Last summer, business took me to England, and as I went well provided with letters of introduction, I soon found myself domiciled in the family circles of the "Merchant Princes " of London, as they choose to call themselves. I will do them the justice to say, so far as my experience of a few weeks spent amongst them goes, that they at least treat their friends with much hospitality; and appear to enjoy the opportunity of discussing our affairs, and satisfying their curiosity as to our habits, institutions, and progress. I arrived there early in May, and I soon found from the fair portion of my new friends, that the fashionable world were at that season of the year, all busy with preparations for the horticultural exhibitions, of which there are several during the year; the principal ones taking place in May and June. The price of admission is about a dollar, which is high; but it has the effect, in accordance with English notions and habits, of confining these meetings to the middle and more aristocratic classes of the community; consequently they are deemed by the latter, " fashionable;" and although not one person in ten may really care about horticulture, everybody who wishes to bethought fashionable, goes; in the first place, because his friends and acquaintances do the same, and in the second place, to show their silks and satins; for it must be understood, that the fashion of the thing is, for every lady to attend a horticultural exhibition there, as the French say, "en grande toilette." Being myself a real lover of flowers and fruits also, and desiring not to miss so good an opportunity to see the beau monde of England, I readily yielded to the pressing invitation of my fair friends, to take a seat in their carriage on the " Chiswick day".

I must now anticipate a little, in order to put my readers in possession of some information which I obtained after the day was over, in reply to my inquiries as to the way in which these exhibitions are got up and managed. I saw, as I shall presently describe, such vast quantities of things for exhibition collected together, I was not a little curious to ascertain how, in so short a time, so magnificent an assemblage was got into order. For there were some six or seven immense tents, some of them with double rows of tables, extending the whole length of them, covered with plants; numbers of which were in pots or tubs so large and heavy, as to require two, and some four men to lift them. It appeared, in answer to my questions, that the Chiswick gardens have been formed by the Horticultural Society Of London, and are under the superintendence of Dr. Lindlet, one of the principal directors. They occupy about 20 acres of ground, a large part of which is laid out as pleasure ground, and is planted with such rare exotics, as are hardy enough to bear the winter's frost; and the remainder, is devoted to pomology and kitchen gardening. These two last named departments, are principally used for the trial of experiments, and the propagation of new fruits, plants and vegetables.

There are numerous plant-houses, forcing-houses, hot-pits, and other requisites for that purpose; and from these departments, whatever is obtained new and valuable, is distributed over the country, through the members of the society, many of whom are nurserymen. In the summer months, three public exhibitions are held in the gardens, and it is with these that we now have to do. Any person is at liberty to send objects for exhibition, whether a member of the society or not. A printed list of the premiums intended to be given during the year, is issued annually some months before the exhibitions begin; so that all growers may see what they are, and regulate themselves accordingly. When the time arrives, several large exhibition tents are set up in the gardens, and on the morning of the exhibition, but not before, at a very early hour waggon loads of plants, etc, begin to arrive, accompanied by their owners, " anxious for the fray, and enger for the fight." Proper officers of the society are there to give directions as to the particular tent appropriated to each collection of plants, and a spot is pointed out to each exhibitor, as that in which he is to exhibit, and then the latter and his assistants proceed at once to set up their collections.

In this way, between four o'clock in the morning, and 10 o'clock, the whole of the large tents are filled: and the persons appointed to adjudge the premiums, proceed immediately to the discharge of the duty assigned to them. This they get through in about three hours, so that by one o'clock, P. M., the hour at which the public are admitted, the whole of the tents are ready, and no one would suppose from the finished neatness of the place, that for the preceding five or six hours it had been a perfect maze of confusion.

Now to return to my fair companions, whom I left rather ungallantly, while I have been giving these details of preparation, for me to accompany them to the exhibition.

Half an hour's drive through the noisy streets of London, put us fairly out upon the road leading to Chiswick, which is about four miles from Hyde Park. The hour was about two o'clock; and before we arrived within two miles of the gardens, we found we formed one continued line of carriages, which reached the whole of that distance. Of course the other end of this line of vehicles was depositing the occupants at the garden as they arrived there, and consequently our progress onward was anything but that of a railway express train! Onward, however, we went, and at length found ourselves safely deposited at a small mean looking door in a wall, which once passed, opened to our view indeed a contrast with the outside. A fine large spreading lawn was before us, upon which was distributed at short intervals, specimens of exotic ever-greens, the foliage of most of which swept the verdant carpet of velvet herbage beneath; and between these elegant shrubs, were interspersed flower beds of all sizes and shapes, filled with herbaceous plants and new annuals, the bloom of which appeared to rival the rainbow in variety and brilliancy.