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 THE 
 
 PAKKS AND GARDENS 
 
 PAEIS. 
 
Front is piece. 
 
 TKliES AKD >AILDINC,S 
 In the small Garden in the Place dn Carrousel. 
 
THE 
 
 PAKKS AND GARDENS 
 
 PAKIS 
 
 COKSIDEIIED IN 
 
 RELATION TO THE WANTS OF OTHER CITIES AND OF 
 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE GARDENS; 
 
 Being Notes on a Study of Paris Gardens. 
 
 By W. ROBINSON, F.L.S. 
 
 SECOND EDITION REVISED, SEVEN TH THOUSAND. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 4C n ^ u : 
 M A C J\I I L P A N AND C 0. 
 
 1878. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 rniNTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, 
 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
TO 
 
 VEENON LUSHINGTON, Q.C. 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 
 
 B7 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 88842 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " And let it ajipcare that he doth not change his Country Manners for those of 
 I'orraigiie Parts : But only prick in some Flowers of that he hath Learned abroad 
 into the Customcs of his own country." — Bacon's Essay on Travel. 
 
 Tins book originated as follows : when some years ago the author 
 first went to Paris, he was privileged to note in the Times 
 anything of importance with reference to horticulture that might 
 1)0 observed in that city and its neighbourhood interesting from 
 an English point of view. Upon some of the points noted a 
 lengthy correspondence arose, which (like most discussions) not 
 being calculated to point to any definite conclusions, he was led 
 to embody his notes upon the various subjects in the form of a 
 book. At first the questions discussed were of purely horticultural 
 interest, such as the extensive and skilful cultivation of hardy 
 fruit-trees in France which has made fruit so good and plentiful 
 in that country and led to its being so largely exported ; the 
 remarkable culture of Asparagus round Paris ; the system by 
 which in a harsh climate the French growers supply so well not 
 only their own markets but those of many other cities with excellent 
 salads throughout the winter and spring ; the cultivation in the 
 market-gardens round Paris, in which at least threefold more 
 produce is gathered than from similar extent of garden-ground 
 elsewhere ; the very curious growth of Mushrooms beneath Paris, 
 which had, till then, not been described or illustrated. With the 
 idea of the book, however, came a feeling that the great system of 
 public gardens formed of recent years in Paris, the many squares, 
 the vast series of tree-planted streets and avenues, and generally 
 that public gardening which has made New Paris, might be dis- 
 cussed with profit at a time when our own cities are so much 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in need of change. And I wished not only to record and illustrate 
 what is' good in them, but also to point out what is harmful. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to show that a clean and ordered city 
 is better than an ugly and filthy one, but it may be well to 
 consider that from the lowest point of view it is the interest of 
 even the poorest tradesman in London to help forward bold 
 measures for its improvement. Whatever the fortunes of our 
 country in the future, nobody can doubt that the English race 
 will form the most numerous of civilised peoples, nor that the city 
 where Shakespeare and Milton wrote will be holiday-ground to 
 millions of English-speaking people besides those that inhabit it. 
 The attractions of London to strangers are really greater than 
 those of any other city that exists, but our total want of plan, or 
 of any wise provision calculated to make locomotion j)leasant or 
 even possible throughout London, and the filthy and depressing 
 aspect of the narrow streets, efi'ectually drive away thousands of 
 people from America and our vast colonies only too anxious to 
 stay in London were it made possible to them. It is a common 
 occurrence for Americans to run the gauntlet of Fleet Street and 
 the Strand, and judging the whole town by their experience of a 
 few narrow and greasy thoroughfares, to escape with all speed to 
 pleasanter places. In Paris superb avenues may be seen often 
 leading to nothing ; in London many important points of interest 
 are practically unapproachable even to those who know the town. 
 Of course we cannot cut down our Fleet Streets or our Strands, 
 but we could at much less cost than that of similar improvements 
 in Paris drive a series of noble roads through the wretched shanties 
 that cover a good half of London, so that it would be possible 
 to get some clear and comprehensive idea of its plan, its suburbs, 
 its parks — its noblest treasure of all, its ship-cities, the river 
 below the bridges, its buildings, and its commerce. 
 
 The recent very remarkable improvements in Paris, such as the 
 opening of the stately Boulevard de Saint-Germain running 
 through and opening up to sun and air and trees the whole of the 
 south of the city, and the new Avenue between the new Opera 
 House and the Eue de Rivoli, have not only been made without 
 cost to the town, but even with a balance on the right side, the 
 vastly-increased value of sites for business premises in these new 
 and noble streets having more than repaid the cost of their forma- 
 
INTKODUCTIOX. ix 
 
 tion and the removal of the old houses tlirough which the.y were 
 driven. Abroad, every little capital possessing enough interest 
 to occupy one for two hours, is furbishing-up its attractions, 
 while we in London are neglecting advantages the like of which 
 are not possessed by any other city in Europe. The river, the 
 bridges, the suburbs, the surroundings, are infinitely superior to 
 Paris, but owing to stupid absence of plan many of the good 
 points are lost, many of the best suburbs being unknown ground 
 even to thousands of Londoners, owing to the impossibility of 
 reaching them without struggling through narrow and mean streets 
 and roads. The finest city avenue in Europe is the Champs 
 Elysees in Paris, and probably few would think it possible that 
 a site with equal capacities lies wholly unused in the heart of 
 Loudon. Yet there it is in the Picgent's Park, barred up by the 
 railing of Park Crescent, and frittered away recently by narrow 
 strips of geometrical gardening. I have said as good a site as 
 the Champs Elysees, but it is really much better, the wide expanse 
 of beautiful ground which may be seen from the top of the Broad 
 Walk being entirely in the hands of the State. It has tlius the 
 advantage of being freely open to noble improvement without the 
 enormous cost for removing massive, lofty, densely-packed houses 
 which had so often to be incurred in Paris. In many other cases 
 in like manner great opportunities are frequently unnoticed from 
 dead walls or narrow streets or miserable railings stopping the 
 view. 
 
 All this is not only sad, from its depriving us of so much beauty 
 that London might possess, but also from its far more serious 
 evil in the depreciation of property. I think it is very clear that 
 many quarters of London, beautiful in themselves, are greatly 
 lowered in value owing to bad approaches. A good and simple 
 system of broad tree-planted roads, radiating from the centre to 
 the suburbs, and connected by outer circular roads, would tend to 
 make all parts of the town of more equal value, and would go far 
 to prevent tliat terrible isolation of the poor in various parts of 
 the city the misery of which is at present a by-word throughout 
 the world. The real want is a want of plan, and this it is 
 to be hoped Parliament will some day give us power to obtain. 
 At present this want is glaringly apparent, not only in the 
 central and more crowded parts, but all round London, where 
 
xii INTKODUCTIUiN'. 
 
 mcnts than tliey are ? My object is to point out in what way we 
 may learn from the French, That they, in turn, may learn from us. 
 will he apparent when it is stated that intelligent Frenchmen have 
 in botanic gardens pointed doubtfully at plants of Rhubarb and 
 Seakale and asked me if it were true that we eat them in England ! 
 The general introduction into France of these two hardy easily- 
 grown vegetables would be a material addition to the riches 
 and food supplies of that country. 
 
 Of the practices which we may with advantage, and which 
 indeed we must, adopt from the French, those of fruit-culture 
 command our first attention, because good fruit-culture combines 
 the beautiful and the useful in a very high degree. There are at 
 least six important ways in which we may highly improve and 
 enrich our fruit-gardens and fruit-stores. 
 
 First, by planting against walls the very finest kinds of Winter 
 Pears — the Pears that keep long, the Pears that bring a good 
 return, the Pears of which the French now send us many thousands 
 of pounds' worth annually. Varieties of "Winter Pears are fre- 
 quently planted in the open, in all parts of these islands, that 
 an experienced fruit-grower in the neighbourhood of Paris or even 
 further south would never plant away from a wall, knowing well 
 that it would be sheer loss to do so. Sir H. Scudamore Stanhope 
 has proved in his garden at Holme Lacy (p. 299) that improved 
 wall-culture of the finer Winter Pears is as possible in England as 
 in France. 
 
 Secondly, by the general adoption of the cordon system of 
 Apple-growing in gardens. This will enable us to produce a 
 finer class of fruit than that grown in orchards. It may be 
 carried out in spots hitherto useless or unemployed, and will 
 enable us to do away with the big Apple-trees that now shade 
 our gardens. It should be distinctly understood, however, that 
 I do not recommend this system for orchard-culture, or for the 'pro- 
 duction of the kinds and qualities of fruits that may he gathered in 
 2)rofusion from naturally -developed standard trees. 
 
 Thirdly, by the general introduction of the true French Paradise 
 stock into the gardens of the British Isles. Its merits are that 
 it is dwarfer in growth than any other, and that in wet, cold or 
 stiif soils it keeps its roots in a wig-like tuft near the surface 
 — a most valuable quality on such soils. When well known, it 
 
INTRODUCTION. xm 
 
 will be found an immense f,'ain in every class of garden except 
 those on dry and poor sandy or gravelly soils, remarkable as it is 
 in inducing early fertility, and affording a better result without 
 root-pruning than either the Crab or English Paradise does with 
 that attention. The knowledge that the Doucin of the French 
 is an admirable stock for all forms of tree between the standard 
 of the orchard and the very dwarf cordon or bush, will also be 
 useful. The Apple should not be worked on the Crab unless it is 
 desired to form standard trees in orchards — by far the best method, 
 if properly carried out, for market and general supplies. 
 
 Fourthly, by the adoption in Peach-culture of some of the 
 smaller forms of tree that may be observed in French gardens, 
 as they will enable us to cover our walls with fruitful handsome 
 trees in a few seasons instead of w'aiting many years, as hitherto, 
 only perhaps to see them partially covered after all. These forms, 
 the cordon, U or double U forms figured in this book, are particu- 
 larly desirable where the soil is too light and poor for the health 
 and full development of large wide-spreading trees. 
 
 Fifthly, by adopting for every kind of fruit-tree grown against 
 walls a more efficient and simple mode of protection than we now 
 use. In speaking of fruit-culture, nothing is more common than 
 to hear our climate spoken of as the cause of all our deficiencies — 
 the " fine " climate of Northern France being supposed to do every- 
 thing for the cultivator. The error of this view of the case is 
 well illustrated by the fact tliat the fruit-growers about Paris take 
 care to protect their fruit-walls in spring by means of wide 
 temporary copings. In this country I have never anywhere seen 
 a really efficient temporary coping, though endless time is wasted 
 in applying boughs, nets, etc., none of which are in the least 
 efiiectivc in protecting the trees from the cold sleety rains, which, 
 if they do not always destroy tlie fertilising power of the blossoms, 
 prepare them to become an easy prey to frost.* 
 
 Sixthly, by the acquirement and diffusion among every class of 
 gardeners of a knowledge of budding, grafting, pruning, and 
 training equal to that now possessed by the French. ]\Iany of the 
 illustrations in this l)ook show the mastery they possess over each 
 detail of training — the branches of every kind of tree being con- 
 
 * Since writing the above, various persons have introdnceil useful wide 
 temporary and iiermancnt copings, and with excellent results. 
 
xiv 1XTI{0DUCT1(»X. 
 
 dnctcil in uiiy ^vay tlic trainer may (lesire, and \vitli tlic greatest 
 ease. This knowlcilgc is quite common amongst amateurs and 
 workmen whose fellows in this country know nothing of such 
 subjects. There are numerous professors who teach it in France ; 
 in this country, where it is really of far greater importance it is 
 not tauglit at all or only in the most imperfect manner. It is a 
 common thing in France to see a professor of fruit-culture and 
 his class assembled round a tree pruning it and discussing every 
 operation as it goes on. We require walls for our fruit-trees more 
 than the French do, and there is no way in which we need im- 
 provement more than in the matter of the proper covering oi 
 fruit-walls and development of wall-trees. With standard trees, 
 pruning may be dispensed with to some extent ; but so long as 
 we are obliged to devote walls to the production of our finer fruits, 
 such knowledge as is now possessed by French fruit-growers would 
 prove a great aid. 
 
 In the vegetable department we have also several important 
 things to learn from the French, and not the least among these 
 is the winter and spring culture of Salads. Enormous quantities 
 of these are sent from Paris to our and other markets during the 
 spring months. As I write this (April lOtli) the market-gardens 
 near London are faintly traced with liglit green lines of weak 
 young Lettuce-plants, that have been for weeks barely existing 
 under the influences of our harsh spring. Around Paris at the 
 same season and for months before, in consequence of the adoption 
 of the cloche and a most skilful system of culture, it is a pleasure 
 to see the size and perfect health of the Lettuces — the diflerence 
 in culture, and not the imaginary difference in climate, solely 
 producing the result. By adopting the French system they may 
 be grown to fully as great perfection near London and in the 
 home counties as near Paris. The fact that we have to be 
 su2)plied by our neighbours with articles that could be so easily 
 produced in this country is a standing reproach. The French 
 system will have the first difficulty to get over— that of people 
 becoming used to it, and slightly changing their modes of culture 
 to accommodate it ; but it must some day be universally adopted 
 by us, and with the certain result of a great benefit being reaped 
 from it by the horticulturists of the United Kingdom. This 
 culture is, in all its stages, so distinct from what is done else- 
 
INTRODUCTIOX. xv 
 
 wherc, that it is not surprising that growers do not even know 
 liow to begin. No doubt many still suppose that tlie tender 
 Lettuces sent in such abundance to our markets in winter and 
 s])ring come from some paradise in tlie soutli ; tliese all the while 
 being the result, in a harsh northern clime, of the most skilful culti- 
 vation I have ever seen adapted to the growth of a vegetable. 
 
 The French are also far before us in the culture and use of 
 Asparagus, pursuing a system quite distinct from ours and growing- 
 it so abundantly that for many weeks in spring it is an article of 
 popular consumption. Some among us affect to ridicule French 
 Asparagus in consequence of its being blanched nearly to the 
 top of the shoot ; but to avoid this imperfection, if it be one, the 
 grower has merely to adopt the superior mode of culture pursued 
 by the French, but without blanching the shoot. But real 
 students of Asparagus who have had much experience of its 
 use both in France and England, and in its best state in both 
 countries, will probably agree that he has but a very one-sided 
 knowledge of Asparagus who prefers to eat it green. The ex- 
 perience of persons who abuse French Asparagus is frequently 
 limited to samj)les that may have been cut in France a fortnight 
 before they reach the table in England, having passed the inter- 
 mediate time in travelling and losing quality in market or shop. 
 However, nobody will deny that it ought to be more abundantly 
 and better grown in this country. Parisian Mushroom-culture 
 is interesting and curious in a degree of which few have any 
 conception, as will be seen by a perusal of the chapter devoted 
 to it. The sketches and plan that illustrate it will help the 
 reader to obtain a fair idea of places that have been seen by 
 very few people beyond the cultivators. 
 
 Among my own I have given illustrations from trustworthy 
 French sources, such as Dubreuil's ' Arbrcs Fruitiers,' Decaisne 
 and Naudin's ' Manuel de I'Amateur des Jardins ; ' from the col- 
 lections of engravings belonging to Messrs. Vilmorin, Messrs. 
 Hachette, from Mangin's 'Les Jardins,' the 'Revue Horticole,' 
 and ' La Culture du Chasselas,' but these, as a rule, only when 
 they were as useful in their way as if made specially for the 
 book. Such illustrations have been used for the most part in 
 discussing modes of culture at once good and different from those 
 employed by us, and which have naturally been treated of by 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 French authors. The main source of such ideas as are expressed 
 in the book is personal observation in the gardens of Paris of 
 every kind, at various seasons and for a considerable length of 
 time. 
 
 Since the first edition of the work was published, a variety of 
 trials have been made concerning certain modes of culture de- 
 scribed in it. Of improvements then advocated the preservation 
 of Grapes without letting them hang on the Vines, has been 
 adopted by most good Grape growers throughout the land; 
 Asparagus on the distinct and wholly superior French plan has 
 been tried with exactly the same excellent result as in the 
 neighbourhood of Paris ; the true Paradise stock has been tried 
 in various districts and found quite hardy and excellent on moist 
 and stiff soils; the cordon system for choice Apples and late-keeping 
 Pears grown on walls has been proved to be a great success ; the 
 light, neat system of wiring garden-walls, forming espaliers and 
 supports for fruit-trees, has been carried out in numerous gardens, 
 and a great quantity of wide and effective coping for wall-trees 
 has been erected throughout the country with very good results. 
 
 W. K 
 
 Ajvit, 1878. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 rUBLlC NUUSERIKS U 
 
 I. — The Bnis de Boulogne . 
 II. — The Pauc Moxceau 
 III. — The Garden of Plants . 
 IV. — The Pauc des Buttes Chaumoxt 
 V. — The Gardens of the Louvre, th 
 Elyskk .... 
 VI. — The Luxembourg Garden 
 VII. — The Bois de Vincknnes . 
 
 VIII.— Squares 
 
 IX. — Avenues and Boulevards 
 X.— Trees fob Cities . 
 XI. — The Jabdin Fleuriste and other 
 
 the City of Paris 
 XII. — 'J'he Cemeteries of Paris 
 XIII. — Ivy in Paris .... 
 
 XIV. — The Gardens of Versailles . 
 XV. — Winter Gardens . 
 XVI. — A few Notes on Private Gardens 
 XVII, — The t?CH00L of Horticulture at \ 
 -Will. — The Cordon System of Fruit-growing . 
 XIX. — The Paradise, Doucin, and Crab Stocks 
 XX. — Some Notes on Fruit-gardens 
 XXI. — The Peach Gardens of Montreuil 
 XXII. — Fig-culture in the Neighbourhood of Pari 
 XXIII. — Training ...... 
 
 XXIV. — Fruit-culture: llnw are we tu Imi'icuve ? 
 XXV. — Concerning certain Implements and Appliances used in 
 
 French GARDEN^ 
 
 b 
 
 EUSAILI.ES 
 
 PAOE 
 1 
 
 '20 
 4;-) 
 CO 
 
 7!) 
 'Jl 
 102 
 110 
 131 
 149 
 
 1G5 
 173 
 184 
 193 
 222 
 250 
 261 
 280 
 30fi 
 323 
 351 
 369 
 390 
 408 
 
 437 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 XXVI. — The Market-Gaudens of Paris 
 XXVII. — Asparagus-cultuee .... 
 
 XXVIII.— Salads in Paris 
 
 XXIX. — Some Vegetables of the Paris Market 
 XXX. — Mushroom-culture in Caves under Paris 
 XXXI. — Lilacs of the Paris Gardens 
 XXXII. — Flower, Fruit, and Vegetable Markets 
 
 PAGE 
 
 458 
 468 
 478 
 490 
 505 
 526 
 533 
 
 Index 
 
 543 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 Trees and Buildings ...... Frontispiece 
 
 Bois DE Boulogne ...... To face page 16 
 
 IvY-CLAD Rocks and High Lawns ... „ 68 
 
 Corner for Play ...... „ 126 
 
 A City Avenue Garden ..... „ 136 
 
 A Contrast ,,178 
 
 Groups of Statuary ...... „ 194 
 
 Winter Garden ...... ,, 224 
 
 Lake and Island View 
 
 FJocky Grottoes in Banks, clothed with 
 
 Ivy 
 
 Rustic Bridge between Wooded Islands 
 The " Grand " Cascade in the Bois de 
 
 Boulogne ..... 
 Plantations on Banks of Lake ; rock- 
 shrubs and small cascades 
 False Curves to Banks. 
 Ivocky margin of Island in Lago Mag- 
 
 giore ...... 
 
 Water margin in Loch Achray . 
 View by the Seine, looking north from 
 
 near the Bridge of Suresnes . 
 Weeping Beech on Sloping Bank of 
 
 Island ..... 
 
 Bois de Boulogne .... 
 Sketch in the Pare Monceau 
 Hardy Bamboo (Bambusa nietake) in 
 
 the Pare Monceau 
 Castor-oil Plant .... 
 Giant Knntweed (Polygonum sacha- 
 
 linense) in the Pare Monceau, Sept. 
 
 1877 
 
 Tropical Arum (after a storm), Pare 
 
 Monceau ..... 
 Montagna^a Heracleifolia . 
 Jlnsa Ensete, in the Pare Moncean. 
 
 1868 
 
 Beauty of form from Hardy Plants 
 Isolated Ferula on Grass . 
 
 24 
 
 Rhus glabra laciniata. Hardy shrub, 
 j cut down annually to secure fine 
 \ foliage ..... 
 
 I Aralia japonica (Hort.). Hardy shrub 
 I with fine leaves .... 
 \ Ailantus and Cannas 
 ] Group and single specimens of Plants 
 
 isolated on the Grass 
 ' Portion of plan showing Yuccas, Pam- 
 pas grass, Tritomas, Retinospora, 
 I Acanthus latifolius, Arundo, Donax 
 i variegata, etc., irregularly isolated 
 ' on the Grass .... 
 
 Nook in Pare Monceau 
 Japanese Honeysuckle on Stem of Birch- 
 tree, Pare Monceau 
 Clematis on Trees in May, Pare Monceau 
 Ugly and needless Structures in the 
 Pare Monceau .... 
 Roads in the Pare Monceau. How to 
 spoil a Garden .... 
 Cocked-up Flower-bed in the Pare 
 Monceau ..... 
 Plan of the Jardin des Plantes. How 
 
 not to lay out a Botanic Garden 
 Old Judas-tree, Garden of Plants 
 New Weeping Honey Locust (Gledit- 
 
 schia Bojoti), Garden of Plants 
 Algerian Ivy, Garden of Plants . 
 Cedrela Sinensis (New Tree), Garden 
 of Plants 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Jujube-tree (Zizyi)hus jujuba), 
 Garden of Plants .... 
 
 Clipped Trees in the Garden of Plants. 
 
 Ert'ect of large umbelliferous Plant, 
 Garden of Plants .... 
 
 Sacred Bean in the open air 
 
 Climbing Hardy Asparagus, Garden of 
 Plants 
 
 Old Acacia-tree, Garden of Plants 
 
 Planting of Stream above Stalactite 
 Cave, Pare des Buttes Chaumont 
 
 Unmutilated Shrubs on Turf, Pare des 
 Buttes Chaumont 
 
 Type of ]\Iodern French Garden plan . 
 
 View from Central Clifl' towards 
 Stalactite Caves .... 
 
 Rock-shrubs and trailing evergreens . 
 
 Group of Ptocks, Pare des Buttes Chau- 
 mont ..... 
 
 Little Gardens within the Louvre, 
 exterior view .... 
 
 Little Gardens within the Louvre, view 
 from the interior .... 
 
 The Survival of the most Unfit : Trees 
 in Tubs ..... 
 
 In the Inner Garden, Tuileries . 
 
 Vicious mode of Tree-planting . 
 
 Marble Seat, Tuileries Garden . 
 
 In the Garden of the Elysde 
 
 Flowers in Hollow Wall . 
 
 Climbing Rose isolated on Grass 
 
 Wreaths on Trees, Luxembourg Gardens 
 
 Fountain in the Gardens of the Luxem- 
 bourg ..... 
 
 English part of Luxembourg Gardens . 
 
 The Gardens and Palace of the Luxem- 
 bourg ..... 
 
 Border of Roses, Luxembourg Gardens 
 
 Streamlet issuing from Ivy - clad 
 Rock 
 
 Small Lake with Chateau in distance ; 
 weeping and erect Trees on Islet 
 
 View across larger Lake . 
 
 Rocky Streamlet with Yuccas and trail- 
 ing Shrubs ..... 
 
 Streamlet entering Luke . 
 
 Margin of Lake near Temjile, with tuft 
 of Giant Arundo .... 
 
 Near Lac des Minimos, showing bad 
 effect of Road and Walk parallel with 
 margin ..... 
 
 In the Square des Batignolles . 
 
 I'ortion of Margin of a Paris Square, 
 not hedged in . 
 
 Ill the Square Montrouge. evening — (a 
 wretched statue is omitted) . 
 
 Showing widening of Walk for Play- 
 ground, with Seats and Shade-giving 
 Trees. ..... 
 
