568 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ December 22, 1881. 
The diameter of the house is nearly 200 feet, and the height to 
the top of the lantern 80 feet—a vast space to fill ornamentally, 
but it has been accomplished. The interior of the wall on which 
the roof rests is faced with rockwork and planted with Ferns, 
Begonias, and other suitable plants, by the side of which is a 
broad walk all round the house. About 20 feet from the side is 
a circle of thirty-six stone columns 20 feet high and 30 inches in 
diameter for supporting the roof. These massive columns and 
the architrave are rather obtrusive, but none of the structural 
parts of the edifice must be covered with plants; no climbers even 
must touch the roof, in obedience to the law of the architect, 
otherwise Mr. Wills would without doubt have found means to 
partially cover this and the masonry, and have made the house, 
as a garden, even more ornamental than it is. Between the outer 
wall and the pillars a series of semicircular beds are being 
formed, and in each is being planted a single Palm—if I re¬ 
member rightly, Phoenix reclinata—and handsome specimens they 
are. Hitherto they have been in tubs and other plants grouped 
round them, but they now demand more space, and their appear¬ 
ance will be much better when the work of planting is completed. 
We now come to what may be termed the inner circle of the 
garden—the space enclosed by the pillars. This is simply divided 
into two large semicircular beds by a promenade some 20 feet 
wide of mosaic pavement. The beds are planted in a free irre¬ 
gular manner so as to resemble a tropical forest, and the idea is 
admirably carried out. Magnificent Palm trees and Tree Ferns 
tower aloft forming a grand canopy of foliage, the undergrowth 
comprising dwarf Ferns associated with ornamental-foliaged 
Begonias. The Begonias thus grown in all their native vigour 
are most striking. Such plants cannot be produced in pots, and the 
subdued light is precisely suited for bringing out the richness of 
their markings. These plants, 6 feet or more in diameter, with 
huge leaves in richest colour, show with great effect from the 
mass of luxuriant Ferns—Aspleniums, Adiantums, Pterises, &c., 
P. argyrea being especially striking, and the whole scene is as 
complete in its way as could be desired. To enumerate the 
Palms would be too great a task, and is not needful, but a few 
cannot be forgotten. Sabal Blackburniana from the Duke of 
Aremberg’s is magnificent, and one wonders how such specimens 
could be removed and placed in their positions, for the weight 
must amount to many tons. Livistonia australis and Sabal pal- 
mata are similarly grand. Astrocaryum rostratum with its prickly 
stems is the finest plant in the kingdom. Corypha australis has a 
stem 10 feet high and a head 20 feet in diameter. Caryota Rumph- 
iana is of the same size. Phoenixes are numerous, P. sylvestris 
20 feet high being deservedly valued, and the rare and valuable 
Cocos australis with its remarkable sharply hooked leaves com¬ 
mands attention, the specimen being valued at £500. Kentias, 
Attaleas, Arengas, Braheas, Chammrops, Latanias, Livistonias, and, 
in fact, all the choicest and the best kinds that could be obtained, 
are included in the forest, and all are in the best of health. They 
are such as a king may be proud to own, and it is evident his 
skilful gardener M. Ingelrelst cherishes them. This is a meagre 
description of a remarkable structure, which alone is worth a 
journey from England to see, if the sea is not too rough and the 
visitor can speak French, as all cannot expect to be so fortunate 
as I was to meet His Majesty’s English valet, Mr. Murray, whose 
presence rendered my hour at Laeken peculiarly agreeable. 
THE ORANGERY. 
Connected with the winter garden is the orangery, at one end 
of which is the King’s private theatre. This orangery is a huge 
building 250 feet long and 25 feet wide. The sides are glazed 
between buttresses of masonry, and the roof is ceiled; still it 
appears to answer the purpose of preserving the Orange trees and 
Camellias in the winter, these being placed in the open air during 
the summer. A correspondent “ Vindex,” referred on page 383 
to the light soil in which Belgian Camellias are potted as in¬ 
sufficient to maintain them in good health. I do not know what 
he would have said had he seen the Laeken specimens in tubs, and 
not very large tubs either, the foliage being of the richest charac¬ 
ter and the buds in thousands—even thousands on one specimen, 
for some of the plants, or trees, are apparently 30 feet high, per¬ 
fectly furnished from the tubs upwards, the specimens being cone- 
shaped, or rather split-cone shaped, for they are flat at the back 
for arranging against the walls of the orangery, every portion of 
which between the windows they cover from the floor to the 
ceiling. In August they were in the open air arranged on the 
north side of a close belt of lofty trees, and consequently quite 
shaded from the sun during the greater part of the day. Shade is 
evidently considered essential for Camellias in Belgium, and is 
provided by cultivators in private gardens and nurseries. Great 
judgment is requisite in watering such specimens as these, and 
they are certainly well attended to, or they would not be in the 
excellent condition they are. The soil in the tubs is black and 
sand}’, resembling decayed leaves or manure mixed with sand, 
and clear liquid manure is given occasionally. 
