I here observed a large number of horses, belonging to the Grand Duke, passing through the town to the Ducal stables. There are military barracks, and a large establishment of soldiers stationed here. This is evidently not a town of trade, but is principally occupied by the military.
Left Darmstadt at three o'clock for Frankfort; the country betwixt these towns is not much varied, but the soil appears very fertile, and produces good crops. I was, however, quite astonished at the number of carriages and other vehicles passing and re-passing betwixt Frankfort and Heidelberg; the road appeared to be nearly as much crowded as any of the English roads leading to London, and amongst these travellers were many English families.
Arrived at Frankfort at six o'clock in the evening; the hotels were all so crowded with strangers that it was with difficulty I procured a bed, but at last the landlord of the Hotel d'Angleterre obtained me a room in a private house.
Sept. 17th. In the morning I visited the Catholic cathedral, which is said to be one thousand years old, and contains a curious clock and almanac, made and placed in it about four hundred years ago; and then proceeded to the banking-house of Messrs. Koch and Co., and delivered to them a letter of introduction from His Excellency Lord G. W. Russell. They kindly furnished me with notes of introduction to several of the best gardens in Frankfort. I then visited the nursery gardens of M. Rintz, which are situated in the suburbs of the town, and contain about eighteen English acres, chiefly occupied with fruit trees. There are also several hothouses and pits for Cape and other plants, which are pretty extensively cultivated, with a good variety of Ericas and other greenhouse plants, as well as several fine specimens of Cacteæ, and a very extensive variety of the Camelliæ; but unfortunately none of these being at this season in flower, I had not the pleasure of seeing M. Rintz's celebrated variety, which is said to be very fine. This gentleman then accompanied me to the garden of M. Andreæ Willemer, which is close to the town, but is very limited in extent; it contains a very good greenhouse, and low pits and frames, which were then well stocked with a very fine collection of Cacteæ, amongst which were many very scarce species. This gentleman devotes much attention to the cultivation of this tribe of plants, and appeared to put a higher value on many of them than they are actually worth; for instance, the Cactus Senilis he would not part with for fifty pounds, although possessing duplicates. There was also a good assortment of Cape plants and a number of Ericas, which are now beginning to be more extensively cultivated in Germany than they previously were.
I then paid a visit to the Frankfort Botanic Garden, which is of very limited extent, and its collection of plants also very contracted. These is, however, attached to it, the Senkenberg Society, which contains a splendid collection of objects in natural history, such as birds, fishes, shells, minerals, and animals, which are well worth the stranger's notice.
From this I proceeded to the gardens of M. Gogel, situated about four English miles from Frankfort, containing twenty-four German acres, with several hothouses and pits for the growth of the pine-apple and other tropical plants, which are extensively cultivated here. This gentleman has a very fine collection of the hardy grapes on the garden walls, with a large space of vegetable ground, well cropped. The lawn in front of the house appears, from the River Main, to much advantage, as well as a fine avenue of lime trees, that have grown to a large size. At the lower end of this avenue is a fine vista of the river and packets, or boats, that pass to and from Frankfort and Mayence.
On my return, I called at the villa garden of M. Stern, which is a pretty little spot, with a great variety of pelargoniums and dahlias, and other green-house plants, and contains some small green-houses and pits for their protection; there is also a good collection of camellias, all in a healthy state.
Adjoining this is another villa, belonging to M. Cronelius, that has also several good hothouses and pits, with a large variety of Ericas, Camellias, Dryandrias, and Geraniums, as well as other New Holland plants. There are likewise several espalier divisions, in which the pear tree is extensively cultivated, and appeared to be in a very prolific state. There is a considerable extent of ground under kitchen cropping, and also a pleasure ground, which was very well kept.
The garden of Baron Rothschild, close to the town of Frankfort, is undoubtedly the best in this neighbourhood that came under my observation; it contains thirty-five German acres, with several green-houses, besides an extensive range then building, about two hundred feet long, which was also intended for plants, and is divided into seven apartments, in order that those kinds that require different temperatures may be kept separately; this range when completed will have a very fine effect. In front of the mansion were placed two large stands well stocked with geraniums, and some very good orange trees, in tubs, which are removed from this site to the green-house early in autumn. I here observed a very fine specimen of the Araucaria excelsa, which was beautifully feathered to the ground; this is unquestionably one of the finest specimens of this plant that I have seen on the continent or in England, with the exception of that at Dropmore, which is much finer in every respect. Baron Rothschild's Araucaria is little inferior to the one at Prince de Linge's at Belial.
Opposite to the house is a prospect tower, that commands a fine view of Frankfort and surrounding country; there is also an arched walk completely covered with grape vines. The grass lawn was well kept, and various clumps of trees and shrubs dispersed through it. A small piece of water is enclosed at the lower end of the ground for water fowl. In this garden I observed a good collection of green-house plants and Ericas.