certificate. Mr. Barnes, of Stowmarket, exhibited four blooms of a seed ling named Boule de Fue, form excellent, eye well up in the centre, the florets rather quill too much to be perfect, color an orange red; it received a first-class certificate. Mr. Barnes also exhibited a fancy variety named Jenny Lind, which received a first-class certificate, a very promising flower, all the properties being tolerably good, color white and maroon. A firstclass certificate to Mr. Turville, for a seedling named Fire King, flower large, form good, florets beautiful in shape and of firm texture, eye a trifle too low, color a fiery orange scarlet: this variety should be grown in every collection, for its splendid color. A first-class certificate to Mr. Collison, Bath, for a seedling named Sir Robert Peel, a handsome-shaped variety, with a beautiful formed eye, color a point against it, being a dull scarlet. A first-class certificate to Mr. Smith, Hackney, for a seedling named Yellow Perfection, flower rather small, form good, florets beautifully shaped, of good substance, and smooth on the edges. A first-class certificate to Mr. Rudd, for seedling named Jenny Lind, a promising flower, possessing most of the properties, color a white self.

This report comprises all the information we can glean from our foreign papers, and the fancier will be at no loss in a selection of kinds in purchasing plants.-Ed.

BELGIUM.

Exhibition of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Brussels, October 1, 1847.-The annual fétes for the celebration of the national independence, commenced on the 23d September, and continued until the end of the month; these were gala days; all the world seemed congregated at Brussels. Concerts, plays, archery, and cross-bow shooting; races, reviews, dancing, illuminations, and various amusements, daily succeeded each other; the eclát was further increased by an exhibition given by the abovenamed societies, thus uniting the utile et dulce; the government also placed several additional prizes at their disposition. The show was held at the ancient palace of the Prince of Orange, near the Park, and was daily thronged with visitors, who could not fail to be highly pleased. The florists and nurserymen of Belgium are not one iota behind their brethren of England either in skill or enterprise, and in the present instance have nobly sustained their reputation; it is more particularly to their part of the exhibition that I shall confine my observations; not that the agricultural part was less interesting, but simply because it is out of my province. I may, however, say, en passant, that there were upwards of two hundred and thirty exhibitors of cereals. The suite of apartments devoted to the show consisted of eight or nine rooms on the ground floor; these were entirely filled with "Cereals, fruits, plants, cut flowers, and vegetables," arranged with excellent taste; bands of music were stationed in a tent in the court, and performed daily from eleven till four o'clock, during which time the public were admitted gratis. The middle of one salon was devoted to the various kinds of grain, which were shown in the straw; three rooms were completely occupied with samples of potatoes, consisting of almost every

known variety. Some idea may be formed of the interest the Belgians take in the cultivation of this useful root by the fact that there were more than one hundred and eighty collections of potatoes, among which I counted about forty exhibitors of seedlings raised in 1846 and '47, the particulars of which I will give presently. Vegetables of every description were numerous and generally fine, especially carrots, pumpkins, and cabbages. The fruit was magnificent. I hardly know how to express myself sufficiently complimentarily of the pears and apples,-finer, I believe, were never before exhibited, certainly never surpassed in quantity or quality. The interest was further increased by some specimens of fine seedling pears, of which more anon. This rich display entirely filled one large salon and two ante-rooms. As for flowering plants, of course, no one expected to see the brilliancy of a spring exhibition, that is out of the question at the end of September; but, in every other respect, it was splendid. The noble specimens of palms, ferns, conifers, cacti, orchids, &c., &c., were the admiration of every lover of horticulture.

Roses were neither numerous nor fine, certainly not to be compared with those I have seen exhibited in France, more particularly at the Chateau des Fleurs. Two collections of well-known varieties, in small pots, were all that were shown. General collections of stove and greenhouse plants were numerous, but of course this was not the season to see them to advantage; among them were some well-bloomed orchids and other plants, from M. Forkel, the king's gardener, at Lacken; and in the collection of M. Rosseels, of Louvain, were Mr. Fortune's Anemone japonica, Cuphea miniata and platycentra, Habrothamnus elegans, Justicia carnea, Echites splendens, &c. From M. Louis, gardener to the Duke of d'Aremberg, were some pretty orchids and plants of achimenes, together with Clerodendron fragrans, Hemanthus coccineus, &c.; and in that of M. Decraen I observed Torenia asiatica, Cuphea decandra, miniata, platycentra, and strigillosa, Siphocampylus nitidus, Bouvardia flava, Abutilon venosum, together with several varieties of gesneras, phloxes, verbenas, &c. Among seedlings were some pretty Gladioli from M. Carolus, and some phloxes from M. Radigas, especially one in the way of Van Houttii. There was a pretty good collection of fuchsias, from M. Millet, of Ixelles, but unfortunately the season was too far advanced for them. Several prizes were offered for dahlias grown in pots, and also for twenty-five cut flowers; in this latter class there were several exhibitors of fine flowers; some were little if at all inferior to those shown at the London metropolitan exhibitions, especially the stands of MM. Rosseels, Van Geert, Haquin, and De Knyff, which contained most of the English show flowers, and the best Belgian, German, and French varieties; specimens of Beeswing, Andromeda, Josephine, Lady of the Lake, Marchionness of Cornwallis, George Clayton, Victorine, Scarlet Gem, La Belle Blonde, Optimus, Hon. Sidney Herbert, Miss Vyse, Standard of Perfection, Star, Royal Chancellor, Reine d'Angleterre, Yellow Standard, Aurora, Bathonia, Alexandrina, and Antagonist, were splendid. There were not more than ten or twelve seedling dahlias, but the paucity in numbers was more than compensated by quality; for

