362 Tour through Belgium and Part of Trance. 



plants were arriving from all quarters for several days previous 

 to the 15th: on that day the judges decided to whom prizes 

 should be awarded ; after which the plants were all placed on 

 stages erected for the purpose, and, being previously numbered, 

 and catalogues printed of them, every person had an opportu- 

 nity of knowing the names of the plants, and to whom they 

 belonged. After the arrangement was completed, the public 

 were admitted gratis for four days ; a thing worthy of imitation 

 by other societies. The plants most admired were, Telopea 

 speciosissima, Enkianthus quinquefiorus, Clivea nobilis, Onci- 

 dium papilio and luridum, Brass/a caudata, Eriostemon Juxifo- 

 lius, and Doryanthes excelsa, 16 ft. high, in full flower. All 

 these, and many others, were from the collection of M. Meche- 

 lynck of Ghent, who received two gold and one silver medal, 

 which his collection richly deserved. The collection of Sir 

 Henry Oaks, Bart., of Tournay *, deserves particular notice ; 

 and the fine condition in which the plants arrived, from such a 

 distance, does him great credit: the gold medal awarded to 

 strangers was given to him. The collection of M. Reynders of 

 Brussels was very little inferior to the last, but yet so much so 

 as to lose the medal. There were several other medals dis- 

 tributed, amounting in all to fourteen. The distribution was con- 

 ducted with great ceremony, in a sort of amphitheatre in the 

 university ; the admission was by cards, upwards of four thou- 

 sand of which were distributed by members to their friends. 

 The company loudly cheered the different gentlemen, as they 

 stepped forward to receive their medals from the president of the 

 society. Altogether, it was certainly the finest exhibition I have 

 ever seen ; and, taking into consideration the season of the year, 

 and the distance that many of the plants were brought, the fine 

 style in which they were forced surpasses any thing I have ever 

 witnessed in England. The show of the London Horticultural 

 Society, of May 10., was much the best that had ever been ex- 

 hibited there, but still it fell far short of that which I witnessed 

 on the 15th of March at Ghent. There is no country in the 

 world could show against England, if it were not for that aris- 

 tocratic pride which divides society into two classes, and which 

 does not exist on the Continent. At Ghent it was difficult to 

 distinguish the one class from the other ; all seemed of one 

 mind, and, at least for the time, on the same level. Having 

 finished my business I departed on the 18th of March, for 

 Antwerp, highly gratified with the reception I had met with 

 from the inhabitants, during the eight days that I remained in 

 Ghent. 



{To be continued.') 



* According to the Fete Jubikire (reviewed p. 319.), this gentleman sent 

 no fewer than 143 specimens. — Cond. 