Fine as the Camellias are, the Orange trees are still more strik¬ 
ing. As arranged in rows outside the house they formed quite a 
grove. Many of them are historic specimens and are greatly and 
worthily prized. There appeared to be about two hundred of 
them in tubs about 4 feet high and 5 or 0 feet square. The stems 
of many of them appear to be 18 or more inches in circumference, 
and the heads, which are globular and very handsome, range from 
8 to 10 or even 12 feet in diameter. Several of these trees are, 
I believe, considerably over a hundred years old, yet, generally 
speaking, they are in excellent health, the foliage being clean and 
glossy and the fruits numerous. In the spring Orange blossom 
at Laeken must be about as plentiful as Apple blossom is in an 
ordinary English garden, and the perfume in the orangery must 
be overpowering. A few of the trees have lost their vigour and 
are being renovated. This is done by reducing their heads, cut¬ 
ting the branches “hard in buds and fresh growths soon follow, 
and new and fresh heads are formed. The specimens are un¬ 
sightly for a time, but not for long, and eventually there is a 
satisfactory compensation in the renovated trees. This is the 
best mode, too, of treating old Camellias that need renovation— 
cut them boldly down, and they will repay by strong and healthy 
growths if the plants are otherwise rightly treated, as I have often 
seen in Belgium, and seen also and practised in England. The 
Orange trees in question are worthy of Laeken, of the royal pos¬ 
sessor of them, and of Belgium—more need not be said. 
From the Winter Garden we enter a semicircular conservatory 
adjoining the theatre, and from thence a long glass-roofed corridor 
that conducts to the palace. This is a great work, and mostly be¬ 
low ground, except, of course, the roof. On the sides are rockwork, 
and the walls above are wired, but hitherto they have failed to 
cover them. Even the Ficus repens scarcely makes any progress, 
and Selaginellas assume an abnormal character. There is a 
great desire to cover the walls, and in all probability a collection 
of Ivies would be as likely to succeed as anything, while many of 
the varieties are unquestionably beautiful—to wit, Sir Henry 
Peek’s wall of them at Wimbledon House. 
There is thus much of interest at Laeken—much that is good, 
even grand ; but I must record a great want. The winter garden, 
as I have said, stands alone. There are no preparing houses for 
the supply of plants that would complete its adornment. There 
is a venerable range of lean-to houses of little use for plant 
culture, and a few rough frames. Ranges of span-roofed houses 
or pits appear to English eyes simple necessities under the cir¬ 
cumstances, and perhaps in due time they will be provided. Until 
then it is an absolute impossibility for any gardener to furnish 
the huge building in the most attractive manner ; but with such 
aids and competent assistance, a spectacle of floral grandeur 
might be effected such as would be difficult to equal in any 
country. 
I shall not soon forget Laeken, nor the courtesy and kindness 
of M.M. Ingelrelst and Lebarrifere, Mr. Murray, and my good 
friend and able interpreter Mr. Charles Van Geert, jun., who 
was my efficient guide and genial fellow traveller during the 
fourth day of my week in Belgium.—J. Wright. 
PEARS FOR WALLS. 
I have carefully read “ John Bull’s ” latest under the above 
heading, and, anxious to satisfy him as far as is in my power, I 
again revert to the subject. Your correspondent thinks that we 
may be shocked to know that he root-prunes with an axe. 
Whether shocked or not, we certainly think that had the tree he 
speaks of been properly planted, and the roots properly cared for 
afterwards while the tree was young, the work would not have 
been greater, and the practice would have been more worthy of 
being held up for imitation. 
The only thing “John Bull” asks me to answer is—“If the 
practice of root-pruning and lifting is so wonderfully profitable, 
how is it that fruit-farmers who pay £5 an acre for their land 
do not indulge in it 1 And on the border question, will he say 
why a Pear tree against a wall should require an expensively 
made border when it will grow freely without it in an open field 
or gardenI have already answered the latter question in the 
following words—“ I did not say that Pear trees would not grow 
without having borders made for them. But I said, and say still, 
that first-rate results need not be looked for from trees trained as 
advocated without good borders. That they will grow we are all 
aware, but we want something more than growth. We want 
fruit, and not only fruit, but good fruit, and we have yet to learn 
