October 13, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 333 
Sharpless (also American), and Dr. Roden’s Fair Lady promise 
well, but were planted too late for a satisfactory test. The best 
variegated-leaved Strawberry is “Variegated Enchantress” (Dr. 
Roden), which comes more constantly variegated and with better 
fruit than the other variegated Strawberries with which I am 
acquainted.—T. Laxton, Bedford. 
THE ROSE ELECTION. 
The thanks of all true rosarians are due to Mr. Hinton for his 
courteous labours, and I for one congratulate him on their suc¬ 
cessful results. 
The position, however, of a few Roses is rather surprising, 
notably that of Comtesse de Serenye. Where is that elegance of 
form and delicacy of complexion which charmed us so much when 
she made her debut? The loveliness of the girl has developed 
into the too great inclination to embonpoint (dare I say coarseness '?) 
in the woman, and rarely now is to be seen that “ maiden’s blush ” 
on her cheeks which was one of the most charming features of 
her first appearance. 
Am I wrong, do you think, in suggesting yearly budding to 
reproduce her pristine charms ? I think not, if we take the 
character of the votes into consideration. Twenty-four amateurs 
out of forty-five give her their votes, but of these sixteen seem to 
mark only fond memories of the past, while of nurserymen twenty- 
one out of tvventy-tw r o vote for her, fourteen placing her in the 
first twenty-four. Now as nurserymen chiefly look on maiden 
blooms and amateurs on cut-backs, I fancy there is some reason 
in what I say, and that Comtesse de Serenye grows somewhat 
coarse under good feeding. If, then, we are to see her again in 
the beauty of her girlhood, we must either put the Comtesse upon 
Banting diet or trust only to maiden blooms. 
I wish with Mr. Hinton that positive notice had been taken of 
“ too much alike Roses,” for to see forty votes accorded to Ferdi¬ 
nand de Lesseps, while Exposition de Brie numbers only fifteen, 
speaks of some such unaccountable change of opinion as charac¬ 
terised the political election of 1880. Again, that Prince Camille 
de Rohan should stand forty-ninth on the list, while La Rosibre 
occupies the undignified position of “ wooden spoon,” must have 
disturbed the equanimity of others besides myself. 
I wonder, too, what offence poor Xavier Olibo has committed. 
Try him on the seedling Briar, ye who doubt his excellence ; and 
if you have my experience you will find a Rose vigorous as Dupuy 
Jamain with the blooming properties of Marie Van Houtte. 
I merely write this hoping to see further letters from some far 
more competent to write on the matter than I am.—H. B. B. 
A WEEK IN BELGIUM. 
[THE THIRD DAY.] 
This may be described as a day in the country, and a most 
pleasant one it proved ; profitable, too, it certainly ought to have 
been, as it was spent with one of the most experienced men in 
Europe in the particular branch of horticulture with which he is 
specially identified. 
As has been stated, Mr. Van Geert’s nursery at Antwerp has 
diminished in size owing to the steady growth of the town ; but 
as this was foreseen some years ago ample provision was made to 
meet the anticipated change, and a country nursery was established 
in what is undoubtedly one of the healthiest parts of the kingdom, 
the land being well drained, the soil sandy yet good, and the air 
pure. 
Calmpthout was not only judiciously selected on account of its 
natural advantages and ready access by rail—the station being 
within three minutes’ walk from the nursery—but the ground was 
so disposed that utility and convenience were combined with 
artistic effect, and the nursery is of its kind a model one. It has 
been previously described in this Journal, but a second visit to a 
place which the first did not render quite familiar is often needed, 
always enjoyable, and seldom fails to be instructive where there 
is anything to be learned, as there is at the establishment in 
question. There is no glass, except in the windows of the villa. 
This building was commenced for a small office. Madame thought 
it would be more useful if a cooking kitchen was attached, the 
family thought it would be still further improved if an additional 
room were added, and then it was considered a pity that the walls 
should not be taken high enough for bedrooms ; and so the place 
grew to its present dimensions, and it now forms the health sani- 
torium for family or friends who require a brief sojourn in a salu¬ 
brious district. Perhaps the proprietor did not at the first see the 
necessity for such an erection, but the family instincts proved 
sound, and the only fault of the place now is that it is not large 
enough. The moral of this is, Do not despise the advice of a good 
wife, nor treat with contumely the suggestions of the olive 
branches. 
