THE GREYMOUTH HORTICUL TURAL SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1981, 11 December 1874, Page 2

THE GREYMOUTH HORTICUL TURAL SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

The first exhibition for the present season, under the auspices o£ the G-rey-month Horticultural Society, took place in the Volunteer Hall » yesterday. Although in some respects the show of flowers and vegetables was hardly up to that of ,]ast January, the {facts that the Exhibition took place rather early in the season, and that the weather during the Spring months has been unfavorable to the early development of garden produce, i-i • i.l-1. "yj-^v :. slight falling-off which might be noticed. ±suV ;atw u | ~._ Exhibition on its merits, it was one of which Greymouth might well be proud ; indeed, it is not too much to say that it equalled anything of the kind for its necessarily limited scope that we have seen in places much more advanced in garden culture than Greymouth. . We desire to poiut oat one drawback to the complete success of this Exhibition, and that is the paltry and wretchedlylighted room in which the specimens were placed. Lighted only from one side, with no vertical light of any kind, and the general "stuffiness" of the building which constitutes the only room for public resort in Greymouth, it is about as unfavorable a place for an Exhibition, such as that of yesterday as could well be imagined. In quancity alone, the display of yesterday could have effectively occupied double the space, whilst as the light was only cast obliquely, many of the beauties of the most valuable and attractive plants were almost lost to view. It is high time that the people of this town put their shoulders to the wheel with their accustomed vigor to provide the town with a Public Hall worthy of the name, in the stead of the wretched "penny gaff" of a room which has to do duty for every public performance or exhibition. That the inhabitants cannot go to a concert, a theatrical performance, or a flower sfiow without suffering the inconveniences of want of space and ventilation by assembling in a building that has no pretensions of any kind to comfort or decent accommodation — to say nothing J of the tin kettle, which is supposed to be a piano, is a reproach to this community, and we hope that an effort will be speedily made to provide a proper house for the Muses. We propose to notice the Exhibition in the order of its classes, premising that the examples of each were all ex.- i cellent.

Class A : Pot plants— was very liberally represented, chiefly from the conservatories of W. S. and George Smith and Mr Barker, which gentlemen have devoted •themselves with creditable zeal to this branch of floral culture. Mr W. S. Smith, as usual, may be accorded the palm for the display of greenhouse plants, both for flowers and foliage, although the exhibits of his brother, Mr Hardy, and Mr Barker were, in their several examples, of a high class character. The show offuaoliins wn.« .wna]l....and.not.im_to the mark, in fact the season, is hardly adt vanced enough for this class of plants; bnt those shown were rather straggling in appearance, infirm in bloom, and generally inferior. In ornamental foliage the exhibitons were more successful, as also in geraniums and pelargoniums, the | specimens of which were worthy of very i I high approval. We may specially men- | tion amongst the foliage plants the. begonias of Mr Barker and the exhibits of Mr W. S. Smith. Mr Barker showed some rare and beautiful specimens of great excellence.- The show of geraniums, pelargoniums, and calceolarias was quite equal to anything we have seen, most of them showing the result of great care and attention. The blooms were vigorous, and the advantage of checking the rednndancy of wood and spreading out the flowering stems was strikingly illustrated by some of Mr W. S. Smith's exhibits. We noticed an old favorite amongst the pelargoniums shown by Mr W. S. Smith, which it appears has come again to the fore after many years of oblivion — we refer to a beautiful pelargonium with a crimped edge, not named apparently, but which

