392 Horlicnltnral Tour in the Netherlands. 



Art. II. Extracts from Notes made during a Horticultural Tour 

 in the Netherlands, and Part of France, in June and Julij, 1830. 

 By INIr. T. Rivers, Jun. 



{Continued from Vol. VII. p. 279.) 



Mr. Chantrei,l, the Eiiirlisli frentleman whom I men- 

 tioned, in my hist, ns benig married to a Flemish huly, and 

 having a country seat at tSt. Croix, near Bruges, I found a 

 most agreeable companion, and an enthusiastic iiorticulturist. 

 He is indefatigable in the culture of the species of 7u«ca, and, 

 having to contend with a soil rather inimical to that interest- 

 ing family, deserves great credit for his pretty collection, 

 selected from the nurseries round London, to which place he 

 makes annually a horticultural visit. His mansion, he in- 

 formed me, was formerly the residence of a bishop, and with 

 the grounds, it forms a perfect specimen of a Flemish country 

 residence, surrounded by a moat of clear, dark, stagnant 

 water, with long straioht avenues diver<riuo; from the hou.se, 

 like the rays of a circle. The grounds are quite flat, and the 

 paths a soft black sand ; but these soft paths and shady ave- 

 nues, though so completely at variance with my English 

 would-be-picturesque ideas, felt most exceedingly agreeable 

 in a sultry July day ; and as the Flemings, from the nature of 

 a great part of their country, must have tame gardens, I ad- 

 mire their solid taste in consulting their comfort more than 

 their eyes. A Flemish country house is also, it must be ob- 

 served, merely a summer residence, as the inhabitants lock 

 up the doors at the end of September, and, leaving their fur- 

 niture, &c., to its fate, without the pmtection of even a single 

 servant (a fact which certainly gives a very favourable itiea 

 of the honesty of the Belgians), resort to the town till the 

 heat in spring reminds them of their cool avenues. Mr. 

 Chantrell is generally fortunate in gaining prizes from the 

 Horticultural Society of Bruges. In Juik-, 1830, the })rin- 

 cipal prize was awarded to him for 7'.'rica rcflt-xa alba, a fine 

 specimen, and honourable mention was made of Dryi'uidra ner- 

 vosa, Alstrocmer/a |)ulchella, Jatropha pandura'folia, Ery- 

 thrnia /aurilolia. These specimens 1 saw, and admired their 

 superior growth. In the grounds was a fiole, perhaps 25 ft. 

 high, closely covered with the twining stems of the y/ristolochia 

 si[)ho, which formed the most beautiful verdant column 1 ever 

 beheld. In the kitchen-gardens, the pear treies were, as 

 usual here, flourishing; but the apples were sadly cankered 

 and unhealthy; lettuces, in successive crojis, were the prin- 

 cipal vegetables; the cabbage tribe did not flourish, especially 

 the cauliflower, which will not head in this neighbourhood. 



