The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-26 00:00:00

THE FLOWER SHOW.

The determination to keep open this collection
till the Thursday of next week seems to have given much
satisfaction, and since the reduction of the price of ad-
mission to one shilling the attendance has been enormous.
Yesterday the visitors were so numerous that not only was
every part of the tent thronged, but the gardens of the
Horticultural Society themselves were crowded. The great
care which has been taken by the various gardeners of
their plants still kept the show as bright yesterday, when
it could be seen for a shilling, as on the first day, when a
guinea was charged. A large mass in the rhododendron
valley, stimulated by the shelter they have received,
have sprung into magnificent heads of bloom, and now
look beautiful enough to constitute a good flower
show in themelves alone. In the orchid shed are
now shown the Japanese silkworm exhibited. by
Lady Dorothy Nevill. They are feeding on the plant
on which they are nourished in Japan, while on the
ground beneath is a case of the moths themselves with
samples of the beautiful silk they have spun. Near these,
too, may now be seen a specimen of the lace plain of
Madagascar, its leaves, which are precisely like fine net,
floating in the water; This day the admission will be half-
a-crown, but during the whole of next week it will be
limited to a shilling. The Botanical Congress has brought
its sittings to a close. Nearly 50 papers in Eneish,
French, German, and Italian were read to the members.
These, of course, were all necessarily very short, and as
they treated only of the most abstruse points of horticul-
tural sad botanical teelmicalitiee were without interest to
the general reader. We (noses) are happy to state that
the support afforded by the public to this display is likely
to make it as complete a financial as it has been ult•
doubteilly a horticultural success.

THE QtiEEN'Il BIRTHDAY.—On this occasion the
Mayor of Birmingham (Mr. Edwin Yates) entertained
3,000 school children
Lathet Aston-park. In the evening his
worship gave a ball Town-hall, at which Liz hundred
persons were present.
THE TRADE WITH ST. PETERSBURG. —At an
early hour on Thursday morning the Lion, Cati, thleutter,
the first Hull steamer direct from St. Petersburg, arrived
in the Hull Docks after a very fine massage. Lion
brought a very heavy carv, consisting of wool, linseed,
and hemp Tarn. She had also on board several passengers.
By the arrival of the Lion we learn that freights are some-
what lower than at the opening of the season of 1865, and
that although goods are abundant some difficulty has been
experienced in obtaining for all the steamers full
cargos
This has been caused by the large number of vessels,
sailing ships and steamers sent from this country to the
Russian capital. From
Hull more steamers have entered
the trade than during any former year, about 20 having
already been despatched, many of them being very barge
vessels. It is also stated that there is at the present time
an unusually largo number of mailing ships from the
northern ports of Britain at Cronstadt. These vessels, it
is said, are ready to take cargoes at any freight, and was it
not that exporters have a preference for steamers they
would no doubt run away with the whole of the trade.
There is an impression that the Russian merchants me
holding back their goods for the purpose of keeping
freights down, and that as the season advmaces merehan-
dim in unusual abundanos will be forthcoming. Should
this be so, of course, freights will greatly improve. A
great quantity of tallow, which for the past two or three
ran has bsea held book by the Russian merchants in
hopes of higher prices, has been brought to Cronstadt for
export. Most of this will go to the sailing ships.
CRYSTAL PALACE. ONE SHILLING DAY.
FRIDAY, MAY 25.—Admissions on payment, 4,841;
I ditto by season tickets, 1,462 ; total visitors, 6,303.