The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-06-06
THE VIENNA EXHIBITION.


e-tHt Ne ~ hAAa taa
show OF Flowers and vcgefabIcs-In
ternationaI Congress-Coinage o
From Special Correspondent of the New
York Tribunel iist Isl
VIENNA, May 16.--The first of tn,
many special and temporary exhibitions
that are to take place in connection with
the Worlds Fair, is the show of flowers
and Of early vegetables, and winter-kept
fruits, which closes to-day. It is held in
large tent at the further end Of the Exhi.
bition grounds, and is only attainable
by long tramp over muddy paths,
past the Egyptian viceroy's palace,
and the comical little wooden houses
that the Japanese have just finished,
and through strip Of woods that shelter
an Indian wigwam, where thirsty Ameri.
cans are served by the BLACKLIST of colored
walters in the whitest of jackets, with
cocktails" s.juleps,n "smashes,' . and
"straights," and other enticing American
beverages. Once out of the woods, you
mount hill and come straight upon the
flower show. Many who start for the
show never find their way out of the
woods, however, and 60 no further than
tH6 Wudis WhCiC why COutCuttuly llQ~
ger until the warning bell gives notice that
t is six o'clock, and the gates will soon be
shut. These are Of course Americans.
The Europeans of all nations look upon
this wigwam and the ferocous figures
daubed upon it in red and yellow paint,
with an air Of timid curiosity. They give
it a wide berth, gazing upon
it from safe distance in the outskirts of
the woods. They no doubt believe the
amiable darkeys to be North American
savages tanned for the occasion, who might
relaspe into their old habits and make a
rush for their scalps if they yentured too
near. In front of the tent in which the
flowers and fruits are to be seen, is piece
of ground where mud and gravel, trees.
plants and sod are trying to make them
selves into garden, with the help of a few
lazy Austrian workmen. Like almost
everything else about the exhibition. this
garden is remarkable for its promises and
possibilities, and not for its performance.
1t will no doubt be very pretty by and by,
but just now it is a snare for the feet of the
unwary, of q much less endurable kind
than those that lie in wait in the wigwam
at the foot of the hill. e
But the flower show, in spite of the
difficulties one must surmount to reach it.
is worth going to see. 1t is a great relief
to the over-tred temper to find something
that is really to be seen. The show fills
square tent Of moderate size, with long,
crescent-shaped wings stretching out on
either side. These wings look like big
arms, and they reach forward toward the
advancing visitor in suggestive way, as if
they were about to take him in''-sug-
gestive, l say, because the visitor is taken
in in so many ways about the exhibition
grounds that he grows suspicious. The
tent is exceptionally honest and harm
less, however, and within its striped canvas
walls there is no trap to catch the visitor.
Nobody has concession from the Direc-
ton to swindle people here. The flowers
are nearly all of hot-house growth. and
come from the establishments of the VI
emma florists, with the exception of a small
contribution from Munich and another
from Dresden. The exhibition has there- !
fore almost no international character, and
besides, it presents little interest to the
connoisseur who seeks for rarities. There
are many beautiful specimens, however. of
well-knOwn conservatory plants. The
azalias are particularly fine, and they are
grouped so as to make the most brilliant
effects of color.d never saw such large
flowers, such dense masses of bloom. or
such a great variety of beautiful tints. The \
roses are noteworthy for their size rather
than for their beauty. The aim of the
Vienna gardener appears to be to produce
as big rose as possible, and to do this all
loneliness of shape in the bush is sacri-
feed. 1t is trained to grow like straight
stick, and only small bunch of leaves is
allowed at the top. These rose trees, as
they should be called, rather than bushes,
are often ten feet high. and they bear but
three or four flowers each. Standing alone
there is little beauty in them, but massed
in dense hedges SO that only the leafy top
and the great roses are seen, the effect
is striking. Ia the tent they are
arranged along the walls, the shortest in
front, and the taller rows behind, gradu-
ated SO as to make an equal slope along
their tops. Nowhere is natural-shaped
bush to be seen, and while the great size
and fine color of the flowers excite admi-
ration, one soon tires of them aud wonders
at the false taste that insists upon SO de-
forming the bushes for the sake of getting
roses Of unusual magnitude. Next to the
azalias and the roses, the rhododendrons
take up the most room and make the most
brilliant show. There are pansies, of
course, in countless variety, and cinera-
ries, hydrangeas, pinks, primroses, &C., of
which nothing can be said except that they
are all perfect in kind. Among rarer
flowers there are a few orchids, q Niduld-
rum SpieIsdens, with brown flowers.
franciseia, from Brazil, group Of the
Aralia Sieboldi, and few others whose
long botanical names l have forgotten.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 81
The crescent-like wings Of the tent con-
talns the fruits and vegetables meagre /
show, and not as extensive as an average
county fair in the United States would
have. Still. May is scarcely the month
when We could expect any great variety of
orchard and garden growth in country,
too, where the cold rains crowd May
weather even into June. There are few
strawberries, the vines growing in pots and
doubtless raised under glass. The gigantic
stalks Of asparagus, the big cucumbers,
and the creamy-white heads Of caulinower,
and cool, crisp punches of lettuce, proba-
bly, owe their perfection to the same
protection, and are therefore of
no interest as specimens of skill in out-of-
door culture. The raising, of fruits and
vegetables under glass for the tables of the
rich Is carried on mach more extensively
mere than in America. People have not
had the Bermudas and the West Indies at
their doors as we have to draw upon for
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