Journal of a Horticultural Tour through Germany, Belgium, and part of France, in the Autumn of 1835. Forbes James
with him to be ready betwixt six and seven o'clock in the morning, to proceed to the different gardens.
August 27th. We started at seven o'clock in the morning, to the royal gardens at Charlottenburg palace, which are situated about four English miles from Berlin. The grounds attached to this royal palace, are said to contain four hundred English acres, laid out with various walks, clumps of trees and shrubs, as well as several pieces of water, embracing some very fine views from different points notwithstanding its being a flat surface, but it is much diversified by trees, bridges, and sheets of water that intersect the lawn. There are several bridges leading across the stream to the most ornamental and picturesque parts. The palace is also seen to great advantage from several points in the grounds. A very fine specimen of the Quercus palustris was in great beauty on the grass. I also saw some very large trees of the Populus alba, which were considerably larger than any tree of this species that I had previously seen. M. Fintelman, the superintendant of the royal gardens, pointed out to us a very complete Fructiferum, that he had lately formed in these grounds, comprising a collection of all the hardy fruits. Nearly adjoining to the palace, is a very handsome little flower garden, lately executed for the growth of the dwarf flowering perennials and annuals. I was much pleased by an arbour formed with the different species of Cape and New Holland plants, that are rather flexible in their growth; the pots in which the plants grew, were all plunged round the back, the branches tied closely to it and thickly covered, producing a great variety of foliage, and pleasing effect, and having the appearance of growing there permanently throughout the season. Opposite to this Botany Bay, or Cape Arbour, is a pretty summer house, which is chiefly composed of reeds. In the centre of the flower garden, there are various posts with iron rods extended from them for the training of creepers. Again, at the extremity, is an artificial grass bank, considerably elevated above the flower beds, planted with the dwarf china rose, which has a very good and natural effect. The orange-house is an oblong building, of great length, with opaque roof and backwall, upright lights only in the front, completely covered with grape vines, having a very fine crop of fruit all over them. The orange trees were all in excellent health, some of them bearing separately nearly two hundred fruit; there are about three hundred of these trees cultivated here. I also saw a fine variety of Dahlias, and various other beautiful flowering plants in great perfection; these Dahlias are fully as good as any I had seen in England; great attention is paid to these flowers by M. Fintelman, who took great delight in pointing out the various objects most worthy of notice in these grounds. Having devoted several hours to the inspection of this extensive establishment, we then took our leave of M. F. and proceeded back to Berlin, when I had another opportunity of observing more fully the various improvements, that are now going forward in the Thier-garten, or park, which extends from the royal palace of Charlottenburg, to the Brandenburg gate. This park is considered one of the finest in Europe, and is now undergoing extensive alterations, the grounds forming in several places so as to harmonize with the English style of landscape gardening; numerous walk and rides leading in various directions, with groups of sculpture, make this an interesting promenade for the public, by whom it is much thronged, particularly in the evenings. It is approached from Berlin by the Brandenburg gate, which cannot fail to attract the stranger's notice. It has a most magnificent appearance; on the top of this gate stand the celebrated bronze horses, removed by Buonaparte to Paris, but were again replaced by the Prussians in their original site. In front of the Royal Museum, is a very handsome marble vase, which measures about sixty four feet in circumference, and four feet in depth; a handsome fountain is also playing, throwing the water to a great height. The ground floor of the museum is occupied as a sculpture gallery, which contains numerous statues, and busts; but it appeared to me to be deficient of the finer groups. I was however much pleased with the beautiful imitation marble columns of various colours, which have a polish equal to the original. The picture gallery is above that devoted to the sculpture, and I could not but admire the beautiful state of preservation of the paintings, and their very admirable arrangement. From hence we proceeded to the nursery grounds of M. Bouschie, which are not of much extent, nor yet is there much for the Horticulturist to admire, except some very fine specimens of the Cacteæ (Opuntia) tribe; some of the species are from eight to ten feet in height. After visiting this nursery, we then proceeded to the forcing gardens of M. Bouschie, who grows a large quantity of pine apples and peaches for the Berlin market; the pine apples were very small, and much inferior to our English grown fruit; the crop of peaches was very abundant, but not of a large size, the trees old, and the hothouses of a very inferior description. We next proceeded to the nursery garden of M. Touissaint, which appeared to contain a much better collection of the Cape and New Holland plants, than any of the other nurseries I had previously seen in Berlin. Here was a good collection of the more hardy species of Rhododendrons; the forcing of flowers is likewise extensively practised in this establishment, and the grounds in very good order. I next visited the nursery ground of M. Mathieu, where there were some good specimens, but none that I had not previously met with.
