Jane 7, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
473 
From the foregoing facts, which have been set down in real, sober 
honest truth, I think it will be patent to everyone that Florida, as an 
outlet for agriculturists, cannot be surpassed. The acquisition of land 
is offered them in perpetuity for a sum actually less than ordinary 
annual rent charges on this side, and within twelve months after settling 
on cleared lands, sufficient money can frequently be earned to cover the 
cost of purchase. To any intelligent, industrious man with a very 
moderate capital, an honourable, independent position is at once 
assured. 
BELGIAN WORK AND WAYS. 
Let no one suppose 1 am going to describe the Belgian nurseries 
and the work that is done in them. It is sufficient to say there are between 
two and three hundred horticultural establishments large and small, 
chiefly small, in Ghent alone to render any such idea impracticable. It 
will be readily understood that much more than a local and even a 
national trade is essential for keeping all these plant manufactories in 
brisk working order. The trade is international, the chief establish¬ 
ments having business relations with every State in Europe, and 
far beyond the borders of the Old World. The past generation of 
Ghent horticulturists, the Van Geerts, VerschaSelts, Van Houttes, 
De Smets, and others, must have been observant, far-seeing, enterprising 
men. They perceived the national advantages of the situation—free 
soil, abundance of water, cheap labour, and direct lines of communica¬ 
tion by land and sea for conducting a trade world-wide in its ramifica¬ 
tions. Energy, industry, with keen business aptitude did the rest, and 
they lived to see the old capital of Flanders occupy a central position in 
the universe of horticulture. All the qualities that created the plant 
industry that has become so great appear to have been inherited by those 
who have succeeded the old masters, and the present representatives are 
not likely to allow the trade and the fame of the city to suffer in their 
keeping. Competition becomes brisker and brisker. New businesses 
spring up in every country, but Ghent appears to hold its own as a 
chief source of supply of plants for the demands of nations. The 
people are a social community, and know the value of combination for 
a common object, while individual zeal is stimulated. They are ex¬ 
cellent organisers and splendid entertainers. They prepare to economise 
for great efforts. For these they labour, and when the time comes 
for displaying their strength, issue invitations and provide attractions 
that are irresistible. They secure friends from all lands, spare for 
nothing in satisfying them, and send them home with something to 
talk alx)ut. This may be called showy, theatrical, sensational, or what 
not ; but no matter how described, the great gatherings mean business 
and develope trade, as they ought. They are means to an end, and this 
is attained, congratulations being fairly due to the promoters on the 
success of their enterprise, and no one can begrudge them the reward 
they may win by their labours. 
The local trade in plants in Belgium is trifling in comparison with 
the trade in England, relatively considered ; or, in other words, in a 
given radius round Ghent, the city of nurseries, there can be no ap¬ 
proach to the amount invested in gardens to that expended in an equal 
area round the chief towns in Britain. Though the well-to-do Belgians 
attend flower shows very well, there is no great crush, and it would 
probably be less if the shows were much more frequent and correlatively 
of reduced dimensions and impaired novelty, the consequence of 
familiarity. Nor is there an apparent great demand for well-grown 
flowers by the general community if we may judge by the presence of 
plants in windows and dwellings ; or better, perhaps, by the supply in 
the markets. The large open space of the Bias d’Armes, Ghent, a 
parallelogram, perhaps 200 yards long and oO or 60 wide, margined with 
trees, is converted into a flower market on Sunday mornings. The 
plants are arranged in semicircular groups, about as many in each as 
could be arranged in a handcart or Belgian dogcart, these differing very 
widely from dogcarts in England, for in Belgium the dogs draw the 
carts, in England the carts carry the dogs. There were eighty or ninety 
of the groups referred to, the plants being worth little from our point of 
view, the majority being in 3 and I-ineh pots, and appeared to represent 
the contents, very much mixed, of workmen’s greenhouses, and might 
bring in a few francs to the possessore. They had nothing in common 
with the “market plants ” in England that display such splendid cul¬ 
ture and are correspondingly valuable. Ornamental foliaged plants, 
such as Palms, Aspidistras, Ficuses, and the like, appear to find more 
favour than flowering plants do for home adornment, and beyond ques¬ 
tion the former last lon.er and are cheaper in the end. Nor do flowers 
appear to be grown to any noticeable extent in gardens attached to 
dwellings either in the suburbs of towns or in the country. Theie is a 
marked absence of the trim little gardens that form pleasant appendages 
of the houses of the masses, where plots can be had, to which we are 
accustomed ; indeed, people who might do so do not grow their own 
vegetables in anything like the variety and to the same extent as is 
common in Britain. The Belgian workers are not gardeners from our 
point of view, and they seem to avoid indulgence in what may be termed 
the luxuries of the earth, devoting their time and strength to the pro¬ 
duction of necessities. Possibly it has been found that in the supply of 
vegetables for market the small cultivators of necessarily limited quan¬ 
tities cannot successfully compete with expert market gardeners who 
produce them in larger bulk for the demands of towns. Nor do we find 
bush fruits, such as Strawberries, Currants, and Raspberries, anything 
like so freely grown in Belgium as in England, while the Belgians do 
not grow Rhubarb, nor, as a communitv, do they care for Cucumbers. 