the writer has a distinct recollection was some twenty odd years ago known as "Madame Lamoriciere," and had several companions of a similar character named after French celebrities. It is not a perfect flower, but very handsome, and will no doubt aoon again come into public favor. The calceolarias were as good as they could be, and the same may be said of the few samples of pot- grown roses. The native plants in boxes were also interesting. Class B : Out Blooms— brought a good mauy competitors, and the show was good in every way, the roses especially. Rose culture should become a specialite in Greymouth, as*the soil and climate appear to be very favorable to the production of well matured and good colored blooms. The exhibits yesterday reminded us of the story that when the Shah, of Persia was recently in England he was amazed that the roses of Europe far exceeded those of the land where the bulbul sings in the rose grooves, . and which is poetically considered to be-#&e place of all others for this fragrant flower. -There were samples of somes of the best known roses, and not least amongst them were some seedling roses, grpwn by Mr Barker, and baptised yesterdny by the Judges. We noticed some splendid specimens of the antirrhinum — a plant, which carefully disposed, can be made to give great effect to any garden. It grows in almost every color, and is easily propagated by cuttings, which is the best way to preserve good distinctive colors. In boquets, both. for the table and the. hand, the exhibits were very creditable,' the table boquet by Miss Elmer being especially noticeable for tasteful grouping and arrangement of color. The, hand boquets by girls under 14 years of age, showed an amount of artistic conception exceedingly creditable to the youthful contributora. We did not notice anything specially worthy of mention in bulbs, the season for them is as yet early, and we could not expect much of a show. Class C : Fruits— was well represented. The cherries, gooseberries, currants, and strawberries were all good, and showed what can be done in this part of the

Colony. The strawberry grows so well on this Coast, that we wonder our amateur gardeners do not go in more for the! highflavored if less prolific kinds, of which the delicious Malakoff, Black Prince, Keen's Seedling and others are examples. The strawberries usually gro »n here arvs of too full habit, and although wonderfully productive, sacrifice quality to quantity. ; Class D. : Vegetables — The collection was in every sense first class in every branch. Indeed it could not be excelled The awards made by the Judges were fairly made, although it may be incidentally mentioned that a basket of vegetables shown by Mr John Kerr, which did not take a prize, contained samples of peas and rhubarb that, if shown separately, would have certainly received dia'cinction. Johu Chinaman took the prize for market garden produce, but the productions of his uncommercial w}iite rivals puffered nothing by comparison. The potatoes were A l— in fact, all the vegetables were geod, and there must have been some difficulty in giving the prizes. A special i-w^"»J«r-iruit, given by J. Hamilton and, I Co., was J —_jvf-_ "Barker Special prizes were also .feiven by Mr czrryvvho gave two vases, and Mr Duncan M'Lftan, the latter of whom must! have been exceedingly liberal indeed if the display of boxes of tea r and other articles which we noticed constituted his prize, and by Messrs W; S. Smith and J. Hamilton. The prize list will be found below, and we conclude by saying- that the Exhibition was a great success, and hoping that the Greymouth Horticultural Society may go on and prosper. PRIZE LIST. Class A.— Pot Plants. Greenhouse Plants, in or out of flower- - First prize, W. S. Smith; second do, G. S. Smith. : Ornamental Foliage— First prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, G. S. Smith. GSraniums, single— jtf'irst prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, G. S, Smith. . . Genaniums, double— First prize, W. S. Smith; seeoud do, W. S. Smith. Geraniums, tricolor— Firat prize, C. A. C. Hardy; second do, W. S. Smith; special do, 0. A. C. Hardy. Geraniums, bicolor— First prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, G. S. Smith. Pelargonium — First prize, W. S. Smith. Pelargoniums — First prize, W~. S. Smith; second do, G. S. Smith. Perlargoniuras, fancy— First prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, 0. A. 0. Hardy. ; Fuschias, single— First prize, W S. Smith ; second do, G. S. Smith. Fuschias, double— First prize, W. S. Smith. ; Petunias, single — No competition. • Petunias, double— First prize, G. S. Smith. ■ ( alceolarias — First prize, 0. A. 0. Hardy; second do, W. S. Smith. Roses— First prize, 0. A. C. Eardy. Best Trained Climber— First prize, 6. S. Smith ; second do, W. S. Smith..