 101 
 102 
 
 103 
 104 
 
 108 
 
 109 
 110 
 
 111 
 
 ii:; 
 
 Streamlet in Paris Square with Yuccas 
 
 and Water-side Plants . . . IIT) 
 
 Acanthus on Turf in Paris Square . 119 
 Margin of a London Square, with edge 
 of Plantation designed to cut off the 
 view ...... 121 
 
 Structure in centre of a London Square 123 
 A Town Square opened up . . 125 
 
 The Square and Fountain des Innocents 127 
 Tuft of large Grass (Sorghum) in Paris 
 
 Square 130 
 
 Planes on Paris Quays . . .155 
 
 Glass-covered Corridor between the 
 
 Plant-houses in the Jardin Fleuriste 167 
 Diagram showing the arrangement of a 
 group of Glass Houses in the .Tardin 
 
 Fleuriste 169 
 
 Caves under the Jardin Fleuriste, used 
 
 for storing tender Plants in Winter. 171 
 Propagating-house in the Jardin Fleu- 
 riste 172 
 
 End view of Range of Small-jilant 
 
 Houses in the Jardin Fleuriste . 172 
 
 In a Paris Cemetery in the Nineteenth 
 
 Century . . . . .174 
 
 View in an American Garden-cemetery, 
 
 1876 ■. 175 
 
 A Contrast : the Cemetery of P&re la 
 Chaise . . ". . .178 
 
 St. Clothilde 183 
 
 Ivy in Wreaths and Sheets on Railings 
 
 of Suburban Gardens (Auteuil) . 184 
 Ivy on Trees in Champs Elysees . . 185 
 
 Rocky Caves covered with Ivy . .187 
 
 Small-leaved Ivy on Tree in Paris 
 
 Square 188 
 
 Ivy on High Window . . .189 
 
 Ivy over High Wall. . . . 190 
 
 Screen of Irish Ivy — Boundary to 
 Garden on Banks of Seine at Cour- 
 bevoie . , . . ,191 
 
 Versailles. — Fountain of the Bosquet 
 
 de I'Arc de Triomphe . . .197 
 
 Terra-cotta Mania in Garden, Fortifi- 
 cation Style: a Sketch in Suburbs 
 of York. Examjile of modern Land- 
 scape-work . . , . , 200 
 Statue on Terrace. — Vase from the 
 
 Basin of Neptune. — Vase Borghese . 202 
 The Colonnade at Versailles . . 204 
 
 Water-spout Gaidening at Versailles. 
 
 Fountains of the Basin of Neptune . 206 
 ('ottage in the Little Trianon . . 208 
 
 Streamlet in the Little Trianon 
 
 (Spring) 209 
 
 The Gardener's House in th<.' Little 
 
 Trianon . . . . .210 
 
 Oranaevv in the Little Tri.-inon, 
 
 wrc.'ithed witli Wistari.i in llowrr . LMl 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Fronch-ganlen Side of the I.ittlo 
 
 Trianon ..... 
 View on the English-garJcn Side of 
 
 the Little Trianon 
 (h-and Trianon : one of the results of 
 
 the " Genius of Le Notre ! " . 
 An Avenue of old Lombardy Po])lars 
 
 at Versailles (near the Little 
 
 Trianon) ..... 
 A Shorn Tree (•' ideal " form : after 
 
 years of mutilation the trees are 
 
 even more hideous) 
 Among the Trees, Little Trianon 
 
 (Spring) 
 
 In the Little Trianon (Summer). 
 Section of a Conservatory arranged in 
 
 the Natural Style 
 Ground-plan of Winter-garden . 
 Cool Conservatory with Vegetatiou 
 
 planted out. .... 
 
 Acanthus latifolius in Window in 
 
 Paris 
 
 Wreath of Wistaria above Ivy (by 
 
 Roadside, Vincennes to Montreuil) . 
 A Paris Garden not spoiled by Beds . 
 Ti-ellis for Vines on Top of Dead Wall 
 
 (Vincennes) .... 
 
 A Town-garden in Paris . 
 The Degradation of Water (in small 
 
 Garden near Vincennes). 
 A garden horror : the mirror-globe 
 Wall Pear-tree with vertical branches: 
 
 ten years planted 
 Outhouse covered with Plum-trees at 
 
 Versailles ..... 
 Trellis for Pear-trees : ten feet high . 
 View of portion of Square devoted 
 
 to double Espaliers of Pear-trees at 
 
 Versailles ..... 
 Double Trellis for Pear-trees : ten feet 
 
 high ...... 
 
 Wall of Easter Beurrii Pears In the 
 
 School of Horticulture at Versailles. 
 Wall of Peach-trees in the Potagerie at 
 
 Versailles ..... 
 Side-view of protection to double line 
 
 of Espaliers. . . . . 
 
 Border of superimposed Cordons at 
 
 Versailles ..... 
 Plan of a Fruit-garden for the north 
 
 of France ..... 
 Double Espalier with a row of Cordons 
 
 on each side, showing mode of pro- 
 tecting the whole in spring . 
 Fruit-tree in the Vase form 
 Hedge of Pear-trees (half formed) 
 The Apple trained as a Sim]>le Hori- 
 zontal Cordon, grafted on tlio French 
 
 Paradise Stock .... 
 
 r.\c.K 
 212 
 
 217 
 220 
 
 23:^ 
 2:56 
 
 241 
 
 249 
 
 2.50 
 
 25G 
 200 
 
 263 
 264 
 
 265 
 266 
 267 
 269 
 270 
 271 
 •27.T 
 
 277 
 278 
 279 
 
 Simple and Double Cordon Trees train- 
 ing as Edgings .... 
 Cordon Tree on low Wall of Plant-house 
 Young Cordon Tree of the Lady Apple 
 
 trained as an Edging 
 The White Calville Apple . 
 Reinette du Canada trained as a Cordon 
 Edging of Simple Cordons three years 
 
 old in Fruit-garden at Brunoy 
 Grafting by approach, to unite the 
 
 points of Horizontal Cordons . 
 Another Jlode of Grafting to unite the 
 
 Cordons ..... 
 The Horizontal Cordon trained as an 
 
 Edging 
 
 Simple Mode of protecting Cordon 
 
 Apple-trees in M. Jamin's Garden at 
 
 Bourg-la-Reine .... 
 Narrow border in front of fruit-wall . 
 Peach wall and border 
 Simple wooden support for Cordon 
 Iron support let into stone 
 Iron support, with ratchet wheel at 
 
 the top ..... 
 Wall of Cordon Pear-trees in the Gar- 
 dens at Holme Lacy 
 Obliqvie Cordon Pear. 2nd year 
 Oblique Cordon Pear. 3rd year 
 Pear-tree trained as a Vertical Cordon 
 The Pear trained as an Oblique Cordon 
 Pear-tree trained in U form for very 
 
 high walls ..... 
 The Spiral Cordon against walls 
 Young Peach-tree trained as an Oblique 
 
 Cordon. 1st j'ear 
 Peach-tree trained as an Oblique Cor- 
 don. 2nd year's pruning 
 The Peach trained as an Oblique Cordon. 
 
 (Du Breuil) .... 
 
 Young Peach-tree with three stems, a 
 
 ditl'erent variety being grafted on each 
 Flower of the French Paradise Apple . 
 Fruit of the French Paradise Apple . 
 Thomery mode of fi.xing the bottles 
 Ferri^res mode of fixing the bottles 
 Portion of upright used iu Grape-room 
 
 at Ferrieres .... 
 
 Section of Grape-room at Heckficld 
 ^Ir. Dodd's tube for Gi-apes in Water . 
 Kemp's Grape-rail .... 
 Interior of Grape-room at Thomery 
 Permanent tiled coping to Peach-wall, 
 
 Bourg-la-Reine .... 
 Peach-tree (Candelabrum) with the 
 
 vertical branches in the (J form 
 Peach-tree with 20 vertical branches 
 
 (Candelabrum form) in full bearing. 
 Pyramid Beurre Dumont . 
 Winged Pyramid, Beurre Hardy 
 
 283 
 285 
 286 
 
 287 
 
 288 
 
 289 
 
 290 
 
 291 
 294 
 294 
 295 
 295 
 
 296 
 297 
 
 298 
 299 
 
 300 
 301 
 
 304 
 
 305 
 «07 
 309 
 317 
 317 
 
 317 
 319 
 320 
 32 1 
 322 
 
 323 
 
 324 
 
 325 
 326 
 327 
 
LIST OF 1 [.LUSTRATIONS. 
 
 rAoi: 
 
 Pear Triomphe Je Jotlniirne, iu Palmotte 
 
 form . . . . .3-28 
 
 Plan of Fruit-garJen for the North of 
 France .... 329 
 
 Pear - tree grown by M. Croux, of 
 Sceaux ..... 330 
 
 Pear-tree with horizontal branches . 331 
 
 Mode of supporting stake for trees 
 trained as shown in the preceding 
 figure 331 
 
 View of Espalier Pear-trees and lines 
 of Apples trained as Cordons in gar- 
 den at Brunoj .... 332 
 
 Plan of Espalier in preceding figure at 
 corner of line .... 332 
 
 Pear-tree in Columnar form . . 333 
 
 Portion of Self-supporting Espalier of 
 Pear-trees 334 
 
 Stake for fixing the wires in the ground 334- 
 
 Espaliers of Pear - trees with the 
 branches grafted by approach . . 335 
 
 Specimen of fontastic training in Garden 
 at Bi-unoy ..... 336 
 
 Pear-tree trained in the Balloon form, 
 ten feet high . . . .337 
 
 Pear-tree in Balloon form, seventeen 
 feet high and six feet iu diameter . 338 
 
 Plan of Pear-tree in Balloon form . 338 
 
 Crossed and Self-supporting Espalier 
 Pear-trees at Saulsaie . . . 342 
 
 Pear-tree with the branches trained in 
 lines exactly above each other, and 
 all the points united by grafting . 349 
 
 Fantastic training in forming name . 350 
 
 A Spur-pruned Peach-tree . .351 
 
 Early Spring Aspect of a portion of 
 Peach-wall in garden at Montreuil . 352 
 
 Espalier-training at Montreuil . . 353 
 
 Espalier-training at ]MontreuiI. Tiie 
 Montreuil Fan .... 354 
 
 Small Wooden Coping used to protect 
 
 young Peach-trees iu Spring . . 354 
 
 Second Pruning of Fruiting Peach- 
 branch ..... 355 
 
 Mode of preserving the Lower Part of 
 the Stems from the Sun . . 356 
 
 Fruiting Branch of Peach submitted to 
 the third year's pruning . . 357 
 
 Pruning to replace old fruit-spur . 358 
 
 Itesult of the preceding operation . 358 
 
 Spring aspect of Fruit-garden formed 
 in North Germany by M. Lepere 
 fils 359 
 
 Mode of Pruning to cover bare spaces 
 on the branches of Peach-trees, first 
 year ...... 360 
 
 Piesult of preceding operation, second 
 year ...... 360 
 
 Summer miinagcmont of tlio reach . .■>61 
 
 Shoot of Peach without Fruit 
 Peach-tree trained horizontally : aspect 
 before Pruning .... 
 Disbudding of the Peach, second year . 
 Disbudding of the Peach, second year , 
 Grafting by approach to furnish bare 
 spaces on the main branches of the 
 Peach-tree ..... 
 I Multiple Grafting by approach, to fur- 
 nish bare spaces on the stems of 
 Peach-trees .... 
 
 Details of the preceding Figures 
 Peach-tree in the double U form 
 Peach trained in the double U form, 
 with the points of the branches 
 united by grafting 
 Branch of Fig-tree bearing the Figs 
 formed during the preceding year . 
 ' Fig-tree growing on level ground, 
 j with the branches grouped in four 
 
 [ sets 
 
 Fig-tree with the branches trained in 
 two sets ..... 
 I Showing the Mode of burying the Fig- 
 trees cultivated on level ground, to 
 preserve them from being destroyed 
 [ by frost in winter 
 ' Fig-tree planted on slo])ing earth buried 
 for the winter months . 
 Fig-tree planted on sloping ground, 
 with earth basin on lower side to 
 I better retain the water . 
 j Section showing Fig-tree planted on 
 j inclined ground, with earth basin to 
 retain the water .... 
 Stem of Fig the sixth year after plant- 
 I ing . . . ■ . 
 
 j Fig-branch with young Figs 
 
 Branch of Fig-tree after the gathering 
 I of the croj) ..... 
 Branch of Fig-tree after the gathering 
 ; of the crop ..... 
 ' The Chasselas de Fontainebleau . 
 t Wall of Chasselas at Thomery, showing 
 : the Vines trained as Horizontal 
 Cordons ..... 
 Low Double Espalier, and Mode of Pro- 
 tecting the Vines in Spring 
 I Section of top of wall at Thomery, 
 showing the projection of the tem- 
 1 porary coping .... 
 j Pruning to obtain the two arms of 
 Cordon .... 
 Sulphur Distributor employed 
 
 Thomery .... 
 Low Espalier of Vines trained vortical! 
 
 four feet high 
 Layer of Vine raised and planted 
 basket .... 
 
 he 
 
 362 
 363 
 363 
 
 365 
 366 
 367 
 
 367 
 370 
 
 371 
 372 
 
 373 
 373 
 
 374 
 
 375 
 375 
 
 377 
 
 378 
 
 379 
 381 
 
 .381 
 382 
 382 
 383 
 :183 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Rose-Charmeux's System of Vertical 
 
 Training ..... 
 Vines trained Vertically with alter- 
 nated spurs. .... 
 Movable Scaffold used for thinning the 
 
 Grapes . . , . , 
 
 Shade to protect the Grape-thinners 
 
 from strong sun .... 
 Frame fur carrying small baskets filled 
 
 with Grapes from the walls to the 
 
 store-rooms ..... 
 Mode of Grafting the Vine at Thomery 
 Mode of Grafting the Vine, by ap- 
 proach, practised at Thomery . 
 Gouge used in Grafting the Vine : ten 
 
 inches long ..... 
 Small Pit used for Forcing the Vine . 
 Small span-roofed Pit for Forcing the 
 
 Viue ...... 
 
 French mode of training Vines on open 
 
 Wall 
 
 Pear-tree trained as a " Palmette 
 
 Verrier " . 
 The Palmette Verrier. Second, third, 
 
 and fourth pruning 
 The Palmette Verrier. Fifth pruning. 
 Palmette Verrier, with weakly outer 
 
 Branch completed by Grafting 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. First pruning . 
 Top of Young Pear-tree 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Second pruning 
 Leading shoot of Pear-tree. 
 Part of old leading shoot barked and 
 
 left to tie the young shoot to . 
 The best position at which to prune for 
 
 the terminal bud .... 
 Incisions made above and below branches 
 
 and buds to check irregularity of 
 
 growth ..... 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Third pruning . 
 Grafting by approach, to cover bare 
 
 spaces on Pyramidal Trees 
 Grafting by approach as applied to Wall 
 
 and Espalier Trees 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Fourth pruning 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Fifth pruning . 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree with drooping 
 
 Branches ..... 
 Wall Pear-tree re-grafted . 
 Pendulous Training of Wall Pear-tree . 
 Grafting to furnish useless Water-shoots 
 
 with Fruit-buds .... 
 Proi)er mode of cutting shoot 
 l^hoot cut too long .... 
 Shoot cut too low .... 
 Young shoot of Pear i>roperly pinched 
 
 at about four inches from the base . 
 Shoot of Pear pinched too short . 
 
 I'AGE [ rAGi; 
 
 ! Result of over-pinching . . . 407 
 
 384- J Another result of over-pinching . . 407 
 ; Pinching of the second growth of the 
 
 384 Pear 407 
 
 The stipulary shoots forced into growth 
 
 385 ' by the removal of the principal shoot 407 
 j Fruit-trees in a Front Garden (Vin- 
 
 cennes) . . . . .413 
 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree Re-grafted . . 41.") 
 
 Varieties of Vertical Training . . 418 
 
 386 Upright Pear-tree for Wall (Argenteuil) 419 
 
 387 Fruit-trees along Railway . . . 432 
 Section of Railway-embankment and 
 
 387 Terraces for Fruit-trees. . . 433 
 
 Fruit-hedge fully furnished . . 434 
 
 387 Form of Fruit-tree Fence . . . 435 
 
 388 Railway Fence furnished with Fruit- 
 
 trees ...... 435 
 
 388 The Cloche as used in Winter-Lettuce 
 
 I culture ..... 437 
 
 389 I The Cloche as used in the raising of 
 
 i Seedling Plants . . . .438 
 
 391 The Cloche as used in the Propagating- 
 
 house. ..... 439 
 
 392 ' Carriage for transporting Orange-trees. 440 
 
 393 I Truck for moving Plants in Tubs and 
 
 I large Pots 440 
 
 394 ' Portion of Pear-stand at Ferriferes . 442 
 
 395 ! End View of Pear-stand . . . 442 
 
 396 ' Section of Pear-rail in the Fruit-room 
 
 396 ; at Ferriferes . . . .442 
 
 397 I Narrow Frames used for Forcing . 443 
 
 397 Frame for making Straw Mats . . 443 
 Straw Mat (Paillassou) used for cover- 
 
 398 ing Frames ..... 444 
 The S(5cateur Lecointe . . . 446 
 
 398 The Common Sdcateur . 446 
 
 The Kaidisseur .... 446 
 
 Key of Raidisseur .... 447 
 
 398 Collignon's Raidisseur . . . 447 
 
 399 Side View of Collignon's Raidisseur . 447 
 j Thomery Raidisseur. . . . 447 
 
 400 Borel's Raidisseur .... 448 
 Open Loop ..... 449 
 
 400 Loop after three turns . . . 449 
 
 401 Bur-reed (Sparganium ramosum) . 4.")1 
 
 402 Reed-mace (Typha latif.dia) . . 451 
 Mode of Protecting Walls . . . 4.').; 
 
 403 Mode of arranging Wires on Walls 454 
 
 404 Wall Wired for Oblique Cordon Train- 
 
 405 ing ...... 455 
 
 I Trellis for Young Trees in Nurseries . 455 
 
 406 Gourd of the Paris Market . 467 
 
 407 Figure showing the depth of the succos- 
 407 sive annual earthings given to the 
 
 407 As|)aragus 470 
 
 Planting .\sparagus ; Trenches at I'lant- 
 
 407 ing-time and after a Season's growth 470 
 
 407 Frames uscil for Forcing Asjiaragus . 475 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Section of Frames for Forcing Asparagus 
 Preparation for Forcing Asparagus 
 Argenteuil Asparagus Buncher (closed) 
 Asparagus Bunrhor most commonly 
 used in France .... 
 Argentouii lUmcher (open) 
 Sartrouville Buncher (filled) 
 Cloches over Lettuce in Spring . 
 Plants of the Lettuce Petite Noire under 
 
 the Cloche in October . 
 Diagram showing the several stages of 
 Lettuce-culture under the Cloche . 
 Some Lettuces of the Paris Market — 
 Lettuce — Grosse Brune Paresseuse 
 (Summer) .... 
 Lettuce — Crepe (Spring) . 
 Palatine (Autumn) . 
 Lettuce — Batavia blonde (Summer) 
 Lettuce — Komaine verte d'hiver . 
 Lettuce — Romaiue blonde marai- 
 chere ..... 
 Lettuce Gotte .... 
 
 Barbe de Capucin .... 
 Early French Forcing Carrot of the 
 Paris Market .... 
 Carrot — Scarlet Horn 
 
 „ Intermediate Scarlet 
 
 „ Intermediate Scarlet Stumj)- 
 
 rooted .... 
 „ Intermediate Nantes Scarlet . 
 
 Turnip-rooted Celery 
 
 TACK 
 
 475 
 476 
 477 
 
 477 
 
 477 
 477 
 479 
 
 479 I 
 
 482 
 
 48.") 
 
 485 I 
 48,5 
 485 
 485 I 
 
 485 \ 
 
 486 I 
 
 487 j 
 
 491 
 492 
 492 ' 
 
 493 
 49.i 
 496 
 
 Mode of Tying-up the Cardoon for 
 Blanching ..... 
 
 Blanched Cardoon .... 
 
 De Laon Artichoke .... 
 
 Some Navets of the Paris Market — 
 Navet gris de Morigny 
 N. des Vertus rond . 
 N. des Vertus Marteau 
 N. de Meau.\ .... 
 N. Jaune de Montmagny 
 
 Cantaloup Melon of the Paris Markets. 
 
 Mouth of Mushroom-cave at Montrouge 
 
 Passages in Mushroom-cave 
 
 View in Mushroom cave at Montrouge. 
 
 Plan of large Subterranean Quariy at 
 Fortes Terres, Frepillon 
 
 Section following the line C, D, in 
 preceding figure .... 
 
 Sectional View : Operations as carried on 
 in the Mushroom-caves at Montrouge 
 
 Section. — Slushrooms attacked by the 
 "moUe" ..... 
 
 View in old Subterranean Quarries 
 devoted to Mushroom-culture 
 
 Mushroom-bed in Open-air (.January) . 
 
 Cave-mushrooms as gathered 
 
 The Pansy-basket of the Paris Market. 
 
 A Flower-market and City-square in 
 one. The new Central Flower-market, 
 with Plantation of Paulownias for 
 shade (early morning view) . 
 
 499 
 499 
 5U0 
 
 501 
 501 
 501 
 501 
 501 
 503 
 505 
 506 
 507 
 
 511 
 
 515 
 
 518 
 
 520 
 524 
 525 
 533 
 
THE 
 
 PARKS AND GAUDENS OK PAltlS 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 The Bois de Boulogne. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 If tlicrn be .any aim moro wortliy 
 of a national botanic gavtleu 
 than another, it is surely the 
 expression of the beauty of the 
 vegetable world ; but the botan- 
 ists at the Jardin des Plantes 
 have so arranged matters there 
 that all who visit it in the hope 
 of seeing a fair garden will be 
 disappointed. So we had better 
 follow the world to the Bois 
 de Boulogne. There we break 
 •juite away from the old and 
 dismal style of French garden- 
 ing, with its clipped trees and 
 unendnralde monotony, and from the sad results of the open-air 
 pedantry of the botanist. The ]5ois is in many ways a garden such 
 as a great city like Paris should possess ; a noble system ot roads, 
 ample space, and fine sheets of water contributing to render it 
 deserving of a visit from all for whom gardens possess an interest. 
 Pains are taken to make the vegetation along the banks of the 
 artificial water diversified in character, so that at one place we 
 meet with conifers, at another rock-shrubs, at another Magnolias, 
 
 £»3^i^ 
 
 D. H. HILL LIBPARY 
 North Carolina State Colleg© 
 
2 THE PAPiKS AND GARDENS OF PATHS. [Chap. I. 
 
 and so on ; without the eternal repetition of common things -wliicli 
 one too often sees. 
 
 The islands seen from the margin of the lakes are beautiful, in 
 consequence of the presence of a varied collection of the finest 
 shrubs and trees. They show at a glance the superiority of per- 
 manent embellishment over fleeting annual dispLay, The planting 
 of these islands was expensive at first, and required a good know- 
 ledge of trees and shrubs, besides a large amount of taste in the 
 designer ; but it is so done that were the hand of man withheld 
 from them for half a century they would not suffer in the least. 
 Nothing could be easier than to find examples of gardens quite as 
 costly in the first instance which, while involving a yearly expen- 
 diture, would be ruined by a year's neglect. In spring the scene 
 is animated by the cheerful flush of bloom of the many shrubs 
 that burst into blossom with the strengthening sun, and while the 
 Oaks are yet leafless the large, swollen flower-buds of the splendid 
 deciduous Magnolias may be seen conspicuous at long distances 
 through the other trees. In summer, along the margins of these 
 islands the fresh pyramids of the deciduous Cypress start from 
 graceful surroundings of hardy Bamboos and Pampas grass, and 
 far beyond is a group of bright silvery Negundo in the midst of 
 green vegetation, with an infinite variety of tree-form around. In 
 autumn the number and richness of the tints of the foliage afibrd 
 a varied picture from week to week ; and in winter the many 
 graceful forms of the deciduous trees among the evergreen shrubs 
 and Pines offer as much to interest an observant eye as at any 
 other season. 
 
 Looking deeper than the immediate results, we may see how 
 the adoption of the system of careful permanent planting enables 
 us to secure what is the most important point in the whole art of 
 gardening— variety, and that of the noblest kind. "We are told that 
 " change or variety is as much a necessity to the human heart in 
 buildings as in books ; that there is no merit, though there is some 
 occasional use, in monotony ; and that we must no more expect to 
 derive either pleasure or profit from an architecture whose orna- 
 ments are of one pattern and whose pillars are of one proportion 
 than we should out of a universe in which the clouds were all of 
 one shape and the trees all of one size." All this applies to public 
 gardens with even greater force. In them we need not be tied by 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 the formalism which conveuieuco uiul oconomy re(|uiro the arclii- 
 tect to bear in mind, no matter liow widely he diverges from the 
 commonplace in general design. In garden or in park there is 
 practically no limit to variety ; in buildings there are many. 
 Vegetation varies every day in the year, but buildings bear the 
 stamp of unchangeableness. In the tree and plant world we deal 
 with things by no means remotely allied to ourselves : their lives, 
 
 LAK1_ AN 11 I-,LA\il VIEW 
 A/I ahsuni Aii's.',-h'Av structure on this point of tiu: island has been omitted in the sketch. 
 
 from the unfolding bud to the tottering trunk, are as the lives of 
 men. There is infinite change in the individual, and boundless 
 variety in species and their forms. Therefore the opportunity for 
 variety is beyond comparison greater in gardening than in the 
 building art, or indeed in any other art whatever. 
 
