162 THE PLOEAL WOKLD AND GAKDEN GUIDE. 



on tlie stereotyped model were fast wearing out. Strangely too, 

 after the many injurious, ay, ruinous, blunders of the Council of 

 the Horticultural Society, who have contrived to make the Society 

 famous for exhibitions that are mockeries of both science and art, the 

 Council of the Royal Botanic Society, hitherto so spirited and judi- 

 cious, have ruined the shows for this season at the Regent's Park, by 

 the parsimonious schedule in which they invite competitions. It 

 was by parsimony and contempt combined the Kensington Council 

 drove cultivators from their doors, but at Regent's Park suavity 

 prevails as of old ; so long as Mr. Marnock bears rule, no one 

 need fear discourteous treatment, or even the cold politeness of 

 finished red-tapeism. One might suppose the International Exhibi- 

 tion to be the protest of exhibitors against the narrow-mindedness 

 and selfishness of the two principal exhibiting societies in the 

 country ; if it be not so, it is well worth observing that the spirit of 

 exhihitinfj is vot extinct ; horticulture is not languishing ; private 

 collections of immense value abound ; the trade in plants is not the 

 highway to the workhouse ; the public are not yet sated by flower- 

 shows, but have as keen a sense as ever of the beauty of a good dis- 

 play, and are, as ever, liberal in furnishing the means to produce it. 



The large number of foreign cultivators who attended the exhibi- 

 tion and the congress furnishes a peculiar reason for belief in the 

 political and social benefits attending such a gathering. Since 

 international competitions came into fashion, peace and prosperity 

 appear to have had broader and safer foundations in Europe ; cer- 

 tainly the wealth of this country has been increasing in a more rapid 

 ratio than in old times when " foreigner" was synomymous with 

 " enemy," and envy and jealousy occupied a place in the public 

 mind which is now devoted to generous emulation and honourable 

 rivalry. To meet so many continental cultivators at the exhibi- 

 tion enhanced its pleasures immensely — the greetings exchanged 

 may not tend in any way to avert the war that threatens, but we 

 may rest assured they will not promote war, or indeed promote any- 

 thing but good feeling and generosity, and ambition unmixed with 

 acerbity. Let honour be given, then, to the originators of the plan, 

 and the zealous workers who carried it into execution. They at 

 least afibrded the public a new pleasure, so without indulging in 

 ;esthetic speculations, we may heartily thank them for their services 

 both to the general public and to the ranks of practical horticul- 

 turists. 



ZONALE GERANIUMS FOR THE CONSERVATORY. 



S some time has elapsed since I last discoursed on this 

 subject it may not be unseasonable to direct attention 

 to it again, both to report progress and to take note of 

 the prevailing floral fashions. It need not be said that 

 the varieties of zonales are by far too numerous, for 

 every cultivator is aware of that ; but it maybe said and must be 



