For the collection of open-air grown cut flowers Mr J. M'lntyre was awarded first, with some very fine specimens of clematis and a very striking pink Kalmia. In the amateur sections Mr A. Lothian scored in the open-air class and Mrs Kemplin in the other, the latter showing some nice peonies and delphiniums. In the pot plants section those shown by Mr R. Glendining were especially | noticeable. His pelargoniums were very ; beautiful, but the delicate blooms were j rather full and the petals were falling from several of the plants. Amongst the most conspicuous were Clarke's Sun (a pretty pink), Pride of the Valley, Lord Roberts (marked with deep red), Countess of Ranfurly, and Regal Rose. In the amateur class Mr H. F. Passmore carried off the honours, and Mr W. E. Sargood wa9 suc r cessful in the specimen plants class with a remarkably fine bush of zonal pelargonium and. hydragea. Mr R. Glendining carried off the prize for two orchids, and also for gloxinias, while Judge Ward's lilium aratum was awarded a first in its section. In the foliage plants section Mr R. Glendining had it all his own way in ferns with his beautiful adiactums. conspicuous amongst which was an Adiantum plumosum, and the same exhibitor was also awarded second in this section. Mr W. J. Robinson and Mr F. Kemplin were successful in their classes in ferns. Miss Alexander's floral display (a table 12ft by 6ft) was a most beautifully arranged exhibit, and the artistic and decorative effect was v-ery fin-e indeed. The centrepiece was a stand of peony roses, ornamental grasses, foliage and ferns, and there were some fine iris, poppies, and clematis wisely arranged with foliage. In the claps for collection of plants, flowering and foliage, Mr R. Glendining was first with some beautiful begonias, a new variety of asparagus fern from India, a nice hydragea, and a superb Ficus elastica. Miss Alexander was second with a very pretty collection. In another collection Mr R. Glendining' s anthuricum, with its conspicuous scarlet blooms, and a beautiful clerodendron were noticeable. Amongst the- stands for exhibition only were a number of specimens of Leptos pernium Chapmanii, or red flowering maimka, shown by Mr H. M. West, earns nice anemones staged by Mr J. Blair, and a jar of roses by Mr J. Rennie of the Souvenir de Viennot variety. In the decorative section some particularly good work was shown. Mrs Hamel'e bamboo stand in Iceland poppies was one of the features of the section, and the wedding breakfast tables were very beautiful. Miss Mitchell and Miss V. Mitchell were the successful ones in the table" chesses, and Miss Dagger was first for decorative bowl of roses. A particularly beautiful exhibit was Mrs Hamel's bowl of Austrian copper briar and Rosa Regosa. Mrs Hamel was awarded first and Mrs D. Mitchell second for decorated mantelpieces, but these two ladies had the use of the black and gold , mantelpieces in the room, thereby materially adding to the effect, while the other competitors were obliged to do with makeshifts. In the classes for buttonholes and sprays 'the amateur exhibits were rather better than the open ' classes, and the bridal bouquet shown by Miss M. Esther was an especially beautiful design. In the school children's competitions in buttonholes and sprays, the flowers and ferns for which were kindly supplied by Messrs Hovjrden and Moncrieff, A. Youngson, and S. Solomon, the entries were the highest yet received — namely, J52 buttonholes and 36 sprays. The winners in the former were Dorothy Brown and Susie Clothier, and in the latter Marjory Gibbs and Reta M'Eechnie. The fruit and vegetable sections were uniformly good, but the entries were -not very numerous. The judges were : Roses, Mr W. E. Lippiatt (of Auckland) ; pot plants and cut blooms, Messrs G. E. Ward and P. M'Kellar ; fruit and vegetables, Mr J. Chettleburgh ; decorations, Mr A. Marshall.