696 MONTHLY SUMMARY. 



trauslated to him your letter to me, lie mformed me, that the only 

 vegetables grown in this country are European kinJs, and that the same 

 may be said of fruits, with two or three exceptions, and that the season 

 prevented any native fruits being procured. ^ I have the honour, &c., 



" W. G. Lettsoh, H. 3/ . ConmlrGeneraV^ 



Next to tliese, acknowledgments are specially due to the Com- 

 missioners of the different countries in the International Exhibi- 

 tion of Industry and Art, Thanks to their efForts, the fruits 

 and roots of most of the Continental nations were very fairly 

 represented. Where so many contributed and so liberally, it 

 may appear invidious to particularise individual countries; but 

 the contributions of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark so far 

 exceeded those obtained through the Commissioners of any 

 other foreign nation, that it would be unfair not to mention 

 them specially. The governments of these countries interested 

 themselves in the matter ; hence, no doubt, their superiority. 

 But there were other countries w^here no aid was given by the 

 government, and which yet were scarcely beliind them. Belgium 

 was especially well represented. In this case, it was the Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Namur which was the medium by which 

 such a large collection of fruit from Belgium and its neigh- 

 bourhood was displayed. 



Having given precedence to the strangers, as courtesy requires, 

 it remains to thank the British cultivators for the support they 

 gave to the Exhibition. Their number shows the heartiness and 

 universality of the support which it received. Nearly 1300 

 entries were made; a number unprecedented in the annals of 

 Horticultural Exhibitions. Several of the Exhibitors also were 

 at considerable expense in bringing and exhibiting their collec- 

 tions. Messrs. Barr and Sugden, of Eeading, for example, fitted 

 up a portion of one of the arcades, at their own cost, so as to 

 display their specimens to the best advantage, and every one who 



saw them must bear testimony to the success with which this 

 was done. 



The Awards of the Judges, which follow on p. 730, will to a 

 considerable extent indicate the respective value of the different 

 collections and objects exhibited. Mr. Thomson, the Fruit Super- 

 intendent at Chiswick, has been directed to prepare a critical 

 Eeport upon the Fruit for publication in these j^ages. It will 

 suffice here, therefore, to touch very briefly upon a few of the most 

 striking features in the Exhibition, The Swedish, Norwegian, 