 As yet we are far frOm perfection as builders, and the garden 
 still holds the relation to the building art which is described by 
 
 B 2 
 
4 THE PAT^KS AND GAIIDKNS OF TAlilS. [Ciiak I. 
 
 Bacon. There is no indication that any knowh'clge of the all- 
 important necessity for variety exists in the minds of those tvIio 
 arrange or manage our gardens, public or private. And yet this 
 unrecognised variety is the life and soul of true gardening. If 
 people generally could see this clearly, it would lead to the greatest 
 improvement our gardening has ever witnessed. Considering the 
 wealth of the vegetable kingdom, even in northern countries, and 
 the differences in soil, climate, and position which we can command, 
 it is impossible to doubt that our power to produce variety is 
 unlimited. 
 
 The necessity for it is great. What is the broadly marked 
 defect of the gardening of the present day ? The want of variety. 
 What is it that causes us to take little more interest in the 
 ordinary displays of *' bedding out," which are fostered with so 
 much care, than we do in the bricks that go to make up the face 
 of a house ? Simply the want of that variety of beauty which a 
 walk along a flowery lane or over a wild heath shows us may be 
 afforded by even the indigenous vegetation of- one spot in a 
 northern and unfavourable clime. But in our parks we can, if 
 we will, have an endless variety of form, from the Fern to the Oak 
 and the Pine — infinite charms of colour and fragrance, from the 
 Alpine plant to the Lilies of Japan and Siberia. And yet out of 
 all these riches the fashion for a long time has been to select a 
 few kinds which have the property of producing dense masses of 
 their particular colours on the ground, to the almost entire neglect 
 of the nobler and hardier vegetation. The expense of the present 
 system is great, and must be renewed annually, Avhile the end 
 obtained is of the poorest kind. To a person with no idea of the 
 rich variety of vegetation the system may prove sufficient, and to 
 the professional gardener it is often so ; but to most persons the 
 result attained by the above method is almost a blank. There 
 can be little doubt that numbers are, for this reason unknown to 
 themselves, deterred from taking any interest in the garden ; in 
 fact, it is without meaning to them. 
 
 Eyes everywhere among us are hungering after beauty ; but in 
 our public gardens they, as a rule, look for it in vain ; for the 
 presence of a few things with which they are already as familiar 
 as with the texture of a gravel walk must impress them with an 
 opinion that gardening is the most inane of arts. In books 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 they everywhere find variety and some interest, even if high 
 merit is rare : the same is the case in painting, in sculpture, 
 in music, and indeed in most arts; hut in that which shouhl 
 possess it more than any other, and is more capable of it than any 
 other, there is as a rule little to bo found. This is not merely the 
 case with the flower-garden and its adjuncts ; it prevails in wood, 
 grove, shrubbery, and in everything connected with the garden. 
 
 
 
 ROCKY GROTTOES IN BANKS, CLOTHED WITH IVY. 
 77/fjf serve for shelter or garden-stores: a suggestion for tlwse wlu> build liidecus wooden 
 structures for such purposes. 
 
 What attempt is made in our parks and pleasure-grounds to give 
 an idea of the dignity and beauty of our hardy trees ? How rare 
 it is to see in any garden a tithe of the beauty afforded by 
 deciduous shrubs ! Hitherto our gardening has been governed by 
 two schools— by one of which a few, or comjiaratively few, plants 
 are grown ; while by the other, the botanic-garden school, every 
 obtainable thing is grown, be it ugly or handsome. What we 
 
6 TllK PAUKS AM) GAliDENS UF TAIUS. [Chap. I. 
 
 want for the ornamental public garden is the mean between these 
 two : we want the variety of the botanic garden without its so- 
 called scientific but very unnatural and ugly arrangement ; we 
 want its interest without its weediness and monotony. 
 
 There is no way in which the deadening formalism of our 
 gardens may be more effectually destroyed than by the system of 
 naturally grouping hardy plants. It may afford the most pleasing 
 results, and impress on others the beauty of many families now 
 almost unused. Suppose that in a case where the chief labour 
 and expense now go for an annual display, or what some might 
 call an annual muddle, the system is given up for one in which all 
 the taste and skill and expense go to the making of features that 
 do not perish with the first frosts. Let us begin, then, with a 
 carefully selected collection of trees and shrubs distinguished for 
 their fine foliage — by noble leaf-beauty, selecting a quiet glade 
 in which to develop it. It would make a feature in itself attrac- 
 tive, and show many that it is not quite necessary to resort to 
 things that require the climate of Kio before we find marked leaf- 
 beauty and character. It would teach, too, how valuable such 
 things would prove for general use. Many kinds of leaf might be 
 therein developed, from the great simple-leaved species of the 
 lihubarb type to the divided ones of Lindley's Spira3a, and the taller 
 Ailantus, and other noble-leaved trees of Asia and America. The 
 fringes of such a group might well be lit up with beds of Lilies, 
 Irises, or any showy flowers ; or, better still, by hardy flowering 
 shrubs. An irregularly and artistically planted group of this kind 
 would prove at all times a source of interest ; it might be improved 
 and added to from time to time, but the original expense would 
 be almost the only one. 
 
 Pass by this rather sheltered nook, and come to a gentle knoll 
 in an open spot. Here we will make a group from that wonderful 
 rosaceous family which does so much to beautify all northern and 
 temperate climes. And what a glorious bouquet it might be made, 
 with American and European hawthorns, double-flowered cherries 
 and peaches, plums, almonds, pears ! While we should here have 
 a marked family likeness prevailing in the groups, we should 
 entirely escape the monotony resulting from planting, say, five 
 or six thousand plants of lihododendron in one spot, as is tlie 
 fashion with somr ; for t acli tree would dillt-r considerably from its 
 
I.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 neighbour in flower and fruit. Then, having arranged the groups 
 in a picturesque ^Yay, we might finish off with a new feature. It 
 is the custom to margin our shrubberies and ornamental phmtings 
 with a rather well-marked line. Strong-growing trees come near 
 the edge as a rule, and many of the prettiest spring-flowering 
 shrubs of low growth are lost in tlie shade or crowding of more 
 
 J\us:ic Bridge between Wooded Is'atids. 
 
 robust subjects. They are often overshadowed, often deprived of 
 food, often injured by the rough digging which people usually 
 think wholesome for the shrubbery. The best of these should bo 
 planted as neat low groups, or isolated well-grown specimens, not 
 far from the medium-sized or low trees of the central groupings, 
 but quite clear of their shade. The result would be that choice 
 dwarf shrubs would display a perfection to which they are usually 
 strangers. It would be putting them as far in advance of their 
 ordinary appearance as the stove and greenhouse plants at the 
 
8 THE TAKKS AND GAKDENS OF PAIMS. [Chap. I. 
 
 great flower-shows are to the ordinary stock in a nursery or 
 neglected greenhouse. It would teach people that there are 
 many unnoticed hardy little shruhs which merely want growing 
 in some open spot to appear as beautiful as any tropical or 
 subtropical plant. The system might be varied as much as the 
 plants themselves, while one garden or pleasure-ground need no 
 more resemble another than the clouds of to-day do those of 
 yesterday. 
 
 In the rich alluvial soil in level spots, near water or in some 
 open break in a wood, we might have numbers of the fine 
 herbaceous families of Northern Asia, America, and Europe. 
 These, if well selected, would furnish a type of vegetation now 
 very rarely seen in this country, and flourish after once being 
 planted without the slightest attention. On rocky mounds quite 
 free from shade we might well display true Alpine vegetation, 
 selecting dwarf shrubs and the many free-growing, hardy Alpines 
 which flourish everywhere. To turn from the somewhat natural 
 arrangements, occasional plantings might be made as the years 
 rolled on to show in greatest abundance the subjects of greatest 
 novelty or interest at the time of planting. In one select spot, 
 for example, we might enjoy our plantation of Japanese ever- 
 greens, many of them valuable in the ornamental garden ; in 
 another, the Californian Pines ; in another, a picturesque group of 
 wild Roses ; and so on without end. Were this the place to do 
 any more than suggest what may be accomplished in this way in 
 the splendid positions ofi'ered by our public gardens and parks, 
 scores of arrangements equal in interest to the above could be 
 mentioned. If the principle of annually planting a portion of a 
 great park or garden of this kind were adopted instead of giving 
 all the same routine attention after the first laying out, it would 
 be found to be the greatest imi)rovement ever introduced into 
 gardening. The embellishment of the islands in the Bois de 
 Boulogne is very successful, but it is merely one of many fine 
 results that artistic planting would secure. Plantations as full 
 (»f interest and beauty might be made in other portions, and the 
 fact is the vegetable kingdom is so extensive that, although tlie 
 combination of knowledge and taste necessary to success might 
 not often be found in the designer, the materials for any number 
 of varied pictures could never fail. 
 
CUAI'. I.] 
 
 THE IJOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 More than one view of the river as it glides along one side of 
 this nohle park may serve to show how much may be gained by 
 arranging the ground and planting so that the beauty of the 
 natural water may be seen. In the park various artificial lakes 
 have been made, while, for the most part, the fine opportunities 
 ofl'ered l)y tlie river have not been taken advantage of. Wherever 
 a garden or park possesses natural advantages of this kind it is 
 
 THE 11 GRAND " CASCADE IN THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 Pines, Birch, and Ivy have somewhat concealed its original ugliness. 
 
 well to develop them in preference to making pieces of artificial 
 water. Lake-like reaches, islets, effective planting, turf-margined 
 bays, and every feature that makes water, or ground near water, 
 charming may be secured in such a case far more readily than 
 with artificial water. 
 
 As a combination of wild wood and noble pleasure-garden, the 
 liois is magnificent. As regards size, it is amjde, containing more 
 than two thousand acres, of which nearly half is wood, a quarter 
 
10 TlIK PAllKS AND GAUDENS OF PARIS. [Ciiai-. 1. 
 
 grass, an ciglith roads, and more than seventy acres water. In 
 some spots it has more beauty and finish than any of our London 
 parks ; while in others large spaces are covered with a thick scrub- 
 like wood, in which there is an abundant growth of Avild flowers, 
 such as are never seen in our prim London inclosures. There are 
 plenty of wukl Cowslips dotted about, even over the best parts of 
 it, in spring. 
 
 From a landscape-gardening point of view, the great drawback 
 of the Bois is its want of breadth. Except for the roads and 
 avenues that intersect it, it is, speaking generally, a mass of 
 dense monotonous wood. There is no open, airy space of any 
 extent (except the broad roads) for a long distance from the gate 
 nearest Paris. This of course is stupid in a park of such vast 
 extent. Even if effect were not taken into consideration, it must, 
 nevertheless, be remembered that the result of such dense masses 
 of low wood is to prevent that motion of the air which is so desir- 
 able in a great park. It would be difficult to find a city park so 
 ill-arranged in this respect. It is owing to other things than 
 design that the parts more distant from Paris are breezy, open, 
 and pleasant to the eye. The racecourse of Longchamps and the 
 training-ground necessitated open spaces, and the result is very 
 satisfactory from a landscape point of view. 
 
 Various banks and rocks near the water here are very tastefully 
 adorned with Ivy and rock-shrubs. The planting of the banks 
 near artificial water offers an opportunity for securing good effects 
 which are worth studying. The contrast with the water, and the 
 certainty that from across the water at least the result of tasteful 
 planting will be seen and not be obscured by chance or unre- 
 strained growth or unwise planting, should encourage the planter 
 to devote his attention to the subject. One happy eflect here is 
 afforded by ivy on the rocky margin of the water, in combination 
 wath rock-shrubs and hardy Cuprcssus and Junipers. Sheets of 
 luxuriant Irish Ivy fall over the rocks and carpet the banks. This 
 is welcome in winter, when it forms such a contrast to the dug 
 surface on which so many shrubs have to stand through most of 
 the year. Among the evergreen rock-shrubs and low conifers 
 suitable for such positions, a few good deciduous early-flowering 
 shrubs may be placed with charming effect ; such, for example, 
 are the Japan Pyrus (P. japonica) and its varieties, the Forsythias, 
 
Chap. 1.] 
 
 'IIIK BOIS 1)E BOULOGNE. 
 
 11 
 
 tlie large white Chinese Magnolia (M. conspicua), and other early- 
 flowering shrubs. The attractive Chinese, Japanese, and Ghent 
 Azaleas, and the Rhododendrons, are, of course, admirable for such 
 positions ; but there is a peculiar fitness in placing the very early- 
 flowering shrubs on these well-carpeted green banks, where the 
 surroundings are not so winterly as they are often needlessly 
 made in gardens. 
 
 There is one feature in the Bois de Boulogne wliich cannot be 
 too much condemned — the practice of laying down here and there 
 on some of its freshest sweeps of sloping grass enormous beds con- 
 taining one kind of flower only. In several instances, near the 
 plantations on the islands, may be seen huiulreds of one kind of 
 tender plant in a great unmeaning mass, just in the positions 
 where the turf ought to have been left free for a little rci)ose. 
 This is done to secure a sensational cllcct, but its onlv result is to 
 
12 TllK PAPiKS AN]) GAllDENS OF PAULS. [Chai-. 1. 
 
 spoil some of the prettiest spots. Let us hope that some winter 
 day, when the great beds are empty, they may be neatly covered 
 with green turf. It would be a great gain to horticulture if ten 
 out of every twelve " flower-beds " in Europe were blotted out 
 witli fresh green grass. 
 
 The illustrations in this chapter show some of the beauty of 
 
 the Bois, in the part 
 
 that is most essentially 
 
 a garden. They show 
 
 ■^ the rocks in the lower 
 
 -■: -JpAS' lake with their drapery 
 
 ■$^W^ - . ■'■>iS''^J*^-:i ^^ Ivy and shrubs ; 
 
 ^ V,. "" the "grand" cascade 
 
 ;^^j^^U. ,r"' from its best point of 
 
 ^" "^ view — it was origin- 
 
 ally ill-formed and 
 
 False curves io tanks, /u,>. ........ . . . . uuhappy as regards 
 
 ugly atid needless. Compare ivitk tH'O margris to natinal I \. J O 
 
 water on page i-i. its SUrrOUudiugS, but 
 
 nature has thrown a graceful mantle over it in parts — the island 
 view, which is pretty ; the St. Cloud view, from a point near the 
 training-ground, one of the most charming views in Paris, 
 but which is more the result of accident than design ; the 
 bridge with its fringe of creepers and shrubs ; and the river 
 view, which tells of the wisdom of develoj^ing the natural advan- 
 tages of a beautiful stream, instead of wasting efforts in creating 
 :in artificial lake. 
 
 The main defect of the most frequented part of the Bois de 
 Boulogne is that the banks which fall to the water are in some 
 parts too suggestive of a railway embankment, and display but 
 little of that indefiniteness of gradation and outline which wo find 
 in the true examples of the " English style " of laying out grounds. 
 This fault is common to almost every example of the "picturesque" 
 garden to be seen about Paris ; in most of the walks, mounds, and 
 turnings of the streams may be detected a family likeness and 
 a style of curvature which is certainly never exhibited by Nature, 
 and would never be drawn by an artist who had studied her. 
 The natural style of laying out ground cannot be fairly judged 
 of till we are accustomed to obey in our gardens the same laws by 
 which artists are governed in their work. An avowedly geometrical 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 TIIK liOTS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 in 
 
 garden with stately and aLnndant vegetation is often more pleasing 
 than a so-called natiirally designed garden in which the great 
 lines are laid down by persons who have no knowledge of or 
 feeling for what is right in the matter. It must not he supposed 
 that the right thing is not possible : a good deal of English work 
 
 Rociy margin of island in Lago Maggiore. 
 
 in this direction is irreproachable. The gentle and graceful 
 gradation which would generally recommend itself in our lowland 
 gardens is indeed easier to form and to keep in order than such 
 stiff embankments as those by the water here. These too clearly 
 bear the impress of the engineer and the navvy. 
 
 More vicious still are the walks which run by the margin of 
 
 U 'ater margin in Loch Achray. 
 
 the water on all sides, destroying the good eflfect which turf 
 running down to clear water generally produces. These walks are 
 a fatal error in a scene like this : from many points of view they 
 are offensive. There is no surer way of robbing garden-lake 
 scenery of its charms than by putting formal walks close to and 
 
14 TlIK PATJKS AND GAT^DEXS OF PAIHS. [Chap. T. 
 
 parallel with flic margin. Frequently it may he found desirahle 
 to approach the water edge for the sake of a view, or for other 
 reasons. In such cases it is right to approach it holdly, and to 
 let the gravel touch and run into it. Then it should recede again 
 and leave the margin green, quiet, and artistic in outline and 
 gradation. It is vexing to notice that these eternal and ever 
 visible serpentine walks steal all beauty from the margins of 
 the water. 
 
 Forming racecourses in important positions in public parks 
 is surely a great mistake. France is large enough to accom- 
 modate her racing men in the way usual in other countries. The 
 creation of a new steeplechase-course in the very best position in 
 the Bois, just beyond the top end of the upper lake, is as vulgar 
 an error as can well be committed in a public garden ! Imagine 
 the best part of the Eegent's Park in London, or the Central 
 Park, New York, prostituted to the purposes of "suburban 
 meetings " ! And not only is this park thus misused from time to 
 time, but a large space railed in with a " grand stand " and all 
 its appurtenances are in permanent occupation of what, three years 
 af^o, was one of the most beautiful spots round Paris. It is un- 
 worthy of a city to allow its finest open spaces to be thus violated. 
 Apart from the incongruity of a great city or state taking such 
 doubtful gambling business under its care, there is the objection 
 that the great numbers attracted are likely to do much damage to 
 the planting, as, indeed, thoy often have done on crowded days in 
 this park. The older Longchamps course, almost apart as it is, 
 might have been excused in a people anxious to naturalise 
 " meetings " that English people even dread coming near their 
 houses ; but this creation of a second racecourse in the same park 
 is no credit to the city authorities. 
 
 Trees and Avenues in the Bois de Boulogne. — It would be 
 impossible to find nobler roads and avenues than in the Bois de 
 Boulogne ; but they are bordered by the usual badly grown trees 
 seen everywhere in Paris. There may be some reason for being 
 satisfied with mere sticks in narrow streets and in gas-saturated 
 earth, but not here ! Trees are planted everywhere to give shade, 
 but they are so managed that they never afford any such jileasant 
 shelter from the sun's rays as may be enjoyed under tall spreading 
 trees. The shade, forsooth, from these starvelings is not to be 
 
CiiAP. I.] THE BOIS I)E BOULOGNE. 15 
 
 compared to that from stately trees beneath the tall limbs of 
 which the cool air might circulate. It is easy to imagine the 
 effect of really well-grown trees along these superb avenues. 
 They only want room on all sides and freedom from the municipal 
 pruning-knife. For grand avenues trees must have space to 
 grow, and sufficient exposure to winds to cause them to anchor 
 
 VIEW BY THE SEINE, Looking north from near the Bridge of Suresnes. 
 
 Pc7'elof>itig vii-.vs of thii kind is better than dabbling »'' artificial ivater. This quiet nook of i lie 
 /•ark has escaped the attention of tite landscape-engineer ; there are, therefore, no false curves 
 on tlie banks, no hard straight margin, and no parallel walk. Compare this 7uith margins of 
 artificial water in this same park, and kerbstone to our man Serpentine. 
 
 well in the soil on all sides. The lines of young Planes and other 
 trees are often planted at a distance not greater than from nine 
 to twelve feet from the dense, badly grown wood, so that their 
 tops touch ; and the trees themselves are often only fifteen feet 
 apart in the lines ! It is curious to notice how people persist 
 in wasting money in so planting trees that they can never attain 
 
16 THE 1\U}KS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. T. 
 
 a third of their proper size. The result here dephn-otl is not 
 owing to tlie soil or any other disadvantages of the site. Many 
 of the trees of Europe and America would attain their full 
 stature and dignity here if not crammed together in the way the 
 engineers seem to have decided that trees should grow. 
 
 More noticeable still is the condition of the trees in the 
 wood itself generally. They look as if France wished only to 
 grow coppice-wood for barrel-hoops in this her favourite park ! 
 Monotony reigns along all the main drives from this cause. There 
 is nothing to be seen but illimitable and impenetrable forests of 
 sticks and brambles. Why allow the trees to crowd each other 
 to death or starvation ? Thousands of Acacias and Oaks are 
 struggling for bare life, while by thinning them out those left 
 would form noble trees in good time. "Where a wood of Pines 
 breaks the monotony, it looks like a deserted nursery — the trees 
 as close together as a plantation of saplings, and never thinned ! 
 These woods ought not only to be properly thinned, but spaces 
 cleared to give breadth and to relieve the eye. In these spaces 
 various noble aspects of tree-life might be easily developed, ■ 
 There are other and better gardens than those that require the 
 mowing-machine. It is in such wide expanses of ground as this 
 that the tree-gardens of the future will be made, and not in the 
 narrow botanic gardens hitherto formed in Europe. Even all the 
 trees and shrubs native in France planted, not in any formal 
 order, but in ample groves and groups, would form features 
 which would be very beautiful and interesting, while valuable to 
 the country. And instead of bracken beneath and around these 
 trees, why not naturalise everywhere in the grass the beautiful 
 hardy herbaceous plants of France ? In such a way we might 
 form gardens requiring no perennial care, and which would 
 soon surpass in beauty the trimmest and most costly. 
 
 The (JardeuH of the Acclimatisatiun Societi/.— Nowadays other 
 gardens than those avowedly botanical or horticultural often 
 claim attention from their gardening interest. In our own 
 Zoological Gardens there have for some years past been attractive 
 lioral displays both in spring and summer. The warm tempera- 
 ture and light of some of the new houses afforded opportunities 
 for indoor gardening which were taken advantage of. This 
 desirable innovation might be carried out with advstatage in many 
 
Cn.u'. I.] 
 
 THE BOIS I)E BOULOGNE. 
 
 17 
 
 other cases. The temperature, moisture, air, etc., given to houses 
 of exotic phxiits of various classes would j)erfectly suit various 
 forms of animal life difficult to preserve in good health in cold 
 northern countries. The interest and beauty of both the animal 
 and vegetable kingdom might be heightened by such a mixed 
 arrangement as we speak of, tastefully and judiciously carried 
 out. The economy resulting from adapting the same structures 
 and heating power to the wants of both the animal and vegetable 
 
 Weeping Beech on Sloping Bank of Island. 
 
 treasures would permit of fuller justice being done to each. In 
 cities rich enough to afford first-class separate establishments, this 
 proposal in its entirety would not so readily commend itself. But, 
 however objectionable it might seem to introduce zoological 
 elements into the botanic garden, there would be no two opinions 
 as to the good of adding all the charms of vegetation to the 
 zoological garden. In small cities with only one zoological or 
 botanical garden it would be easy so to arrange the two matters 
 
18 
 
 TPIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 that a happy result might be produced. If these ideas be sound 
 so far as buildings are concerned, they are equally so as regards 
 the open air. The old narrow idea that a small portion of ground 
 in a town suffices to worthily represent vegetation in a public 
 garden — the idea that we see illustrated in so many continental 
 cities, and in some dozen of our own — must be got rid of before 
 we ever see ornamental horticulture properly carried out in any 
 city. Every garden and open space may do as much towards this 
 end as any similar space of the so-called botanic garden. That 
 it should do so two things are mainly requisite — first, that the 
 
 BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 Line of r lanes near the Mare cfAntetiil, shcnviug scrubby 'MOod and crirnuicd planting. 
 
 garden should be laid out on a sensible plan ; secondly, that it 
 should not be devoted to imitating what is done everywhere else. 
 Beautiful it might be made with every flower or tree that those 
 who resort to it love ; but, in addition, let it show us one or more 
 families of trees, shrubs, plants, or fruits, as completely illustrated 
 as may be. It should, in fact, like a useful type of man, know 
 a little of everything and everything of something. Among 
 modern public gardens, that of the Acclimatisation Society in the 
 Bois dc ]>oul()gne shows a fair attempt to make a garden, mainly 
 zoological, satisfactory from a landscape point of view. At one 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 
 
 19 
 
 time it was pleasant, from the judicious planting of a variety of 
 trees and shrubs. Recently, however, the zoological element has 
 predominated so much over the rest that the beauty of the place 
 is almost destroyed, with, perhaps, the exception of the winter- 
 garden, which shows a variety of subtropical subjects planted out. 
 It is suggestive of what lovely scenes may be made by means of 
 this plan as compared with the tub-and-pot one. Here masses of 
 Bambusa gracilis grow up 15 feet high, and with all the elegance 
 of a weeping "Willow, while graceful Palms and Tree-ferns look 
 quite at home when seen without the usual ugly assemblage of 
 pots and tubs. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 TIIK TARKS AND GAlfDEXS OF PARIS. [Ci 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 AVhat first excites the interest of the visitor accustomed to 
 the monotouons type of garden now so common is the variety, 
 beauty of form, and refreshing verdure which characterise this 
 garden — for it is not a park in our sense. The true garden is a 
 scene which shoukl be so delightfully varied in all its parts — so 
 bright, so green, so freely adorned with the majesty of the tree, 
 the beauty of the shrub, the noble lines of fine-leaved plants, and 
 the minute beauty of the dwarfish ones ; so perpetually interest- 
 ing, with vegetation that changes with the days and seasons, 
 rather than stamping the scene with monotony for months ; 
 and so stored with new or rare, neglected or forgotten, curious 
 or interesting plants — that the simplest observer may feel that 
 indefinable joy which lovers of Nature derive from her charms in 
 her own fairest gardens. If any good at all is to be done by 
 means of flowers and gardens, we must give men a living interest 
 in them, and some other objects than those which can be taken in 
 by the eye in a moment. Numbers are occui^ied with gardening 
 as it is at present, but it cannot be doubted that a system with 
 something like an aim at true art would be sure to attract many 
 more. It is patent that there are numbers even among the 
 educated classes who take little or no interest in the garden, 
 simply because they can in few places find any real beauty or 
 character in it. 
 
