HAARLEM. 169 



not possess other ornamental plants deserving of attention. 

 AVe therefore set out, with raised expectations, to examine 

 some of these gardens. 



Van Eedens. 



The name of Van Eeden having been noted, for more than 

 a hundred years past, in this line of horticulture, we natu- 

 rally began by inquiring for Van Eeden's bloemistry. We 

 soon discovered that there were no fewer than four of the 

 name, all descendants, we believe, of a common ancestor 

 who had acquired fame as a florist, and all possessing gar- 

 dens in the neighbourhood of each other. These are si- 

 tuate to the south of the town, on the other side of the 

 Sparen, a small river which flows partly through Haarlem, 

 and partly on the outside of it, under the fortifications. We 

 entered the garden of Mynheer Matthew Van Eeden, over 

 the door of which was inscribed Hqf van Flora. Making 

 full allowance for the unpropitious season of our visit, we 

 certainly felt some little disappointment. The Garden of 

 Flora occupies, we are persuaded, little more than a quar- 

 ter of an English acre. This small piece of ground re- 

 ceives all Mr M. Van Eeden's fine bulbs ; and as the time of 

 planting had not arrived, it was lying in a state of careless 

 waste. We could not help thinking, that the sign-board 

 should be displayed only during the months of April and 

 May, and should be removed when the bulbs have done 

 flowering ; for there is no room for the cultivation of any 

 of the other delicacies of Flora, which might maintain 

 a show during the summer and autumn months. Mr 

 Matthew Van Eeden may probably possess a separate nur- 

 sery for young bulbs, but he did not mention it to us. His 

 nursery of fruit-trees, he informed us, lay at the distance 

 of five or six miles from town. 



