Journal of a Horticultural Tour through Germany, Belgium, and part of France, in the Autumn of 1835: To which is added, a Catalogue of the different Species of Cacteæ in the Gardens at Woburn Abbey

In Short

This travelogue documents an intensive eight-week expedition through Germany, Belgium, and France undertaken in late 1835. Commissioned by the Duke of Bedford, practical botanist James Forbes surveys royal gardens, private estates, and commercial nurseries to compare continental methods with British practices. The narrative records architectural features, forcing techniques, and plant varieties across several historic centers of European botany, culminating in an extensive, systematically categorized botanical catalogue of the living cactus collection housed at Woburn Abbey. It remains a precise historical snapshot of early nineteenth-century European landscape design, glasshouse technology, and botanical exchange.

The Story

The narrative opens in late August 1835 as James Forbes embarks on a rapid journey financed by his employer, the Duke of Bedford. Crossing into Northern Germany, Forbes begins evaluating royal grounds, starting with the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's estate at Ludwigslust, noting its lime avenues, English-style villas, and sandy soil conditions. Moving onward through Prussian territories, he arrives at Potsdam and Sans-souci. Forbes examines the grand six-tiered terraces where fruit trees and vines are cultivated under glass frames alongside orange trees. He scrutinizes the extensive pineapple forcing houses, observing with a professional's critical eye that despite immense glass ranges, the continental fruit falls short of British standards.

Accompanied by local inspectors and botanical figures such as M. Fintelman, Forbes tours royal properties, prospect towers, and river landscapes along the Havel. His itinerary moves southward through Bavaria and Swabia. In Nuremberg, he balances observations of local agricultural crops—such as tobacco and hops—with visits to historical sites like Albrecht Dürer’s house. Arriving in Munich, he encounters crowded inns before inspecting the town's compact Botanic Garden, noting its restricted acreage and crowded arboretum. Traversing scenic glens and fruit-laden valleys, he travels through Ulm, Geislingen, and Stuttgart, where he inspects the royal hothouses in company with local nurserymen.

Progressing through the Rhineland, Forbes visits the Grand Duke of Baden’s elaborate gardens at Schwetzingen, admiring its French-style geometric layouts, English landscape sections, water features, and classical architectural follies. In Bonn, he confers with academic botanists before boarding a Rhine steamer for Düsseldorf. Crossing the Rhine to the estate of Prince Salm-Dyck, Forbes delivers introduction letters to inspect the 180-acre arboretum and expansive, though aging, hothouses containing famous succulent collections.

By late September, Forbes reaches Belgium. In Brussels, he witnesses national anniversary celebrations and fireworks, combining cultural sightseeing in historic churches with inspections of private urban collections. Moving through Antwerp and surrounding country estates, he evaluates specialized curvilinear iron glasshouses, orchid collections, and dahlia displays maintained by wealthy aristocratic horticulturists. Passing into France, Forbes evaluates the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, analyzing its fruit nurseries, animal enclosures, and natural history museum, alongside commercial nurseries such as M. Noisette’s camellia grounds.

The work concludes with an extensive botanical appendix. Forbes presents a detailed systematic catalogue of the Cacteæ cultivated in the gardens at Woburn Abbey, detailing species names, spine characteristics, flower colors, native origins, and introduction dates to complete his comparative study.

How It Unfolds

Prussian terraces and pine-pits Forbes inspects the grand terraced gardens of Sans-souci and the surrounding Potsdam estates, comparing continental fruit-forcing methods and glasshouse heating against established English standards.

Bavarian collections and rural crops Traveling south through Nuremberg to Munich, Forbes observes regional tobacco and hop fields while evaluating municipal botanic gardens and crowded urban arboretums.

Rhenish estates and classical garden design Touring Schwetzingen and the estate of Prince Salm-Dyck, the author details formal avenues, waterworks, classical temples, and vast collections of exotic plants.

Belgian civic displays and private collections Forbes reaches Brussels and Antwerp, inspecting innovative iron-bar hothouses, private orchid nurseries, and urban architecture during national holiday festivities.

Parisian institutions and commercial nurseries Visiting the Jardin des Plantes and private Parisian growers, Forbes surveys institutional nurseries, natural history collections, and commercial camellia culture.

The Woburn Abbey catalogue The book concludes with a comprehensive systematic index of the Duke of Bedford's cactus collection, offering detailed classification data and practical cultivation advice.

The People

• James Forbes: The author and head gardener to the Duke of Bedford. Driven by a desire to advance British botanical knowledge, he travels continuously, evaluating foreign methods with an objective, experienced eye.
• M. Otto: The Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Berlin. A dedicated botanist who acts as a key guide and contributor, assisting Forbes and donating numerous rare plant specimens to the Woburn collection.
• M. Fintelman: A knowledgeable continental garden guide at Potsdam who devotes entire days to conducting Forbes through the grounds of Sans-souci and Charlottenhof.
• The Duke of Bedford: Forbes’s aristocratic patron. He funds the continental tour to collect scientific data and acquires rare succulents to build a premier British collection.
• Le Chevalier Parthon de Divan: An enthusiastic Belgian amateur horticulturist near Antwerp who maintains rare white-flowered Rhododendron specimens and extensive collections of orchids and dahlias.

In Its Own Voice

"Close to the palace is an old orangery, with some good trees standing in front of it."

Forbes observes the royal grounds at Ludwigslust during a brief stop on his journey through Germany.

"There cannot be less than one thousand feet in length of houses and pits adapted to the pine-apple, and these varying from eight to twelve feet in width."

The author evaluates the immense scale of the fruit forcing structures at Sans-souci Palace.

"The cultivation of the Cacteæ possesses considerable advantage over most of the hothouse plants, requiring little room, a matter in general of considerable importance where space is necessarily limited."

Forbes outlines the practical merits of maintaining succulent collections in his introductory notes to the Woburn Abbey catalogue.

What It's Really About

At its core, the text explores the international exchange of scientific knowledge and the practical mechanics of nineteenth-century horticulture. Behind the itinerary lies a drive to measure British horticultural achievement against continental standards. Forbes examines how differing climates, building materials, and heating systems affect plant cultivation, contrasting opaque-roofed German structures and French wooden frames against British iron glasshouses. The book captures a transitional era when botanical collection was transforming from an aristocratic hobby into a rigorous, systematic science. It emphasizes network-building among professional head gardeners, institutional directors, and wealthy patrons who freely traded seeds, cuttings, and technical advice across national borders to build comprehensive living collections.

Why Read It Today

This journal offers a direct, unvarnished window into early nineteenth-century European travel and garden history. Readers interested in landscape architecture, historic plant varieties, and practical botany will appreciate Forbes’s precise, non-literary observations. The text feels like an authentic field notebook, free from dramatic embellishment or romantic idealization.

The narrative presents certain period challenges: the prose is utilitarian, structured strictly by daily travel itineraries, and heavily reliant on Latin botanical nomenclature. Readers must navigate historical variations in geographic spelling, frequent listings of plant species, and detailed descriptions of glasshouse construction that reflect the technical priorities of an experienced nineteenth-century gardener. Yet these exact details give the work its historical integrity. It exposes the physical reality of stagecoach travel, diplomatic passport checks, and the painstaking labor required to move delicate living specimens across Europe before modern refrigeration or fast transport existed.