in the Neighbourhood of Berlin. 3.55 



Those which appeared to me to be the finest grown, and in 

 greatest quantity, were, Due von Tholl, Grande Duchesse, 

 Grootmeester von Maltha, Wit en rood horde, Standart, Tour- 

 nesol. Rex rubrorurn, Beaute parfaite, Braut von Harlem, 

 Cerise royale, Aurora Arachne ; with an immense quantity of 

 fine seedlings, too tedious to mention. The next in rank as a 

 bulb-grower may be reckoned M. Limprecht in the Koppen- 

 strasse. His collection of hyacinths, though not so large as the 

 last, consists of bulbs, which are extra well grown. M. Lim- 

 precht forces, on an average, every year, from 12,000 to 15,000 

 hyacinths, in pots, for the market. The early tulips were 

 splendid. M. Limprecht has raised a variety of the Due von 

 Tholl from seeds, which he calls Due de Berlin : it is much 

 larger, and finer-coloured, and is said to force better than the 

 original. Both of the establishments which I have mentioned 

 are kept in a very orderly and business-like manner. In fact, 

 the market-gardeners and florists in Berlin are rather a superior 

 class of individuals : of the former you shall hear more at 

 another opportunity. It would occupy too much room to enu- 

 merate here all the different gardeners that have turned their 

 attention to this branch of floriculture, it having become general ; 

 but I cannot pass over the collection of M. D. Bouchi in 

 Blumenstrasse ; it being one of the most select and numerous 

 in Berlin as to sorts. M. Bouchi has long been celebrated as 

 a florist ; and, certainly, his garden is worth visiting, not only for 

 the neat and orderly manner in which it is kept, but for the rich 

 collection of auriculas which it contains, and, above all, the ori- 

 ginal and interesting habits of its owner. 



The Berlin growers generally begin to plant their hyacinth 

 bulbs about the latter end of October, or beginning of Novem- 

 ber ; the ground having been, the previous spring, trenched to 

 the depth of 2 ft., and enriched with good short dung; which is 

 planted, in summer, with cauliflowers, kohlrabi, or stocks, the 

 seeds of which are made an article of trade. The bulbs are 

 planted about 6 in. deep, in rows parallel with the beds ; the 

 distance between the rows being regulated according to the 

 habits of the kinds ; so that they stand free of each other when 

 in flower. Many fine sorts have been raised from seeds here; 

 and, in general, the seedlings flower the third year. The beds 

 are covered, in winter, with a thick layer of stable litter, which 

 is removed early in spring. The ground appeared to be com- 

 posed of two thirds of brown sand, with a portion of black 

 vegetable earth ; and the subsoil is a moist white sand. Although 

 an immense quantity of hyacinths is required to supply the de- 

 mand in Berlin itself, yet the greatest part of those grown in 

 that city is sold to the Vienna and Saxony growers. In passing 

 along the streets in Berlin, scarely a dwelling-house window is to 



D D 4 



