552 Foreign Notices. 



among those few were two or three excellent flowers, and one superlative, 

 named Toisoa d'Or, which was considered by every amateur present to be 

 one of the finest dahlias ever raised, being large, finely cupped, very sym- 

 metrical, high in centre, and color golden orange or buflf; it unanimously 

 obtained the first prize, and I was informed it had been exhibited at several 

 dahlia shows during the season, and always gained the principal prize ; 

 among the continental varieties for 1848, this will be the flower of the sea- 

 son. I must not forget some charming bouquets sent by Madame Vauriet, 

 of Brussels; these consisted of an elegant "Bouquet de Noce," two 

 beautiful "Bouquets de Bal," and three splendid large "Bouquets de 

 Table," all arranged in exquisite taste. 



I now come to the fruit rooms ; here there were upwards of eighty ex- 

 hibitors, among whom were the Due de Brabante, Comte de Fiandres, 

 and Princess Charlotte. I had been led to expect a large collection of 

 fruit ; Flanders has the reputation of being par excellence the land of pears, 

 in it have been raised more and better varieties than in all the rest of Eu- 

 rope put together ; I was not disappointed, for certainly finer specimens, as 

 regarded size and form, it would be difficult to produce. I have, it is true, 

 seen both in England and France as fine single specimens, but here you 

 meet them in almost every collection. That of M. De Bavay, of the Royal 

 Nursery, Vilvorde, contained about two hundred kinds of pears, apples, 

 plums, and peaches. The collection of M. De Rasse, of Tournay, con- 

 tained nearly one hundred kinds of pears, in which were also fine speci- 

 mens ; and in the collection of M. Desbuck, of Louvain, were also some 

 very fine fruit, but he had also several very small, which gave it an uneven 

 appearance. The exhibition from M. Louis, of Heverle, contained very 

 fine and large fruit, more especially of Duchesse d'Angouleme, Doyenne, 

 Beurr^ d'Hiver, Calebasse bosc. Napoleon, Belle de Bruxelles, and Beurr6 

 d'Aremberg pears. In that of M. Millet, of Ixelles, were some very large 

 pears, and some enormous apples. M. Weytz, gardener to the Prince de 

 Ligne, sent a small lot, containing, however, some very fine fruit. La 

 Societe de Pomone d'Antoing also contributed about one hundred varieties ; 

 and M. CoUignon furnished one hundred and fifteen varieties of pears, and 

 the like number of dilTerent apples, some of which were very superior, 

 though not at all equal to those of M. Bavay. M. Rummens had a small 

 but very fine collection of pears and some very large melons, that of M. 

 Joly contained enormous fruit of Duchesse d'Angouleme, Belle de Brux- 

 elles, Beurr^ gris, Calebasse bosc, Bezi de Chaumontel, and Bon Chretien 

 d'Espagne. I also noticed some very handsome pears in that of M. Meys. 

 As it is impossible to name all the finest varieties, I will pass on to the 

 seedling pears and apples exhibited by M. Bivort, of Geest, Saint Remy, 

 in which were Beurre Kennes (Bivort), a very handsome large fruit ; No. 

 2794, very large ; Docteur Capron, No. 2820, Marie Louise Nouvelle 

 (Van Mons), and a splendid fruit numbered 1011. Among the seedling 

 apples the following particularly attracted my attention : — Nos. 3, 7029, 

 7003, bright yellow, 7007, red, and 7023, a beautiful golden red. M. 

 Ouvelx, of Huy, had also a collection of seedling apples, in which were 



