gins. Everything has to be arranged, and ready for the
judges by ten o'clock A. M., at which hour all exhibitors, and others
interested in the awards, are obliged to leave the gardens; and they
are not readmitted until the gates are thrown open to those who may
have tickets of admission, at two o'clock.

At last they _are_ open. (How expectation clogs the wheels of time!) I
join the throng; and in a few minutes I am among the flowers, which
are arranged in long tents, on stages covered with green baize, as a
background to set off in bold relief their beautiful forms and tints.
There are three military bands stationed in different parts of the
grounds, to keep up a succession of enlivening strains until six
o'clock, the hour when the proceedings, so far as the public are
concerned, are supposed to terminate. One of them is already
'discoursing most eloquent music.' Company rapidly arrives;
well-dressed persons are strolling through the tents, sitting beneath
the trees, or on the benches, listening to the music. The scene is a
gay one. The richness and beauty of the masses of flower, rivalled
only by the gay dresses and bright eyes of hundreds of fair admirers;
the delicate green of the trees clothed with their young foliage, and
the carpet-like lawns, all lit up by a bright May sun, and enlivened
by the best music, combine to form a whole, the impression of which is
not easily forgotten.

But I am forgetting the flowers. Suppose we enter the nearest tent,
and note the more prominent objects on our way. Here is a somewhat
miscellaneous assortment; geraniums are conspicuous. The plants are
remarkably fine, averaging nearly a yard across, and presenting masses
of flower in the highest perfection. One is conspicuous for the
richness of its colouring; its name is magnet (_Hoyle._) There is a
collection of ferns, too; their graceful foliage, agitated by every
breeze, adds much to the interest of this tent. Among the most
remarkable are the maidenhair-ferns (_adiantum_), and a huge plant of
the elk's horn fern, from New South Wales. It derives its name from
the shape of its large fronds. Before us is a quantity of Chinese
hydrangeas, remarkable in this case for the small size of the plants,
and disproportionately large heads of pink blossoms. Cape
pelargoniums, too, are well represented: they are curious plants,
indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope; specimens of them are very often
sent to this country, with boxes of bulbs, fo