184 THE FLORIST. 



whilst the noise of wheels tells very plainly that we are this day 

 likely to have an old-fashioned Chiswick fete attendance. 



Entering then at the gate leading to the Council-room, we take the 

 pathway towards the Conservatory, and pass through fine Rhododen- 

 drons on either hand, loaded with their beautiful blossoms, and in great 

 variety of colour. Here we should linger, but that we know, on so 

 beautiful a day, the tents will be filled to a degree rendering it utterly 

 impossible for us to get a sight of their contents, unless we make the 

 best use of our time, and reach them at once. On emerging from 

 this pathway, we find, since the last meeting, that the Geranium-tent 

 has been removed, and placed parallel with the Conservatory, which 

 alteration we must request our readers to bear in mind, as they 

 accompany us through the other tents, in the same order as on the 

 last occasion. On our entrance, the seedling Pelargoniums immedi- 

 ately catch our eye, contributed by Messrs. Hoyle, Gaines, Whomes, 

 and Beck : we are pleased with the brightness and variety of their 

 colours, and glad to see that great improvement continues to be made 

 in this popular flower, which is very apparent by the contrast be- 

 tween the older and new varieties, as exhibited in the collections 

 which follow in succession the whole length of the tent, and half-way 

 round on the other side, where the Fancy varieties begin, and con- 

 tinue until they reach the point where we entered. With great 

 pleasure we may add, before we leave this part of the exhibition, that 

 the whole formed a mass of beauty highly creditable to the different 

 contributors, and forming a beautiful contrast to that of the May 

 exhibition. Nor must we forget to mention, what we unintentionally 

 omitted to state in our last Number, that the Fancy Pelargoniums 

 exhibited by Mr. Gaines at the last fete at Chiswick, and by Mr. 

 Staines of Regent's Park, were, to use a technical term, as admirably 

 done as on the present occasion. Mr. Ambrose stood first this time ; 

 but where all were so beautiful, let all have their due meed of praise : 

 indeed, we learned that the judges were desirous of giving both the 

 second and third exhibitions in this class second prizes, but were not 

 allowed to do so, from the strictness of the regulations. 



Passing over to tent No. 1 (see our visit in May), we come to 

 the exhibition of new plants ; and among these, perhaps the most 

 striking was Escallonia macrantha, a rosy pink-flowered shrub from 

 Patagonia, and stated to be hardy, from Messrs. Veitch. Then the 

 same growers had a scarlet -flowered Lisianthus, named Pulcher, 

 which we should like to see again ; for the plant exhibited had 

 suffered so much from travelling, that no opinion of its merits could 

 well be formed. The same gentlemen also shewed their Mitraria 

 coccinea, a pretty greenhouse shrub, with scarlet tubular blos- 

 soms, something like those of a Corraea, but inflated in the middle 

 and much larger. Mrs. Lawrence had the beautiful pink-flowered 

 Abelia floribunda, which our readers cannot do wrong in adding to 

 their greenhouse collections. A few other novelties were produced ; 

 but the above were the most remarkable. Continuing along the 

 south side of this tent, we pass several groups of stove and green- 

 house plants, and arrive at an exhibition of tall Cacti, which, being 



