April 2, 1910 



HORTICULTURE- 



509 



Switzerland as Seen by An American Horticulturalist 



Mr. Editor: — In reply to your request for a few lines 

 regarding my visit to certain parts of Europe, relating 

 especially to agriculture and horticulture, as seen from 

 the standpoint of a grower of flowers, I do not propose 

 going into any particular line of horticulture, but rather 

 to give your readers who have not visited these places 

 an idea of the gi-eat love of plants, flowers and shrubs 

 prevading all parts of Europe today, and describe 

 the conditions in wliicli they are grown in a general 

 way in Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. I will first 

 take up Switzerland, where I had the pleasure of spend- 

 ing a month last summer in the city of Thun. 



Tliis section is considered the most beautiful part 

 of Switzerlaml. situated as it is at tlie end of Lake 

 Thun, fating t,lie great cliain of ]ieaks such as Eiger, 

 Monch, Youufrau and the Blomeslieslialps (the Bloom- 

 ing Alps), towering from 12,000 to 14,000 feet and 

 capped witli snow. At the head of the lake the famed 

 city of Interhikeu nestles at the base of the Youufrau. 



Nature here seems almost perfect, and any addition 

 or embellishment liy the landscape architect or gardener 

 would at first sight seem superfluous. But such is the 

 ai'tistic nature of tlie Swiss that they liave been able 

 to add to the natural beauty of the landscape and 

 emjihasize it liv tlieir care, thrift and knowledge of 

 horticulture witliout destroying it. 



In appearance Switzerland is like a gTeat park, per- 

 fectly kept. M'itli tlie added advantage of its magnifi- 

 cent scenery standing out boldly in all its glory, 

 groomed carefully. ))ut so artistically done that it em- 

 phasizes, liut does not spoil nature's own perfection. 

 Looked at from a gardener's standpoint, he sees the 

 sward a perpetual green, mostly clover, cut in the 

 valley four times a year, producing the effect of a per- 

 fectly kept lawn. , 



The Swiss love natui-e, and as they are surrounded 

 by green and white, appreciate coloring which hai-- 

 nionizes vnth. the landscape. This is shown in their 

 houses, but especially so in their gardens. The 

 grounds around their chalets are planted with brilliant 

 shrubs, roses, Salvia splendcns and gladioli, climbing 

 geraniums, and other bright flowering plants. Their 

 windows are adorned witli window lioxes, filled gener- 

 allv with scarlet geraniums. No matter how poor they 

 niay be, they always have a small garden and their 

 windows brilliant witli plants. 



Crimson Rambler is seen here in all its glory, either 

 planted as a hedge, trailing up one side of the chalet, 

 or grown as specimen plants in the garden. One beauti- 

 ful bush was seen in front of what Avas no more than a 

 farm house, but it had been trained, pruned, tied and 

 carefully nursed, until it covered a space 20 feet in 

 circumference. When 1 saw it about the 20th of July 

 it presented a magnificent appearance, and a sight of 

 red buds, with fine, thrifty foliage, never to be for- 

 gotten. Owing to the cool nights their season of bloom- 



ing is much prolonged, and the flowers are fuller and 

 more perfect in shape and form than with us. 



Another very interesting find was in a garden, where 

 in a centre-bed raised above the garden grade was seen 

 our own beautiful golden rod, with its magnificent 

 golden coloring, flowering, liowever, in July instead of 

 as with us, in September. 



Sweet peas, carnations and roses of all kinds flower 

 there through the summer in quality, coloring and sub- 

 stance as fine as can be produced here in winter. 

 Tuberous begonias are also grown finer than it has been 

 my pleasure to see, either under glass or even as culti- 

 vated out of doors in England. The flowers are beauti- 

 fully colored, large size, perfect shape, and splendid 

 foliage. 



The Swiss arc known mostly as hotel keepers. This 

 is true, and to their credit. Travelers come here from 

 all climes, and (nolens volens) must be housed and en- 

 tertained. In doing so they show their guests not only 

 tlieir magnificent mountains, but know how to frame 

 them with a unique, charming and useful house called 

 chalet. These chalets are built to combine usefulness 

 and confonn architecturally with the landscape. They 

 are pleasing to the eye because they are, and fonn part 

 of, the surroundings, giving a natural, restful tone to 

 the landscape. Their type of ai'chitecture has evidently 

 been evolved from experience, just as our log cabins 

 and dugouts were the outcome of necessity and the best 

 protection from the elements. In summer these chalets, 

 with their wide, over-lapping roofs, broad balconies, 

 and their outside stairway, become in winter a pro- 

 tection against snow, and their outside stairway helps to 

 dislodge the too lieavy snow fi-om their eaves, and is 

 also a means of exit when the snow is too deep to 

 open the front door. 



The Swiss, living amongst these beautiful surround- 

 ings, have inheritecl the love of the beautiful in nature 

 more than any other people. In living with them even 

 for short time one is impressed with their fearlessness 

 and energy, and with it all their love of their country 

 because of its beauty. But. not forgetting the material 

 side, their fiu'ests return them a large yearly revenue. 

 These consist mostly of pine forests which are under 

 government supervision, and only those trees of a cer- 

 tain size receive the legal sanction by a certain mark, al- 

 lowing them to be cut. For every tree removed, an- 

 other must be planted, thus keeping up and improving 

 their forests. Great care is exercised against fire, and 

 all small timber, weeds, etc., are carefully kept trimmed, 

 only leaving the decaying leaves for a mulch to help 

 feed and sustain with moisture the trees. 



Again, in the last few years since electricity has been 

 jnade available for commercial purposes, thanks to their 

 waterfalls and swift moving streams, the Swiss have 

 harnessed nature's power so that not only has it been 

 possible to use it in their factories, but owing to its 

 cheapness for even the most humble to have a wire in 

 his chalet which supplies light, heat and power. These 

 electric wires are strung all over the mountains, and 

 when lighted at night produce a wonderfully beautiful 

 scene. These chalets illuminated look like little stars 

 sparkling on the hills, and as the eye descends toward 