 Here it is that the phase of gardening which is known among 
 us as the siibtropical, and which so much helped to open people's 
 eyes to the drawbacks of the " bedding out " so common a 
 few years ago, was first practised extensively. Tliis system 
 
CHAl'. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 21 
 
 of garden-decoration, wliicli simply means the use in gardens 
 of plants having large leaves, picturesque habit, or graceful 
 port, has taught us the value of grace and verdure amid masses 
 of low, brilliant, and unrelieved fluwers, and has reminded us 
 how far we have diverged from Nature's ways of displaying 
 the beauty of vegetation. Our love for rude colour led us too 
 often to ignore the exquisite and inexhaustible way in which 
 plants are naturally arranged. In a wild state flowers are usually 
 
 SKETCH IN THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 relieved by a setting of alnuidant green ; and even where moun- 
 tain and meadow plants of a few kinds produce a wide blaze of 
 colour at one season, there is intermingled a spray of pointed 
 grass and other leaves, which tone down the mass and quite sepa- 
 rate it from anything shown by what is called the " bedding 
 system" in gardens. When we come to examine the most pleas- 
 ing examples of our own indigenous or any other wild vegetation, 
 we find that their attraction mainly depends on flower and fern, 
 
22 
 
 THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF TATIIS. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 trailer, shrub, and tree, sheltering, sniiporting, and relieving each 
 other, so that the whole array has an indefinite charm and 
 mystery of arrangement. 
 
 We may be pleased by the ■wide spread of purple on a heath 
 or mountain, but when we go near and examine it in detail we 
 find that its most exquisite aspect is seen in places where the 
 long Moss cushions itself beside the Ling, and the fronds of the 
 
 HARDY BAMBOO [Famhtsn nietake) in the Pare Monceau. 
 
 Polypody peer forth around little masses of heather. Everywhere 
 we see Nature judicious in the arrangement of her highest effects, 
 setting them in clouds of verdant leafage, so that monotony is 
 rarely produced— a state of things which it is highly desirable to 
 attain as far as possible in the garden. We cannot attempt to 
 reproduce this literally — nor would it be wise or convenient to 
 do so— but assuredly herein will be found the chief source of 
 true beauty and interest in our gardens ; and the more we keep 
 
Chap. IT.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 23 
 
 this fact before our eyes, the nearer will be our approach to truth 
 and success. 
 
 We should compose from Nature, as landscape artists do. We 
 may have in our gardens — and without making wildernesses of 
 
 ShtnvtHf; one yea r's errmxth 
 
 CASTOR-OIL 
 Eurofrfnn climnie ; 
 grmut/t hi open air . 
 
 PLANT. 
 />/ff fl/ tetiiii'r 
 
 /i/ants that titnkf vignrnif; 
 
 them — all the shade, the relief, the g^'ace, the beauty, and nearly 
 all the irregularity of Nature. This bold growth of " fine-foliaged 
 plants " has shown us that one of the greatest mistakes over made 
 in the garden was the adoption of a few varieties of plants for 
 
24 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 culture on a vast scale, to the exclusion of interest and variety, 
 and too often of beauty or taste. We liavc seen how well the 
 pointed, tapering leaves of the Cannas carry the eye upwards ; 
 how refreshing it is to cool the eyes in the deep green of those 
 thoroughly tropical Castor-oil plants, with their gigantic leaves ; 
 how noble the Wigandia, with its fine texture and massive out- 
 line, looks, after we have surveyed brilliant hues and richly 
 
 Cinnt Knot-weed (rolygonuiii sachaliiieiisc) i 
 
 the rare Monceait, Sept. 1877. 
 
 painted leaves ; how too the bold tropical palm-leaves beautify 
 the garden. In a word, the system has shown us the diflfer- 
 oncc between the gardening that interests and delights all 
 beholders, and not the horticulturist only, and that which 
 is too often offensive to the eye of taste, and pernicious to 
 every true interest of what has been called the " purest of humane 
 pleasures." 
 
 But are we to adopt this system in its purity — as shown, for 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 tup: pauc monceau. 
 
 example, by Mr. Gibson wlien superintendent of Battersca Park ? 
 It is evident that to accommodate it to private gardens an 
 expense and a revolution of appliances would be necessary, wliich 
 are in nearly all cases quite impossible, and if possible hardly 
 desirable. We can, however, introduce into our gardens most of 
 its better features ; we can vary their contents, and render them 
 more interesting by a better and nobler system. The use of all 
 
 Tropical Arum {after a storm), Pure Monceau. 
 
 plants without any particular and striking habit or foliage or 
 other desirable peculiarity, merely because they are natives of 
 very hot countries, is unwise and generally impossible. Selection 
 of the most beautiful and useful from the great mass of plants 
 known is the good gardener's pride, and in no branch must he 
 exercise it more thoroughly than in this. Some of the plants used 
 are indispensable — tlie difi'erent kinds of Pucinus, Canna in great 
 
 to. H. HILL LIBRARY 
 North Carolina State College 
 
26 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 MONTAGN^A HERACLEIFOLIA. 
 
 variety, Polym- 
 nia, Colocasia, 
 Ulidea, Wigan- 
 dia, Ferdinanda, 
 Palms, Yuccas, 
 Dracaenas, and 
 many fine-leaved 
 jilants. A few 
 specimens of 
 these may be ac- 
 commodated in 
 many gardens ; 
 they will embel- 
 lish the houses 
 in winter, and 
 may be trans- 
 ferred to the 
 open garden in 
 summer. Some 
 Palms, like Sea- 
 forthia, may be 
 used with the 
 best effect for the 
 winter decora- 
 tion of the con- 
 servatory, and be 
 placed out with 
 a good result, 
 and without 
 danger, in sum- 
 mer. Many fine 
 kinds of DracaB- 
 nas. Yuccas, 
 Agaves, etc., are 
 adapted f o r 
 standing out in 
 summer, and are 
 in fact benefited 
 by it. So with 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 27 
 
 some Cycads and other plants of distinct habit — the very things 
 best fitted to add to the attractions of the flower-garden. 
 
 Thus we may, in all but the smallest gardens, enjoy all the 
 charms of this style of gardening, without creating any special 
 arrangements for it. But what of those who have no conservatory, 
 no hothouses, no means for preserving large tender plants in 
 winter ? They too may enjoy the beauty which plants of fine 
 form afford. A better effect than any yet seen in an English 
 
 '\/i^.- 
 
 
 
 
 ^Ma^»?#^ 
 
 
 MUSA ENSETE, IN THE PARC MONCEAU, 1868. 
 ( The artist is responsible for the liberties taken with the "formalities " around.) 
 
 garden from tender plants may be obtained by planting hardy 
 ones only ! There is the Pampas grass, which when well-grown 
 is unsurpassed by anything that requires protection. There are 
 the Yuccas, noble and graceful in outline, and hardy. There are 
 Arundo conspicua and Donax, and there are noble hardy herbaceous 
 plants like Crambe cordifolia, the giant Japanese Polygonums, 
 Iihoum Emodi, Ferulas, and various graceful umbelliferous plants 
 that will furnish effects equal to any we can produce by using 
 
28 TIIK TAliKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. II. 
 
 the tenderest exotics. Acanthuses too, when well-giown, are very 
 suitable for this use. Then we have a hardy Palm, that has pre- 
 served its health and greenness, in sheltered positions where its 
 leaves could not be torn to shreds by storms, through many hard 
 winters. 
 
 And when we have obtained these, and many like subjects, we 
 may associate them with not a few things of much beauty among 
 trees and shrubs — with elegant young Pines ; not of necessity 
 bringing the larger plants into close or awkward association with 
 the humbler and dwarfer subjects, but sufficiently so to carry the 
 eye from the minute and pretty to the higher and more dignified 
 forms of vegetation. By a judicious selection from the vast number 
 of hardy plants now obtainable in this country, and by associating 
 with them, where it is convenient, house plants that may be 
 placed out for the summer, we may arrange and enjoy charms 
 in the flower-garden to which we are as yet strangers, because 
 we have not utilised the vast amount of plant loveliness now in 
 our garden-flora. 
 
 In dealing with the tenderer subjects, we must choose such as 
 will make a healthy growth in sheltered places. In all parts the 
 kinds with permanent foliage, such as the New Zealand Flax and 
 the hardier Dracaenas, will be found as effective as around London 
 and Paris ; and to such the northern gardener should turn his 
 attention. Even if it were possible to cultivate the softer-growing 
 kinds, like the Ferdinandas, to the same perfection in all parts as 
 in the south of England, it would by no means be everywhere 
 desirable, and especially where expense is a consideration, as these 
 kinds are not capable of being used indoors in winter. The many 
 fine permanent-leaved subjects that stand out in summer without 
 the least injury, and may be transferred to the conservatory 
 in autumn, there to produce as fine an effect all through the cold 
 months as they do in the flower-garden in summer, are the best 
 generally. 
 
 But of infinitely greater importance are the hardy plants ; for 
 however few can indulge in the luxury of rich displays of tender 
 plants, or however rare the spots in which they may be ventured 
 out with confidence, all may enjoy those that are hardy, and that 
 too with infinitely less trouble than is required by the tender 
 ones. Those noble masses of fine foliage displayed to us by 
 
Chap. II.] THE PARC MONCEAU. 29 
 
 tender plants have clone much towards correcting a false taste. 
 In whatever part of these islands one may live, one need not 
 despair of producing sufficient similar effect to vary the flower- 
 
 ROM HARDY PLANTS. 
 All tlu- plants sIutmh arc, ivith two exceptions, luxrJy. [Drnum by Alfred Dawson.) 
 
 garden or pleasure-ground beautifully by the use of hardy plants 
 alone. The noble lines of a well-grown Yucca recurva, or the 
 finely chiselled yot fcrn-liko s})ray of a graceful young conifer, 
 
THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [Chap. 11. 
 
 will aid liim as much in this direction as anything that requires 
 either tropical or subtropical temperature. 
 
 The fault of this " subtropical gardening," as hitherto seen, 
 is its lumpish monotony and the neglect of graceful combinations. 
 The subjects are not used to contrast with or relieve others of less 
 attractive port and brilliant colour, but are generally set down 
 in large masses. Here we meet a troop of Canuas, numbering 
 500, in one long formal bed ; next there is a circle of Aralias, 
 
 Isolated Fcru'a, on Grass {Decaisnc and Naudin). 
 
 or an oval of Ficus, in which hundreds of plants are so densely 
 packed that their tops form a dead level. Isolated from every- 
 thing else, as a rule these masses fail to throw any natural grace 
 into the garden, but, on the other hand, go a long way towards 
 spoiling the character of the subjects of which they are composed. 
 For it is manifest that we get a far superior effect from a group 
 of such a plant as the Gunnera, the Polymnia, or the Castor-oil 
 plant, properly associated with other subjects of entirely diverse 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 31 
 
 character, than when the masses of such" as these become so hxrge 
 that there is no relieving point within reach of the eye. A single 
 specimen or small group of a fine Canna forms one of the most 
 graceful objects the eye can see. Plant a rood of it, and it soon 
 becomes as attractive as so much maize or wheat. 
 
 The fact is, we do not want purely " subtropical gardens " or 
 " leaf gardens " or " colour gardens," but such gardens as, by 
 happy combinations of the materials at our disposal, shall bo 
 doli<'htful, cver-chanfjinor museums of beautiful life. For it is 
 
 
 *SP 
 
 ;•}<: ' 
 
 f\ hiis _^!al>ra lacitiiatn. Hardy shrub, cut dcnun annually to secure yinc foliage. 
 
 ijuite a mistake to assume that because people, ignorant of the 
 inexhaustible stores of the vegetable kingdom, admire the showy 
 glares of colour now so often seen in our gardens, they would be 
 incapable of enjoying scenes displaying some traces of natural 
 beauty and variety if they could see them. 
 
 The fine-leaved plants have not yet been associated immediately 
 with the flowers : hence also a fault. Till they are so treated 
 wo can hardly see the great value of such in ornamental garden- 
 ing. Avoid unmeaning masses, and associate more intimately the 
 
32 
 
 TllK PAllKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [CUAP. II. 
 
 fine-leaved plants with the brilliant flowers. A quiet mass of 
 green might be desirable in some positions, but even that could 
 be varied most eflectively as regards form. The combinations of 
 this kind that may be made are innumerable, and there is no 
 reason why flower-beds should not bo as graceful as bouquets well 
 and simply made. 
 
 Fine effects may be secured, from the simplest and most 
 easily obtained materials, by using some of our hardy treos and 
 
 Aratia japonica l^flort.). Ilnrdy shrub iitith Jinc Icat'cs. 
 
 slirubs in the picturesque garden. Our object generally is to 
 secure large and handsome types of leaves ; and for this purpose 
 we usually place in the open air young plants of exotic trees, 
 taking them in again in autumn. As we usually see them in 
 a diminutive state, we often forget that, when branched into 
 a large head in their native countries, they are not a whit 
 more remarkable in foliage than many of the trees of our 
 pleasure-grounds. Thus, if tlic well-known Paulownia im- 
 
CUAI'. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 33 
 
 ])erialis were too tender to staud our winters, and if we were 
 accustomed to see it only in a young and simple-stemmed 
 condition and with large leaves, we should doubtless plant it 
 out every summer as we do Ferdinanda. There is no occasion 
 whatever to resort to exotic subjects, while we can so easily 
 obtain fine hardy plants— which, moreover, may be grown 
 by everybody and everywhere. By annually cutting down 
 
 AILANTUS AND CANNAS. 
 Sii^^vsii/i^ tlu effects to be obtained from certain young trees cut down annually. 
 
 young plants of various hardy trees and shrubs 
 them make a simple-stemmed growth every year, 
 a rule, obtain finer efiects than can be got from 
 The Ailantus, for example, treated in this way, 
 fine a type of pinnate leaf as can be desired, 
 place Astrapsea Wallichii in the open air, so long 
 stemmed young plant of the Paulownia makes 
 superb leaves. The delicately cut leaves of the 
 
 , and letting 
 we shall, as 
 tender ones, 
 gives us as 
 
 Nor need we 
 as a simple- 
 
 a column of 
 Gleditschias, 
 
34 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. II. 
 
 borne on strong young stems, would be as pretty as those of 
 any Fern ; and so in the case of various other hardy trees and 
 shrubs. Persons in the least favourable parts of the country 
 need not doubt of being able to obtain as fine types of foliage 
 as they can desire, by selecting a dozen kinds of hardy trees 
 and treating them in this way. 
 
 Pretty are the results obtained in this Park by carpeting the 
 ground beneath masses of tender subtropical plants with quick- 
 growing ornamental annuals and bedding plants, which will 
 bloom before the larger subjects have put forth their strength 
 and beauty of leaf. If all interested in flower-gardening had 
 an opportunity of seeing the charming effects produced by 
 judiciously intermingling fine-leaved plants with brilliant flowers, 
 there would be an immediate improvement in our flower-gardening, 
 and verdant grace and beauty of form would be introduced, while 
 all the brilliancy of colour that could be desired might be seen at 
 the same time. Here is a bed of Erythrinas not yet in flower : 
 but there is a brilliant mass of colour beneath them. It is a 
 mixture of Lobelia speciosa with variously coloured Portulacas. 
 The beautiful surfacings that may thus be made with annual, 
 biennial, or ordinary bedding plants, from Mignonette to Petunias 
 and Nierembergias, are almost innumerable. 
 
 The bare earth is covered quickly with the free-growing 
 dwarfs ; there is an immediate and a charming contrast between 
 the dwarf-flowering and the fine-foliaged plants ; and should the 
 former at any time put their heads too high for the more valuable 
 things above them, they can be cut in for a second bloom. In 
 the case of using foliage-plants that are eventually to cover the 
 bed completely, annuals may be sown, and they in many cases 
 will pass out of bloom and may be cleared away just as the largo 
 leaves begin to cover the ground. Where this is not the case, 
 and the larger plants are placed thin enough to allow of the 
 lower ones always being seen, two or even more kinds of dwarf 
 plants may be employed, so that one may succeed the other, and 
 that there may be a mingling of bloom. It may be thought that 
 this kind of mixture would interfere with what is called the unity 
 of eflect that we attempt to attain in our flower-gardens. Tliis 
 need not be so l»y any nu-ans ; the system could be used eflectively 
 ill the most formal of gardens. 
 
CiiAP. II.] THE PARC MONCEAU. 35 
 
 One of the most useful and natural ways of diversifying a 
 garden, and one that we rarely or never take advantage of, 
 consists in placing really distinct and handsome plants alone and 
 in groups upon the grass, to hreak the monotony of clump margins. 
 To follow this plan is necessary wherever great variety and the 
 highest heauty are desired in the ornamental garden. Plants 
 may be placed singly or in open groups near the margins of 
 a bold clump of shrubs or in the open grass : the system is 
 applicable to all kinds of hardy ornamental subjects, from trees 
 downwards, though in our case the want is for the fine-leaved 
 plants and the more distinct hardy subjects. Nothing, for instance, 
 can look better than a well-developed tuft of the broad-leaved 
 Acanthus latifolius, springing from the turf not far from the 
 margin of a walk or shrubbery ; and the same is true of the 
 Yuccas, Tritomas, and other things of like 
 character and hardiness. We may make 
 attractive groups of one family, as the 
 hardiest Yuccas; or varied groups of 
 one species, like the Pampas grass— not 
 by any means relocating the individual, 
 for there are about twenty varieties of 
 
 this plant known on the Continent, and /lants u.'Ua^j vi thc^^ra^,: 
 from these half a dozen really distinct 
 
 and charming kinds might be selected to form a group. The same 
 applies to the Tritomas, which we usually manage to drill into 
 straight lines : in an isolated group in a verdant glade they arc 
 for the first time seen to best advantage. And what miglit not be 
 done with these and the like by making mixed groups, or letting 
 each plant stand distinct upon the grass, perfectly isolated in its 
 beauty ! 
 
 Let us again try to illustrate the idea simply. Take an import- 
 ant spot in a pleasure-ground — a sweep of grass in face of a 
 shrubbery — and see what can be done with it by means of these 
 isolated plants. If, instead of leaving it in the bald state in which 
 it is often found, we place distinct things isolated here and there 
 upon the grass, the margin of shrubbery may be made as free as 
 the fringe of a copse on the side of a mountain. If one who 
 knew many plants were to arrange them in this way, he might 
 produce numberless fine effects. In the case of the smaller plants, 
 
 D 2 
 
.')() THE TAKKS AND GARDENS OF rAlUS. [Chap. II. 
 
 such as the Yucca and variegated Arundo, groups of four or five 
 good plants should be used to form one. In addition to such 
 arrangements, two or three individuals of a species might be 
 placed here and there upon the grass with the best effect. For 
 example, there is at present in our nurseries a great Japanese 
 Polygonum (P. Sieboldi), which has seldom yet been used with 
 much effect in the garden. If 
 anybody will select some open 
 grassy spot in a pleasure-garden, 
 or grassy glade near a wood — some 
 spot considered unworthy of atten- 
 
 \ 
 
 \ •'' ?: tion as regards ornamenting it- 
 
 V and plant a group of three plants 
 of this Polygonum, leaving fifteen 
 feet or so between the stools, a dis- 
 
 '^7^:.%^.:t^zJ:;:r::'j::T: ^^^^^ ^^p^^^ of vegetation win be 
 
 Uitif alius, Anoido Uonax variegaia, the TCSUlt. It is nCcdlcSS to mul- 
 etc, irregularly isolated on the e^rass. ,• i i ,^ i • i i 
 
 tiply examples ; the plan is capable 
 of endless variation, and on that account alone should be welcome 
 to all lovers of gardens. 
 
 But many will only see in it an interference with the mowing 
 machine or the formal margin. The progress of improvement in 
 our gardens is much retarded by the habit of looking from 
 the housemaid's point of view at any suggested innovation. Very 
 often the question is not, " Is the alteration a desirable one ?" 
 but " How will it interfere with the progress of the garden 
 dusters?" If one suggests the very obvious improvement that 
 might be wrought by breaking up and arranging in a perfectly 
 easy, varied, and broken manner the margin of a mass of choice 
 shrubs — formal even to ugliness the reply will probably be, " How 
 could we get the mowing machine to work ?" Need it be said that 
 gardens are not made for the mowing-machine, the broom, or the 
 edging-iron, but for the highest expression of the beauty of the 
 vegetable kingdom, and for the enjoyment and instruction of men 
 and women ? The gardener should be relieved of much of the 
 needless, fruitless drudgery that he now has to endure. The 
 whole course of his existence at present is a weary repetition of 
 the same endless routine. Not in one place out of twenty are the 
 gardener's labours devoted to the formation of features which take 
 
ClIAP. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 37 
 
 care of themselves after planting, and improve year by year. To 
 be told in the face of this, in an age when people go to the 
 trouble of scratching over and replanting the same flower-gardens 
 year after year, that any attempt at a purer system of gardening 
 is likely to interfere with the progress of the mower or the straight 
 run of the edging-iron is really too much. Certainly it is a little 
 easier to mow and rake, if raking be permitted, a long, straight, 
 and, it may probably be, bare margin to a belt of plantation or 
 mass of choice shrubs, than it is to give the necessary attention 
 
 AV>cX- in Pare Monccan. 
 
 to a border fringed as some of the shrub borders in Battersea 
 Park have been recently. But the difference in aspect is so 
 great that the small additional care required in mowing, etc., 
 should never be named against it, especially at a time when the 
 whole of the resources of most gardens go to produce costly displays 
 which endure but a few short months, leaving the ground ready 
 for fresh labours. 
 
 One kind of arrangement needs to be particularly guarded 
 against — the geometro-picturesque one seen in some places com- 
 bined with much showy gardening. The plants are often of the 
 finest kinds and in the most robust lualth. all the materials for 
 
38 THE PARKS AND GAHDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. II. 
 
 the best results are abunclaut, and yet the scene fails to satisfy 
 the eye, from the needless formality of many of the beds, pro- 
 duced by the heaping together of a great number of species of one 
 kind in long, straight or twisting beds with high raised edges 
 frequently of hard-beaten soil. Too many such examples are 
 found. The formality of the true geometrical garden is charming 
 to many to w'hom this style is offensive ; and there is not the 
 slightest reason w^hy the most beautiful combinations of fine- 
 leaved and fine-flowered plants should not be made in any kind 
 of geometrical garden. 
 
 But in the purely picturesque garden it is as needless as it is 
 false in taste to follow the course here objected to. Hardy 
 plants may be isolated on the turf, and may be arranged in 
 beautiful irregular groups, with the turf or some graceful spray 
 of hardy trailing plants for a carpet. Flower-beds may be 
 readily placed so that no objectionable stage-like results will be 
 seen : tender plants may be grouped as freely as may be desired — 
 a formal edge avoided by the turf being allowed to play irregu- 
 larly under and along the margins, while the remaining hare 
 ground beneath the tall plants may be quickly covered with some 
 fast-growing low plants. Choice tender specimens of Tree-ferns, 
 etc., placed in dark shady dells, may be plunged to the rims of 
 the pots in the turf or earth, and some graceful or bold trailing 
 herb placed round the cavity so as to conceal it ; and in these 
 and various ways we may have every loveliness of the plant 
 world free from all geometry. The day will come when we shall 
 be as anxious to avoid all formal twirlings in our gardens as we 
 now are to have such twistings i)erpetrated by landscape-gardeners 
 of great repute for aj)plying wall-j)aper or fire-shovel patterns to 
 the surface of the reluctant earth, and w^hen we shall cease to 
 tolerate in our gardens such scenes as no landscape-artist would 
 endure in a sketch. 
 
 The old landscape-gardening dogma,* which tells us we cannot 
 
 * " In gardening, tlic materials of the scene are few, and those few unwieldy, 
 and the artist must often content himself with the reflection that he has given the 
 best disjjosition in his i)ower to the scanty and intractable materials of nature." 
 — Ai.LisoN. (This is only one of many statements, equally untrue, made by 
 jjersons who had no idea of the extent of the plant world.) 
 
