April 19, 1883.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 315 
for similar objects, nor is there much hope of the nation becoming 
“ educated ” sufficiently to acquiesce in such a disposition of the 
public funds ; and there are also invariably special donors, including 
the King and Queen, who provide liberally in a few classes. Under 
these circumstances it is not surprising that imposing schedules are 
arranged, that of the present Show containing nearly three hundred 
classes, nor that the number and value of the medals amount to a 
somewhat formidable total, though it must be admitted that the sum 
appears greater as represented in francs of lOtZ. each than it would 
in pounds sterling. Nearly nine hundred medals are enumerated in 
the schedule of the present Exhibition, of which about 130 are gold, 
the aggregate value of the latter being 17,000 francs. Objects of art 
are also provided in two classes, and we observe one money prize of 
five hundred francs offered by the Federation of Belgian Horticultural 
Societies. The six silver cups, too, offered by Mr. Bull add mate¬ 
rially to the prize list, so that altogether the aggregate value of the 
prizes offered on the present occasion amounts to 30,000 francs. This 
sum, however, was not all disbursed, for it would have been little 
short of a miracle had there been competition in every class of a 
schedule so comprehensive. Such, then, is the provision made for 
the eleventh Quinquennial Exhibition of the Royal Horticultural 
Society of Ghent. 
Before recording the results we may not unfittingly glance at the 
character of these shows. As has been stated on previous occasions, 
Belgian exhibitions are managed very different from gatherings of 
the same nature in England. They are, in fact, great ceremonial 
floral fetes, in which the military figures prominently, and banquets, 
meetings, receptions, operatic performances, <fcc., appear to form an 
integral part of the proceedings. As entertainers the Belgians excel. 
Thoughtful, hospitable, and affable, they appear to anticipate every 
■want and provide for every taste, while undoubtedly they possess the 
aptitude for making everybody as far as is possible happy. They 
invite all nationalities, and there is no wonder the invitations are so 
freely accepted, as this year they were especially, all the rooms in the 
chief hotels having been engaged for weeks before the Show. They 
manage, too, to find occupation, honorary and congenial, for the 
greatest possible number of visitors, and thus identify them with 
their work. In the work of prize-adjudication, for instance, what 
would be done in England by ten judges is in Belgium allocated to a 
hundred jurymen, divided into groups, and each having its foreman or 
president. On the present occasion the jurors numbered 128, invited 
from Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Russia, Switzerland, and Eng¬ 
land. There were also about forty from Belgium. The English jurors 
numbered twenty—namely, Messrs. Bull, Cannell, Deal, Hogg (Dr.), 
Goldring, Hibberd, Hill, Johnson, Ker, Laing, Masters (Dr.), Moore 
(London), Moore (Glasnevin), Richards, Turner, Yeitch, Warner, 
Williams, Wright, and Wynne, nearly all of whom answered to their 
names at the roll-call. After the delivery of credentials these im¬ 
portant personages begin their work. The plants are placed in 
their allotted positions by the exhibitors on the day preceding the 
Show, and their merits are determined. At noon the next day the 
Show is opened by Royalty, Her Majesty officiating on the present 
occasion on account of slight indisposition of the King. The city 
is en fete, the national flag flying everywhere, and the streets crowded. 
Her Majesty and suite also visited the celebrated nurseries of MM. 
Linden and Yan Houtte. 
The Casino in which the Show is held is a Grand Hall of Harmony, 
the headquarters of a great musical society, and the gardens attached 
are for the use of the members. Thus music and flowers are asso¬ 
ciated, not in name only and in a casual manner, for the two Societies 
—the Musical and Royal Agri-Horticultural—are amalgamated, form¬ 
ing one grand organisation; and herein is the secret of the great 
number of supporters of the Society under which the present Show is 
held. Great flower shows, then, ought to be provided, especially as 
they only come once in five years, in what might be termed the chief 
horticultural province in Europe. Great the present Show undoubt¬ 
edly is, and it represents in a striking manner the remarkable horti¬ 
cultural resources of the province in which it is held. Except a fine 
bank of Cyclamens from Mr. B. S. Williams, a small typical group of 
hybrid greenhouse Rhododendrons from Messrs. Yeitch, a bright 
contribution from Mr. Cannell, and bouquets from Mr. Brown, Rich¬ 
mond, nothing came from England as on the occasion of the last 
Exhibition in 1878. But it is clear the Belgians can make an exhi¬ 
bition of their own at once great, bright, and beautiful. Messrs. 
Foster & Pearson were also successful exhibitors, but not of plants. 
The plants are arranged in a series of buildings, the principal hall 
being about 250 feet long by 100 feet wide, flights of steps on one 
side leading to a platform entrance to other rooms. From this plat¬ 
form the effect of the grand masses of Azaleas, relieved by stately 
Palms—some in groups at the sides, the leaves reaching to the roof 
25 feet above, others on separate pedestals, so as to show the characters 
of the plants to advantage. Tree Ferns, also isolated, tower above 
rich masses of flowers, amongst the brightest of which are Imanto- 
phyllums; while highly coloured Crotons and bright fine-foliaged 
plants, stately Yuccas, sturdy and chastely marked Bromeliads, and 
noble C.ycads impart a diversified character to the richly furnished 
hall. No formal report of the Exhibition will be attempted, but only 
the character of the collections with a selection of varieties of special 
merit in some of the classes can be briefly particularised. For twenty 
new plants in or out of flower the gold medal was awarded to M. Van 
Houtte. One of the most striking plants in the group is Pritchardia 
grandis vera—not Licuala grandis—under which name, it appears, 
many plants of so-called grand Pritchardias have been grown. The 
true form is highly distinct, very beautiful, and when it attains 
size will be majestic. M. Yan Houtte also stages the new hardy 
Palm Washingtonia robusta, for which a medal as such is given in 
another class. Alocasia Van Houttei has noble leaves, Nepenthes 
Mastersi fine richly coloured pitchers ; Aralia Kerchovei is a stately 
plant with leaflets 6 inches long, an inch wide, and deeply toothed ; 
A. regina, with the slender leaves and dark colour of A. Uhabrieri, is 
extremely elegant; and Selaginella grandis is no doubt the grandest 
of the genus. M. Auguste Yan Geert worthily wins the silver-gilt 
medal in the same class with several plants the same as those enume¬ 
rated, including the Pritchardia, and the addition of Messrs. Veitch’s 
new plant Leea amabilis, the most striking new fine-foliaged plant 
in the Show. 
