17(> HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



late freely around the bulbs. Immediately beside then 

 warehouse, Messrs Kreps possess about a Flemish ar- 

 pent or Dutch acre * of ground (apparently equal to two 

 acres of our measure), where their choice bulbous-rooted 

 plants are cultivated. At this season, the garden pre- 

 sented chiefly a number of empty flower-beds ; an appear- 

 ance of desolation, however, which is here lessened, by 

 means of the exterior side-borders 'being filled with orna- 

 mental herbaceous plants. We remarked of Messrs Kreps, 

 that they shewed no kind of jealous reserve, (some symp- 

 toms of which we had elsewhere encountered), but frankly 

 answered every question we put to them. They present- 

 ed us with a copy of a small pamphlet, containing an ac- 

 count of their method of cultivating hyacinths : this they 

 had prepared chiefly for the benefit of their English cor- 

 respondents, many of whom had complained of want of suc- 

 cess in this branch of culture. This little tract, so valuable 

 to the florist, we have reprinted in the Appendix, No. II. 

 Their collection of hyacinths seemed to be very ample 

 The flowering bulbs are planted in five large beds, placed in 

 front of a greenhouse. Three of these beds consist wholly 

 of double and multiplicate flowers ; the fourth contains early 



• Mr Hay having compared his English foot-rule with Mr Kreps's Dutch 

 one, found that the English square foot is to the Dutch as 144 is to 153.140. 

 Therefore 12 such feet squared = 153.140. This multiplied by COO, = 918S4. 

 square English feet, in" the Dutch acre. The Scots acre, by the customary 

 measure (the English foot), contains 54760 square feet, and is therefore less 

 than the Dutch by 37124 square feet. If recourse be had to the Scots foot, 

 (as fixed in Art. Geometry, Encyc. Brit.), the Scots acre will contain 

 55353 T ° rt , and the Dutch will exceed it by 36530^ square English feet. As 

 the English acre contains 43560 square English feet, and the Dutch, as 

 ■bote mentioned, 91884, the latter is larger than two English acres by 4764 

 equarc feet. 