ClIAP. II.] 
 
 THE PARC MOXCEAU. 
 
 39 
 
 have all the wild beauty of nature in our gardens, and may as 
 well resign ourselves to the compass and the level, the defined 
 daub of colour and pudding-like heaps of shrubs, had some faint 
 force when our materials for gardening were few ; but considering 
 our present rich and, to a great extent, unused stores from every 
 clime, and from almost every important section of the vegetable 
 kingdom, it is demonstrably false and foolish. 
 
 There is a graceful way of using hardy climbers here which, 
 improved and modified, deserves to be generally practised. The 
 numerous cultivated hardy climbers are rarely seen to advantage, 
 owing to tJieir being stiftly trained against walls. The greater 
 
 
 Jafynttese Hnneysuck'e on Stent of Birck-tree, Pare Monceau. 
 
 number of hardy climbers have gone out of cultivation, owing to 
 tlieir being generally ill-placed sind ill-treated. One of the 
 happiest of all ways of using them is that of training tliem in a 
 free manner against trees ; by this means many beautiful efi'ects 
 may be secured. The trees must not, as a rule, be those crowded 
 in shrubberies. They must stand free on the turf. Established 
 trees have usually somewhat exhausted the ground near their base, 
 which may, however, aftord nutriment to a hardy climbing shrub. 
 In some low trees the graceful companion may garland their 
 heads ; in tall ones the stem only may at first be adorned. But 
 some vigorous climbers could in time ascend the tallest trees, and 
 
40 THE I'AinvS AND HARDENS OF PAIUS. [CriAP. IT. 
 
 we can conceive nothing more beautiful than a veil of such a one 
 as Clematis raontana suspended from the hranch of a tall tree. A 
 whole host of lovely plants may he grown in this way, apart from 
 the well-known and popular climbing plants. There are, for 
 example, many species of Clematis which have never come into 
 cultivation, but which arc quite as beautiful as climbers can be. 
 The same may be said of the Honeysuckles, wild Vines, and 
 various other families the names of which may be found in cata- 
 logues. In consequence, however, of the fact that no system of 
 growing these plants to advantage has ever been carried out in 
 our gardens, nurseries are by no means so rich in them as could 
 be desired. Much of the northern tree and shrub world is gar- 
 landed with creepers, which may be grown in the way suggested 
 and in similar ones, as, for example, on banks and in hedgerows. 
 The naked stems of the trees in our pleasure-grounds, however, 
 have the first claim on our attention in planting garlands. There 
 would seldom be reason to fear injury to established trees. 
 
 The view showing the effect of Clematis on trees is drawn and 
 engraved from a photograph taken in May, showing an old and 
 vigorous plant of the handsome and hardy Clematis montana 
 allowed to have its own way. to some extent. This climbing 
 shrub, of which the large-flowered variety called grandiflora is 
 grown here and there on walls, is most precious for those who 
 wish to garland trees and stumps and hedges with lovely flowers. 
 It is as hardy and free as the common English Clematis vitalba. 
 The sketch will also suggest to many various ways in which 
 hardy climbers may be used to produce similar beautiful efTects. 
 Other families of climbers might be named as equally useful, 
 but the Clematises are so numerous, so hardy, so beautiful in 
 flower, and so singularly varied in the colour and form of their 
 l)lossoms, that whole wild gardens of beauty may be formed of 
 them alone. 
 
 After the great central blemish of monotony in gardens, few of 
 the secondary ones call for censure more loudly than needless ugly 
 structures. No doubt the majority of these unfortunate erections 
 have some reason to be : they are simply in the wrong position. A 
 good, honest black saucepan in the middle of the dining-room table 
 would not be more incongruous than a tool-shed is in the middle 
 of Cavendish Square. In the Pare Monceau there are several 
 
CiiAP. II.] THE TARC MONCEAU. 41 
 
 villanously ugly find wholly needless buildings which arc quite 
 out. of place, and tend to confuse and limit the garden. There is 
 ahout the most absurd of bridges stuck over an unclean pool of 
 water, with a hard, black asphalte margin — proper enough in a 
 
 CLEMATIS ON TREES IN MAY, Pare Monccaii 
 
 tanyard no doubt, but not in a fair garden. Such puerile struc- 
 tures are figured with the most elaborate detail in illustrated 
 works, as if thoy were as worthy of admiration as a Roman arch. 
 A man who really knew their value and ha<l power to treat them 
 
42 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [ClIAV. II. 
 
 accordingly would shovel them out of the way as rubbish — more 
 ofteusive than the biggest weeds. 
 
 But the greatest drawback to the beauty of this garden is a 
 dirty and formal pool dignified by the name of a lake, and by the 
 side of which is one of the meanest of all shams — the sham ruin. 
 There are few greater mistakes made in gardens than placing 
 small sheets of artificial water in them. There is, however, one 
 virtue in artificial waters seen abroad — they are rarely deep or 
 large enough to drown the children, though ugly enough to 
 irritate sensitive adults. With us the artificial water generally 
 assumes the form of a duck-pond ; in France it is much nearer to 
 a haud-basin. There, if the " lawn " be only as large as a table- 
 cloth, a tub in cement is sure to find a place on it. Happily in 
 
 ^i 
 
 Vgly and needless Structures iti the Pnrc Monceaii. 
 
 our small gardens water is less frequently seen. The eft'ect of 
 still water is only pleasant where it sparkles in the sun in broad 
 masses. Nothing can be much more ofi"ensive than small pools of 
 stagnant water. Near a dwelling-house they are objectionable for 
 many reasons ; besides, the space they occupy is precious for better 
 things. Good design in other ways will not in these cases com- 
 pensate for the error of forming artificial water where there is not 
 abundant room for it. It is enough to have half the little gardens 
 about Paris spoiled with cemented tubs without disfiguring this 
 small park with a " lake " of soup-like water. No doubt when the 
 gardens of Paris are delivered from the engineer and tlie architect 
 and placed in the hands of trained garden-artists we shall see 
 an end of these sham ruins, sham pools, sham pyramids, toy 
 bridges. 
 
Cn.vp. IT.] 
 
 THE PARC MONCEAU. 
 
 43 
 
 
 ^ yy ■ ■ 
 
 
 J0^^ 
 
 I/ow to spoil 
 
 This park might readily have been made an earthly paradise 
 of a town garden by not slashing it into four pieces by needless 
 roads. To form short cuts for 
 man or horse is not usually 
 reckoned among the objects for 
 which town gardens are formed. 
 Yet they are often spoiled in 
 the effort. A road round this 
 would have been the right thing, 
 if any were really required. 
 However, so long as we have 
 engineers for landscape-gardeners, so long shall we have stones and 
 cement where turf and flowers ought to be. Instead of making 
 such places too facile by roads, the designer might be pardoned 
 for following an opposite course and allowing nothing in the way 
 of needless roads to rob the garden of its most valuable spaces. 
 
 A hideous blotch, from an artistic point of view, is the prodigious 
 oval of the white-leaved Maple in the centre of the park. This 
 clump consists of hundreds of trees graduated from edge to 
 centre so as to form an enormous pudding-like mass. The value 
 
 : thu Fare Monceau. 
 a garden. 
 
 
 and beauty of the trees 
 
 themselves are quite 
 
 lost through their 
 
 being thus thickly 
 
 massed together, in 
 
 addition to which the __ 
 
 general effect of the ''■'''■ -.C.^.'^^-^ ::'-'■■---■'■''' ''^''^'-■''^~^'-~ 
 
 park is spoilt. The Cockcd-upflower-h-dtntl,, rare Monceau. 
 
 true way to enhance the value of trees with variegated leaves is 
 to plant them in clumps of two or three, but when planted in 
 masses or lines their real worth is lost. Some people would pave 
 the streets with diamonds, and expect diamonds to become more 
 admired in consequence. 
 
 The Pare Monceau also contains some of the least agreeable 
 features of our modern flower-garden in the form of beds on the 
 top of small embankments. The fashion first came to us from 
 Paris. It was once employed to secure a greater degree of heat 
 to the more tender plants. But now beds of the freest-growing 
 flowers may be seen fortified with these ugly banks, though no 
 
44 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [Chap. II. 
 
 more in want of their assistance than a nettle. In any garden 
 well laid out the shape of the beds must not be obtrusive. In 
 the gardening of the future, the plants, not the beds, will be 
 what meets the sight. Over the whole of this large garden the 
 impudent bed shown in the woodcut preceding stares at one, 
 not only when it is filled, be it observed, but when it is bare of plants. 
 The plan is as needless as it is offensive. Given a good warm soil 
 and good drainage, there is no need for this awkward elevation of 
 the bed ! On the contrary, there is often decided advantage in 
 having the roots in a cool medium, not more exposed to evapora- 
 tion than need be. The gentle rise towards the centre of a bed 
 that is sometimes desirable is easily secured without raising the 
 edge above the turf, from which all flowers should spring. 
 
 ^H 
 
 
 ^^-^Is^^l^w '"'^^ ' ^ ~"-r'¥ V ^?rv-\^ 
 
 ii*-.;- .. .,:':i^. ^ 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The Garden of Plants. 
 
 This garden, the botanic garden of 
 Paris, and one of the most famous 
 in the workl, is the type of all that 
 is stupid and harmful to horticul- 
 ture in the botanic gardens of 
 Europe. It is pedantry in the full 
 sun — mismanagement posing as 
 science. We must not seek here 
 for much of the beauty of the veget- 
 able kingdom: the systems adopted 
 steal that away. Clipped lines of 
 wretched trees ; wide, needless 
 walks ; wretched culture ; over- 
 crowding of plants in the houses ; 
 overcrowding of trees from the 
 endeavour to squeeze them into narrow beds to illustrate classifi- 
 cation ; absence of all design calculated to allow the garden to 
 retain any beauty of grove or lawn or spring ; in a word, every 
 depressing feature of the worst-managed botanic gardens is seen 
 here. It is the natural result of placing at the head of such an 
 establishment a person with no knowledge of or sympathy with 
 the art he is supposed to cultivate ; while under him are placed 
 men wliosc eftbrts under the system are powerless for good. 
 
 Shall our public gardens be managed by men thoroughly con- 
 versant with the art of gardening, or by those who frequently 
 liave no knowledge whatever of it, and whose work is in other iields ? 
 Horticulture is an art embodying so many branches that it is 
 
46 
 
 THE PAI^KS AND GARDENS OF TAKIS. [Chap. III. 
 
 difficult to find any one person who possesses a good general 
 knowledge of the whole. Men spend their lives in studying 
 orchid culture or arboriculture, and yet these are but depart- 
 ments of the art. Difficult, however, as it is to secure a man 
 with a good general knowledge of horticulture, we happily have 
 in various countries examples of brilliant success in this way — 
 men who might be named as having as nearly perfect a know- 
 
 PLAN OF THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. Uoxu not to lay out a botanic garden, 
 I. JVomenade. 2. Amphitheatre. 3. Beasts of Prey. 4, 19. Fountain. 6. Library. 7, 8, 9, 
 xo, i8, 29. Mi red plantations and nurseries. 11, 12, 13, 14. Museums 0/ Anatomy, Botany, 
 Mineralogy, and /^oology. 15. Parterre. 16. Cedar. 17. School of Botany. 20. Bears. 21, 22, 
 23. Nurseries, &'c. 24, 25. Labyrint/ts. 26. Cuvier's hou^e. 27, 28. Birds. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34. 
 Aquatic, Edible, Herbaceous, Officinal, and Tropical Plants. 35. Reptiles. 36, 37, 39. Animals. 
 38. Glass-lwuses. 40. Monument to Daubenton. A. B.C. Offices. 
 
 ledge of the art of gardening as it is possible to attain. Yet 
 by our present system, we paralyse the eflforts of such men 
 by placing them under the control of a person who is, as a rule, 
 without knowledge of horticulture. 
 
 AVhat should we think of people who placed the designing and 
 building of important architectural works in the hands or under 
 the control of a geologist who had spent his life in gathering and 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 examining stones and had never taken the least interest in the 
 buikling art ? And yet such a plan is precisely analogous to that 
 followed in a good many public gardens. And what is tlie result 
 of this course ? That all gardens not actually or virtually managed 
 by real gardeners are generally in a poor, sometimes in a wretched, 
 condition. The best collections of plants and the best grown 
 are in gardens where they are cultivated for their beauty, 
 
 and not to illustrate their place in this or that system. Where 
 is what is called our " scientific " horticulture, to adopt the weak 
 phrase of the day, or, in plain English, where is our best and 
 most advanced gardening ? In the same hands. And who are 
 the pioneers — who are they who discover for us paths and 
 jtleasures new in our always delightful gardens ? Our gardeners 
 onlv, and in that term are included all who hne the art. 
 
48 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. 111. 
 
 The best managers of botanic gardens are invariably such as 
 have had a thorough garden training— men who have lived all 
 their days among large collections of living plants in gardens. 
 It by no means follows that sucli men, because first of all excellent 
 gardeners, may not also be good botanists. It is almost impossible 
 that they can be otherwise; but the botany comes to them through 
 life-long association with living garden plants. Such gardeners 
 may be compared to architects and builders who build nobly, but 
 whose practice and intelligence lead them to understand the 
 classification of the stones they use. 
 
 It may be objected that when a botanic garden is wholly under 
 the charge of a horticulturist, the general collections might sufler 
 from his partiality for a few common types. The answer is that 
 by far the most complete and rare collections and the best grown 
 are those in the possession of amateurs, gardeners, and nursery- 
 men. The real danger lies in the opposite direction — that is, 
 when a botanist has sole control. He may select a cultivator only, 
 instead of a really accomplished botanic gardener. Now we want 
 good cultivators in all our botanic gardens ; but in a first-rate 
 curator that skill should be accompanied by a wide knowledge 
 of every type of vegetation as grown in gardens. Hence to select 
 a man merely because he happens to grow well some one or two 
 classes of plants is a mistake. It should never be forgotten that 
 the trees and plants which are of the highest value in a botanic 
 garden in any country are such as are quite hardy in the open 
 air in that country, and that one may quickly acquire a rej)utation 
 as a cultivator of indoor plants, without knowing or caring for 
 any hardy subjects. Hence the necessity of selecting a director 
 or curator possessing a general knowledge and love of every 
 family of the garden flora. It should also be borne in mind 
 that when a botanist holds the appointment of the curator of a 
 garden, he is, as a rule, not apt to select a first-rate man. Many 
 professional gardeners know living cultivated plants, that is to 
 say, know the flora of botanic gardens far better than botanists. 
 Obviously, except in the case of a noble nature, the botanist is 
 therefore not likely to select a man who knows more than he does 
 himself about the plants in the garden— the only things that 
 either the visitors, or supporters of such places care about. 
 
 It is not only want of knowledge of good gardening that 
 
CriAP. III.] 
 
 THE GAPiDEX OF PLANTS. 
 
 49 
 
 causes this state of things, hut certain hotanists have got a fixed 
 idea that it is even wrong to arrange a scientific garden so that 
 it shonkl he heautifnl ! — that is to say, that having rich and varied 
 collections of plants from many countries is necessarily antago- 
 nistic to disposing the garden in a picturesque and agreeable 
 
 NEW WEEPING HONEY LOCUST (Chditschin F!ojoti).—Gardin of I'lants. 
 
 manner. Prohahly some may remomher to liave heard this view 
 laid down as regards our most important gardens. Nothing can 
 ho more untrue, and nothing more harmful to every interest of 
 the garden, Anyhody really acquainted with horticulture knows 
 tliat the best collections very often are found in the gardens most 
 hciutifnlly disposed. For example, it is well known that by far 
 
 E 
 
50 THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF PAUIS. [Chap. III. 
 
 the "ricliest and best collection of alpine plants existing is to be 
 found in the garden which is also the most beautifully arranged 
 for their reception. So, again, some of the most lovely collections 
 of Ferns ever got together are arranged in a manner in which one 
 can enjoy to the fullest their beauty and variety. Many other 
 instances could be given. 
 
 The botanist should have no more to do with the cultivation or 
 arrangement of the living plants than the gardener has with the 
 herbarium. Progress is sure some day to break up this unnatural 
 subjection of the garden to the botanist, and the sooner the better. 
 The botanist has his collections, and the wide earth in which to 
 gather them. His is a beautiful and vast science, but it is wholly 
 apart from horticulture. 
 
 It is assumed by the ordinary type of the grammarian of 
 " science " that he is a " scientific man " — ^the horticulturist or 
 agriculturist not even being thought worthy of the name. 
 Few will be inclined to dispute the usefulness of the classifiers, 
 or that they are in their degree men of science ; but when, if 
 their position be named in the same breath with that of the 
 horticulturist, they bristle up with disdain, people are led to put 
 the question to themselves — Is the mere finder of names for 
 things a more important person than he who modifies, combines, 
 and improves those things so as to make them more useful and 
 more beautiful ? In literature, for instance, is the higher place 
 to be given to grammarians, rhetoricians, and lexicon-makers ? 
 Even the adventurous explorer who brings us, at the risk of his 
 life, beautiful things from distant parts of the world is often 
 excluded from his hard-earned honour by narrow considerations 
 of this kind. But really high-minded and able men in any 
 branch of human knowledge are more liberal and just. 
 
 One of the first things done by our greatest thinkers, in 
 clearing the ground for the study of the highest philosophical 
 problems, is to prove the identity in kind of the ordinary and 
 the " scientific " methods of observation, and the oneness, so to 
 speak, of " theory " and " practice." It may be urged by the 
 botanist that his knowledge is capable of more accurate demon- 
 stration than the gardener's ; but this is not the case, except as 
 regards descriptions of plants. Such a book, for example, as 
 Lindley's ' Theory of Horticulture ' would be called a scientific 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 51 
 
 book, while one of London's might not be considered worthy of 
 that distinction. Yet it has been demonstrated that the ' Theory 
 of Horticulture ' embodies many erroneous propositions, and 
 more important errors than will probably ever find their way 
 into a gardening book. 
 
 
 
 v^^v^ 
 
 ALGERIAN IVY. Cnrden of riniits. 
 
 It should be clearly understood that all knowledge is the same 
 in kind ; that there is no real difference between " science " and 
 practice -, and that what is sound in theory must be sound also in 
 practice, and vice versa. There is no real difference. The old 
 meaning of the word science is knowledge ; the modern meaning 
 
 E 2 
 
55 THE IWIJKS AND C.ARPEXS OF TAIilS. [Chap. III. 
 
 is the same. It has heen shown over and over again by eminent 
 men that the methods of investigation applied to the most 
 difficult problems that have yet engaged the attention of man 
 differ in no essential respect from those used by the humblest 
 observant cultivator. What is true scientifically must be true 
 also in practice. Such an expression as " It is right enough in 
 theory but wrong in practice " is nonsense. Nothing can be 
 " right in theory and wrong in practice." 
 
 Who is to l)lame for this state of things ? Chiefly the class of 
 botanists and " scientific " men who do not rise higher in the 
 study of the vegetable kingdom than the stage of mere techni- 
 calities and their application. We might suppose that the 
 Eoyal Horticultural Society of London would not propagate 
 errors of this kind. But this is precisely what it does, and at 
 its meeting at Birmingham there were a " scientific " and a 
 " practical " congress. Addresses were also given on separate 
 days on " recent progress in scientific " and " recent progress in 
 practical " horticulture ; as if these terms did not mean one and 
 the same thing. Thus a society for the encouragement of 
 gardening says, in effect, to gardeners : Your labours and 
 observations have nothing to do with science (knowledge), and 
 we will take care that there is no mingling of such different 
 classes. Your "practical" notions are of some slight account; 
 we will devote a day to them as soon as we have completed 
 our " scientific " labours. And thus a puerile distinction is 
 maintained by the very body whose true work it should be to 
 counteract the effects of a use of language false in itself and 
 hurtful to horticulture. 
 
 Looking round on all the miserable ugliness and mismanage- 
 ment in this unfortunate Garden of Plants, I thought of the kind 
 of national botanic garden that would be worthy of France. The 
 objects of a national garden should be threefold — to show living 
 examples of the vegetation of the country in which it occurs ; to 
 grow in the open air plants from other countries likely to be of 
 value for use or ornament in that country ; and also to display as 
 far as possible the vegetation of distant and very different 
 countries. We will leave this last question entirely out of sight, 
 and think only of France, its vegetation and its improvements, in 
 garden and in farm, in orchard and in forest. 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 53 
 
 First we think of the flora of France, beautiful exceedingly in 
 many parts, rich and varied beyond description or remembrance 
 We have the France of the blue warm sea, with its lavender- 
 and rosemary-clad hills, Anemones and Narcissi in its Avinter 
 fields, and woods fragrant with Myrtle and aromatic herbs. 
 
 CEDRELA SINENSIS {Xcw Jre,).—GarJiii oj J'lauti. 
 
 Colder and later than the maritime Alps, we have those of Savoy, 
 with a glorious alpine flora ; the Ardennes and the Vosges ; the 
 Alps of Dauphiny ; and the wide area of the Pyrenean slopes and 
 meadows and valleys. And we have the France of the lower hills 
 and plains, with their wild Roses and Harebells, and the flora 
 of the western sea-shores, and of ]>rittany and of Normandy — 
 
64 THE PAliKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. III. 
 
 in all a lovely and wonderful host which certainly deserve some 
 better illustration in a national garden than they have already 
 had at the hands of the classifier. But when we come to think of 
 the extent and the wants of this varied country, the taste of its 
 people for the more refined branches of cultivation, and the vast 
 improvement that has in many districts to be wrought before the 
 land can enjoy in all its parts a full expression of the wealth and 
 happiness it is capable of producing, then we may see more fully 
 the great aid which a really worthy national garden would afford 
 to France. Her now bare northern fields have to be made 
 beautiful and fertile ; her mountains have to be replanted. Hero 
 is a reason, even if there were not twenty others as cogent, for a 
 worthy national arboretum. The gardens and orchards of France 
 have to be replenished ; the planting in her cities and towns made 
 more beautiful and varied ; the pure and invigorating pleasures 
 and material benefits of good gardening have to be brought to the 
 doors of every owner of a rood of land ; and in short there are 
 many objects of national importance which a Garden of Plants 
 worthy of Paris and of France could materially aid. But these 
 squares and these rows of clipped Limes, and narrow beds for trees 
 and shrubs, and railed-in compartments contrasted with bear-pits, 
 and the general aspect of barren formality, demean and ridicule 
 and blight the whole beautiful art of gardening and all that it 
 concerns. Let it not be supposed from the silence in France 
 on mismanagement of this kind that the evil effects noted are 
 only evil to the few who notice them. Those who see the errors 
 know how to avoid them. It is the public who visit places of 
 this kind, and naturally take them to be models of their kind, 
 who insensibly imbibe a harmful influence — harmful to an 
 incalculable extent. 
 
 Therefore, for many reasons there is no nobler work before the 
 municipality of Paris than the creation of a Garden of Plants 
 worthy of tlie name. The old one is a fitting site for museums, 
 for herbariums, for the skeletons of whales and the pits of bears, 
 or even for big glass sheds filled witli sickly over-crowded plants, 
 but a fair garden it can never be made. 
 
 A Garden of Plants worthy of France should not be much less 
 than a thousand acres in extent. If much larger spaces are 
 devoted to mere parks with a small variety of vegetation, and for 
 
CUAP. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF I'LAX'J'S. 
 
 the sole object of their air and space and drives, why shoukl not 
 an equally large one be devoted to this national purpose, con- 
 sidering that a botanical garden of the nobler type would have 
 more than the charms of the park, even in the objects for which 
 that is avowedly created. A Garden of Plants worthy of France 
 
 THE JUJUBE TREE [^/.izyphus jujuba).— Garden of Pla 
 
 should be arranged in a natural manner, showing in its very 
 disposition that all known of the art of pure garden-design had 
 been considered. It should be roomy enough for the full and 
 natural development of every tree or shrub or flower, native or 
 hardy, in France. It should group the largest of these, not 
 merely as isolated specimens, but also in groves, so as to show 
 
56 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. Ill- 
 
 the full expression of their beauty in the various ways in which 
 they might he used. 
 
