Foreign JVotices. — England. 339 



gardens were already filled with the beautiful olijects that were after- 

 wards to attract, within their sphere, an eager and mighty crowd. 



"As the day drew on, however, water carts were seen plying at an 

 unusually early hour; mounted and foot police began to gather; car- 

 riage after carriage slowly dropped into line; caravans of soldiers, 

 with their musical instruments, passed within the garden gates; and 

 by one o'clock there was a crowd. From that hour, until seven in 

 the evening, the arrival of visitors was incessant. The three gates of 

 admission were choked up; the greens, the lanes, the roads, and eve- 

 ry field that had an authorized inlet, became crammed with horses 

 and all sorts of carriages; and at last 13,582 visitors passed into the 

 gardens, beneath a sun whose rays struck 100° upon even the least 

 crowded spaces within the walls, and must, when there was much re- 

 flection, have beaten even more fiercely than that. By nine o'clock 

 in the evening the whole had disappeared like a vision: flowers, vis- 

 itors, carriages, horses, and servants innumerable, were gone; and 

 it might have been doubted whether any thing unusual had occurred, 

 if witness to the scene had not been borne by the publicans' cellars, 

 which were as dry as the high road: for as to ale, porter, gingev 

 beer, soda water, or such other drinkables as coachiucn and their 

 friends delight in, it became useless to ask for them, and some per- 

 sons doubted whether the pumps would continue to do their duty." 



As regards the exhibition, it is said the Orchidaceas alone would 

 have rewarded the visitor for the dust and fatigue and annoyance in- 

 separable from the crowd in the hottest of hot weather. The num- 

 ber of exhibitors was large, and a hundred and twenty medals were 

 awarded. 



The heaths at the exhibition were the "cynosure of all eyes," and 

 from the account, must have been truly splendid. Next to these 

 the cacti were the most admired group. The rose, too, though ra- 

 ther early for a full bloom, contributed not a little to the display; and 

 last came the pelargonium, whose superb flowers found thousands of 

 admirers in the new and greatly improved varieties which have been 

 recently produced — the whole forming a display such as could no 

 where else have been seen, and affording full evidence of the hi^h 

 state of excellence to which our transatlantic friends have attained in 

 the art of gardening. 



"Notwithstanding the oppressive heat of the atmosphere, and the 

 continued drought which had been experienced for some time previ- 

 ously, roljbing the lawns alike of their verdant tint and their luxuri- 

 ous coolness, there was an imn)ense concourse of spectators to tiiis, 

 the most fashionable of the summer shows. And although tiie exlii- 

 bition was not, on the whole, so striking and gorgeous as that of the 

 J4th nit., owing to the al)sence of those rich and inimitable masses 

 of azaleas which were then present, it was, considered in itself, ex- 

 tremely excellent, and, in some of its features, surpassing that just 

 referred to. At the May fete, we were called to notice the dearth, 

 as well as comparative inferiority, of the heaths. Now they may, 

 beyond doubt, be assigned the chief [)lace in our record. The iieau- 

 tv and vigor of the specimen.-!, with the abundant manner in which 

 they were blooming, called forth well merited commendations. Of 

 praise, too much can hardly be given; while many, who find it haril 



