November 19, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
439 
'f - O - 
COMING EVENTS 
19 
20 
21 
22 
28 
24 
25 
Th 
F 
S 
SUN 
M 
TU 
w 
Hull, TauntoD, Hamnierfinith, and Aylesbury Shows. 
Sheffield Show (two days). 
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. 
Liverpool Show. 
PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURAL 
EXHIBITION IN 1887. 
E published last week a series of resolutions of 
an important character that were passed at 
an influential meeting of botanists and horti¬ 
culturists, pertaining to a subject in which 
the vast majority of our readers are more or 
less interested. The first resolution is a 
declaration of the desirability of holding an 
International Show and Congress of Horticul¬ 
ture in its widest sense, and indicates an 
appropriate time—the jubilee year of Her Majesty’s succes¬ 
sion to the throne—for carrying out the project. The second 
resolution records what is considered the most advantageous 
site, which is, we presume, that known as the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s Gardens at South Kensington, the pro¬ 
perty of the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, subject 
to a proviso that the rest of the grounds be not incongruously 
occupied at the same time by the Commissioners. The third 
resolution requests the President and Council of the Royal 
Horticultural Society to ascertain the views of the Com¬ 
missioners on the matter, and embodies an assurance that if 
the proposals of the Commissioners are of such a nature as 
to afford reasonable hope that the Show and Congress may 
be carried out in a manner worthy of British horticulture, no 
effort shall be wanting on the part of horticulturists to 
secure the success of the undertaking. 
As to the desire for an exhibition of the nature indicated, 
that has long existed; but the time for holding it has not 
hitherto been declared with sufficient unanimity. The desire 
is now emphasised, the time accepted, and the site approved. 
The year 1887 promises to be historical, and the gardens to 
which millions “know their way” must, or should, be 
utilised during that year if the continuity of public interest 
in them is to be maintained. It is hoped, therefore, that the 
Commissioners will make proposals of an encouraging nature 
that shall be of mutual benefit to themselves as custodians 
of the property, to the great industry of horticulture, and to 
the public, who may derive pleasure and instruction from an 
inspection of the products of the soil in their ornamental and 
useful aspects. 
An idea appears to prevail in the minds of not a few 
excellent but enthusiastic individuals that the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society should undertake the responsibility of a 
work of this kind. This is not practicable. That Society 
was not responsible for the Exhibition of 1866. The respon¬ 
sibility of its success or failure rested with the subscribers to 
and guarantors of the exhibition fund; and so it must be 
again if the much greater project contemplated be carried 
out. The Royal Horticultural Society will undertake the 
practical governance of the proposed undertaking, and will 
leave nothing in its power undone to contribute to its 
success; but we are bound to say it will in a very great 
measure depend on the Commissioners as to whether the 
great Exhibition so much desired can be held on their 
property or not. 
No. 282. -Vox.. XL. Third Seriet. 
We have no doubt whatever that the international re¬ 
sources of horticulture and vegetable products are adequate 
for the maintenance of an exhibition of commanding interest 
over a long period ; but we have never felt that the whole of 
the vast space occupied by the exhibitions of the past three 
years at South Kensington could be satisfactorily furnished 
as a mere flower show, and with other garden produce. The 
meeting of last week appeared to be of the same opinion, 
hence the reference to the occupation of the “rest of the 
grounds ” by the Commissioners. The Exhibition, to be 
successful, must be on a gigantic scale, and much wider in 
its scope, far more varied, interesting, and instructive than 
any mere display of flowers can be, and the whole resources 
of horticulture, forestry, and agriculture must be requi¬ 
sitioned to achieve a success commensurate with that of the 
shows of the past three years. 
We discussed the question of an International Horti¬ 
cultural Show in 1883, and then published what in our 
opinion should be the lines on which such an exhibition 
should be founded. We said then, and repeat now, that it 
should embrace as far as possible the whole products of the 
vegetable kingdom—condensed by a correspondent at the 
time into a “ Vegetable Kingdom Exhibition.” What we 
propose, then, is that there should be an exhibition of 
horticulture, forestry, and vegetable products. The main 
body of the Exhibition would consist of the two latter. In 
forestry we should have not only illustrations of the subject 
as it is practised in this country and the other countries of 
Europe for the supply of timber for commercial purposes, 
but that it should embrace representations of all the woods 
of the natural forests of the United States of America, our 
own colonies, India, China, Japan, and of the governments 
of South America ; specimens of the timber cut and polished, 
and transverse sections of the trees. Living trees of the 
forests of temperate regions might be planted in the open 
grounds of the garden, the seeds and fruits could be shown 
in the galleries along with the woods, and the living plants 
of tropical trees could be shown in a house specially set 
apart for them. Every manufactured product of these trees 
might also be illustrated. 
Then there are the plants cultivated for their fibre— 
Hemp, Flax, Cotton, Jute, China Grass. There might be 
not only illustrations of the plants in all their stages, but 
also of the industrial element. What more interesting than 
to see an Indian at his loom weaving Dacca muslins; the 
various processes for the preparation of cotton from the pod 
to the spinning jenny; the hemp industry ; a rope walk, and 
the making of twine; straw platting, and the employment of 
straw, esparto, and other fibres in the great paper-making 
industry ; food products, such as cereals, and their methods 
of preparation from the mill to the oven ; pulse, and their 
products of herbage and forage ; plants for supplying beve¬ 
rages, and methods of preparation—tea, coffee, cocoa, wines, 
hops, beer ; starch, and its preparation from rice, potatoes, 
wheat, &c; also arrowroot, cornflour, and articles of this 
nature in use by the million, but of their origin and prepara¬ 
tion the million are practically ignorant; plants furnishing 
the materia medica, with specimens of the drugs, and infor¬ 
mation relative to the sources from which they are drawn 
and how obtained; tobacco—the manufacture of cigars in 
operation; sugar, with examples where practicable of prepa¬ 
ration from cane and beetroot; preserves and pickles—the 
various methods of preparing fruits and vegetables could be 
fully represented, and the magnitude of this industry ex¬ 
emplified ; plants cultivated for their uses in the arts— 
caoutchouc, gutta percha, with the manufacture of water¬ 
proofs represented; also plants cultivated for their oils, dyes, 
perfumes, and tanning, with examples of obtaining and 
applying their products. 
This is a hurried outline sketch of our project, but we 
believe it is sufficient to show that it will form a strong and 
sure basis for an exhibition of far-reaching interest and 
No. 1938.— Vol. LXX7IT , Odd Series. 