 The principles on which vegetation is arranged to express the 
 highest amount of beauty and give the greatest charm having 
 been settled from the beginning of the world, no professor should 
 be allowed to plant it to illustrate his notion of classification. 
 The place for his work, it cannot be too clearly understood, is the 
 herbarium or the museum. Such a garden should illustrate the 
 flora of France nobly and naturally, as far as possible without 
 burying it under a nightmare of long names ; it should have open 
 lawns, if only to let people see the beauty of the many treasures 
 of the garden at varying distances, though there are many other 
 reasons ; it should have few glass houses, and these not in 
 prominent positions. Those who are really interested in tropical 
 vegetation can now see it in a few weeks, whereas a few generations 
 ago it was problematical if it could be seen at all. Even those who 
 imagine they can illustrate the vegetation of the tropics in a 
 glass shed will probably admit that we had better leave the 
 building of the glass sheds till we have done justice to the treasures 
 of the vegetable kingdom hardy in our climate, and which 
 we may arrange under the dome of the sky. It is hardly 
 necessary to add that it should not be a place for exhibiting 
 geometrical tracings on the ground, and various other and 
 more costly puerilities of which gardens are frequently made the 
 scene, 
 
 "We have nothing in England like the Garden of Plants — half 
 zoological, half botanical, and nearly surrounded by museums 
 containing vast zoological, botanical, and mineralogical collec- 
 tions. The portion entirely devoted to botany is laid out in the 
 straight, regular style, while other parts have winding walks, 
 and some trifling diversity here and there. The place is really 
 an important school of botany, and as such it is useful, 
 though with nothing to charm. Here Buffbu, Cuvier, Jussieu, 
 and other great men have worked; and here at the present 
 day, even in minor departments, are many men of well-known 
 ability. 
 
 Although the Garden of Plants is qnito inferior in point of 
 beauty to any of our large British botanic gardens, it contains 
 some features which might be introduced into them with advau- 
 
ClIAI>. III.] 
 
 rilE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 07 
 
 tagc. Its chief merits are that its plants are better named than 
 in any British garden ; it possesses several arrangements which 
 enahle the student to see conveniently all obtainable useful plants 
 better than in any British botanic garden. Its chief faults are 
 that it has a bad position in an out-of-the-way part of the town ; 
 the greater part of its surface is covered with plants systematically 
 disposed ; the houses are poor and badly arranged compared to 
 those in our own good botanic gardens ; and there is no green 
 turf to be seen in its open parts. It has, in addition, a very bad 
 atmosphere for evergreens, and a ridiculous maze. 
 
 There is one admirable feature which nmst inii bo forgotten, 
 and that is the fine 
 collection of fruit- 
 trees. This was 
 established by the 
 National Conven- 
 tion by a decree 
 dated June 1793 : 
 ''So as to estal- 
 lishthe uniformii 
 of nomenclature 
 necessary for all 
 parts of the re- 
 public." The col- 
 lection dates from 
 
 •■•>■ '"'//■ 3, 5. 2-. -J, 37, '""'■ '■''''" 
 
 the year 1792, when the fruit-garden of the Chartreux of Paris 
 was broken up, and two trees of each variety transported to 
 the Garden of Plants. In 1793 it contained 185 varieties. In 
 1824, when Thouin died, there were in it 265 varieties of pears 
 alone ; it has now more than 1400 varieties of this fruit. It 
 is interesting and important to know that the collection still 
 preserves the greater portion of the very types described a 
 century ago by Duhamel. 
 
 A large division is devoted to the culture of plants used as food, 
 and in commerce. It is at once successful, useful, and complete. 
 The chief varieties of all garden crops are to be seen ; the various 
 species of Pihubarb, all important varieties of Lettuce — in a word, 
 everything that the learner could desire to see in this way. It is 
 not merely the plan of the thing, but the manner in which it is 
 
58 
 
 THE TAKKS AND (.LVKDENS UF TAUIS. [Chai-. 111. 
 
 carried out, that is good. Such arrangements, well planned and 
 cut ofl* by judicious planting from the general verdure and chief 
 area of any of our great public gardens, would be of the greatest 
 service. 
 
 Near the river end of the garden there is another very interest- 
 ing division. It is chiefly devoted to medicinal and useful plants 
 
 of all kinds, arranged in 
 - ^^ \-^' -^ - -^ - - jt distinct way. First we 
 
 have the Sorghums, 
 Millets, Wheats, and 
 cereals generally — all 
 plants cultivated for 
 grain. Then come plants 
 cultivated for their stems, 
 from Polymnia edulis to 
 Ullucus tuberosus. Next 
 we have the chief species 
 and varieties of Onion ; 
 such plants as Urtica 
 utilis, the Dalmatian 
 Pyrethrum rigidum, and 
 almost everything likely 
 to interest in this way, 
 from Lactuca perennis 
 to the esculent Hibiscus. 
 Here again the plants 
 are well named and kept 
 clear and distinct, each 
 having full room for 
 development, the general space devoted to the subject being 
 sufficiently large ; and the practice of giving each plant a 
 portion of the whole breadth of each bed to itself is better 
 than the more crowded arrangements adopted in our British 
 botanic gardens. 
 
 The " school of botany " is simply a department planted on the 
 natural system, remarkable for the correctness of tlie nomenclature 
 and the richness of its collection. Here again everything is well 
 taken care of and kept distinct ; the aquatics are furnished Avitli 
 fcnientcd troughs, in which they grow luxuriantly, one of the 
 
 Effect of large umbelliferous Plant. — Garden of Plants. 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 59 
 
 singular and handsome Sacred Beans (Nelumbium) growing in 
 the open air. The whole is most satisfactory, with one exception 
 — that the director places out the greenhouse and stove plants in 
 summer to complete the natural orders in the beds. These poor 
 plants are stored pell-mell in winter in a great orangery, from 
 which they are taken out in early summer literally more dead 
 than alive. They make a few leaves during the summer, and arc 
 again put into their den to sicken or die. 
 
 Here among the herbaceous plants growing on a rough old 
 stake is a beautiful plant of Ivy, trained in a way suggestive of 
 what may be done with other Ivies in similar ways. Placed in a 
 narrow bed here in the botanical arrangement there was no 
 attempt whatever at making it 
 " ornamental," and yet the result, as 
 will be seen by the woodcut (p. 51), 
 is more beautiful than if planted 
 or trained on a wall. The noble 
 leaves clothed the stake, and the 
 shoots about the bottom began to 
 wander over the ground in the most 
 charming way, even here among 
 these stiff and narrow beds, which 
 seemed designed to destroy all beauty 
 and individuality in plants. On a 
 lawn it may be imagined how much 
 
 • mi- • Sacred Bean in the, 
 
 prettier it would be. This is probably 
 
 the best way of growing the liner kinds of Ivy. It would be 
 diHicult to imagine anything more beautiful than a group of 
 l)yramids, each of a dilferent kind of Ivy, springing from the turf 
 in some quiet corner of the garden. 
 
 There is a Cedar of Lebanon, planted by Jussieu, to whom it 
 was given by the English botanist CoUinson. It is the first 
 Cedar ever planted in France. Beyond this there is not much 
 tree-beauty in the garden, though there are several new or rare 
 hardy trees, some of which have been drawn and engraved for 
 this book ; among them being Cedrela sinensis and Gleditschia 
 Bojoti, the last a lovely light-leaved weeping tree. 
 
 An interesting object is all that now remains of a somewhat 
 remarkable tiee which has stood for nearlv thrc-r hundi^'d years 
 
 nair. {r//„u 
 
 It would 
 
60 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF RAIHS. [Chap. III. 
 
 in the gardens of the Museum. The seed from which this tree 
 sprang was received amongst others from North America in the 
 year 1601, by Jean Eobin, Professor of Botany at the Garden of 
 Plants, and, thirty-five years later, it was planted here by Ves- 
 pasien Robin, so that it is now probably two hundred and seventy- 
 six years old. The top of the tree, having gradually decayed, was 
 cut oflf many years since, and the stump which remains is about 
 nine feet high, and three feet three inches in diameter at the 
 base. The branches, however, which still continue alive, exhibit 
 a considerable amount of vigour, which promises a prolongation 
 of existence for many years to come, though its beauty is gone. 
 This venerable tree is considered to be the parent of all the 
 varieties of Eobinia which are now so extensively spread over 
 Europe. 
 
 M. Carriere, one of the heads of departments hero, among other 
 services to horticulture, has long been an acute observer of those 
 sports or difi'erences among plants which, when preserved and 
 increased, often prove of great value. Frequently it happens that 
 what may be called, from a botanical point of view, a mere 
 variety is of as great importance for our gardens as the most 
 distinct of species. In gardening the question of form is second 
 to no other, and frequently valuable deviations from ordinary 
 forms characterise what are called mere varieties. Thus such 
 varieties of hardy native trees as the weeping wych Elm and the 
 weeping Beech are more precious for the garden landscape than 
 most new species of hardy trees ; this must be evident to all who 
 have seen these varieties in a mature state. We are, indeed, 
 only in the beginning of our due appreciation of the value of the 
 varieties as distinguished from the original forms of hardy trees. 
 All interested in trees would do well to observe accidental 
 deviations from the normal type in gardens under their care, as 
 they may find something of high importance to our gardens. 
 A stray shoot or sucker showing a habit difi'erent from the 
 type may, if separated and increased, perpetuate constantly 
 its peculiarity. He who observes and increases it may render 
 as great a service to the gardens of Europe as was rendered 
 by those who secured for us the upright Yew or the weeping 
 Ash. 
 
 In a culloctiun of the genus Asparagus, one, A. Broussouctii, is 
 
CnAi>. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEX OF TLAXTS. 
 
 61 
 
 tlio spring and early 
 with the beauty of 
 
 remarkahle for its great vigour and rapidity of growth — it quickly 
 runs up with dense vigour to a height of ten feet in spring, its 
 foliage is glossy and dense, and it might be used with success as 
 a covering for bowers or to make pyramids in a diversified garden 
 of hardy plants. Asparagus tenuifolius is as graceful and elegant 
 as the one before named is vigorous. It is probable that a variety 
 of forms of this family will be found to pos.^ess some merit for 
 our outdoor gardens. 
 
 Among the hardy plants here one is often struck during the 
 various seasons, particularly in 
 
 summer, " " 
 
 the fine 
 Umbelliferaj, one of wdiich 
 (]\rolopospermum) is illustrated 
 in this chapter. These plants 
 have hitherto been left too 
 much in the botanic garden, 
 whereas they have rare merits 
 as decorative plants for the 
 choicest hardy collections. 
 There is a deep green and 
 fern -like beauty displayed by 
 them, which one does not meet 
 in any other plants. Some of 
 them, while very beautiful in 
 very early spring, like the 
 Ferulas, die down in early 
 summer ; but the one hero 
 illustrated lasts longer into the 
 season. The illustration is to 
 show the effect of this type 
 of plant rather than the 
 botanical details. Not only are a great variety of umbelliferous 
 plants beautiful in themselves, but from their absolute distinct- 
 ness from any types common in gardens they impart wholly 
 new features to the garden. Of course they should be very 
 carefully placed, so that while their beauty may have full eff'ect 
 on the garden landscape in winter and early in the year, when 
 their large and delicate plumes spring up— tlicrc may not when 
 
 ClimUng Uartiy Aspnrcxgus.— t-ord,-}! of l'l,i 
 
62 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. III. 
 
 these die down be awkward blanks left. By placing them singly 
 or in groups on tlie grass this would not occur. 
 
 For the information of those taking a botanical interest in 
 curious plants, I may state that Cuscuta major is luxuriantly 
 grown here upon the Nettle, C. Epithymum upon Calliopsis 
 tinctoria, C. Engelmanii upon a Solidago, and Orobanchc grows 
 upon Hemp. 0. minor has been grown upon perennial Clovers, 
 and 0. HederfB upon Ivy at the bottom of a wall ; so that 
 there ought not to be the difficulty which botanic gardeners 
 find in growing these curious plants. Orobanche ramosa is 
 also grown here upon Calliopsis tinctoria. The best way with 
 the Orobanches is to scrape the soil away to near the root of 
 the plant on which it is intended to be parasitical, and then 
 sow the seed. A very old and fine pair of dwarf Fan-palms, given 
 to Louis XIV. by Charles William, Margrave of Baden- Durlach, 
 are usually placed in summer one at each side of the entrance of 
 the amphitheatre. They have straight clean stems, and are more 
 than twenty feet high. They escape the notice of many visitors, 
 but are well worth seeing by all plant-lovers, both on account of 
 their age and their exceptional height. 
 
 Should any visitor to the Garden of Plants wonder at the 
 poor external aspect of its glass-houses and various other 
 departments as compared with those at Kew, he would do 
 well to bear in mind that money has a good deal to do with 
 such things ; and that the grant for museums, lecturers (the 
 lectures are free), the expensive collection of animals, and every- 
 thing else in the Garden of Plants, is miserably small. On the 
 other hand, the gardens and plants of the city are j)lentifully 
 provided with means, the municipality of Paris often spending 
 prodigious sums for the purchase of plants, and even for the 
 plant decoration of a single ball. One ball at the Hotel de Ville 
 during the festivities of 18G7 cost considerably over £30,000, 
 while the Garden of Plants gets from the state not more than 
 one-third of that sum for a whole year for museums and all. 
 
 Although the Garden of Plants is the very opposite of a model 
 of what a garden ought to be, it may be noticed that the public 
 have free access to it at all hours of the day. This is a rule very 
 much to be desired in all such cases. There are one or two small 
 departments in this garden shut off from the public except at certain 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 63 
 
 hours, tliough it is by no means wise or necessary to do so But 
 even tlicse partially closed departments are only surrounded by low 
 open railings, so that their contents can be viewed and enjoyed 
 
 OLD ACACIA TREE. Ganifn of Plants {Rrvtie I/orticot,). 
 
 to a groat extent from the parts always open. This suggests compa- 
 rison with the state of things at Kew, which is only open to the public 
 in the afternoon. For some time past there has been a growing 
 desire that the Kew Gardens should be opened at an earlier hour. 
 The speakers of the various deputations to the First Commissioner 
 
64 TIIK PAIJKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. 111. 
 
 of Public "Works have expressed this desire with far too much 
 diffidence. From official utterances and their repetition, some 
 persons have become impressed with an idea that " science " and 
 botanical research require the f:jardens to be closed for half the day, 
 and even some members of the deputations seem to have accepted 
 this nonsense in its entirety, and said they did not want the botanic 
 part of the gardens to be open at all, except at the hours at which 
 they are now open. But this is not fighting half the battle. 
 Setting aside local interest, from the point of view of horticul- 
 turists and botanists of England and throughout the world, it is 
 an injustice to keep the gardens shut up during the best hours 
 of the day. Even in the case of local residents, if they enter the 
 gardens the moment they are opened there is very little time in 
 the short winter days to see anything. Throughout the whole 
 of the winter and spring the most agreeable time to visit Kew 
 is the morning and noon ; in summer, too, it would be, to 
 persons visiting London, far preferable to go out to Kew in 
 the early morning. 
 
 Numbers of persons come from our colonies and America to 
 London to whom one visit or frequent visits to Kew are important ; 
 and the time and arrangements of these people are very often 
 interfered with by the absurd rules that exist there. Then, 
 taking the case of anybody in London wanting to see a certain 
 plant in flower at Kew, or to look up any other question there, 
 is it not ridiculous that this cannot be done without encountering 
 difficulties as to hours ? Of late years the plants put out in the 
 various parts of the London parks are even more choice and costly 
 than those at Kew, as, for example, in various parts of Hyde, 
 Battersca, and Victoria Parks. Yet there is no reason for keeping 
 the public out at any time. People may be seen there enjoying 
 the flowers in the morning sun. Surely if this be possible in 
 London itself, with its vast and varied population, it is no less 
 possible at Kew. To those who know anything of botanic gardens 
 and their management, the " scientific purpose " objection to their 
 being thrown open early would be amus'ing if it were not so 
 untrue and so puerile. On the contrary, this very purpose 
 is a reason for their being open throughout the day. How have 
 " scientific purposes " suff'ered in Edinburgh and Dublin and 
 Paris by tlic opening of scientific gardens at an earlier hour ? 
 
ClIAP. III.] 
 
 THE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 
 
 65 
 
 There never was a more reasonable demand, and it must be 
 granted sooner or later. The question of expense is no sufficient 
 excuse. Surely the first and most legitimate object for expendi- 
 ture in such a garden is that it may be enjoyed by those who pay 
 for it. It is, however, very doubtful if early opening would 
 increase the expense in any material way ; but assuming for a 
 moment that it would, the answer is — save the money needed, by 
 reducing expenditure on things less essential than the opening 
 of the Gardens. The hours in public gardens should be from 
 six o'clock until dusk throughout the summer, and in winter 
 from nine o'clock till dusk. 
 
•66 TIIH PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chai-. IV. 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 The PARC DES BUTTES Chaumont. 
 
 This is, as regards garden-design, the most distinct and interest- 
 ing garden in Paris. After Versailles and the Garden of Plants 
 and the Champs Elysees, and even the varied beauty of the Pare 
 Moncean, no one is prepared for the striking difterence shown by 
 this garden. There are beautiful open lawns with tasteful fringes 
 of shrubs and groups of trees ; and in many parts an airiness and 
 breadth which are admirable. It is the boldest attempt at what 
 is called the picturesque style that has been made in any Paris 
 or London gardens. It is hardly wise to attempt expensive and 
 extraordinary works in places of this sort, but in this instance an 
 unusual effort was to some extent invited by the peculiar 
 nature of the ground. The whole park may be described as a 
 diversified Primrose Hill with two or three " peaks and valleys," 
 and immense masses of rock. 
 
 Old quarries, enormous in size, and surrounded by acres of 
 rubbish, once occupied this spot. It was by cutting away the 
 ground around three sides of these, and leaving the highest 
 and most picturesque side intact, that the present results were 
 brought about. A very extensive and imposing cliff rises to a 
 height of over one hundred and sixty feet, half surrounded 
 by an artificial lake. Hard by, enormous stalactite caves, 
 
Chap. IV.] THE PAliC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 
 
 07 
 
 sixty feet in height from floor to ceiling, have been constructed. 
 These last are well formed and striking, though hardly the 
 kind of thing to be recommended for a public garden. It is 
 better to leave the eccentricities of the cave-makers out of the 
 question till we have provided for the population of great towns 
 green lawns, trees, and wide open streets and ways, with their 
 consequence, purer air. 
 
 Through the top of one of the great caves a stream dashes 
 in, and as its course, as it tumbles down the steep above the 
 aperture, is gracefully planted, the effect is very pretty. 
 
 I'lanthig of Si ream ahoz'e Stalactite Ca-jc.—rarc des Buttcs Chaumont. 
 
 The streamlets in this park are arranged and planted in a 
 tasteful way, their beds being sometimes rocky ; and by taking 
 advantage of their twinings and tiny cascades, positions have 
 been formed for a great variety of hardy plants which arc grouped 
 along the sides. Among these the free-flowering Yuccas, Y. fila- 
 mentosa and Y. flaccida, occur in groups and masses, and are very 
 efiective when in bloom. Such handsome evergreens are well 
 introduced in places which are generally left to common water- 
 weeds only. By the side of these streamlets alpine plants are 
 sometimes placed, to grow here and there in little beds along 
 their course, associated with lowland marsh-plants ; but alpine 
 
 r 2 
 
68 THE TARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [CiiAr. TV 
 
 plants can never be grown tlius. With the supply of water that 
 these parks command, nothing could he easier than the creation 
 of healthfully covered rocky mounds with true alpine plants, 
 even if the great rocky cliffs did not invite this type of vege- 
 tation. 
 
 One of the most beautiful features ever seen in such a place 
 is afforded by enormous curtains of Ivy, which drape the great 
 rock walls with the most refreshing verdure at all seasons. Here 
 and there towards the base of these ivy-clad rocks spring flower- 
 ing shrubs, like the Japan Pear and the Forsythia, sparkling with 
 blossom in early spring. The effect of these among the Ivy is 
 very suggestive, especially to those weary of the prim bareness 
 which flowering shrubs too often display in dug borders. Along 
 the crest of the cliffs in many places where the turf of the high 
 lawns meets the Ivy, a hardy flower, the common red Valerian, 
 comes in to play a very useful part. This bright old border 
 flower, which like the Wallflower adorns many ruins and bridges, 
 has established itself in groups among the upper part of the 
 Ivy, and its effect in summer growing above sheets of Ivy 
 forty or fifty feet high is very charming. 
 
 Here and there in this garden may be noticed unshorn fringes 
 of shrubs instead of the mutilated objects and frequently dug 
 borders too often seen. In nature, especially on mountains, 
 nothing is more delightful than the way the shrubs and low trees 
 nestle themselves in little colonies and groups on the grass. Our 
 gardens will never be worthy of intelligent beings so long as all 
 the flowering shrubs and like plants are primly placed on bare 
 dug borders, margined by a stiff formal line. The effect is all 
 the worse when a line of some showy flower forms a belt, 
 making the whole thing as glaring and changeless as possible. 
 What calls for this hideous and unnatural nakedness ? It is only 
 the convenience of the mowing-machine that is consulted. It 
 is sad to think of the miles of shrubbery in London parks and 
 in gardens elsewhere so mutilated annually that either indi- 
 vidual beauty or good effect of the whole is impossible. 
 
 Unhappily the great central cliff is so high that it cannot be 
 veiled like the minor ones with Ivy, and it is so formed that it 
 presents only an arid mass, on closely examining which one may 
 see ugly seams of plaster bulging out. There never was in a 
 
 1 
 
liliiiiii;;ir:':!jiii;iii,i.Hin''ii;mEii'' ,11 ■';':' 'fii i 
 
 II III' 
 
 i"' 
 
(JllAP. IV.] 
 
 THE VAllC DES BUTTES CHAUMUNT. 
 
 (JD 
 
 garden such a chance of having walls of rock-plants almost as 
 interesting as those one meets with on an Alpine pass, and yet 
 it is entirely lost. By leaving chinks here and there and filling 
 them with turf; by leaving the face of the high rock sloping in 
 places, so that they would be well exposed to the rain ; by having 
 little streamlets trickling over the face of the cliffs here and 
 there ; by scattering a few packets of seeds over the surface in 
 spring, a rock vegetation of great beauty could soon be obtained. 
 The great silvery Saxifrages of the Pyrenees and the Alps might 
 have spread forth their rosettes here, while little Harebells, 
 Thymes, Eock-brooms, Stone-crops, Houselecks of many kinds, 
 
 «£ JLaj. 
 
 L'nmittilatcd Shrubs on TurJ.—Parc des Buites Chaumont. 
 
 with hundreds of the prettiest plants of northern and temperate 
 climes, might also have been grown. Now all is daubed over and 
 plantless, save a bit of wiry grass in some few spots ; and the 
 face of the high rocks is only suggestive of danger. 
 
 This results from leaving the face of the higher part of the 
 rocks almost vertical, so depriving vegetation of all chance of 
 foothold. But the system of plastering, instead of having broken 
 isolated clumps of rock, is still more to blame for the crater-like 
 bareness of this enormous mass. With plastered rock, and a hole 
 left here and there in which a plant may dwindle or perish, there 
 is no chance of any but a stone-yard effect — one-fourth the 
 
70 'HIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 quantity of natural blocks of stone, visible through a rising mass 
 of rock-shrubs, Avould have been far better. By this means one 
 could get the necessary elevation, concealing the basis of the 
 stones with evergreens and trailing plants, and not sealing up 
 with cement in any part. A mistake has been made in placing a 
 cafe on the edge of the rock, occupying one of the finest central 
 sites in the park. There are plenty of less prominent positions 
 in which such houses might be placed, if they were thought 
 necessary, but in so small a park as this, surrounded as it is by 
 houses or sites accessible in a few moments, such buildings ought 
 not to be tolerated. Besides, they add very seriously to the cost 
 of public gardens. The restaurants here, and a few other build- 
 ings wholly needless in the garden, have cost not less than 
 £20,000, a sum that wisely laid out would suffice to form a large 
 public garden. 
 
 A marked defect in many French gardens is having too 
 many walks. The way these are wound about in symmetrical 
 twirlings is quite ridiculous. In these cases the garden is made 
 for the walks, not the walks for the garden. In gardens other- 
 wise charming, with plenty of turf and groups of handsome plants 
 in great variety, and a command of good views, one sometimes 
 sees five times as many walks as are necessary. In the plans of 
 the modern French landscape-gardeners, all of whom delight in 
 forming " English gardens," a series of walks like so many 
 sections of eggs are crowded over the surface without reference 
 to the wants of the place or the formation of the ground, and 
 evidently without thought of the hideous efi'ects they produce 
 in the garden landscape. It is hardly necessary to state that to 
 secure a good and quiet effect in gardens not one inch of walk 
 should be made or exposed more than is needed for convenience. 
 One walk, concealed or half hidden in parts where the formation of 
 the ground or the planting permitted, might often well rei)lace a 
 round dozen of the senseless intercrossing windings complained of. 
 
 One can scarcely carefully examine this park without being 
 struck by the power of garden-design to beautify unpromising 
 sites in town or country. A more unlikely position for a garden 
 could hardly be found, and yet there are now parts of it almost 
 as lovely as the little open lawns that here and there spread out 
 among the rocks and trees of the fairest mountain region. 
 
