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Our Exhibits at the New York State Fair
Syracuse, N. Y., September 4th to 9th, 1899.
It is a well-known fact that in the past the exhibitions made by our firm at
the various State and County Fairs, held throughout the United States, almost
invariably received the First Prize on the exhibit as a whole, and also on the
separate varieties of Vegetables, Flowers and Seeds entered. It had been several
years since wc entered one of these competitions, "but like the man who
pricked himself to see if he was alive,** we thought it would be a good thing to
make an entry at the New York State Fair, and see if in the time elapsed our
old house had lost on the quality or character of its productions. When this
thought occurred to us, it was late in the season, consequently no special
preparation could be made, and we made use of such things as were at our
command. The flowers were entered under our own name. The Vegetable
Exhibit was intrusted to one of our patrons, Mr. John Howard, a prominent
and representative market gardener, who purchased his seeds from us. The
Exhibit made by him is shown in the accompanying photograph.
In this class there were several entries made by seedsmen from different
sections of the country, and considering the strong competition, we were more
than gratified in having the product of our seeds awarded the First Prize;
and what makes the award more valuable to us is the fact that it was obtained
through so competent a judge as Mr. C. L. Allen, the well-known agriculturist
of Long Island, who was appointed by the society, and who made a most crit-
ical and careful inspection of the points of excellence in each individual
vegetable, this method of judging being the most severe that could be given.
Prizes were awarded as follows : Best Collection of Vegetables, not less than
thirty varieties .not to occupy more than thirty feet of table length), grown
by exhibitor, quality not quantity to count, First Prize, John Howard,
Rochester, N. Y., all grown from seed purchased of James Vick's Sons.
Second Prize, M. Van Allen, Delmar, N. Y.
Mr. Howard was also awarded the following Special First Prizes : Best
five varieties of Celery ; best six stalks of Celery; three largest stalks of Celery;
best five varieties of Summer Radish ; best five varieties of Musk Melon ; best
six Cauliflowers ; best twelve roots of Salsify, white ; best six heads of Endive ;
best five varieties of Carrots.
OUR FLOWER EXHIBIT.
Our display of flowers required much more space than originally allotted to
us, and we were compelled to make several annexes. We were favored with a
number of prizes on the large and varied collection of Dahlias, Gladiolus, Phlox,
Asters, Verbenas, etc., which were greatly admired by the thousands of visitors
in attendance. We have attended many Fairs, and are pleased to say we never
saw a larger or better show of flowers than was exhibited by the many Florists
and amateurs of the State.
Grown fi.^ s£ED ' ,
JAS.VICKS SONS,
V
COLLECTION OF Five of the very best, strong, well-grown, two-year-old, Hardy Clematis,
L E M A T I S Jackmanni, Henryi, Paniculata, Ramona, Madame Edouard Andre
FOR $1.25^— Four of these are illustrated on front cover of Catalogue. For descriptions and single price, see page 45.