THE PARIS EXHIBITION. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Paris, September 25.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 422, 23 November 1889, Page 4

THE PARIS EXHIBITION. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Paris, September 25.

THE GARDENS AND GROUNDS. The random papers in which I have sought to gi\o a general idea of tho Exhibition would be materially incomplete were 1 to omit all notice of the gardens and grounds of the Trocadero, in themselves a living exhibition of tho choicest tiees, plants, and flowers in the world. The area utilised for the purpose i 3 very extensive, the hothouses and conservatories on a grand scale, and there is a completeness about the hole which has probably never before been attained and must be invaluable for the purposes of science. Tho rosaries contain veritably thousands of rose trees, all known varieties from every pare of the world being represented. In .May and June the otlect of the?e in tlower was gorgeous ; the blonding of colour from the pale roses of the far Jbiast to the brilliant crimson and gleaming gold of Western Europe, most ellective. For a length of more than 500 yaids along the Seine, to the left of the central garden with its beautiful fountains, extends a belt of fruit trees. On my lir&t visit, late in the spring, the air was redolent with perfumed fragrance ; the apple, tho pear, the peach, the apricot, the tig and the almond were all in bloom, the buds on some just bursting, on others the young fruit discloaed by the falling flowers. The trees are all trimmed with the greatest care, so that no superfluous wood appears — and in some instances have been framed into queer thapes— cones, pyramids and other geometrical ligiues, to the sacrifice, it must be conceived, of their bearing power?. The exhibition of vegetables is admirably arrayed, a market garden, similar somewhat to those in the environs of Paris, but of some considerable extent-, is laid out, and there is to be seen every description of vegetables from the most common to the most choice and delicate, under cultivation in the moat approved manner and the most favourable circumstances. A system of irrigation is shown in work, such as is now most ordinarily in use in certain central departments of France. By an ingenious contrivance, entirely simple in application, the water, filtering through beds of prepared substance, serves, after the fashion of the Nile, as a fertilising as well as a moistening agent. Throughout the grounds there are groups of conifers, pines in every known variety, cedars, cypresses, junipers, and other trees, whose elegance and regularity of form commend them to the landscape gardener. There are also masses of climbing plants, clematis, jasmin, wisteria, ivy, etc., trained and displayed to the best advantage. On one side, and a little below the Trocadero Palace, there is a perfect brake of fern trees, flourishing in all their natural beauty, and close by a eplendid maple, shadowed by whose foliage are a choice collection of tho rare conifers of Japan. Alabyrinth bordeied and covered in with the verdure of trees of every kind, leads from here by devious ways to a " cool grot," where, in a miniaoure lake of translucent water, are to be seen the most lovely and rare aquatic plants, among which are especially to be noced magnificent specimens of the Nymphea hybi-idei of Latoui Mariac. In front of the labyrinth is a group of azaleas — a blaze of brilliant Culourj and in marked contrast a bed of heaths with their dark foliage and flowers of deli' cate rose and violet. It is impossible, however, to give by description more than a faint idea of the interest and beauty of the3e garden?, displaying, as they do, in perfection either in the open air or under glass, the arboriculture and horticulture of everj region under the sun. I may note, however, specifically the exhibits from Japan, inter alia a series of lovely lilies, planted in large white porcelain vases with blue mouldings, which show off to perfection the exquisite vaiiegation of delicate colouring. The great feature, however, is the exhibition of dwarf forest trees, some ol more than a century's growth ; undei normal circumstances these attain prodigious altitude, but under 3peciHc treatment, the real secret of which is religiously kept, they are only a few inches high, although in structure, foliage and proportion perfect.