A gold medal was granted to M. Yan Houtte for a new plant 
introduced by the exhibitor. This plant is named Attacia palmatifida. 
It has palmate green leaves an inch in diameter and deeply lobed, 
the stems being 18 inches high, and in character somewhat resembles 
an Amorphophallus. The medal for a new flowering plant raised 
from seed is awarded to M. Rosseel for a beautiful Imantophyllum. 
Messrs. Van Houtte and M. Auguste Van Geert won Mr. Bull’s 
fifteen-guinea and ten-guinea cups in the order named. M. Yan 
Houtte staged a grand specimen of Dracaena Lindeni, Licuala 
grandis, Anthurium splendidum, the first time it has been staged. 
It has dark green much-corrugated foliage, and gives promise of 
making a stately and imposing plant. Pothos aureo-maculata we 
never saw so good; for covering walls in stoves it is admirably 
adapted, and grows with great freedom. Heliconia aureo-vittata is 
also in beautiful condition, and Dracaena venosa (it ought to have 
been maculata), appears very distinct by yellowish irregular blotches 
on a green ground. M. Van Geert has similar plants, with the 
addition of the highly distinct Asplenium-like Fern Alsophila 
Rebeccas and Kasmpferi Gilberti, a dark green white-margined- 
leaved plant like a small Funkia. The Compagnie Continentale 
d’Horticulture exhibits a remarkable group of new plants not for com¬ 
petition, of which Massangea hieroglyphica is one of the most stately, 
the leaves, 4 feet long and 3 inches wide, being clearly marbled with 
cream on a bronze-green ground. Aralia gemma is extremely 
graceful, with leaves a foot long, with much-divided leaflets, the 
terminal an inch wide, ovate, and deeply toothed. Vriesia bellula is 
a very dwarf free-flowering plant, the sheaths being coral-red at 
the base, greenish-white above, and the spikes only 6 inches high. 
Amorphophallus Lacouri has its divided green leaves as if blotched 
with whitewash, Tillandsia fenestralis is distinct, and Echeveria 
decora variegata lias large leaves half cream and half green. For this 
group the great gold medal was awarded. 
ORCHIDS. 
These from an English point of view was the weak point in the 
Exhibition. In the gallery a novel idea was adopted representing 
an old tree with its branches shortened to lengths of 3 or 4 feet, at 
the end of each an Orchid being fixed with moss. Some two dozen 
of these had a decidedly pretty effect, and an improvement on the 
idea might result in something very effective. In the classes there 
appeared to be good competition, several groups being staged, but 
the plants generally are small and lacking in that depth of colour 
of foliage and general vigour we are accustomed to see at home. 
One group especially contains good Dendrobiums, and we observed 
fairly good spikes of such Odontoglossums as Alexandra, gloriosum, 
and triumphans, a good plant of Cymbidium Lowianum, very fine 
blooms of Cypripedium Laurenceanum, and a few good Phalrenopses. 
Orchids are evidently increasing in numbers in Belgium, and doubt¬ 
less there will be a great display at the next great Show in 1888. 
MM. Vervaetet Cie. are the gold medalists for Orchids ; M. Vuylsteke 
stages a well-flowered group of Odontoglossum Alexandras, perhaps 
the best grown plants in the Show, even if they are small. M. Dalliere 
secures the gold medal for Nepenthes with small plants. 
PALMS. 
No plants are more extensively grown in Belgium than Palms, 
hence we find eleven classes for them and seven gold medals. The 
plants staged are truly magnificent both as regards size and quality. 
Perhaps the king of the collection is a marvellous specimen of 
Ceroxylon andicola (the Wax Palm) in the great collection of M. 
Ghellinck de Walle of Azalea renown. This Palm is considei'ed the 
finest cultivated example of its kind in the world, some twenty beauti¬ 
fully arched leaves averaging about 20 feet long. Amongst single 
Palms, elevated on pedestals, remarkable for development, Corypha 
australis, from M. D’Haene, has a spread of 20 feet, and wins the chief 
prize ; Phoenix reclinata, a grand example 15 feet across, Astrocaryum 
rostratum, 10 feet high, bearing clusters of shielded fruits as shown on 
page 573 last vol.; Pritchardia macrocarpa is splendidly represented 
by a handsome specimen of this noble Palm. In the amateurs’ class 
of twenty-five plants M. Ghellinck de Walle exhibits such a group 
as can only be seen in Belgium, the specimens being not more remark¬ 
able for their size than their splendid condition. Besides the grand 
Ceroxylon above mentioned, Sabal Blackburniana, Livistonia australis, 
and various Chamrerops, Areca Baueri, &c., are of noble propor¬ 
tions. Noticeable also are grand examples of Livingstonia Hoogen- 
dorphi, Cocos Bonneti (fine for a pedestal), Latania rubra, Livistonia 