among those few were two or three excellent flowers, and one superlative, named Toison d'Or, which was considered by every amateur present to be one of the finest dahlias ever raised, being large, finely cupped, very symmetrical, high in centre, and color golden orange or buff; it unanimously obtained the first prize, and I was informed it had been exhibited at several dahlia shows during the season, and always gained the principal prize; among the continental varieties for 1848, this will be the flower of the season. I must not forget some charming bouquets sent by Madame Vauriet, of Brussels; these consisted of an elegant "Bouquet de Noce," two beautiful "Bouquets de Bal," and three splendid large "Bouquets de Table," all arranged in exquisite taste.

I now come to the fruit rooms; here there were upwards of eighty exhibitors, among whom were the Duc de Brabante, Comte de Flandres, and Princess Charlotte. I had been led to expect a large collection of fruit; Flanders has the reputation of being par excellence the land of pears, in it have been raised more and better varieties than in all the rest of Europe put together; I was not disappointed, for certainly finer specimens, as regarded size and form, it would be difficult to produce. I have, it is true, seen both in England and France as fine single specimens, but here you meet them in almost every collection. That of M. De Bavay, of the Royal Nursery, Vilvorde, contained about two hundred kinds of pears, apples, plums, and peaches. The collection of M. De Rasse, of Tournay, contained nearly one hundred kinds of pears, in which were also fine specimens; and in the collection of M. Desbuck, of Louvain, were also some very fine fruit, but he had also several very small, which gave it an uneven appearance. The exhibition from M. Louis, of Heverlé, contained very fine and large fruit, more especially of Duchesse d'Angoulême, Doyenné, Beurré d'Hiver, Calebasse bosc, Napoleon, Belle de Bruxelles, and Beurré d'Aremberg pears. In that of M. Millet, of Ixelles, were some very large pears, and some enormous apples. M. Weytz, gardener to the Prince de Ligne, sent a small lot, containing, however, some very fine fruit. La Societé de Pomone d'Antoing also contributed about one hundred varieties; and M. Collignon furnished one hundred and fifteen varieties of pears, and the like number of different apples, some of which were very superior, though not at all equal to those of M. Bavay. M. Rummens had a small but very fine collection of pears and some very large melons, that of M. Joly contained enormous fruit of Duchesse d'Angoulême, Belle de Bruxelles, Beurré gris, Calebasse bosc, Bezi de Chaumontel, and Bon Chrétien d'Espagne. I also noticed some very handsome pears in that of M. Meys. As it is impossible to name all the finest varieties, I will pass on to the seedling pears and apples exhibited by M. Bivort, of Geest, Saint Remy, in which were Beurré Kennes (Bivort), a very handsome large fruit; No. 2794, very large; Docteur Capron, No. 2820, Marie Louise Nouvelle (Van Mons), and a splendid fruit numbered 1011. Among the seedling apples the following particularly attracted my attention:-Nos. 3, 7029, 7003, bright yellow, 7007, red, and 7023, a beautiful golden red. M. Ouvelx, of Huy, had also a collection of seedling apples, in which were

