The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-27 00:00:00

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ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Yesterday evening the Duke of Buccleuch, as President
of this society, with Sir Wentworth Dilke, Mr John Kelk,
and others of the Vice-Presidents, held a conversazione in
the conservatory of the gardens, to which the fellows of the
society were invited, and a large number of distinguished
visitors. The assembly was to have been honoured with
the presence of several members of the late Royal family of
France, but at the last moment an apology was received ex-
pressing their regret that they were unavoidably compelled
to decline the invitation. All the arrangements connected
with the fete were perfect. It wae, as we have said, held
in the great conservatory, which was lighted brilliantly
with gag for the occasion. The entrance for visitors was in
the Albert-road, under the new orchard houses which have
recently been erected, and which, instead of being filled with
flowers, are entirely occupied with dwarf fruit trees of every
kind, and en the tiny boughs of which the fruit, though
green, already hang in heavy bunches. From these the
visitors passed along the arcades, which were sufficiently
lighted to show with good effect little groups of statues and
parterres of ferns and flowering rhododendrons that were
ranged in he'll; along the walks with charming taste. The
arcade led at once into the conservatory, which was lighted
up in a way that displayed the plants and details of its
architecture to surpassing advantage. As a mere building,
there are few more beautiful conservatories in England than
that of the Horticultural Society, and the skill and care of
Mr Eyles keeps it stocked with plants in such perfection as
to leave it no rival in this particular, save, perhaps, what is
termed the tropical end of the Crystal Palace.
Last night all the beds of flowers in the centre were
removed, and the floor covered with a white canvass as if
for dancing, while the side parterres were filled in with
flowering shrubs in such fullness of bloom that the eye
was almost wearied with the glow and variety of their
brilliant tints: Avund the cornice, if we may so term
it, of the interior, above the slender columns and before
the springing of the curved group, ran a row of minute gas
jets, each a small point of fire in its size, but in the aggre-
gate sufficient to light every portion of the edifice with a
glare beyond that of the noonday sun. The galleries were
carpeted and furnished with chairs, and everywhere was
displayed all that was rare and novel in shrubs or flowers.
One stand in particular, in the centre of the conservatory,
was covered with a superb collection of rare plants, exqui-
site alike in their foliage and bloom, and such in fact as are
seldom seen even at the greatest flower shows. The Duke
of Buccleuch, with the vice-presidents, were in waiting to
receive their guests at 9 o'clock, and from that hour until
near 11 the arrivals were incessant. The conservatory and
its galleries and arcades were then quite thronged, and any-
thing more beautiful than the interior then presented it
would be difficult to imagine. Seen from the galleries, the
ladies' toilettes were almost as brilliant as the flowers which
rose everywhere around them, and only the bright green of
the long slender twining creepers around all the columns o
the building remained to form the contrast, and as it were
refresh the eye. It was intended that the outer gardens
should have been thrown open to visitors as well, bat the
extreme coldness of the night, to say nothing of the dark-
ness of the gardens themselves, deterred any person ven-
turing beyond the precincts of the conservatory. Another
conversazione is to be given during the present season, to
which we are sure all who were present at the exquisite
scene of last night will look forward with pleasant expecta-
tions.