n 



AKKALS OF HORTICULTURE. 



different firms, commissions and individuals, many of them 

 collective. The accompanying diagram shows the floor-plan 

 of the dome and floricultural curtains, the shaded portions 

 representing the beds of plants. The circular space in the cen- 

 ter was occupied by an artificial mound under the dome ; and 

 the beds about it numbered 8, 9 and 10 in the floor-plan on 

 page 71, were level floor-groups of palms and other bold plants. 

 The most conspicuous feature of the interior of the building 

 was this mound, and the effect of the plants massed upon its 

 flanks and summit at once arrested attention. The framework 

 of the elevation, which w as designed to represent a mountain, 

 was a rough board scaffolding, beneath which was a crystal 

 cave belonging to a private person, or concessionaire. The 

 cave itself was sufficiently out of place in a horticultural build- 

 ing, and the exterior of it, painted red, was but scantily cov- 

 ered by the unhappy plants which were perched upon it. The 

 elevation in no way suggested a mountain and did not fail 

 to leave an unpleasant impression upon the mind of the criti- 

 cal visitor. There had been some attempt to construct rocks 

 at intervals on this structure, of painted canvas and other mate- 

 rial, but the observer was never deceived as to their charac- 

 ter. This pile rose to the height of seventy feet, and the 

 different steps and platforms were occupied by a heterogeneous 

 mixture of plants, among which w r ere boxes of cannas, a good 

 variety of palms, and a crown of ficuses. In order to cover 

 the bare walls, evergreens were cut and adjusted to the vacant 

 spaces, and some of these, dead and brown, were still in place 

 at midsummer. The structure remained full of ugly gaps 

 until near the close of the Fair, and the whole object was a 

 most unhappy and crest-fallen spectacle. But, wholly aside 

 from the poor condition of the decoration, its design was with- 

 out purpose and was bad ; it accomplished nothing more than 

 a rude rilling of the space ; it represented no mountain vegeta- 

 tion, nor the flora of any land, nor had it any artistic value. 

 The base of this structure was greatly relieved by excellent col- 

 lections of palms, but these became yellow and sickly in sum- 

 mer, probably from the too intense light of the unscreened glass 

 and the great height of the roof. 



The group on the north of the dome, marked 8 in the 

 plan, was contributed by the State of New York, in which 

 important exhibitors were the Jay Gould estate, Julius Roehrs 

 and Prospect Park. The collection was under the charge of 

 James Dean, of Bay Bidge. Perhaps the most conspicuous 

 plants in the group, which contained many fine specimens, were 

 Ravenala Madagascariensis or Traveler's Tree, Seaforthia elegans, 

 Pandanus utilis, Areca lutescens, and Arenga Bonnettii, from the 