some very handsome specimens, but as they were not numbered I am unable to send any particulars. The grapes were not ripe, and quite unfit for exhibition. The pines were exhibited growing, and had nothing whatever remarkable about them. Among the pears one, Triomphe de Hasselt, was particularly conspicuous, from its enormous size and shape; it must have been at least six inches long, color brownish green, and bell-shaped ; I only saw it exhibited by one person, M. Vandievoet. Among the vegetables were some very large collections; that of M. Simonis, of Liege, contained more than three hundred and twenty different varieties; in it were seven varieties of beet, fifteen of carrots, nine of celery, eight of endive, fortyseven of cabbages and broccoli, fifty three of Haricot beans, twenty-four of lettuce, thirteen of turnips, nine of onions, thirty-two of peas, eight of radish, eight of tomatoes, &c. That of M. Galoppin consisted of one hundred different kinds of beans and peas. Mr. Vanderschriek had some very large cabbages, pumpkins, vegetable marrows, haricots, lettuces, and turnips; but in the collection of M. Rampelbergh, were some most beautiful specimens of broccoli, cabbages, carrots, endive, beans, cucumbers, and pumpkins; better it would have been difficult to meet with. Potatoes occupied a considerable space in the exhibition. The society had offered one gold, two silver gilt, and two silver medals, for the best collections and for seedlings, and certainly there was no lack of competitors. As might be expected among so many collections some were very even and good, and others mediocre. There might be seen varieties that had been cultivated in every kind of soil, and with all sorts of manure; in one place was the produce of sets received from South America, in another from the south of Europe, and in another from the most northern climates. In some collections it was indicated that they had been raised from diseased tubers; in others that sound tubers had been planted in land which had for the two previous seasons entirely failed; in fact, it was evident that a grand experiment had been tried to avert the danger of a national calamity. Several of the collections contained from twenty to seventy varieties, among which were numerous specimens of early white and red Kidney, early white and red round, Ash-leaved Kidney, early and late Irish Shropshire red, Shaw's red Antwerp, blue Saxony, Grosse Monstreuse de Mons, Rouge de Landen, long blue Dutch, spotted red and white Ghent, Rohan, Rose Mousson, early and late Champion, blue Saint Helena, Rouge de Vosges, Corne de Vache, red Scotch, white and red Havannah, Howard, Nine Weeks, Ovale de Growland, Langue de Bœuf, late American red, and many others. M. Rops, of Namur, sent a fine large collection of one hundred varieties, and eight tubers of each. These were all nearly of the same size. M. Lorio, of Liège, had a small collection, but very good; but that of M. DefaysDumonceau was the most remarkable, containing nearly one hundred and fifty kinds, in capital order. The exhibitors of seedlings were numerous : among the best appeared those of M. Lemercier, M. Defays, M. Jacobs, M. Couvent, M. Vancelst, (about sixty different kinds, and most of them very fine,) M. Julin, M. Demelin, M. Ouwerx, M. D'Hollonder, M. Peers, (upwards of fifty varieties, and the pedigree of each given,) M. Reul, M. 49

VOL. XIII.NO. XII.

Beuwans, and M. Duerinck. Some of these seedlings were very handsome, and will, no doubt, prove great acquisitions; but others were to appearance the exact counterpart of some already in cultivation.-(Correspondent of Gard. Chron., pp. 670, 702, 718, 1847.)

ART. III. Domestic Notices.

Sesbania vesicària.-The Fall Senna proves to be Glottidium floridanum of Torrey and Gray, Sesbània vesicària of Elliott. I like to have a few plants of it in my grounds. Some this year stand sturdily alone, like a sunflower, full twelve feet high. Its large pinnate leaves of twenty or more pairs go regularly to sleep every evening like the Mimosa.-Yours, M. A. W.

New Grasses.-I should like to know whether any of the grass seeds grew which I sent to you, and what they are. The spikes of some of them are exquisitely beautiful, but perhaps too delicate for " grass bouquets" which I see noticed in your exhibitions. A single spike of the one marked [4. No. 1,] presents a system of carpentry scarcely to be equalled in the castle in the air of a fairy. We have some other grasses, especially in swampy places, which I think would prove useful in the hands of your lady grass bouquet builders. They are, however, some miles from me; but I will try to procure some seeds for you, if you wish it.-Yours, M. A. W., Athens, Ga., Nov. 1847.

[We did try several of them and found them very handsome, but all have not yet flowered, they were planted so late. The Means grass grew six feet. If they stand our winter we shall have a better opportunity to see them next year. We shall be glad to have the seeds.-Ed.]

Weather in Georgia.-New Dahlias.-We had our first hard frost this morning, 34°; two weeks ago we had some slight hoars, therm. 40°, just enough to blacken the mere edges of dahlia leaves; but they have since ripened off and are now mostly dry; the roots must be in fine order for next year. Our unusually rainy summer has been very favorable to them, and they have been in full flower from June to October, and finer than I ever saw them before. The new kinds, Sir Ed. Antrobus, Orlando, Ithuriel, Antagonist, &c., were fine, but not much better than some old sorts, especially Grandis, Smith's Napoleon, Mrs. Rushton, and Rosa Superba. But by far the richest dahlia which I ever saw anywhere is Widnall's Rainbow, as it appeared in my ground this year. I have grown it for several years, but never saw it in such perfection as this year. Mr. Waddel has raised some seedlings which are "better" than most of the late imported ones. I have myself this year two seedlings, which I value highly. It seems to me that in favorable seasons, that is, in wet and cloudy ones, we of the South can far outstrip you in this Mexican plant.-Yours, M. A. W., Athens, Ga., Nov. 1847.