911DVI BRIAT CENTRAL Mil.
fAN Saturday the crowd was not so great as
on the other days of last week, a circum
stance attributable to the difficulty experienced
by visitors from abroad reaching their homes
after a late stay at the Fair on the last day of
the week. We resume our notices of the great
departments of the Fair.
HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT
Next to the Art Gallery there is no more
beautiful display than that made in the Horti
cultural Department, where nature and art
have combined to furnish a magnificent exhi
bition. With many visitors the horticultural
display ranks above that presented in the Art
Gallery, and we have no reason to quarrel
with the decision. Nothing like it has ever
been seen in this country, and to all visitors it
must be a matter of profound regret that such
a fairy creation will soon pass away from sight
forever.
The visitors upon entering the rotunda have
spread out before them a rare display of
plants, fruits, and flowers, arranged with
faultless skill and taste, and intermingled with
these are waving banners, tinkling fountains,
and beautiful ladies in attendance upon the
tables. Treasures drawn from every clime
have been compelled to do the bidding of the
goddess Flora, and here in her beautiful court
she holds high carnival. Her subjects are
numbered among the thousands, and are
among the most devoted of any earthly po
tentate’s. She here proves herself worthy of
the homage drawn from her admirers, and to
those who have reared this temple for her
short-lived abode among the mortals, she owes
a crown of glory fragrant and ever bright as
the flowers that surround her temporary
throne.
What description shall do justice to this
scene ? The pen refuses to do duty, and words
fail to convey to the few unfortunates who
have not seen it the unparalleled richness of
the collection and the exquisite taste of the
decorations of the Horticultural Department.
Fancy a rotunda 190 feet in diameter, filled
with rare plants and flowers, arranged in a
succession of circles, through which visitors
pass and re-pass, drinking in the fragrance of
the perfume of the orange tree and the palm,
the banana and the magnolia. From the lake,
in the centre of this fairy palace, is the Island,
with its fountain of hundreds of jets, brilliant
ly illuminated at night, and a thousand burn
ers of gas, and thus intermingled with all that
is sweet and beautiful in the Floral realms,
comes the soft musio of the band hid from
sight by the dense foliage of the Island.
The fountain is worthy of its surroundings.
Around the base of a vast pyramid of exotic
plants, rising up in air, flows the crystal brook
bordered with grassy banks and bearing on its
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bosom lovely water-blossoms and the broad
green leaves of the Victoria Regia, while from
its depths burst forth, at intervals, delicate
fountains of quaint and various designs. From
the summit of the pyramid of plants there falls
on every side a dome-like sheet of water, cov
ering the whole as if with a great bell-glass.
On the outside of this, and below the circle of
water-jets, is a circle of fire—a jet of flame
for every one of water. The effect of this
arrangement of fire and water is indescriba
ble. The thousand fantastic colors sent forth
must be seen, and when seen will never be
forgotten. Every drop of water becomes a
jewel.
The circular pond or brook which surrounds
the pyramid of plants is about fifteen feet in
width and three hundred feet in circumference,
and is filled with water plants and every
variety of aquatic decorations. Twenty-four
small fountains play from it ; some spouting
from the mouths of swans, others revolving in
circles of spray, and others mounting gaily in
feathering jets. Spreading their great leaves
on the surface of the water are several plants
of the Victoria Rcyia, and numberless ducks
swim about as naturally as if they were alive.
The pond is bordered by a circle of smooth
green sward, three feet wide. The central
pyramid rises thirty feet high, and is of pro
portionate diameter at the base. It is formed
entirely of tropical plants, contributed mainly
by Mr. James Dundas, and arranged by his
skilful gardener, Mr. Pollock.
Among the vast mass of foliage and blossom
which forms this most attractive feature of the
department may be named the following
plants : The date palm, rising high above all ;
the dragon tree, from which is obtained the ex
tract of dragon’s blood; tree ferns from Aus
tralia ; the great Brown'd grundiceps from
India, of which there is only one other speci
men in the country ; a well-grown camphor
tree; the Bourbon palm; two bananas in full
fruit; the hepanisa longifolia, a splendid plant;
many rhododendrons and pomegranates, and a
fine India-rubber tree. At the base is a circle
of zebra plants andhandsome calladiums. There
may also be seen in the pyramid a Norfolk is
land pine, some very fine pitcher plants and the
Madagascar lace plant. Around the border of
the pond are vases containing rare plants,
such as the Dijfcnbachia picta, discovered by
Humboldt, and a variegated pine apple ; whilst
over these hang baskets containing orchids, or
air plants, some of them very beautiful.
The upper ring of water jets, which sur
mounts and crowns this pyramidal group, is
fifteen feet in diameter, and contains one hun
dred and fifty jets. The circle of gas pipe be
low is fifty feet in diameter, and contains one
hundred and fifty burners. Among the foliage
in the central group are statues, from Mr. S.
E. Harrison, and deer, &c., beautifully cast in
iron, and contributed by Messrs. Wood & Pe
rot. These gentlemen also furnished the ar
rangements for the fountains in the pond.
The plants on the island are so arranged as
to leave space for the accommodation of the
orchestra, which is thus entirely concealed
from view, adding greatly to the effect of the
music. Access to the island is had by a beau
tiful rustic bridge of graceful design.
The Horticultural Hall is one hundred and
ninety feet in diameter, and is surmounted by
a canvas dome eighty-five feet wide at the
base. There are two circular rows of tables,
the outside one against the wall, with sixteen
tables twenty-five feet long and five wide.
Then we have a circular passage-way twenty
five feet wide and five hundred and fifty feet
long, overhung with a vast ring of gas-pipe
containing five hundred and fifty burners.
The inner circle of tables is twelve feet wide,
with a passage in the middle of it for the ladies
in attendance. The passage round the fountain
is twenty-five feet wide, and on its outside cir
cumference are fifty columns, each ornament
ed with two gas-burners. On the inside of
the outer passage-way are also fifty columns.
Between each two of these pillars are festoons
of evergreens and hanging baskets, and the
columns themselves are clothed with laurel,
hemlock and pine boughs, brought from the
Alleghany Mountains
Around the base of the canvas dome are
fifty flags of different nations, and on the
columns hang one hundred shields, bearing
the coats of arms of various nationalities,
and painted by the artist Grain. Bunting is
effectively draped among tho columns, and the
coup d’ocil of all this color and graceful design
is charming in the extreme.
The collection of plants and flowers is wor
thy of an extended notice. And first upon
entering, a number of fine aloes and date
palms, from the collection of Mrs. George IV.
Carpenter, will attract attention. The two
tables belonging to Fairman Rogers, Esq., are
under the charge of Mr. Hibbcrt, his gar
dener. Among the very many rare and well
grown plants are the pandanus javanicus, the
davellia elegans, many fine gloxinias, among
which are the fine varieties, Mrs. Fisher, grandi
jlora alba and imperialis; the dracoena ferria,
brought first from China in 1771; the caladium
chantina, the Vickcnsonia antarctica, from Van
Dieman’s land ; the pleris tricolor, the maranta
bicolor ; golden and silver ferns, the new plant,
Cyprus alternifolius variagata; the magnolia
pumila from China, the Tradescantia discolor,
brought from South America in 1783; the
croton variagata, from the East Indies; the
certoceras rejlexa, from Japan, which is a per
ennial bloomer, and many more worthy of
notice.
The table occupied by plants, belonging to
Mr. Joseph Harrison, is under the care of Mr.
Franois O’Keefe. Mr. Harrison exhibits the
auracaria excelsa, a remarkably fine plant. The