JULY. 
205 
besides the many objects in the building necessarily interfere with the 
free passage round the stages ; and from the number of people in the 
palace at one time, the air in the after part of the day becomes 
unpleasantly over-heated for sensitive individuals. On these grounds, 
dividing the Exhibition would be a decided improvement to all parties; 
for we heard complaints from some of the exhibitors, that the petals had 
dropped from their Pelargoniums and Roses by evening through the over¬ 
heated—or let us say deteriorated atmosphere, which of course rendered 
them useless for future display. We may be met with the question—What 
would you do on wet days ? We think, however, even this could be 
managed without much inconvenience by a little judgment in arranging 
the tents. 
Of course we waited to see the grand display of water works, on which so 
much has been said, having only seen them in detail before. To obtain 
what is considered the best view of them, we stationed ourselves on the 
bank beyond the lower basin, having the entire series in view, with 
the Palace as a background. The day was favourable, there being 
scarcely a breath of air to disturb the perpendicular column of water 
thrown up by the large jets, which after rising to an immense height 
descended very gracefully in a flood of silvery spray. The general effect, 
when the entire series came into play, was decidedly imposing and 
grand, and produced the finest spectacle to be seen in Britain. The 
main jets in the lower basins, as well as the secondary ones with the 
beautiful basket-work device encircling them, are as good if not better 
than anything we have seen on the Continent;—however, we are 
of opinion that the small jets which form the base of the column (if I 
may so call it) are neither sufficiently wide nor high to balance the main 
jets when in play; or, in other words, are not proportionate to the 
height of the column of water, and we are not quite sure but that a 
near approach to proportion would be made by increasing the diameter 
of the column by having a wider orifice to the jet; something of course 
would be lost in height, but we think the effect on the whole would be 
more satisfactory, and we decidedly object to the puerile squirts dotted 
over the basins, as detracting from the grandeur of the rest. The wing 
fountains, to the right and left of the msin lower series, and placed on 
higher levels, were very effective from the spot on which we stood, 
particularly the one to the left, nearest the rock garden, which has the 
advantage of a background of trees, against which the water, when lit 
up by the sun, produced a beautiful effect. This brings me to what I 
consider a mistake in the planting of the lower part of the grounds (which 
has been noticed in the Florist before), that between the lower water¬ 
works and the boundary skirting the railway, nothing but evergreen 
trees should have been planted : we would have employed the darkest 
foliaged Conifers—as the Scotch, Silver, and Austrian Pines—our object 
being to form a dense background for the fountains, which would have 
greatly augmented their effect when seen from the Palace. Those who 
have witnessed the display at Versailles, and many of the fountains in 
Italy, backed by dark-foliaged trees, know how far more beautiful water 
appears under such circumstances, than when viewed solely against 
the sky. 
