delphiniums, and all the hardier bedding plants, and those for the herbaceous borders, are grown. Of late years the number of beds in the Park has been considerably reduced, without any diminution of the effect. In 1903 as many as ninety were done away with between Grosvenor Gate and Marble Arch. There is now a single row of long beds instead of three rows with round ones at intervals. But even after all these reductions the area of flower beds and borders is very considerable, as the following table will show:-- +-----------------------------+----------------+----------------+ | | Area of Flower | Area of Flower | | | Beds. | Borders. | +-----------------------------+----------------+----------------+ | | Sq. Yds. | Sq. Yds. | | Hyde Park | 1742 | 2975 | | Kensington Gardens | 345 | 3564 | | St. James’s Park | 30 | 2642 | | Queen Victoria Memorial in | 1270 | ... | | front of Buckingham Palace | | | +-----------------------------+----------------+----------------+ | Total | 3687 | 9181 | +-----------------------------+----------------+----------------+ An event of historic importance which took place in Hyde Park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. Various sites, such as Battersea, Regent’s Park, Somerset House, and Leicester Square, were suggested, and the one chosen met with some opposition, but finally the space between Rotten Row and Knightsbridge Barracks was decided on. Plans were submitted for competition, and though 245 were sent in not one satisfied the committee, so, assisted by three well-known architects, they evolved a plan of their own. This was to be carried out in brick; the labour of removing it after the Exhibition would have been stupendous. It was when this plan was under consideration that Paxton showed his idea for the building of iron and glass so well known as the Crystal Palace. It was 1851 feet long and 408 wide, with a projection on the north 936 feet by 48, and the building covered about 19 acres. One stipulation was made before the design was accepted, and that was that three great elm trees growing on the site should not be removed, but included in the building. To effect this, some alterations were made, and the trees were successfully encased in this Crystal Palace, and the old trunk of one of them is still standing in Hyde Park. There is a railing round it, but no tablet to record this strange chapter in its history. Some smaller trees were cut down, which led to a cartoon in _Punch_ and lines on the Prince Consort, who was the prime mover in all pertaining to the Great Exhibition.