BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



683 



it will fly up because of the weight falling on it outside 

 the stringer. 



Mailing Catalogues in Bulk. — The society of 

 American Florists showed commendable spirit in their 

 recent convention, in having a committee appointed to 

 press American Gardening's suggestion on the attention 

 of the United States Post Office Department. This 

 committee, consisting of J C. Vaughan, of Chicago ; 

 Patrick O'Mara, of New York ; and J. Horace McFar- 

 land, of Harrisburg, are expected to join a similar com- 

 mittee appointed by the American Nurserymen's Asso- 

 ciation last spring, in drawing up a memorial to be pre- 

 sented to the Postmaster General for submission to 

 Congress, in order to obtain a bulk rate of postage on 

 catalogues similar to that now applying to periodicals. 

 This is a movement that should at once command wide 

 endorsement from thinking people 'Waking up, as 



Horticulture at the World's Fair.— The display of 

 horticultural products promises to be " bewildering in ex- 

 tent." The Horticultural building is 998 feet long, and 

 has an extreme width of 250 feet. Its plan is a central 

 pavilion, with two end pavilions, each connected with it 

 by front and rear curtains, forming two interior courts, 

 each 88 by 270 feet. Surmounting the central pavilion 

 is a beautifully porportioned dome, 187 feet in diameter 

 and 113 feet high. The preparations for the exhibit are 

 already far advanced. Over 500,000 transplanted shrubs 

 and plants, of many species, are now growing in the ex- 

 position grounds, and the number is rapidly increasing. 



The floricultural exhibit will not be concentrated in 

 one place. In the front curtains of the building will ap- 

 pear the greenhouse and hothouse plants — a very large 

 variety, axid many rare and beautiful specimens. There, 

 too, will be a display of orchids numbering high into the 



An Artificial Garden. 



the American people are, to the evils of divesting our 

 territory injuriously of forests, any movement having in 

 view the wider dissemination of instructive catalogues of 

 trees, plants and seeds should meet wi.h all judicious 

 encouragement. The catalogues of nurserymen and 

 florists act as constant spurs toward increased planting, 

 Many a land-owner can trace his act, in converting a 

 farm from a barren, desert-like spot into a well-wooded 

 tract, directly to the influence of catalogues. It should 

 be recognized that horticultural catalogues, as they are 

 issued in America, are almost without exception valuable 

 works of information on planting, and as disseminators 

 of education they, as well as periodicals, are entitled to 

 be carried by the mails in the cheapest and most con- 

 venient form. Numbers of people have imbibed their 

 first lessons in successful tree and seed-planting from 

 catalogues. Their effect on the beauty, healthfulness 

 and comfort of our land is inestimable. By all means let 

 the postage on these planting guides be reduced to one or 

 two cents a pound, and be paid for in bulk, instead 

 of requiring the fixing of stamps upon them separately. 



thousands. Beneath the great dome will be arranged 

 the largest tropical plants obtainable, including Japanese 

 and Chinese bamboos 75 to 80 feet high, palms 30 to 40 

 feet high, and tree-ferns 15 feet or more in height. 

 There will also be a miniature mountain covered with 

 tropical plants. In a cave within will be tried experi- 

 ments of growing plants by electric light and of growing 

 them by the aid of electric currents passed through the 

 soil. The " wooded island," or as more properly named, 

 perhaps, the flowery island, will be one of the most 

 beautiful and attractive spots at the exposition. It em- 

 braces between 15 and 16 acres, and has been turned 

 over almost entirely to the horticultural department for 

 its exhibits. There, literally speaking, will be acres 

 and acres of flowers of brightest and most varied hues 

 and pleasing perfume. Little groves of trees, clumps of 

 shrubbery, and sinuous walks will relieve the gorgeous 

 monotony of this floral display. On the north end of 

 the island Japan will build its strange antique temple, 

 and surround it with the choicest plants and flowers of 

 the island realm of the Mikado. 



