HAMILTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 19, 10 May 1911, Page 41

HAMILTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The Autumn Show of the Hamilton Horticultural Society was held in tha Town Hail recently. After the lons dry summer, when the effects of the .1 ought •were felt so severely, one wondered where the flowers could be found to form a floral display. It was therefore, an agreeable surprise to find the Town Hall comfortably filled with exhibits of various kinds, making quite a brave show of bright colour. Most of the prizes in the chrysanthemum and dahlia classes were taken by Mr. Simpson, with soma very fine blooms, while Mr. Buckland Bent some very fine paeony dahlias from Cambridge, for exhibition only. The pot plants were particularly fine this year, and looked well in their long stand in the centre of the hall. A lovely” “para” fern was greatly admired. The prize for 12 varieties of cut flowers fell to Mrs. Biggs for an exhibit which would have graved any big city ehow. Bouvardias, celosia, b gonias, sunflowers, and African daisies are a few we remember out of a remarkable collection. As usual the floral decoration sections were well filled, particularly the decorated tables. These were divided into two classes, one to be dong in tbo Society’s vases of clear glass, the other in silver or what one liked. Mrs. W. Hunter took first prize in both classes, with most tasteful arrangements of dark red cactus dahlias combined with yellow ones, and mina lobata in one case, and pale pink chrysanthemums with grasses and ferns, and two nearly black cactus dahlias in the other. The second prize table by Miss Frances Jolly wah very dainty and effective in scarlet salvia and abutilons. We were sorry not to see the children’s classes better filled, a result no doubt of the difficulty of getting away from their schools at the time stipulated for supervision of children’s exhibits. Would it not be possible to allow the little ones to do their floral work at their separate schools, under their own teachers? We think it might be practicable, or at any rate worth a trial.