HORTICULTURAL SHOWS. Since the opening of the Exhibition in May, there have been he'd at the Trocadero Gardens periodical horticultural s>hows, where valuable prizes, donated with lavish hand, have attracted lloricultuiists, fruit and vegetable grower?, professional and amateur, from every pait of Europe accessible for the purpose. On these occasions enormous tents were especially erected, and the number, variety and excellence of the exhibits altogether surpassed anticipation. I was able to visit the general show of flowers and fruits held early this month (September), and was especially struck with the latter, the specimens in several classes of which surpassed anything I had ever seen in England or the colonies. The cucumbers were something to remember ; one classed as the " snake cucumber" must have been several feet long, but involved in twisted coils, much as a python when exhibited in confinement under a glass cage. The variety of tuber?, especially the potato, was legion, and all the green vogetables prodigious in growth. On the whole, I was somewhat disappointed with the fruit, but the period of the season was, of course, not propitious, and too late for the small fruits ; rabher early for the orchard, grapes, and wall fruib. As it was, not to speak of the Court garden, I have seen liner — much finer— grapes in Dunedin, and grapes, I should have conceived, would have been a specialty in France. The Chrysanthemum Show was to be held lato in October, and I wa& told, would be something gorgeous, and pub a fitting crown upon these altogether moat successful exhibitions. Among the curiosities in the gardens of the Trocadero is the

PAVILION OF THE FORESTS, a most picturesque edifice, original in conception and design, every species of timber grown in France having been used in the construction, and shown in the polished panels of the facade and the roughly hewn supporting columns. The general effect is that of a rustic chalet, the building being embosomed in trees, whilstan artificial watercourse supplying the fountain in the interior gu&hes down through and by the supporting piles. The Administration of Forests, charged with the organisation of this section of the Exhibition, have carried out very effectively the idea of showing what the State forests of France produce, side by side with the monster trunks exhibited by Brazil, Mexico, the Argentine Republic and Australasia. The forests of France are, as a matter of fact, excellently managed ; furrowed throughout byroads and tracks to facilitate the traveller and the chase as well as the work of the foresters. The thinning out and lopping are intelligently regulated, the inspectors and conservators constant in their attention to re-planting, and being in nearly all cases scientific men, devoting their leisure to the collection of flora and fauna for the museums of the Department. The tvant of funds — fur the Parliament of tho .Republic is wont, like other Parliaments,

to starve departments that are simply uso ful — has precluded, however, a great, deal being done which is teen by the Administration to be absolutely essenfcial in the interests of the country. Tho opportunity therefore has been taken to show in a very graphic manner the struggle which is constantly being maintained against the almost irresistible force of inundations by controlling torronts keeping them within definite channels, and consolidatingmountain slopes which menace ruin below. These results have been in many instances ejected by judicious planting and replanting. Entire territories have been as it were reclaimed, and villages havo re-appeared whoso population had fled beforo the ilood and the landslip. The much, however, that has been done is but a little of what chcu instances in many parts of Fianco urgently demand ; but this means the immediate expenditure of perhaps millions of francs. The Administration, laudably desirous that this matter should be thoroughly understood, illustrate their work not only by drawing?, plans, and models, in roliet, but by a series of dioramas, which render clear, even to the uninitiated, the chai actor and enect of the various operations. The=e dioramas, perfect in execution and stiiking in etTect, are exhibited in a manner which favours the pass-ing through a dark ante-chamber ; the spectator finds himself in a forester's or a quarvyman's hut, as the ea<o may be, all the fturroundinQs being realistically complete, and through the window or open door he views what might be- -so far as appearance — the actual scene. In a very favourable review of the Forest Department, a leading Paris journal remaiks, and tho words are well worth taking to heart : " Let the new world meditate, in the face of these devastations, checked at so enormous ix cost, upon tho danger of cutting down the natural timber of a country; while it takes account of the luin which the disappearance of the forests eventually entails. It should be undei stood how urgent iD is to check the rockless destruction of woods which may seem to be inexhaustible, and that it is indispensable to regulato the telling of all timber. In South and North America, in Canada and Australia, tree? of marvellous size are cut down without method or arrangements for replanting ; entire forests are sometimes burnt to clear the ground for purposes of cultivation. The present occupants hasten to enrich themselves, troubling not at all about the generations who are to succeed them."