To return to the Ghent nurseries. If these cannot be described they 
cannot be ignored, and, presumably, few readers of these notes who may 
visit the Brussels Exhibition this year would think of returning with¬ 
out a day in those nurseries. They are easily reached by tram or other¬ 
wise from the Plas d’Armes, the two hotels there, the Royale and Poste, 
being the favourite houses of Britishers. In order to see the most 
nurseries in the least time a tram maybe taken to the Porte de Bruxelles, 
which is not much more than a mile, and you land at M. Pynaert Van 
Geert’s. There you find an accomplished horticulturist and most genial 
man, who converses in English very well, while his better half speaks 
our language like a native. It is a well arranged, well furnished nursery.. 
Orchids, Clivias, Palms, Begonia®, and most other plants being repre¬ 
sented in the best established and many new varieties. An easy walk 
brings to M. de Smet’s, where splendid Bays are to be seen outside, and 
the finest collection of Cacti and other curious within, besides a general 
stock of miscellaneous plants. Almost within stone’s throw is the old 
nursery of the late Jean Verschaffelt, now De Smet Freres. Here are 
avenues of standard Bays outside, the other great feature being the 
Kentia house, consisting of a series of span-roofs supported on iron 
pillars, covering a space in which 15,000 or 20,000 Kentias are planted, 
on what may be described as slate stages, in beds 5 or 6 inches deep, 
paths running between along the centre of each division. From a saddlte 
boiler exposed in the house flow pipes are conducted overhead—that is, 
under the purline, where the roofs rest on the pillars, the returns dipping 
and conducted to the boiler just under the slate stages, so that gentle 
heat is imparted to the soil in which the Palms are growing, while heat 
is also diffused in the atmosphere. It is an excellent arrangement, and 
the forest of young Palms is sufficient to “ strike a stranger.” Almost 
adjoining is M. D’Haene’s well stocked, clean, and interesting establish¬ 
ment. As in other Belgian nurseries a great increase in Orchids is 
noticeable here, while Palms and various other plants are admirably 
represented. Opposite is the establishment of M. Dalliere, but there 
was no time for calling, but various plants in the great Show demon¬ 
strated that good work is done in the establishment. A walk of five or 
ten minutes and we are at the greatest of the plant emporiums of 
Belgium—the world-famed Van Houtte’s. If I had to tell in a wordP 
what IS to be seen there I should say everything in the plant line,, 
hardy and tender, outdoors and in, that is in demand by cultivators in 
all countries. It is a great universal supply establishment, and was 
never in more thorough working order than now. The linguistic accom¬ 
plishments of M. Van Houtte are remarkable. He appears to be ak 
home with all nationalities, and speaks English like—well, exactly like 
a fluent American ; and as an entertainer is not soon to be forgotten. 
On the opposite side of the city there is, among others, the extensive 
and complete nursery of M. Auguste Van Geert, and here, again, we find 
an admirable English-speaking proprietor and most agreeable man ; but 
all the Belgian nurserymen accord a pleasant reception to visitors of 
kindred tastes with themselves—^the De Cocks, Vervaets, Vervaenes, 
Vuylstekes, with others whose names are familiar to readers of garden 
literature. They are too numerous to be even mentioned, but the scenes 
of their labours are easily reached by all who have a day or two at their 
disposal in Ghent. 
We now leave the city of nurseries, but b fore doing so will try and' 
settle a dispute respecting the pronunciation of its name. The 
question propounded is this—“ Is Ghent sounded like ‘ Gent,’ the 
abbreviation of gentleman, or is the ‘h’ mute and thg ‘g’ sounded as 
in ‘ get ?’ “ I hope the latter is the case,’’ writes an interested gardener, 
“or I shall have to pay.” Our friend may compose himself, he will not 
have to “ pay,” unless in his gratitude he is constrained to send me a 
guinea for the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund, which shall be entered, if be 
likes, under the signature of “ John of Gaunt,” that celebrated historical 
personage having been so named because he was born in Ghent, or 
Gand, according to the original French appellation. And now, awaiting 
the fee for the advice solicited, we return to Antwerp, and pass on the 
way a substantial building bearing in large letters the sign “Ecole 
d’Horticulture.” 
A good deal has been heard from time to time about schools of 
horticulture, and their establishment has been advocated in England 
for making better gardeners. There is or was a “ school ” for this object 
at the Crystal Palace, and Chiswick has been proposed as a “ seat of 
learning,” where students may “ graduate ” as certified cultivators. Tt 
is something to talk about and write about certainly, and the subject 
will perhaps be written about and talked about till Chiswick as a garden 
is talked out of existence, and that will settle the matter. The best 
schools of horticulture in Britain are the well managed gardens of the 
aristocracy and affluent, and the best gardeners in the world have been 
trained in them ; then after the multitudinous detailsof practice are learnt 
there is the splendid establishment of Kew as a finishing school, where 
lectures of great value are delivered; but the resources of Kew are 
obviously inadequate for teaching men the duties they have to perform 
in maintaining unbroken supplies of vegetables and fruit for the demands 
of families, while the important branch of forcing early crops is net 
practised at Chiswick, nor is it likely to be. There will alwiiys be plenty 
of gardeners equal to all the duties required of them, trained in the best 
of existing schools, with plenty to weed out. But to this Belgian School 
of Horticulture. It is a substantial building, with a garden containing 
fruit trees. The students learn to draw plans inside and prune trees 
outside. I saw no glass structures. On inquiry of persons competent 
to speak on the subject, and who are well acquainted with British 
gardens, 1 was informed distinctly that the schools possessed no 
means of teaching practical horticulture equal to our be.st private 
gardens, and that the students could not take the management of such 