 
CuAP. IV.] THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 
 
 71 
 
 It is sad to reflect that an art capable of so much shoukl be 
 left to the control of persons ignorant of it, often by men belong- 
 ing to other professions, whose education unfits them for such 
 work. Here, for example, the too-abundant walks and roads, the 
 absurdly stiif tank-like curve and margin to the water, the 
 unnecessary bridges, the restaurant impudently placed in one 
 of the best sites in the park, the badly formed artificial rock, 
 and the other disfigurements of this noble garden are mainly 
 owing to the influence of the engineer element in the direction. 
 The engineer, the architect, even the botanist naturally enough 
 
 nl|:lllll!||lil|llllilllllllllll!V 
 
 ^ ^i" /"-f |[ -^ 
 
 :zi_:i 
 
 m^:^ 
 
 r-rm-iTFT rr: 
 
 : rn French Garden Plan. (Emouf, 'L'art des jardins') 
 
 thinks mainly of his own profession, and regards the horticultural 
 portion of his duties as being an afi'air which may be deputed to 
 any sufficiently pliant creature. But we shall never have 
 beautiful, and in all ways instructive and useful, national gardens 
 so long as we confide their direction to men to whom garden- 
 ing is quite a secondary matter. Unhappily there is too much of 
 the evil result of this seen, not only here but in all countries. 
 In England we are at present without means to remedy this state 
 of things. While our Eoyal Horticultural Society had still some 
 vigour, it endowed a professorship of botany, but the creation of 
 
72 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cnw. IV. 
 
 a professorship of any of the important branches of horticulture 
 never entered into its scheme. In France it is somewhat 
 different. There the state and the municipal authorities teach 
 the useful arts betimes. And Paris would greatly help progress 
 in horticulture by founding a school of gardening, through which 
 she might eventually obtain garden-artists who would adorn and 
 not deface her gardens. With true art and good examples in the 
 national gardens, every private garden, even to the smallest, would 
 benefit greatly ; just as now nearly every blemish may be traced to 
 the expensive puerilities of Versailles, the ugliness of the Garden 
 of Plants, and the stony dreariness of many other national 
 gardens. Numbers of persons interested in horticulture, especially 
 those who have not travelled or gained experience, look to public 
 gardens as models of all that is worth imitation. It is most 
 unfortunate that with us this influence can rarely be anything 
 but injurious to all the true interests of garden-design. Most of 
 our public gardens and parks are planned in direct violation of 
 the very essentials of the art of laying out grounds ; many of 
 them show precisely what to avoid, and though this merit is not 
 alluded to in their guide-books, it may, to one who rightly uses 
 it, be of greater importance than any other feature. Kew, for 
 example, in some respects superior to any botanic garden or 
 botanical establishment in the world, is in jDoint of design no 
 higher than a chess-board. That breadth — i.e., an open spread 
 of lawn here and there — is the most essential princij)le in garden- 
 design one would think known to anybody arranging or planting 
 a public garden or park. Without this we cannot get anything 
 but a confused effect — we cannot see the beauty and dignity of 
 our now rich arboreal flora ; without this we may have a thousand 
 kinds of noble trees, and get little better effect than in an 
 unthinned plantation. It is, in fact, as impossible to make a 
 really beautiful garden or park without open turfy lawns as it 
 is to make a lake without water. At Kew, both in general 
 design and in the arrangement of details, this principle is com- 
 pletely ignored, arid the good old one adopted of putting in a 
 tree wherever there is room for it. The result is that the largest 
 botanic garden in the world is devoid of any picturesque beauty. 
 As to the Paris botanic garden it is infinitely worse ; there not 
 only is there no breadth, but even the very turf has disai)peared. 
 
Chap. IV.] THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 
 
 73 
 
 Take, again, the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at South 
 Kensington, and, leaving out of view entirely the question of 
 style, assume that the geometrical is the only one. This garden 
 was specially designed for flower-shows and for the reception of 
 crowds. Now, if there has been any one thing taught by all 
 previous experience of large flower-shows and the gardens in 
 which they have been held, it has been that the happiest efi'ect 
 is only obtained where there is a quiet open lawn for walking, 
 
 Vurw/rovt Central Cliff tcnuards Stalactite Caves. — Fare dcs Buttes Cluiumonl. 
 
 and giving easy access to the various points of interest in the 
 garden. And what has been done to meet this want ? The 
 design is the most complicated ever seen, even for a geometrical 
 garden. Every spot where the turf might have spread out to 
 form a foreground, or a setting for the difl'erent objects which a 
 garden should contain, is frittered away — here a maze (what an 
 idiotic adjunct to any public garden ranking above that of a tea- 
 house!); there a short avenue of Lombardy Poplars cutting oflF 
 the view, for no evident reason ; beyond, placed on a bank, lest its 
 
74 THE PARKS AND GAKDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 lovely efiect should be lost, a fire-sliovel pattern wrought on the 
 earth, with all the beds filled with broken stone-rubbish of various 
 colours ! In short, there is no room anywhere except on parched 
 and wearying gravel walks. At every step a sensitive person 
 who visits the garden in the hope of seeing trees or plants or 
 flowers is offended by a sickly low-clipped yew-hedge, a dead 
 wall, a flight of steps, or a ghastly corridor. If a prize had been 
 off'ered for the very worst kind of garden in which to enjoy a 
 flower-show or plants or trees of any kind, a garden more fitted 
 to win it could scarcely have been designed. It is true that of 
 late improvements have been carried out by the simple removal of 
 some of the features alluded to. Every step in removing hedges 
 or mazes or gravelled panels is accompanied by an immediate 
 improvement in the general aspect of the garden. These are 
 some of the results we get by employing men to plan or direct 
 our national gardens who are not, in the true sense of the 
 word, landscape-gardeners. 
 
 There is nothing so dangerous to the beautiful but as yet 
 undeveloped art of landscape-gardening as its practice by 
 men into whose life the love and knowledge of it has not been 
 interwoven by long practice and devotion. Thus, if we have an 
 architect who does us the honour to add the term gardener to that 
 of his own profession, we are very likely to see stones where we 
 asked for grass and flowers and trees. His heart is in buildings, 
 and accordingly he is not always content to limit architecture to 
 its legitimate use, but brings it into the garden to the invariable 
 ruin of the latter. Hence a thousand things that men will cart 
 away as abominations, ugly, costly, and in all ways hateful, as 
 soon as they understand what pure landscape-gardening might 
 do towards the adornment of the willing earth ; hence the gardens 
 at Versailles, mouldering, slimy, dead as the state of things that 
 gave them birth — a garden tomb, in fact ; hence the fountains 
 and geometrical desert at the Crystal Palace, acres of unclean 
 water-basins, horizons of dead walls, decay of stone, gigantic 
 water-spouting apparatus ; hence such unmeaning wastes as those 
 of Trafalgar Square and that at the Bayswater end of the Serpen- 
 tine : these constitute a little of what we get by having an 
 architect to carry out that which should be entrusted to an artist 
 gardener. To a painter we are actually indebted for the revival 
 
Chap. IV.] THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 
 
 75 
 
 of the absurd practice of using coloured gravels. It is needful 
 to bear in mind that our benefactors in the above way are not 
 wittingly unkind, but simply give us the best they know. If 
 they knew the many " leaf-builders," they would not build where 
 building is out of place, and then cut the lime-trees into shapes 
 to " harmonise " with the stony dreariness thereby created, as is 
 often the case in France. This brings us to the subject — what 
 the landscape-gardener of the future should know. He should be 
 in the most complete sense a gardener. He should know all 
 about gardening, whatever he did not know. He should know 
 
 Kock-shrubs and traiUng evergreens. 
 
 the trees after their kind, from the stateliest forest trees to the 
 lowliest flowering trees — know as far as possible their aspect in 
 age as well as in youth — know the circumstances suited to each 
 as regards soil and position — know their value in the landscape, 
 singly or in groups or groves — know their character in all 
 seasons, whether of spring blossoms, summer green, or autumn 
 glory. 
 
 Then there is the important question of floral embellishment. 
 Is it to be artistic and natural, of materials which we can grow in 
 the open air ? The mountains and hills and plains of northern 
 and temperate countries must ever be the main source of interest 
 
76 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 in the gardens of such countries. These must be our storehouse 
 for material ; these, in a sense, the spring of our right feeling as 
 regards arrangement. Therefore no man can be a true landscape- 
 gardener unless he has a fair knowledge of the flora of these 
 countries — the plant-inhabitants of wood and copse, of rock and 
 meadow. Not less needful for him is a certain amount of educa- 
 tional travel : as his highest duty and pleasure must ever be the 
 planting of beautiful trees so as to allow them to attain fullest 
 vigour and express their highest beauty, he must study them in 
 their own homes to do them justice in our gardens. The cha- 
 racter and associations of a tree are not easily understood by 
 those who have not seen it in its native country ; therefore every 
 landscape-gardener should see the natural mountain woods of 
 Europe, as well as her forests ; should see the rich and varied 
 treasures of the woods in Eastern America, the giant Pines on 
 the great western ranges, and take advantage of every oppor- 
 tunity to see the natural forest and coj)se vegetation of the 
 northern world. To travel southward would be a benefit, too, 
 but it is not essential. If only as the best way of noting beautiful 
 or suggestive scenes observed in his travels, the power of sketch- 
 ing faithfully and rapidly should be possessed by every landscape- 
 gardener. It is, however, otherwise essential in his profession. 
 Beyond sketching, his artistic ambition should not soar ; it is his 
 privilege to make ever-changing pictures out of Nature's own 
 materials — sky and trees, and water and flowers and grass. If 
 he would not prefer this to painting in pigments, he has no 
 business to be a landscape-gardener. But most essential of all 
 for him is garden-travel. He ought to know fairly well what 
 others have done and are doing in landscape-gardening. Years 
 might be jirofitably employed in visiting gardens, not one of 
 them without some feature instructive for the garden-artist. Yet 
 bad design has been so much the rule that good models are most 
 rare. At present it is absolutely necessary to see hundreds of 
 gardens before one gets a clear all-round idea of what good 
 design actually is. Many places for years praised as models are 
 really examples of what to avoid. But we have to thank accident, 
 diversity of surface, peculiar individual taste, and sometimes what 
 is called neglect, for so neutralising the eftbrts of the geometrical 
 designer, for centuries, that it is yet possible for the independent 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 THE PAllC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 
 
 77 
 
 mind to distinguish the right from the wrong path. Every visit 
 paid to a garden shonkl make the path of future effort clearer. 
 Artists and writers throw false glories round places famous for 
 size only, or for miles of clipped trees, or for mere extravagance 
 of expenditure — a personal visit may give the young observer a 
 wholesome antidote. A good engraving or picture may, by the 
 introduction of artistic touches and variety, give a pleasant im- 
 pression of a place really devoid of beauty of any kind, as a visit 
 
 GROUP OF ROCK. 
 
 ■Pare des Buttes Chaitmont. 
 
 to many Italian gardens would show. Surely the old French 
 styles, as witnessed at Sceaux, at the Grand Trianon, at St. Cloud, 
 or what remains of it, and at Fontainebleau, only require to be 
 seen to be for ever laughed at as examples of garden-design. 
 But some modern gardens in France, such as parts of Vincennes, 
 the English garden in the Little Trianon, and many other gardens 
 on the Continent, deserve to be seen. Then again some of the 
 public gardens and cemeteries in America should be visited. 
 
78 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Nothing will profit more. In each country also travel is needed 
 as a guide to judicious planting. Even in a small country like 
 Britain there is an immense amount of wasted energy, owing 
 to ignorance of the trees that will thrive in any given district. 
 No fairly instructed landscape-gardener would, for example, plant 
 trees where they are certain never to attain maturity — a common 
 error, however. 
 
 In teaching the art of garden-design all has yet to be done. 
 "What we want is a body of trained garden-artists imbued with 
 sympathy with nature and love for the work. Such a training 
 as that above mentioned would give us men who would add to 
 our healthy pleasures, and to the beauty of country and town. 
 Gardening is now, even with the most civilised nations, in the 
 same state as that in which art is among the Pawnees, who 
 daub diagrams of a few horses and men on their blankets. We 
 leave all the pictures to those who make them in oil, when we 
 could make living pictures. Garden-artists will, it is to be hoped, 
 be a part of the working force of the coming time. 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 The Gardens of the Louvre, the Tuileries, and 
 
 THE ELYSEE. 
 
 The Gardens of the Louvre. 
 
 The Place clu Carrousel, stretching between the Palaces of the 
 Louvre and the Tuileries, a large open paved square, at its 
 eastern end merges into a narrower space, to which I wish more 
 particularly to direct attention. On one side the Place is per- 
 fectly bare and without ornament ; but on the other the eye is 
 refreshed by two little gardens which embellish the smaller space 
 referred to, and form veritable oases in a desert of paving-stone. 
 There is perhaps no spot more capable of teaching a valuable 
 lesson in city-gardening. 
 
 Viewed externally from their immediate surroundings, the 
 gardens have a pretty effect, and show at once the utility of such 
 near buildings. On the one hand there is a space as devoid of 
 vegetation as the desert — on the other, by the creation of the 
 simplest type of garden, the sculptor's work in stone and the 
 changeless lines of the great buildings are relieved by the living 
 grace of vegetation, so as to make a garden -picture of the most 
 charming kind, and all by merely encroaching a little on the 
 space that would otherwise be monopolised by paving-stones. 
 The view from inside the gardens, however, shows their good 
 effect with still greater force. The gardens are very small and 
 most simple in plan, a circle of grass, a walk, and a belt of hardy 
 trees and shrubs around the whole, with an edging of Ivy. No 
 gaudy colouring of the ground — no expensive temporary decora- 
 tion with tender costly flowers, but all green and quiet. 
 
 It has been the rule amongst landscape-gardeners and others 
 
80 
 
 THE TAKKS AND GARDENS UF TAIUS. 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 to accept as a law that when a garden is made very near to 
 any kind of ornamental building it is indispensable to make it 
 " associate " with the buildings — to carry the lines of stone as 
 much as possible into the garden, to make it as angular and, 
 it may be, as brick-dusty as possible, like some recent examples 
 with us. These gardens, among many others, prove the fallacy 
 of this. There are numbers of men professing taste in designing 
 gardens who would never think of putting anything in this 
 
 Little Gardens within the Louvre, exterior vietv. {Ha<lutle.) 
 
 position but expensive gewgaws in the shape of trees in tubs, 
 squirting water, vases, coloured and broken gravels — things which 
 in their opinion would " harmonise " with the work of the 
 architect. But unaided by these, and at a tenth of the cost, from 
 the simplest natural materials, far better results arc obtained. 
 It is well worth while walking round the little lawn in each of 
 these gardens to notice the various happy effects resulting from 
 the contrast of the buildings with the trees, one of which is 
 shown in the page illustration. The small patches of grass in 
 
LITTLE GAP^EN WITHIN THE LOUVP^. 
 / "»Vti' from tlu interior. 
 
CiiAi-. v.] TllK TUILEUIKS (iAKDEXS. 83 
 
 these little gardens, like grass everywhere in Paris, are greeu aud 
 fresh at all seasons. The secret of this is, repeated waterings 
 whenever the natural rainfall does not serve to keep it as fresh 
 as June leaves. 
 
 Passing through the great court of the Louvre, and out at the 
 eastern side, we see the garden of the Louvre, which is simply a 
 railed-in space, laid out with the usual well-kept grass, round- 
 headed bushes of Lilac, Ivy edgings, evergreen shrubs here and 
 there, and flowers, at all seasons. Much of this garden was once 
 covered with old buildings and streets — even the great square 
 just spoken of was once packed with alleys : improvements have, 
 however, swept all those things away, and on every side the 
 buildings stand free — very unlike some public edifices in London, 
 which are not easily to be found. 
 
 In the gardens of the Louvre, the system of planting shrubs 
 and flowers is the monotonous one of repeating the same thing 
 everywhere — Lilac-bushes, flowers and all — without any effort at 
 variety. In short, it is a successful attempt at making living 
 tilings as interesting as the slates on a roof. It is as if all the 
 l)ictures in the Louvre consisted of copies of a few popular works. 
 It would be easy to pursue a very different system ; to make the 
 plants and shrubs out of-doors as varied as the pictures indoors, 
 added tj which the plants would possess life aud change. But 
 while men have learnt to use pigments to a good end in art, few 
 tliiuk as yet of using the living plants or shrubs in any but a 
 forniul inartistic manner. 
 
 Tliti Tuilerits Gardens. 
 
 In this, one of the most famous of gardens, the stupidity of 
 the Le Notre or Versailles style of laying out grounds is more 
 apparent than in perhaps any other : Orange-trees in ugly tubs, 
 clipped trees, broad wastes of gravel, dying over-crowded trees, 
 gigantic water-basins, are some of the most evident vices of the 
 system pursued here. 
 
 There are many ways of wasting money in gardens, but few 
 worse than growing trees in tubs. Consider the enormous expense 
 incurred by those lines of old Orange-trees in the gardens of the 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 'VUK TAKKS AND GARDENS OF PABIS. 
 
 [Ci 
 
 >. A\ 
 
 Tuileries, at Versailles, the Luxembourg, and in other gardens, 
 public and private ! Every one of them has cost hundreds of 
 pounds to rear it to a condition that is presentable, and only to 
 produce a deep round tuft of not very healthy green leaves at the 
 end of some seven feet of black stem. Costly tubs that rot ; 
 costly storing in large conservatories in winter ; costly carriage 
 from house to open garden, and from open garden to house, and 
 all to no good purpose whatever. The foliage differs not at all, 
 or in but a trifling degree, from that of evergreens common in our 
 shrubberies ; the clipped head of green is far inferior to that 
 aftbrded by tlie hardy and elegant spineless Eobinia : the flowers 
 are few or none. The whole thing is a relic of barbarism, and as 
 such should be excluded from any well- arranged garden. The 
 
 T/ie Sur7'i7'<tl of the most Unfit : Trees in Tubs. 
 
 kind of eff"ect they produce, if desirable, might be aff"orded in a far 
 higher degree by perfectly hardy subjects requiring no tubs. 
 They were all very well in an age when exotics were rare, and 
 glass-houses unknown ; but now, when we have exotics in pro- 
 fusion, and among them hardy evergreens handsomer than these, 
 and in days too when there are beautiful Orange and Lemon groves 
 in Southern France within twenty-four hours of Paris, such an 
 expensive and inartistic mode of garden-embellishment should 
 be among the things of the past. 
 
 It is considered "correct taste " to use trees in tubs in gco- 
 metrically-laid-out terrace gardens, but there are many terraces 
 where their absence is no blemish. A row of trees in tubs is no 
 more necessary to the good effect of the terrace garden ihan a row of 
 
CiiAi'. v.] 
 
 THE TUILEIUKS (lAUDENS. 
 
 85 
 
 balloons. The culture of Orange, Bay, and other trees in tubs is 
 a custom more justifiable in those parts of Northern Europe where 
 but few evergreens can be grown in the open air, than in France 
 or Britain. Although now we often see handsome specimens of 
 hardy evergreens grown in tubs, tender subjects alone were thus 
 kept when the system originated. It was found that the Oleander 
 and Orange trees could be grown very well by storing them in any 
 sort of half-lighted, frost-proof structure in winter, and placing 
 them in the open air in summer ; and hence these plants became 
 very popular for that purpose. But the conditions are now wholly 
 altered in the i^arden, and growinff trees in tubs is foolish work. 
 
 
 not altogether devoid of a sort of picturesque eti'ect, are the wide 
 saharas of gravel and the enormous meaningless water-basins, 
 which interrupt the course of the great central spread of gravel 
 here and have no good effect or use. No doubt the providing of 
 space for the crowds that frequent such a garden must not be 
 neglected ; but that could be done without sacrificing the garden 
 to boulevards of gravel and stone-encircled pond?. The beauty 
 or the use of these ponds it is difficult to see. The walks 
 arc far more capacious than they need be for ordinary use. 
 
TIIK PAliKS AND GAIJDKNS OF TARIS. 
 
 [C'UA 
 
 while space for crowds could be provided to any extent upon 
 gravelled surfaces under groves of trees. The trees here are 
 for the most part in miserable health, and the new planting 
 exhibits examples of the most vicious work possible with trees, 
 young or old. Instead of clearing a portion of the ground and 
 thoroughly preparing and replanting it, young trees are planted 
 among old ones. They are planted in pits, the fresh soil of 
 which the old roots soon afterwards enter and exhaust, so 
 that neither in the air nor in the ground have the young trees 
 
 a chance. The result is that 
 there is scarcely a fine tree in 
 the place. 
 
 The general effect of the few 
 flower-borders in the gardens, seen 
 across the wide areas of gravel 
 before alluded to, and mixed up 
 with tubs, statues, chairs, railings, 
 and what-not, is from most j)oints 
 of view deplorable. The whole 
 of the outer and larger portions 
 of the gardens show us, in fact, 
 the most lifeless and hopeless style 
 of gardening i)ossible under stereo- 
 typed management that success- 
 fully conserves all the blemishes from generation to generation. 
 ]\[uch better is the portion near the Tuileries ruin, which used 
 to be known as the private gardens. Here, without close-crowd- 
 ing, are shrubs which are allowed to grow untortured ; graceful 
 Ivy edgings garlanding the borders of flowers; some green grass, 
 and fine-leaved plants. 
 
 Stiff" as this j^art near the site of the Palace is, in consequence 
 mainly of its wide straight walks, it owes none of this stiffness 
 to elaborate geometrical display of beds, or to coloured gravels 
 and the like. Vegetation, as in any Italian garden which pro- 
 duces a good impression, predominates and relieves the effect of 
 the statuary or stonework introduced. There are mixed borders 
 of effective plants along most of the walks, while the squares 
 have open carpets of turf in the central parts. The mixed 
 borders include Lilac-bushes, dwarfed by close annual cutting, 
 
 Vicious mode of Trec-plantitig. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 I IK TriLKlMKS (iAKDENS. 
 
 87 
 
 Cannas, lioses, Honeysuckk'S, and herbaceous plants. In antumn 
 they are planted with flowers which bloom in early spring, and 
 blossom on till about the time of Lilac-bloom, when the summer 
 plants replace them. The practice of relieving the stony glai'e 
 from pedestals, statues, &c., by rich bands of Ivy and graceful 
 mixed borders, produces some happy eflfects. But, notwithstand- 
 ing the means taken to tone them down, there are too many 
 huge vases, statues, &c., in these gardens to permit of that repose 
 which is a garden's greatest charm. 
 
 The stone seats in this and other gardens, among other advan- 
 tages which they have over wooden ones, are much easier to make 
 in simple and good forms, not so easily damaged, and do away 
 with the disagreeable need of painting. 
 
 Marble Seat, Tuilerirs Garden 
 
8S. THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cuap. V. 
 
 The Garden of the Eli/ste. 
 
 This, a state garden, is typical of a large class of Parisian 
 private gardens. The too-frequently accepted notion is that, 
 given a small garden in a city, it should be geometrical in 
 design. In the neighbourhood of this garden we have streets, 
 high walls, houses and all the other impediments to good effect 
 in landscape-gardening, and yet a quiet, picturesque result is 
 produced. It is always easy, by judicious planting, to hide 
 objectionable surroundings, and, both in Paris and London, noble 
 deciduous trees attain almost as grand proportions as in their 
 native forests. Then in these French city private gardens they 
 cover objectionable wall-surfaces with a lovely mantle of Ivy, so 
 carefully pinched and tended that in winter or summer it forms 
 a level sheet of green. In this way trellises, high railings sur- 
 mounting walls, gates, &c., are not only rendered inoffensive to 
 the eye, but made to add to the beauty of the garden by the 
 extent of rich glossy verdure which they support. There are 
 cool shady walks here, too, quite as refreshing in their way as 
 many away from cities ; there is grass kept green with abundance 
 of water ; and there is a pleasant and open lawn — though a small 
 one. Without the little open lawn as a foreground, so to speak, 
 the garden picture would be, to a great extent, lost. It is in- 
 structive to compare the sketch with one of the old Dutch or 
 other geometrical gardens frequently represented in old en- 
 gravings, or with some modern English geometrical gardens, 
 sometimes supposed to be " original " in design, but which are 
 simply reproductions from times when people had not half a 
 dozen kinds of evergreens — when simple conventional figures 
 were sufficiently appreciated to be thought worth delineating on 
 the ground. 
 
 In French gardens of this type it is unusual to have any 
 regular or formal set of beds, and this is a great improvement. 
 One half the miserable formalities existing in our gardens arise 
 from the presence of a series of formal " figures," or beds, which 
 have to be filled once or twice a year, in the hope of making them 
 look somewhat presentable — a result seldom obtained. Anything 
 artistic in eflect can never be produced through or near them. 
 
90 
 
 ■I'lIK I'AHKS AND CAPiDENS OF PATUS. 
 
 [('II.' 
 
