DUNEDIN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 6

DUNEDIN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

AUTUMN SHOW. The annual autumn show promoted by the Dunedin Horticultural Society was held in the Art Gallery Hall on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and, favoured as it was by beautiful weather, it attracted large numbers of flower lovers and the public generally. The autumn show is usually regarded as the dahlia and Bweet pea show and, while both of these flowers were very prominent, there were also large quantities of other out flowers present. Vegetables were also quite a feature of the show, and the fine array of mixed flowers was, in addition, one of its chief attractions. The judges of the various sections were as follow:—Pot plants, foliage, plants, cut flowers, other than sweet; peas and dahlias, Mr W. M'Laren; sweet peas, Mr D. Wall; dahlias, Mr T. Scott; decorative and floral, Mrs Butterworth; an<J fruit and vegetables, Mr Youngson. In th© evening Mr Kerr's orchestra was in attendance, and its selections did much to enliven the show. The chief competitions in dahlias were in the cactus and collarette varieties. The former, taken all round, were particularly bright and clean, and were of very even quality, while they were larger in size than usual, Mr J. P. Johnson's being particularly good. Competition was very keen in both the open and amateur sections, and. in the latter class the first and second prize-takers—Messrs W. Dunn and _T, O'Brien —were separated by only one point. The quality generally in the amateur classes was almost as good as in the case of the open section. Good competition also prevailed in collarette dahlias, Mr D. Wall securing first prize for 12 vases of wellgrown flowers, with Mr J. P. Johnson second. Though the latter hadi more novelties in his, collection, the flowers were neither so large nor so attractively staged as those exhibited by Mr Walls. The essential feature of the collarette dahlia, which has increased very much in popularity during recent years, is a distinct difference in colour between the collar and the outer florets. The exhibition of sweet peas was a distinctly creditable one, consisting of many well-grown flowers, and the varieties though, large in size and of good) colour, showed a pleasing absence of monstrosities. Mr G. J. Errington's championship collection of 12 vases made a particularly fine display, and included three novelties which have not been shown here previously—jgxinoess Henry of Battenberg, and Queen's Favourite. This is the second occasion upon which Mr Errington has been awarded the Wall Cup ; which is offered in connecetion with this competition. The amateur section was also well filled, and many of the varieties showed! a great deal of merit. Among the cut flowers Mrs Butterworth showed a very representative and wellgrown collection of flowers, including hydrangeas, carnations, roses, asters, stockß, hollyhock, sweet peas, clarkias, and many other useful annual and perennial garden plants. The competition for collections of hardy cut flowers occupied a table almost the complete length of the hall, and formed quite a feature of the show, some of the most striking varieties, among many others, being liliums, perennial sunflowers, Mont Bretias, agapanthus, and gaillardias. Some nice spikes of gladiolus were exhibited by Mr John White, who still makes a specialty of these one-time popular flowers. Competition was not particularly strong in the decorative sections, but somo nice arrangements of dahlias, asters, begonias, and other popular flowers, which were set off to advantage in baskets, bowls, and epergnes were seen. The winning bowl of dahlias staged by Mrs E. A. Hamel, contained some beautiful peony dahlias of great size and attractiveness. In the table decorations Mrs W. M. Hogg's exhibit wag greatly admired for its tasteful and artisticarrangement of lavender, sweet peas, autumn tinted St. John's wort, maiden-hair fern, and smilax. This was a very delicate piece of work, and was cleverly conceived and carried out with great skill. There was almost a total absence of competition in pot plants, the most notable feature of this section being a gigantio specimen of asparagus, with stems 15ft long, which was exhibited by Mrs Paulin, sen. The vegetables provided! a very strong section, which attracted a great deal of favourable attention. In the class for a collection of nine species, Mr K. Morrison staged a well set up and representative selection, the main features of which were the onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots, and French beans. In the amateur section for six varieties, the first prize went to Mr J. R. Oliver, who adopted a novel method of exhibiting his vegetables by placing them on a ground-work of natural turf. The specimens included really good varieties of onions, carrots, cabbages, marrows, potatoes, and beans. Competition hi the other classes was also very good, the carrota, tomatoes, and peas being quite a feature. .... * Mr J. Fleming placed on exhibition a table of cut flowers, which included some varieties of collarette dahlias not seen elsewhere in the show. His_ collection also included some cactus dahlias, sweet peas, polyanthus, roses, and Himalayan fairygrass. Mr J. Beadle showed a small ool» lection of potatoes that had been grown from cuttings and an aura turn lily, with a faciated stem, upon which no fewer than 35 flowers had grown was exhibited by Mrs Holland. The City Corporation had its usual exhibit of pot plants forward, and these did much to add to the general appearance of the hall.