September 10, 1865. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOilTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAJBDENER. 



831 



called it "the least ilisiiRreeftble of noises." But tliero is sorao- 

 tliiii},' Htmntjor still — that there luul ever existed a hiinuin being 

 that disliked flowers. Yet Mr. Smiles tells us, that tlio Pulie 

 of Bridgewater, ho of the eauals and coal pits, " would have 

 neither eonservatorv, inncrj-, flower garden, nor sln-ubhery ; 

 and onee un iiis return from Ijondon to his country seat, fliid- 

 iug some rii)\vers which had been planted in his absence, ho 

 wliip])ed tlieir heads off with his cane, and ordered them to be 

 rooted up." No wonder tluvt we also read of tliis Duke of 

 Bridgewater, that he was a eoarso feeder, and smoked more 

 than ho talked ; that he was rough in speech, and gruff in 

 manner, and that he read little besides "an occasional news- 

 paper." — N.B. — He would not I fear, have read The .Touunai. 

 OF HoRTicuLTUKE cven once a-year — also, that he hated woman- 

 kind (earth's animated flowers), and bored everybody to death 

 ■with his canals and his coal pits. " Qnicscas in pace" D. of B., 

 I hope no one living resembles thee. 



To return to the Bath Show. Ten thonsand people were 

 present, and the tents were so crowded that it was im- 

 possible to see everything. I twice tried to enter the fruit tent, 

 and twice retired defeated, for there was a cram or block of 

 people, whose tempers were apt to get a little tart without the 

 aid of the fruit ; ami others were somewhat cnixti/ witli the 

 heat. I lucidly met with good " Y. B. A. Z.," who had suc- 

 ceeded in entering the tent earlier in the day, and he declared 

 the Show was magnificent, especially the Black (irapes. One 

 of those good-tempered fellows of the police-force was giving a 

 hint to a man who seemed inclined to touch the said Grapes, 

 saying, " Mind, the Grapes are sour." He got his reply, " Oh ! 

 you've been eating of them, then." I wonder whether the latter 

 was an Irishman. 



I had a good view of the " Ornamental Plants with curious 

 foliage," and very excellent they were. The most splendid 

 collection was that of Mr. Jesse Gouldsmith, who carried off 

 the first prize for nine varieties, and also the first prize for 

 twelve varieties. I lingered in this tent wondering and admir- 

 ing, looking at the painted leaves, for painted some of them 

 seemed ; then others looked like stained glass as the light 

 shone through them. What elegance of form in some ! what 

 depth of colour in others ! 



Next came the Fuchsias. These were arranged down the 

 centre of a long tent, having that centre to themselves. Verily, 

 a look from top to bottom gave one a glorious scene, one seemed 

 to see thousands of miniature chandeliers ; but yet I was 

 assui-ed by a good judge that these flowers were not equal to 

 those of former years. Under the same tent, the south aisle 

 of it, to speak ecclesiastically, were the Hollyhocks, which 

 ■were very good ; also the Dahlias, very good, those shown by 

 Mr. Keynes being superb. The Asters, too, caUed forth much 

 approbation, and many remarks, " Which are the prettier, the 

 French or the German?" I prefer the former, though you 

 must have fresh sent from abroad each j'ear, hut, then, the 

 German are so formal-looking. One gentleman near me made 

 a remark concerning the German Asters, which was capital. 

 " What good rosettes they would make for my carriage horses ! " 

 A lady said, " WTiat piucu.shiony-looking things ! " Verdict, 

 therefore, " French Asters preferred." The Eoses which came 

 next drew towards them all eyes. Never was the Rose so 

 popular as now, thanks to those who have brought out the 

 Hybrid Perpetuals. Mr. Keynes was first with twenty-four 

 bimches. Somebody said, " Mr. Keynes was an able man." I 

 ■would say he beat many able men. Among all the Eoses 

 shown, Charles Lefebvre looked best. The vegetable tent was 

 one fearful to encounter. Had I seen it outside my kitchen- 

 door it would have been a welcome sight, but on a tine after- 

 noon, in close proximity to flowers and a fair throng, the huge 

 ■vegetables, specially the vile herbs, I mean Onions, were terrible. 

 Those frightfully large Cabbages, who could eat them ? those 

 dyspeptic Carrots, called Parsnips, away with them, and away 

 from them, and back to music and flowers. 



