HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



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continued to flock into the Garden on the cheap days in August, 

 September, and October. In the latter month took place the 

 most important Show for the practical advancement of that 

 science to which the Horticultural Society is devoted : — the 

 Great International Fruit Show. It has often been observed that 

 when the time is ripe for the development of an idea, it occurs 

 simultaneously to many minds. This seems to have been the case 

 with International congresses or exhibitions of fruit in 1862. At 

 the same time that the Horticultural Society were planning their 

 Great Exhibition of Fruit on the 8th of October, the federated 

 societies of Belgium were convening a similar congress to be 

 held at Namur in September, and an exhibition at Vienna on the 

 4th of October was in hke manner organised by the Austrians. 

 The Horticultural Society exerted itself to assist the Pomological 

 Congress at Namur, and that body in return equally contri- 

 buted to the success of the International Fruit Show at London. 

 This was the first International Horticultural Show held in this 

 country, and consequently many points which should have been 

 attended to may have been overlooked, and it may reasonably 

 be expected that the next meeting of the same kind will greatly 

 excel this Show both in beauty and in importance. But that 

 lies in. the future : so far as the past is concerned only one 

 opinion prevails; the great pageant of the year was the ceremony 

 of the 11th of Jiily, but the great Im-ticuUural event of the year 

 was the October International Fruit Show. This reflected more 

 credit on the Society than all the rest of their undertakings 

 during the year ; it had a more liberal and comprehensive object. 

 That this was thought to be the case by those best qualified to 

 judge, may be inferred from the interest taken in it and support 



