Adjoining to baron de Hoogart's, is the seat of count de Beaufforts, to which Miss Hoogart had the goodness to send their gardener to accompany me. At this place is an old castle, situated by the side of a lake which was undergoing great alterations and additions.
The grounds attached to this ancient castle, although of limited extent, are much varied, and prettily planted, with different clumps of trees and shrubs dispersed through them. In the kitchen garden is a very handsome range of hothouses, about 120 feet in length, chiefly occupied with plants; one of the divisions is allotted for the pine apple, and in front of the range are also several pits, for pines, vines, and peaches. The pits used for the forcing of the vine and peach have each a flue that runs parallel to the back wall, and about eighteen inches from it. The front of those for the vine and peach has no front wall, only piers and boards fixed betwixt them, for the facility of removing and taking in the trees, which are planted betwixt the piers, when the boards are again placed in their former position over the stem of the trees, the roots running in a border on the outside of the pit.
On my return in the afternoon to Brussels, I visited the Museum, the collection in which is well deserving of notice; there is a numerous variety of insects, a large collection of birds and animals, as well as minerals.
The picture gallery is a fine apartment, situated in the same building, and contains a large number of splendid paintings; a very magnificent painting of the Belgic revolution, which nearly covered the entire end of the gallery, was exhibiting, and seemed to attract a vast number of visitors. In another wing of the building is a repository of the various articles of Belgic manufacture, which was much crowded by spectators. I should imagine from the appearance of the numerous articles of commerce exhibited in these apartments that there can scarcely be a single article of manufacture that is not to be met with in this repository of commerce.
Having a letter of introduction from Mr. M'Intosh to Mr. Bigwood, a partner of Mr. Salter, the banker, in Brussells, I called on him in the evening, when he very kindly accompanied me to several of the diligence offices, and pointed out to me the best routes to take in order to save time; I then engaged a place for Paris for the following Saturday—a precaution found necessary, owing to the number of strangers then in Brussells; some of whom it was understood had been detained for several days in consequence of the diligences being so crowded. I also took a place for Ghent, the next town I intended visiting, which is situated about twenty-four miles from Brussells.
Sept. 30th. Immediately on my arrival at Ghent I proceeded to the nursery garden of M. Vangeert, which contains several hothouses, and a good collection of plants; there are also in this nursery several pits for the dwarf growing species; a good collection of Camellias appeared to be grown here, and also some Cacteæ and orchideous plants, with some Magnolias new to our English collections. The Ghent Azaleas have now become celebrated for the profusion of their flowers and various colours; they were in great abundance in the nurseries here, beset with flower buds. The Magnolia conspicua and Magnolia norbertiana are fine specimens. The soil in the vicinity of Ghent appears peculiarly adapted for the Magnolia, Azalea, and other American plants.
I next visited the nursery of M. Verleeuwen, which contains about two English acres of ground, and from eight to ten different small hothouses, with a fine collection of plants, that were all very well grown. A choice collection of Camellias is also cultivated here, as well as Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and other hardy plants well worthy of notice.
I then proceeded to the Ghent Botanic Garden, but was unfortunate in not finding M. Donkelar (the gardener) at home; this garden appeared to contain only from two to three English acres of ground: it is too much crowded with large trees and shrubs for so confined a space. There are two hothouses devoted to the growth of tropical plants which were in a very flourishing state, but deficient of the more showy and new species of late introduction. The orangery is a large building, with Ionic columns and dark roofs; the trees appeared very healthy. There are also some low houses, or rather pits, in front of the principal range, which were well stocked with pines and low growing plants.
I next visited the nursery grounds of M. A. Verschaffelt, which are more extensive than any of the other nurseries I had yet seen, and contain about the best collection of plants in Ghent; he has some fine Magnolias, amongst which I observed the Magnolia triumphans, Glauca, Arborea, and Gigantea. His collection of Camellias is also very choice and deserving of notice, amongst which were the Camellia compacta-rubra, Alexandria, and Magnificum; a plant of this species he values at one hundred francs. There are also many other choice sorts; and his collection of Cape and New-Holland plants is likewise extensive: he is forming a collection of Orchideæ, and has erected a small house for their growth; he has likewise a good collection of Cacteæ, a choice assortment of the Ghent Azaleas, and other hardy plants, that appear to flourish well in Belgium.
The nursery I next visited was that of M. Verschaffelt, sen., which appeared to be about an acre of ground, but it contained a good assortment of Rhododendrons, also a large green-house with span-roof, as well as several other small houses; a great stock of myrtles was likewise cultivated in this establishment. I next proceeded to the nursery of F. J. Spæ-fils, which contains about two acres and a half, with a range of hothouses one hundred and fifty feet long. I here observed a large stock of seedling Azaleas and Kalmias, also a well-stocked wall of trained peach trees. The standard fruit trees are also extensively cultivated, the situation being evidently well calculated for the growth of the different plants in demand in that country. After leaving this nursery I went to that of M. P. Byls, whose ground contains several small hothouses, but little of novelty in them; a few good hardy shrubs were, however, in the grounds. Attached to this nursery is a piece of ground under vegetable cultivation, which is extensively pursued in the neighbourhood of Ghent. I visited one or two other nurseries of small extent, but met with nothing of much importance in them, as they were more limited than either of those mentioned.