110 HOllTICULTUItAL TOUR. 



only other herbaceous plant which we^. shall mention, is the 

 Asclepias iubcrosa. It is here planted in wide-spreading, 

 patches in the manner of the Lilium superbum at Mr 

 Hopsomere's near Ghent (p. 70.) ; and the profusion of 

 bright orange flowers now displayed, rendered it extremely 

 ornamental. 



Upon the whole, this seat of Mr Smetz afforded us a 

 good deal of pleasure. The natural beauties are as nume- 

 rous and diversified as can be expected in a flat country ; 

 and the instances of good taste and judicious management, 

 more than counterbalanced those of an opposite description. 

 We have often heard of the riches of Antwerpian bankers 

 and merchants ; and the large sums which have here been 

 lavished on the embellishment of these pleasure-grounds, even 

 in revolutionary times, seem to justify the report ; notwith- 

 standing the cheapness of labour and of materials on the 

 Continent, they must have been such as would, we doubt 

 not, alarm many an English nobleman. We did not wonder, 

 therefore, that the Empress Marie-Louise should, in the 

 progress which she made with her husband through the 

 extended dominions of France, have spent some days, as 

 she did, at the charming retreat of Mr Smetz. 



In returning to Antwerp, we found the by-roads almost 

 impassable, from the rain which had suddenly fallen, and 

 were glad to regain the chaussee ; the utility of which in 

 the Netherlands was thus illustrated to our conviction by 

 experience. 



sold : for a collection consisting of young plants, in the spring, 100 francs 

 (414 : 3 : 4) ; and for a collection composed of large grown-up plants, in the 

 autumn, 200 francs. Mr Donkelaar added, however, that when a cultiva- 

 tor of curious plants wanted such a collection, it was always most agrceahle 

 1,0th to hi* master and himself to make an interchange, in order that they 

 might Increase theft own botanical collection^ 



