THE FLORAL WORLD 



AND 



GARDEN GUIDE. 



JUNE, 186 6. 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 



[HE originators of the exhibition which attracted thou- 

 sands of persons to Kensington during the ten days 

 from the 22nd to the 31st of May, have every reason to 

 be gratified with the results of the undertaking, and the 

 full appreciation by the public of their intentions and 

 their labours. Though more than three and a half acres of ground 

 had been covered in, it was with some difficulty that room was found 

 for all the plants sent, so liberal were cultivators, and so unanimoua 

 their desire to insure for the project a complete success. There has 

 been a tedious paper war waged for two or three years past on the 

 subject of flower-shows ; one party urging that a picturesque dis- 

 position of subjects should always be aimed at, and another party 

 contending that classification and staging are essential to enable 

 collectors and cultivators to make comparisons of the relative 

 merits of species and varieties. At the great show just concluded 

 something was accomplished for the satisfaction of both these 

 parties, and, indeed, the magnitude of the display rendered it much 

 less difficult to combine classification with picturesque effect than 

 is the case when the managers of a local show have a small tent to 

 deal with. The great sheets of rhododendrons, the glorious groups 

 of palms, tree-ferns, and other plants of giant dimensions, and of 

 various degrees of grace without colour, to relieve the glowing 

 groups of azaleas, pelargoniums, roses, and other showy subjects, 

 made a garden of the tent, as was intended from the first, and yet 

 connoiseurs of particular subjects could easily find their favourites, 

 and could make comparisons of the values of the several varieties. 

 We have tried the continental method and have succeeded ; 

 honour then to those who conceived the plan and did the work, and 

 thereby placed London on a footing of equality with those con- 

 tinental cities which have made themselves famous by international 

 exhibitions combining the highest artistic finish with the moat 

 obvious utility. 



What effect this brilliant affair will have on flower-shows 

 generally remains to be seen. It is quite certain that flower-shows 



VOL. I, — NO. VI. 11 