Seedling Fiischia, grown by exhibitor— ft p competition. ....-.' Seedling Pelargonium— First prize, Barker ; second do, Barker. Seedling Geranium - First prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, Barker. Window grown Fuschia— No, competition. Window grown Pelargonranv-rFirst prize, .Nelly Brown. Window grown Geranium— First prize, Nelly Brown. .. New, Efandsome, or Rare Plant— First prize, Barker ; second do, W. 8. Smith. iStaud of Plants— First prize, W. S Smith; second do, G-. S. Smith. .■ .. / Stand of Plants, six, various —First rwi^o,V: A. C. Hardy f second' do> G. S. Smith. Beat "ollecbioa of Native Plants, in pots or boxes, by boys under 18— Firsb prize, G. W. Smith. . Class B— Cot Blooms. Antirrhiniums — first prize, Godfrey; second do, John Orr. : Verbenas— first prize, Elmer. Bulbs— first prizra, W. S. Smith. Roses (4)— first prize, T. Kenrick ; second do, John Orr. Roses (6)— first prize, W. S, Smith ; second do, John Orr. ; Cut Blooms— second prize, W. S. Smith. Collection do— first prize, W. S. Smith ; second do, W. H. Revell. Sweet. Williams— first prize, Godfrey ; I second do, John Orr. | Table Bouquet— firsb prize, Miss Elmer; second do, W. S. Smith. Hand do— first prize, Mrs W. S. Smith. ;.. Special Prizes— Hand Bouquet arranged by girls uuder 14 years— first prize, Miss Margaret Elmer ; second do, Miss Lizzie Smith ; third do, Miss Edith Elmer ; fourth do, Misa Saidee Smith ; special to Misses. Picebe Smith, Annie Smith, Annie Moss, and Annie. Holliday. . _ . . Cut Blooms, speoial prize— James Barkley. Hose Seedlings (2) wpeoial prize— Exhibited

by Mr Barker, and named respectively Mrs Barker and Mrs Broadbent. Class C— Fit t its. Cherrie3 - First prize, Mr Barker ; second do, Mrs Masters. Strawberries — First prize, Mr Major j second do, Mr Barker. Gooseberries— First W. H. Revell j second do ; laban Brown. BlackCurrants— Second prize, Mr Godfrey. White or Red Currants— No competition. Ladies Prize Collection of Fruits (five varieties— No competition. Special Prize for Best Collection of Fruit — First prize, Mr Barker. • ■; Strawberries, special prize — Adaai Irving.

Class D.-« Vegetables. Rhubarb— Second prize, John Orr. Broad Beans — No competition. . * Peas— First prize, W. Perkins ; second do, Godfrey. • i Potatoes (round)— First prize, J. Titter; second do, J. Hammond. . ; Potatoes (kidney) — First prize, John Arnotfc. . Brocoli— No competition. : Cauliflower— Firsb prize, J. Orr ; second do, 0. A. C. Hardy. Cabbages— First prize, R. W. Rugg ; second^o, C. A. C. Hardy. Turnips— First prize, F. Gleeson ; second do, Rey. D. MSNicholl. Oarrbts — First prize,. F. Elmer. Lettuce— First prize, C. A. C. Hardy ; second do, J. Orr. . • . . Onions — First prize, Godfrey ; second do, Labari ; Brown. ; Celery -Second prize, C. : A»' C. Hardy. Blood Beet— No Competipn. ';' ;' Silver Beet— No competibri. Radish— Second prize, C. A. 0. Hardy. Collection of Pot Herbs-First Prize, G. A. C. Hardy. . Special Prize for Vegetables, pair of handsome vases— W. S. Smith.

Special Prize for greatest prize taken in Class D., box of tea— C. A. C. Hardy. Market Gardeners only, Basket of Vegetables—rFirsb prize, Ah Kong. -Challenge Cup, Basket of Vegetables — First prize, John Orr; second do, G. S. Smith. . i Best kept Cottage Garden^ worked only by competitors without professional assistance—First prize, C. A. C. Hardy; second do, F. Elmer. Cucumbers— No competition. '■'''■' .. Points for Mr M 'Lean's Prize — C. A. C. Hardy, 17 ; John Orr, 10 ; F. Elmer 5.

For remainder of News see Ath page.

N