8 Journey through Belgium 



apart. The trees selected for planting are from If in. to 2 in. in 

 diameter : before they are planted, the heads are cut off at about 

 8 ft. high. After two or three years' growth pruning commences, 

 and is performed with great judgment and good effect; the timber 

 becoming generally straight, to the height of from 30 ft. to 40 ft. 

 The practice is, to cut the larger shoots close and smooth, which 

 is usually performed in August or September, leaving the smaller 

 branches perfect. It is probable that this operation is performed 

 every fourth year. In the second pruning the strong shoots 

 are cut off close as before, when the smaller branches, before 

 left, are also cut off close. This is done with great care, not 

 to injure the trunk of the trees, which become, generally, as 

 straight as the mast of a ship. The branches are chiefly cut 

 upwards with chisels of various sizes, having handles of different 

 lengths. This operation is performed with great despatch, ge- 

 nerally, I conceive, by two men, one guiding the chisel, and 

 the other striking with a mallet, cutting the branches perfectly 

 smooth and close to the trunk of the tree : these wounds, in con- 

 sequence of being made before the return of the sap, become 

 nearly, if not entirely, healed over before the winter. 



[A similar practice will be found accurately described, II. 226. 

 and 461. We consider it excellent, and are happy to find it 

 confirmed by so intelligent an observer as Mr. Knight.] 



The cottagers in these parts, though destitute of many do- 

 mestic comforts, are much less wretched than in England : ge- 

 nerally they are provident, industrious, and economical; but 

 few attend to cottage gardening; and, where they do, the produce, 

 from want of the best varieties of seeds, and a better manage- 

 ment, is but of little value. 



From Poperingen on to Ypres, the land is good : near the 

 latter town there is a tolerable nursery-garden for forest trees: 

 the land is rich, and the country generally flat. Through Cour- 

 tray to near Ghent, the land is rich and well cultivated. Rape 

 appears to be an important crop, and is cultivated to a very great 

 extent in this country. It is surprising how few indigenous 

 birds are to be seen, which is the more extraordinary in a 

 country abounding so much with food for them: the sparrows 

 are few, the magpies rather numerous, and there is a grey crow 

 or rook seen occasionally. 



Near to Ghent there are some market-gardeners, who cultivate 

 excellent vegetables, but display little or no taste for neatness or 

 regularity. Ghent is a large manufacturing town, abounding in 

 nursery-gardens, the cultivators of which are a very industrious 

 class of men, but rather limited in the objects of their cultivation. 

 They have many good and some rare plants. Magnolias and 

 azaleas thrive with them admirably. There is a botanic garden 

 here, which may boast more of its antiquity than it can of its 

 stock of new plants. 



