THE 



GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, 



AUGUST, 1829. 



PART I. 



ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



Art. I. Notes ayid Reflections made during a Tout through Part 

 of France and Germany, in the Autumn of the Year 1828. By 

 the Conductor. 



{Continued from p. 248.) 



TuTES to Houen, September 1. — The greater part of the 

 road passes through the picturesque valley of the Cambres, 

 in which are the principal cotton manufactories of France ; 

 and, perhaps, there is no spot in this part of the Continent 

 which bears so great a resemblance to England. Still the 

 dissimilarity is too considerable to permit the slightest de- 

 lusion ; for instance, the sumptuous iron gateways to the cotton 

 mills and bleach fields, enriched with gilding, fleurs de lis, 

 and the royal arms. Two or three of the manufactories dis- 

 played some striking features of architectural design, such as 

 open arcades immediately under the roof over several stories 

 of common small windows, immense semicircular windows 

 in gable ends, &c. The houses of the proprietors or ma- 

 nagers had the appearance of comfort, and many of them 

 were surrounded by gardens, in the English style, well kept, 

 and displaying georginas, nasturtiums, and other showy 

 annual flowers. The buildings of the working classes did not 

 exhibit such a neat, clean, and orderly appearance as those in 

 the manufacturing districts of England; but there were 

 exceptions, and some of the gardens were well cultivated, and 

 cropped with cabbage, leeks, potatoes, and twining kidney- 

 beans. The prevailing appearance, however, at least according 

 to the impressions made on us, was that of dirt and disorder, 

 arising not so much from want of means as from want of taste. 

 Vol. v. — No. 21. bb 