But my friend William Taylor, with his stern utilitarianism, 
will be reminding me that this is “ not gardening.” True, it is 
not, but it is in a rather more direct manner than I wish “leading 
up to it.” I wanted a change from gardening when I left Eng¬ 
land, and I happened to suggest a few weeks ago that some of my 
readers have enough if not too much of it; hence I said as little 
about “ gardening ” as possible, and I have had more than suffi¬ 
cient testimony that the change of subject I ventered to introduce 
was specially acceptable. I am, however, driven to one phase of 
gardening now, but it is at any rate a change from clipping 
Mentha and plucking Golden Feather, or trying to prove whether 
single or double flowers are the more beautiful, or whether wild 
or exotic plants possess the greater charms. From these very 
abstruse and intellect-taxing—and I had almost said temper-try¬ 
ing—subjects I am happily free, and free also from fruit perplexi¬ 
ties, for my “third day” was spent among trees, shrubs, and 
Conifers, and a reference to them will at least not be unseasonable 
on the eve of planting time. 
The principal nursery—for there are two enclosures—is a paral¬ 
lelogram about a quarter of a mile long and perhaps 100 yards 
wide. It is divided into compartments longitudinally by hedges 
of Conifers about a foot wide, close and dense, and over 6 feet 
high. A walk runs down the centre of each compartment, and at 
intervals of 15 or 20 yards are cross hedges, some of them forming 
a segment of a circle, the top limb commencing at the top of the 
main hedge, the bottom resting as it were on the walk. Others 
are carried across the borders without any reduction of height, 
and meet each other over the w r alk, forming arches. Some of the 
hedges are Spruce, others Thuias ; T. gigantea, or, as it is com¬ 
monly called, T. Lobbi, making a beautiful hedge. Others are 
formed of Abies excelsa, Picea Pinsapo, &c., the latter being 
injured by the frost. As all these hedges are kept in perfect order 
the effect is quite unique ; while, as will be readily understood, 
they afford valuable shelter, and at the same time nothing in the 
squares can be passed without being seen. Again, every avenue 
is distinguished by a letter, and every compartment numbered, so 
that if anything is wanted to be removed from or inserted in a 
particular place it is only requisite to give the number and letter, 
and there, is no time lost in searching, and even a labourer cannot 
easily make a mistake. These remarks apply to the side avenues, 
the central one being different—wider and more imposing. The 
boundary lines here are formed with Purple Beeches and Acer 
Negundo variegata alternately planted and pruned, not clipped, 
into the form of cones, each having a base of about 3 feet where 
the trees touch each other, the height of many being about 18 feet. 
The rows are somewhat broken in places, but the effect of the 
stately columns with their boldly contrasting foliage is very 
striking. The borders along this avenue are divided into squares 
(open next the walk) by hedges of Thuia occidentalis 2 feet high. 
These enclosures were formed so that each w T ould accommodate 
a single specimen, with the object of testing its beauty, hardiness, 
and w T orth. A pair of each kind were planted opposite each other 
in these squares, of which there are, 1 think, 170, for writing from 
memory 1 cannot pretend to numerical exactitude. “But why 
not have taken notes ?” Well, taking notes on a rainy day is a 
nuisance whether one has an umbrella or not, so much of that 
formality was dispensed with. The squares were planted in 1858, 
Mr. Van Geert having at that time received many new plants 
from his friend Siebold. These remained and were proved, such 
of them that flourished being fine specimens at the time of the 
coronation of His Majesty King Leopold, who purchased one of 
each for planting at Laeken ; the remainder, having then served 
their purpose, were sent to the first Paris International Exhibition, 
and from thence were distributed. The squares were subsequently 
re-occupied, but in a less systematic manner, but the object re¬ 
maining the same—namely, proving the characters of new intro¬ 
ductions as they were received. In these trial squares are many 
specimens that merit notice now, especially as those that remain 
healthy after winters that have killed Pear trees are unquestion¬ 
ably hardy. 
One of the first specimens that arrested attention was Abies 
Alcoquiana, or Sir Rutherford Alcock’s Japanese Spruce, about 
15 feet high. At this height the beauty of this fine Spruce can 
be seen, as the glaucous undersides of the leaves are apparent, 
and the colour of the tree is a singular mixture of silvery blue and 
green, which cannot be perceived in small trees. This very hardy 
and decidedly ornamental species was introduced by the late Mr. 
J. G. Yeitch in 1861, and was named in honour of Sir Rutherford 
Alcock, who was then British Minister at Yeddo. It should be 
included in all collections of Conifers. Near it was Larix Kaemp- 
feri, the Golden Chinese Larch, but much larger and uninjured, 
