484 Notes made during a Trip to 



eye, than those at Kew; the lawns were also in the most per- 

 fect keeping. The exhibition of flowers, under tents, although 

 not large, was beautiful, and the specimens very well grown. 

 Allamanda, Ixora, Stephajwtus, Fuchsia, and many others, 

 were in abundance ; the dahlias were exceeding fine, much 

 deeper, rounder, more swelling, than any I have seen here ; 

 indeed, the amateurs there, observed, that they had seldom 

 been surpassed. The show of vegetables was good, not ex- 

 ceeding, however, what I have, of late years, seen raised 

 here, except the autumnal crops of peas, Scymetar and oth- 

 ers ; these were extraordinary. It seems that the mould dis- 

 ease, which prevents our raising late peas, does not exist 

 there. The apples and pears were entirely beneath remark, 

 the best of them would not have been admitted to any exhi- 

 bition here. I had, unfortunately, not time to make any in- 

 quiry whether thi« was from temporary causes, or whether 

 it was usual, but can only remark, that, neither in London 

 or Paris, have I seen any thing nearly so fine as these fruits 

 in this country. The grapes and peaches were not uncom- 

 monly fine, but such as are usually seen in our weekly 

 exhibitions; the nectarines, however, were excellent. The 

 weather was beautiful ; a fine band of music enlivened the 

 scene, and as the price of admission was low, multitudes of 

 happy faces were pouring in, when I was obliged to leave. 

 The collection of greenhouse plants was quite respectable; 

 for lofty specimens they had a domical conservatory, exactly 

 resembling that formerly belonging to the Public Garden, but 

 only about two-thirds the size — there was, however, a wing 

 on each side — and altogether the institution appeared to do 

 great credit to the liberality of the town of Birmingham. 



On my arrival at Paris, I found time to devote an hour to 

 the Winter Garden, in the Champs Elysees. It is an immense, 

 lofty and extensive structure of glass, with large halls or an- 

 tichambers, in which concerts or any great national fetes, 

 or entertainments are given. There seems not to have been 

 any expense spared in getting it up; in the centre is a paral- 

 lelogram, to imitate a lawn, formed of the beautiful vivid 

 lycopodium, common in our greenhouses, — the efiect of this 

 is brilliant. There is an Armicaria imbricdta, about 30 feet 

 high, multitudes of bananas {Musa) in blossom, and fruit, 



