GARDENS OF VARIOUS NATIONS. 585 



this ornamentation of water and grassy mounds has— in the wet, 

 humid, and flat country of Holland— a very unpleasing effect. 



The best specimens of the Dutch style were the Royal Gardens at 

 Loo, which were laid out in the seventeenth century by William and 

 Mary, afterwards the sovereigns of this country. These were composed 

 of four gardens — the lower and upper, the king's and the queen's — be- 

 sides labyrinths. The one at Hague, which belonged-in the seventeenth 

 century to the Count de Nassau, which was a celebrated one, is now but 

 badly kept up. Most of the Dutch gardens of the present day combine 

 the English style with that of their own ; yet there still exist in Holland 

 many specimens of that style which may be truly termed the purely 

 Dutch. Near Utrecht is a private garden, belonging to a merchant, 

 which, though somewhat narrow, extends to a considerable distance. 

 Tall and thick hedges of beech, hornbeam, and oak, cut into a variety 

 of shapes, are employed . for the larger divisions of the grounds, whilst 

 the smaller are divided by hedges of yew and box. The ornaments in 

 this garden consist of grottoes and fountains, statues and busts, urns 

 and vases. There are, besides, the usual long berceau walk of beech, 

 with its windows, and several avenues of walks terminating in 

 vistas. Everything here — according to the Dutch system — has its 

 counterpart, so that where there is a pond, walk, statue, or group of 

 evergreens on the one side, there is the same to match it on the other. 

 The two ponds that are surrounded with old chestnut-trees are similar, 

 though much smaller, to the one in Bushey Park, and in the extremity 

 of the grounds is a large circular walk shaded with beech-trees, in the 

 centre of which is a piece of water. The usual adjuncts, as green- 

 houses and forcing-frames, also form a part of the garden. 



The Dutch people of all classes are fond of cultivating plants. In 

 the environs of Rotterdam there are a series of little gardens belonging 

 to the tradesmen of the town. On the cultivation of them great care is 

 bestowed, and in them are grown fruit-trees, generally kept dwarfish, 

 and flowers. To each garden is attached a kind of garden, or summer- 

 house— termed tuin-huisjes or lust-hofs—2^\A thither the proprietors 

 repair with their families on a Sunday afternoon, to enjoy the quietness 



