VI.- Vo. 3,10i. 
'.SATUEDAY, AIAA' 3, 1913. 
the GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE 
NOTE OF THE WEEK. 
ns irwfii th© GhGflt 
Quinquennial. 
■ iMprehensive report which we 
i oiir present ifesiie so olearly 
- ”, ^reat horticultural exhibition 
- n held at Ghent during the past 
." I' nillv maintained the traditions 
.!!u!is old Flemish city as one of 
. - ■: »i ntrc^ of com- 
.i;;kulture, not 
Pm gium, but of 
Ample evidence 
i - atiorded that the 
' - ’ the multiferous 
‘ A.-e carried out 
' <i* ^ree of com- 
" ‘ an<l success as to 
' : •- highest honour 
' who were re- 
ror the man- 
t .* this great and 
jnijortant under- 
- Not one of the 
: Tiibers of the 
mal jury with 
.<ad the plea- 
converging when 
■' '* it (dient ex- 
* 'clf as other- 
•fi.in profoundly 
^ ‘^'•'■1 by the com- 
■ ol the success 
A been achieved ; 
' of the British 
uriNfs who on this 
' * made their first 
the Ghent Quin- 
c -'tated that they 
ai?d by the won- 
^autiful colour 
met their eye 
' 7mg the great hall, 
’** T5-*ted by the 
<5 combinations of 
; • 'd foliage that 
‘^eir attention 
their 
so great has been the advance in gardening 
since then that it hardly sufl&ces for the 
fortnightly shows. The question is a diffi¬ 
cult one, if not practically impossible of 
solution, for the acquisition of land in a 
really convenient position of sufficient size 
to accommodate an exhibition hall with an 
area of seven or eight acres will hardly 
admit of profitable discussion at the pre¬ 
sent time. AVhat might have been accom¬ 
plished at some distant period is, of course, 
ise of 
inspection 
to bestow 
’" ^ thoroughly 
_ 
It 
bestow 
- the case 
' hut our object 
FIELD-MAESHAL THE EIGHT HON. LOED GEENFELL, 
G.C.B., F.S.A., LL.D., 
President of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. 
j * . ooject 
’ t tollflfl^ ^nimendatory plati- 
Oa^ gathering af- 
1 * '#a*e of failu^ these lessons 
in n ^ part of past 
'I'lestioo of nr •^'.'^*'‘8 attention 
!r"’N!Ua area^ / within the 
atUched *1,1. with some 
Borticnlti '’*,'^^g®®*'*'ally thought 
” *" *>ot the 1 would suf- 
t the largest gathering; but 
problematic; but we are taught by one of 
the lessons of the Ghent Quinquennial, that 
by the exercise of foresight and enterprise, 
and the imited effort of all wncerned, the 
society has had for a long time a suitable 
position w’herein to hold the quinquennia) 
gatherings that have bad so 'beneficent an 
influence on the prosperity of the nur¬ 
sery trade of Belgium. Another lesson of 
great practical value is that on the import¬ 
ance of so arranging an exhibition that the 
plants, flowei^, etc., form a harmonius 
whole, instead of bting, as is so often the 
case a certain number of units, which may 
or may not be related to each other. In 
the two balls the arrangements were such 
as to suggest tw^o delightful gardens, one 
furnished with greenhouse and hardy plants, 
and the other w ith plants from tropical and 
sub-tropical regions. These were not simply 
grouped on the grass without reference to 
their environment, but the contributions 
from the several exhibitors w^ere so ar¬ 
ranged that, w’hile representing the indi¬ 
viduality of the exhibi¬ 
tors, they constituted as 
it w’ere a charming pic¬ 
ture. The ground w^ork 
w’as green turf, inter¬ 
sected with broad, grace¬ 
fully curving walks, and 
on the tnrf were beds of 
various shapes, and, in 
suitable positions, mounds 
and raised borders, and in 
the eastern and w'estern 
annexes of the great hall 
the ground was slightly 
nndnlatecl. The walks 
were formed with a dnll- 
coloured sand that was 
pleasant to w^alk upon 
and agreeable to the eye, 
as the colour did not, as 
in the case of bright 
gravels, clash with the 
colours of the flow*ers near 
the w^alks. Thus it w^as 
that in passing through 
the exhibition the visitor 
had constantly spread out 
before him a flower garden 
of great beauty, while the 
interest w'as constantly 
maintained by meeting at 
frequent intervals with 
plants differing more or 
less in colour or charac¬ 
ter. Another object- 
lesson to w^hich many of 
those who are concerned 
with horticultural exhibi¬ 
tions in this country 
should give their attention 
is the regulation of the 
top light. At Ghent it 
has long been the rule, 
whether the structure he 
of a permanent or temporary character, to 
have a certain amount of glass in the roof, 
and subdue the light by means of thin can¬ 
vas suspended from the roof. As we 
enjoyed the soft light produced by the 
canvas suspended cloud-like overhead, we 
were reminded of the great difference in 
the attractiveness of plants and flowers ex¬ 
posed, as at Olympia in 1911, to the direct 
effects of brilliant sunlight, and of the im¬ 
provement that would have been made in 
the appearance of the big tent at Chelsea 
on the occasion of the International 