One of the arrangements of the Committee was, I thought, 

 excellent — viz., the best music was reserved for the last ; so 

 those who less frequently than their betters hear excellent 

 music, had now the opportunity. A flower show, like every- 

 thing else, has its extremely amusing side, and I love to watch 

 it ; life is full of tragedies, let us catch gladly, then, at the 

 comedies. Thus there was the paterfamilias at the refi-esh- 

 ment tent, who had been supplying his yoimgsters and feed- 

 ing them at some distance ; when he said to the woman who 

 served, "Now then I want to pay — I've had nine buns, 

 two bottles of ginger beer, and an ice," a young man fi-om 

 the country, who stood next, opened eyes and mouth, evidently 



marvelling at the gentleman's prodigious appetite. Then there 

 wore those who seemed to do nothing but look for other 

 peoido, whom of course they never found. Then there wero 

 the faces that puzzled one, not seen for twenty years, and 

 the thought, " Is it iiossiblo that large-waistcoated gentleman 

 was Mr. So-and-so? and oh ! tenderer far, that lady with grey 

 hair the lady I used to meet long since ? " But I am lapsing 

 into the doleful after having written against it. Teaching and 

 ])ructice should go together. I thought of the past at Bath — its 

 false gaiety, its folly, its gambling, its vice ; and the present, 

 that I beheld, was, thank God, free from oU these. I applied to 

 what I saw Eliza Cook's words — 



" r»r inoi-o grand a Hccne is ourH 

 Thiui that where jcwell'd hrowK 

 lu ohleii days mot hali-room flowers. 

 And spruce 'Boau Nash's' bows." 



— WlLTSHIIiE EeCIOR. 



VISITS TO GMIDENS PUBLIC AND TRIV-VTE. 



>r.\!)A>IK I,E GUKI.LK Il'lIAXIS, .\NT\Vi:UI'. 



I HOPE those of the readers of The Jouiinal of HoitTicuL- 

 TURE who take the trouble to look at even the heading of these 

 visits of mine, will not imagine that they are written in chro- 

 nological order, for they would then assuredly come to the con- 

 clusion that I had a season ticket for Belgium, and every now 

 and then went across to see some garden or city. The truth 

 is, that these notes on Belgium were all made iu the early part 

 of June, that I had intended to have sent them each successive 

 week to the Journal, but that other matters interfered — corre- 

 spondents ask for information, flower shows require notice, 

 new plants must be described, and so it is that here in Sep- 

 tember, I find I have not yet finished these few rambling notes. 



If Ghent be the Paradise of nurserymen, it would almost 

 seem as if, Ukc an artesian well, it had chained the neighbour- 

 ing places of their supply, for I could only hear of one niu-sery- 

 man in Antwerp, so rich in its works of art, and its associ- 

 ations, and his nursery (M. Van Geert's) one of by no means 

 a first-rate character. To him I was indebted for the infor- 

 mation that the wife of M. Le Grelle d'Hanis, who holds 

 an honourable position in Antwerp, was an enthusiastic ad- 

 mirer of flowers, and had been a successful exhibitor at the 

 various Belgian exhibitions, .and also at the International Ex- 

 hibition at Amsterdam this season. So bidding our cocker to 

 drive us to the " glacis," the great pitblic promenade and drive 

 of Antwerp, wc soon arrived at a handsome \'illa residence, 

 enclosed on .all sides, and within which the best private col- 

 lection of plants and flowers in Belgium was to be found. In 

 spying this one must bear in mind, that although there is more 

 of the stay-at-home life iu Belgium than in France, and the 

 everlasting cafe does not meet you at every tui-n, and the 

 female portion of the population keep more at home, yet as a 

 rule, amateurs are very scarce in Belgium, and many of those 

 ■who rank under that name are really growers for sale, from whom 

 a niirseryman, if he wants to execute an order, and is hard 

 pushed amongst his own plants, is sure to obtain what he wants 

 to buy and sell again : consequently an amateur like Madame 

 d'Hanis, who for the mere love of flowers, and honoiu- and 

 glory to be derived from exhibiting, cultivates her tastes, is a 

 rara arh, and I felt naturally anxious to sec how far she might 

 be compared with some of our leading amateurs in England. 



The grormds have nothing very remarkable. There -nas some 

 good foliage about the place, and the villa and its appurte- 

 nances might be fairly compared to such as Mr. Kucker's, of 

 M'andsworth, but immensely inferior to it in the neatness 

 which in English eyes is so very desirable, and which one finds 

 in Belgium more than in France ; but the beautiful, soft, 

 velvety turf which marks our viUa residences was wanting at 

 Madame d'Hanis's, where it was coarse and rough, " iU-shaven 

 and unkempt ; " nor in the houses was there, so far as I could 

 see, so much variety, or that extensive collection of individual 

 genera, as in those at home. There was much to interest, 

 and many plants were in an excellent state of cultivation. In 

 the Orchid-house there were some fine plants of Oncidium 

 Lanceanum, Catasetum lougifolium, Epidendi-um longibulbon, 

 Zygopetalum rostratum, Cattleya Mossia;, Bifreuaria longi- 

 cornis, and other species. In the next house there were some 

 very line specimens of Marantas, especially Van den Heckii, 

 truncata, ■vittata, very large, zebrina, striata, and majestica, 

 the latter one of Mr. Linden's recent introductions. It is 

 somewhat iu the way of regalis, but the growth is more 