August 28th. Went at six o'clock in the morning to see the fruit and vegetable market, but was rather disappointed in observing so very inferior a supply in comparison with what is to be seen in Covent Garden Market. In fact for some time I thought that I had gone to the wrong place, as the market is held every alternate day in two different parts of the town; but on enquiry I found it was seldom better supplied. Large quantities of grapes grown out of doors, or on trellis, were in the market; also a pretty good supply of peaches, but these were of a small size. I only observed one solitary pine apple, about one pound weight. The mode of preserving the fish, which were also brought to the market where the fruit and vegetables were exposed for sale, was new to me. They are kept alive in water in oval shaped wooden tubs or vessels, and each sort is kept separate. Large quantities of game, poultry, butcher's meat, as well as cart-loads of hay and straw, are found abundantly in the market.
After making a tour through the principal parts of the town, and getting my passport signed by the police and English ambassador, I made a second visit to Mr. Otto, and also then called on Dr. Kloytch, to whom I had a letter of introduction from Sir W. Hooker. Dr. Kloytch has the charge of the Royal Herbarium, which is situated opposite and nearly adjoining the Botanic Gardens, containing several apartments for dried specimens of all the plants that flower in the Royal Botanic Gardens, which are gathered and preserved as they appear in flower. Attached to the Royal Herbarium house is a piece of pleasure ground, one side of which is enclosed by a good brick wall that has projecting piers, betwixt which grape vines are trained, and confined to the spaces of about twelve feet between the projecting piers; each sort is thus prevented from intermixing with another; a wooden pailing enclosing another part of this garden is likewise adapted to the same purpose. Dr. Kloytch was once a pupil of Sir W. Hooker's at Glasgow, and is considered an eminent botanist, he has certainly formed a very natural arrangement of the different species in the genus Ericæ, arranged according to the form and structure of the flower. He shewed me several native specimens of this genus that I have not yet seen in England, but seeds of which I hope to receive from him before long. I was much gratified by the excellent method he described to me, in preserving the specimens of Fungi, which appears to be the most effectual mode of drying these plants that I have yet seen. After looking over various specimens in the Herbarium, Dr. Kloytch accompanied me to the Botanic Gardens, where I again saw Mr. Otto, and was enabled to see more minutely the extent of this noble collection of plants. It is proper to observe that the space of ground allotted for this garden, is not sufficiently large for such an extensive collection of plants. Many of the oaks and several other fine trees are too much crowded, and not seen to advantage. After examining all that I wished to see here, Mr. Otto, Dr. Kloytch, and Mr. Brackenridge, accompanied me into Berlin, where we passed through another fine part of the "Thiergarten," and being joined by Mr. Cuming, the celebrated Zoologist, we spent a very pleasing evening in the discussion of botanical pursuits, and the cultivation and beauty of the Cacteæ in the Berlin Gardens.
August 29th. Left Berlin at seven o'clock in the morning for Potsdam, where I arrived at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, a distance of eighteen English miles. Every stranger must be forcibly struck with the scenery as he approaches Potsdam, particularly in passing Prince Charles's villa and grounds, with the view of the handsome bridge lately erected across the river Havel, at this side of the town expanding itself to a very capacious sheet of water. On my arrival at Potsdam I proceeded to the Royal Gardens at Sans-souci,