 If one desires to place some favourite plant in one of these beds, 
 the chances are that it must not be done for fear of violating the 
 " unity " of character -which the whole should, we are told, possess. 
 A beautiful garden may be made without a set of formal figures 
 of any kind, and by the adoption of one or more simple forms of 
 beds, such as circles and ovals, placed here and there either 
 singly or in groups in the spots we desire to embellish with flowers. 
 This is the way now common in many recent French gardens. 
 The very general mistake of forming small pools of water near a 
 house exists in French gardens as in our own ; and usually the 
 margin is stiff in outline, and not by any means an addition to 
 the charms of the garden. The wise landscape-gardener will 
 not attempt that which he cannot do well. In a small garden no 
 satisfactory effect can 1)0 produced from water, except in the form 
 of a clear rivulet. 
 
 ^^' «> 
 
( 5»1 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 The Luxembourg Garden. 
 
 The garden here is niuler the sole control of an arcliitect, in whose 
 education horticulture has, naturally, formed no part. There 
 have been ahle horticulturists at the Luxembourg, but their 
 po^Yers for the improvement of the gardens may be estimated by the 
 fact that a dozen flower-pots could not be purchased by them with- 
 out first obtaining permission from the architect. No change 
 for good is possible under such a system. Horticulture is an art 
 which more than any other is concerned with living things in 
 infinite variety. Without long acquaintance with numbers of tliesc 
 living things under various conditions, no man can intelligently 
 know their wants and arrange them so that we may enjoy them. 
 The profession of an architect has no one thing in common with 
 that of horticulturist. Being wholly concerned with inorganic 
 matter, it is impossible that he could, if really an architect, ever 
 give the study necessary to master even one phase of horticulture. 
 It must surely be obvious that, if our object is to have beautiful 
 gardens, no more serious error can be made than by committing 
 the charge of a garden wholly to the care of men who know, and 
 still worse care, nothing about the art. If we are content with 
 stones and walls where there is no need for them ; with a posing 
 ground for the refuse of the studios ; with diseased and melan- 
 choly trees in formal lines ; with flowers drilled into set forms, 
 with false curves and railway-like slopes, with a leprosy of vases and 
 broken gravel instead of flowers and grass, then let us hold to the 
 engineer, the architect, or anyone else who bars the way. This 
 system also secures for us a garden as changeful in aspect from 
 year to year, as a piece of oilcloth. The cause is not difiicult to 
 
92 
 
 THE TAKKS AND GA1U)ENS OF TARIS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 seek. The director not knowing liow to lead tlie way himself, 
 will not let anyone else move. Few men who love their work can 
 endure the dull rule resulting from so harmful a system. 
 
 The curiously had system of planting young trees heneath the 
 old ones, mentioned and illustrated in connection with the 
 Tuileries gardens, may also he seen here, the general tree-mis- 
 management resulting in overcrowded trees, without natural 
 dignity or size. 
 
 to 
 
 
 iloUoiu It ail. 
 
 Among the more instructive features of the garden may he 
 mentioned tlie fountain of Jacques Dehrossc and its surroundings. 
 Stretching from the foot of this fountain there is a long water- 
 basin, with a walk on each side bordered with Plane-trees, which, 
 meeting overhead, make a long, leafy arch, the effect of the 
 fountain-group at the end being good. It is, of course, heightened 
 by the leafy canopy of Planes, but very much more so by the use 
 made of Ivy and Virginian Creeper. Between the trees the Irish 
 Ivy is planted, and then trained u}) in rich, thick, but graceful 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 
 
 93 
 
 wreaths, so as to join tLe stems at about eight feet from the 
 ground. At about a foot or so above the Ivy, another and almost 
 straight wreath of Virginian Creeper is placed, and the effect of 
 these two simple wreaths from tree to tree is excellent. They 
 seem to fall from the pillar-like stems of the Planes, the bottom 
 of the lower wreath resting on the earth. An adoption of such a 
 plan would add verdure and grace to many a formal grove, now 
 bare about the base of the trees. 
 
 A little pavilion here has a hollow wall with a space for plants 
 in it, reminding one of a 
 
 way of growing flowers 'f^^^ , ■ 
 
 in various countries 
 which deserves mon 
 attention than it has re- 
 ceived from us. It con- 
 sists in leaving hollo\' 
 the upper portion ci 
 a terrace or other wall 
 and using this fur 
 flowers. The crest of 
 the wall is, in fact, a 
 flower-border from one 
 to two feet in breadth ; 
 but, though narrow, it 
 has a depth of from 
 two to three feet for 
 soil, thus giving ample 
 root-room for the pro- 
 duction of a vigorous 
 and graceful vegetation. 
 The architect or builder 
 can easily arrange for such wall-vases. One may often see very 
 charming eff"ects produced in this way on the Continent, even in 
 poor houses where little evidence of other beauty is to be seen. 
 By adopting the principle of variety instead of repetition in such 
 cases, a beautiful garden of flowers miglit be grown on the crest 
 of many a barren wall near, or part of, a town house. 
 
 In one of the small side gardens here is a climbing Eose, 
 allowed to grow free on the grass unstaked and untrimmed. 
 
 CUmbiiiff Kose isolated on Grass. 
 
94 
 
 'I'llK I'AIIKS AND (lAKDKNS OF I'AKIS. 
 
 [('' 
 
 VI. 
 
 There are remedies for some of our garden-troubles if ])eople 
 will only try to find them out. There are few more unprofitable 
 and tedious labours than that of continually pruning and training 
 climbing plants. In many positions we can only partially avoid 
 this ; in others we can avoid it altogether, and obtain a much 
 more beautiful result. For example, many vigorous trailers and 
 climbers are more beautiful planted out on banks of turf and let 
 alone than under the most carofnl traininc:. Such effects are, of 
 
 :EES. -/.«-.•,•//./ 
 
 course, most suitable for the wilder and more picturesque spots, 
 but in some degree they may be carried out in any part of the 
 garden. That is to say, climbing Eoses might be allowed to grow 
 naturally, and be at the same time so thinned out and otherwise 
 attended to that they would not become weak in flower or growth. 
 There are also here some edgings of pcgged-down Hoses which 
 form very beautiful margins to masses of flowering shrubs and the 
 like. It is one of the ways in which the liose, so often grown on 
 
FOUNTAIN IN THE GA! 
 
 HE LUXEMBOURG 
 
96 THE TARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 the end of a stick, may be shown to best advantage, its foliage 
 springing from the turf. 
 
 Usually in geometrical gardens the portion nearest the building 
 is a terrace commanding the surroundings — here, on the contrary, 
 the part nearest the palace is a basin flanked by balustraded 
 terraces. The grass banks that rise from the lower garden to the 
 balustrade are not left naked, but planted with two lines of dwarf 
 Kose-bushes. There seems no reason why such spots should be left 
 bare. Continuous borders, not beds, run round the plots of grass in 
 the flower-garden here, and from spring to the end of autumn these 
 are never flowerless. The system adopted is one of " bedding " 
 plants and herbaceous j)lants mixed, but all are changed every 
 year. A spring flower this week is replaced by a summer flower- 
 ing plant next week, and so on as the season requires. Stocks of 
 plants are always kept on hand to carry this system out, and the 
 placing of the herbaceous plants into fresh ground every year 
 causes them to flower as freely as the tender bedding plants. 
 
 But these borders also contain permanent bushes — Lilacs, Eoses, 
 &c., which give a line of verdure throughout the centre, and 
 prevent it from being overdone with flowers. Among these 
 woody plants are others very sweet for many weeks through the 
 better part of the season. These are low standard bushes of the 
 common Honeysuckle. Alternating between a Eose and a Lilac, or 
 other bush, and throwing down a head of flowering shoots, few 
 exotic subjects are more welcome in the flower-garden than these 
 Honeysuckle-standards. There are also mixed beds of Ferns in 
 the open air, isolated specimens of Tree-ferns and graceful Wood- 
 wardias elevated on moss-covered stands, which add a touch of 
 novelty to the garden as compared with others in Paris. 
 
 Many large trees — Planes and Chestnuts — have been moved in 
 full leaf in this garden in midsummer. They are taken up with 
 great " balls " of earth, by powerful machinery, and very success- 
 fully ; but though it may be very desirable in Paris to move 
 common trees of large size to complete and re-arrange straight 
 avenues here and there, the plan, generally, is not worth the expense. 
 
 Before the alterations that took place here some years ago there 
 was a good botanic garden, an irregular sort of English garden, 
 which the French call the " never-to-be-forgotten nursery," 
 and many matters of interest now passed away. The garden used 
 
Cjiap. VI.] 
 
 THE LUXEMBOURG GARDENS. 
 
 to be famed for its Eoses, and for perhaps the largest collection of 
 Vines ever brought together. The Vines were removed bodily to 
 the Jardin d'Acclimatation, in the Bois de Boulogne, and thus it 
 lost some of its most important treasures. 
 
 Those taking interest in fruit-gardens should see the little one 
 here. Although small, it is a model of its kind, and very in- 
 structive in much that relates to the training and culture of fruit- 
 trees. The glass-house department retains most of its former 
 
 English part of Luxembourg Gardens. 
 
 attractions, and to the horticultural visitor will present a good 
 deal of interest. It contains the best collection of Orchids in any 
 public garden about Paris, Camellia-houses in which the specimens 
 attain great size, and good miscellaneous collections. 
 
 Free lectures are delivered here, which are thoroughly practical, 
 and illustrated by the aid of living specimens and all the necessary 
 material. The lecturer usually addresses a large and attentive 
 class, consisting of several hundred persons, and elucidates the 
 
98 THE TAKKS AND GARDENS OF -TARIS. [Chap. YI. 
 
 subject in a way which cannot fail to benefit the numerous 
 amateurs who attend. As botanical professors lead their pupils on 
 occasional excursions over meadow and hill, so the lecturer takes 
 liis classes to famous horticultural establishments from time to 
 time, — to Moutreuil, famous for its Peaches ; Thomery, for its 
 Vines, and so on. The custom of lecturing on pure gardening, as 
 distinguished from botany, is common in France, and in many 
 cases a source of much good. It has, in fact, been a main cause 
 of the knowledge of fruit-trees, grafting, &c., so widely spread in 
 France, the lecturers being always men knowing the subject 
 thoroughly. Here we leave all the garden-lecturing to the 
 botanists, who, of course, never discourse on horticulture. This 
 is a pity when wo consider how few of the sciences commonly so 
 called are so important for the well-being of a country, and for its 
 beauty, as that of horticulture. 
 
 Visitors to the Continent in the summer months can hardly fail 
 to be struck with the growth in tubs or boxes of certain plants 
 of which we in this country make comparatively little use. 
 Some may remember the beautiful effect produced on a quay 
 fronting the Lake of Lucerne by a number of standards, includ- 
 ing Orange-trees, Portugal Laurels, Pomegranates, Pittosporums, 
 Yellow Jasmines, Evergreen Oaks, Euonymus, Aucubas, and Figs. 
 At Vienna a similar assortment may be seen in front of some of 
 the principal cafes, Avhere one may sit in the open street under the 
 shadow of the Oleander and the Pomegranate. The Oleander is, 
 with the Myrtle and the Pomegranate, a great favourite of the 
 Parisians. The reasons for this are obvious — its elegant habit, 
 glossy foliage, profusion of bright rosy or white flowers, endowed, 
 moreover, with an agreeable almond-like perfume, offer recom- 
 mendations hardly to be exceeded by those of other plants. The 
 culture, moreover, is easy. Indifferent as to the treatment it 
 receives in winter, it may be kept in cellars or passages ; hence 
 its frequency abroad in the windows of the artizan and at tlie 
 doors of the merchant's office. 
 
 Much as one may dislike the culture of trees in tubs, it is 
 impossible not to admire the superb specimens of Oleanders in 
 large tubs which may be seen in the Luxembourg Gardens in 
 summer, often so profusely covered with flowers that the upper 
 part of each bush looks like a bed of flowers. They are treated 
 
CllAI'. VI.] 
 
 THE LiixK:\rnouRG gardens. 
 
 90 
 
 somcwliat like Orange-trees in tubs, carried like tliem into tlie 
 open air in summer, and stored in half-lighted buildings in winter. 
 Probably the complete winter's rest that the plants get in an 
 orangery, and the making of all their growth out-of-doors in the 
 full light and free air, are more conducive to their well-being than 
 the culture they receive in glass-houses. The treatment given it 
 on the Continent insures the plant a perfect rest in winter : as it 
 cannot grow in the cellars, caves, and dark orangeries in which 
 
 ■ / In'icr of tl 
 
 it is then placed. Therefore, when put in the open air, the growth 
 of the plant pushes equably and immediately : the shoots, being 
 produced in the open air, are indifterent to any changes therein, 
 and the plants enjoy the full sun and uninterrupted light. 
 
 It may be noticed in two different conditions about Paris— in 
 the large specimen form in tubs of various sizes, and as small neat 
 plants in six-inch pots. These last are sold in great numbers in 
 the markets, and flower as abundantly as the best managed of the 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF rAlUS. [Chap. YI. 
 
 large specimens. The finest examples of large specimens I have 
 ever seen are those in the garden of the Luxembourg Palace. 
 Judging by the habit of the Oleander, as generally seen with us, 
 it might be supposed that it would not make an ornamental tree 
 for a terrace, but nothing can be finer than the immense specimens 
 seen in these gardens, the heads being round, dense, and some- 
 times as much as ten feet through, resembling when in flower 
 a bed of Eoses. They are certainly far handsomer objects than 
 Orange-trees, grow equally well or better in tubs, and are more 
 worthy of culture in this way. The following account of their 
 culture was given to me by M. Kiviere fils, late of the Luxem- 
 bourg Gardens, 
 
 "This beautiful shrub is a native of North Africa and the south of Europe. In 
 a state of nature, it prefers damp and fresh soil ; it is consequently found in 
 abundance on the banks of rivers and the edges of marshes. In tlie wild state it 
 rarely reaches the height of more than from three to five feet, but under cultiva- 
 tion it may grow even to nine or ten feet. Its flowers are of a delicate rose 
 colour, and from seed horticulturists have succeeded in obtaining yellow, white, 
 and double-flowering varieties, which form some of the most beautiful ornaments 
 of our gardens. The sap is very poisonous, and it is therefore advisable never to 
 put any of the flowers in the mouth, and to take care that no children should be 
 allowed near the jilants. The hotter the district in which tlie plant is grown, 
 the more poisonous is the sap. 
 
 " The Oleander puts forth its flowering branches a year before blooming and 
 then blossoms for two consecutive years, so it is well not to cut them down in 
 the autumn after the first time of flowering. The beautiful specimens so much 
 admired in tiie Gardens of the Luxembourg are from sixty to one hundred years 
 old. They are grown in tubs three or fouf feet square, and in a compost of peat 
 and loam well enriched. The operation of re-potting should be performed every 
 five years, about the mouth of May. The sides of the tubs being movable, the 
 earth is taken away from the roots of the tree, which is itself lifted up about three 
 inches, so as to remove the soil aU round it ; it is then lowered into its former 
 place and potted up with the compost just described. 
 
 "The Oleander is generally placed out of doors about the 10th of May, and as 
 it grows naturally under a burning sky, it is advisable to give it as much sun as 
 possible. A few days after it is put out, the surface of the soil in the tubs should 
 be mulched with manure, and during the whole of the summer season they should 
 be copiously watered at least three times a week. As soon as October comes, the 
 waterings are diminished, and the top portions of the mulching being taken away, 
 the surface is stirred up with a pointed stick to render it more ]ierm(.able. The 
 Oleander being extremely sensitive to culil, the plants should be taken under 
 cover once more about the 15th of October, where they must remain until the 10th 
 of May, being watered in the meantime not more than three or four times every 
 
CiiAP. YL] THE LUXEMBOURG GARDENS. 101 
 
 month. In France the Okamler-trec is attacked by a parasite called the Clicrmes 
 Nerii, which does it a great deal of injury. While in the greenhouse no iKiins should 
 be spared to deliver it from it.s enemy by means of a stiff dry brush. The mis- 
 chief caused by this insect will often kill the tree ; prompt means must therefore 
 be taken as soon as it makes its appearance. If, in spite of all care, the Chermes 
 still keeps up its depredations, all the old W(X)d that is attacked must be prnmd 
 out. By this means the evil may be entirely remedied, a new set of shoots 
 appearing and bcarin.: flowers the fallowing year." 
 
 The groves of stunted and crowded trees, the great expanse of 
 gravel, and the stiff borders are somewhat relieved in the Luxem- 
 bourg garden by a considerable extent of ground disposed in a 
 more easy and natural manner, which, as usual, is called the 
 " English garden." Here there is some repose from wide carpets 
 of turf on which are dotted Pillar-roses, Yuccas, groups of fine 
 foliage plants, masses of Eoscs, with a result that in this part the 
 effect is much better than in the older quarters. The Papyrus of 
 the ancients. Papyrus antiquorum, has here been for years a 
 striking object, planted out in summer in masses. 
 
 Border oj Roses. — Luxembourg Gardens. 
 
JO: 
 
 TIIK PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. VH. 
 
 StrcainUt issuin« jroiit Ivy-c'.ad Kock. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Bois de Vincennes. 
 
 The Bois de Vincennes may be briefly deseribod as a vast training 
 ground, but it is also, in parts, a beautiful public garden. It is 
 much broader in effect than the Bois de Boulogne, and has really 
 tine open airy spaces such as all large public parks should have ; 
 but this we mainly owe to the drill-master. Here, as in the Bois 
 de Boulogne, the plantations are far too dense, and the trees 
 starved for want of space. Still there are pleasant openings and 
 graceful evergreen trees and sparkling water, and altogether it 
 would be difficult to find a nobler advance on the old dismal 
 French garden with its shorn trees and hideous formalism. A 
 glance along some parts of the lakes here is more instructive and 
 satisfying than a study of all the geometrical gardening in France. 
 Across the little Lake S. Mande is a good view of the old Donjon 
 of Vincennes. On the islet in the lake there is a large interesting 
 group of trees showing weeping and columnar trees in juxta- 
 position. The effect of these — Lombardy and other Poplars, and 
 the weeping Willow — is shown in the illustration of tlie small lake. 
 The state in which water becomes a vital element in garden 
 scenery is seen here in the large lake that sparkles in the sun and 
 gives pleasant distance to the plantations. A temple on a knoll 
 over the water has a certain beauty in the landscape ; but such 
 structures arc mere all'cctation!^ in modern uardeus. If we must 
 
CiiAi'. Yll.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE VINX'EXNES. 
 
 103 
 
 li-xve Luikliiigs, let them be sucli as have relation to modern wants. 
 In the neighljourhood of this temple there is some pretty planting 
 with glossy evergreens by the rocks near the water, tufts of the 
 Giant AriinJo and rock- trailers. 
 
 The most instructive .and beautiful thing in the park is this 
 larger lake near the entrance from the Avenue Daumesnil. This 
 is right in various ways — in size, variety of meadow and wood on 
 the shores, islands, rocky islets, judicious planting and not 
 
 i (. , ^ lu i cr ct Trees on Islet 
 
 oflensive rock-gardens. The bridge connecting two of the islands 
 is a doubtful feature ; if it be necessary at all, it is certainly 
 placed in too conspicuous a position. 
 
 One of the charms of the park is the commanding view it gives 
 on one elevated spot of a sweep of country outside the park and 
 beyond the fortifications, the district of the confluence of the 
 Seine and Marne. The ]\[arne is at our feet ; a glimpse of the 
 Seine may be seen in the distance, an<l the wide and beautiful 
 
104 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 view of the country well illustrates tlie importance of arranging 
 public gardens in relation to their surroundings. There are too 
 many examples of the neglect of this in private as well as public 
 gardens. In towns we are frequently obliged to plant to hide 
 ugly things. In the country plantations often conceal beautiful 
 scenes. The whole system of dead walls, useless fences, and the 
 like, deserves to be reconsidered ; and as regards such treasures 
 of park or garden landscape as are enclosed by our own hedges 
 and ditches, whether we are justified in always shutting them out 
 
 from the rest of the world is a point that may well be weighed in 
 the future by many. At present there is too much of the art of 
 fortification in planting. 
 
 In Vincennes, as elsewhere in the public gardens of Paris, 
 false curves and steep abrupt slopes abound ; and, as usual, some 
 of the prettiest parts are marred by the walks and roads. It is 
 indeed difficult to find a bit of green margin to the Avater 
 unspoilt by needlessly ofi'ensive walks. 
 
 In contrast with these hard margins round the Lac des 
 Minimes are some little rocky streamlets which are, on the 
 
Chap. YIl.] 
 
 THE BOIS DE VINX'ENNES. 
 
 105 
 
 other hand, naturally and gracefully disposed. The grass meets 
 the margin of the water as gently as it often docs in natural 
 streams. Little rocks stand in the bed, sometimes clad with 
 plants, while Yuccas, trailing shrubs and marsh plants crowd 
 along the banks. One of these streamlets issues from an Ivy-clad 
 rock, of which an illustration is given. Where the streamlets 
 cross the walks they are conveniently bridged by stepping-stones 
 and rock?!, round which the water-plants cluster. The sketch of 
 the rocky streamlet in this wood shows a successful attempt 
 to ornament the mouth of a rivulet as it joins a piece of water. 
 
 Near where a streamlet enters the larger lake, there is a group 
 of little islets dotting the water, as shown in the engraving of the 
 
 Rocky Streamlet with Yuccas and trailing Shrubs. 
 
 view across the lake. Islets of this kind artistically formed are a 
 pleasing feature in good water, and they have a use of which some 
 of their designers never thought, in the culture and preservation 
 of a variety of hardy flowers, quite at home in such places. It 
 is often possible in such situations to establish little colonies 
 of bog, or marsh, or rock plants, which could not so easily be 
 grown elsewhere. The safety from encroachment by coarser 
 plants, the complete exposure with at the same time abundant 
 moisture, and the power of isolating a species or a family where 
 that soems desirable, make it clear that such spots might be made 
 
106 THE TAKKS AND GAl^PEXS OF PAKIS. [Chai'. VII. 
 
 mucli better use of tliau leaving tlieni to briars and weeds, though 
 even with these they are charming. The margin of the hirger 
 lake near these little rocks, and indeed in many other parts, 
 compares favourably witli the more abrupt and stiff lines of the 
 Lac des Minimes. 
 
 A restaurant near the Lac des Minimes well shows how such 
 conveniences may be introduced into public parks without render- 
 ing them objectionable. It commands good views of the park and 
 water from the groups of trees by which it is partially hidden 
 It would be well if like care were always taken to veil such 
 structures. In this park are the City Nursery for herbaceous 
 l)lants, and the Fruit Garden of the City, descriptions of which 
 are given in another chapter. The first is an excellent establish- 
 ment for the supply of a large city. 
 
 The system of planting the same subjects in the same pro- 
 portions, that now obtains in nearly all gardens public and private 
 tliroughout Europe, makes them nearly all alike in details ; and 
 this park, instead of offering an absolute change in details 
 from others, simply repeats the same things. Under this system, 
 public parks do not represent a tithe of the beauty and interest 
 of the vegetable kingdom of which they are capable, taking into 
 consideration their extent, their variety in soil and surface, and 
 the large sums spent upon them. Everywhere in them we see 
 vast surfaces almost totally neglected, or only garnished with a 
 few commonplace trees : everywhere evidence that no thought is 
 given to the production of noble and jjermanent features. Some- 
 times, indeed, one or two spots are embellished at great expense 
 during the summer months with tender plants, while the re- 
 mainder of the surface is usually wholly uncared for. This is like 
 decorating a man clad in fluttering rags with a costly button- 
 hole bouquet. But the radical fault, everywhere strikingly 
 apparent, is monotony in the materials used. A tree or a shrub 
 becomes popular, and is planted everywhere in about the same 
 proportion. Thus we invariably find similar types of vegetation 
 everywhere, while the capabilities of city parks as instructive 
 national gardens are quite undeveloped. 
 
 The system best calculated to give us the noblest series of 
 public gardens the Avorld has ever seen, is to treat them as a whole, 
 and to establish in each a distinct typo of vegetation. Fur txuiuj)k', 
 
ClIAP. VII.] 
 
 THE BOIS ]^E VIXCENNES. 
 
 10 1 
 
 wc might devote oue city park chiefly to large deciduous trees ; 
 another, say a suburban oue, as liiehmond, mainly to evergreen 
 forest trees ; a third to the almost countless flowering deciduous 
 trees and shrubs that are the glory of the grove and copse in all 
 nortliern and temperate countries ; and so on. Or we might 
 treat the sul)ject geographically, and have one small park of 
 Frencli or British trees, shrubs, and plants; another of European, 
 a third of American, a fourth of Siberian, and so on. Tliis phin 
 
 Sircamlct cttteriiig Lake. 
 
 does not involve the rejection of other types of vegetation. On 
 tlie contrary, their presence would often be necessary to contrast 
 with those to which a park or garden might be chiefly devoted. 
 But even if it were determined to devote a park exclusively to the 
 vegetation of one country, no one need doubt that the highest 
 elfects could be produced by it alone who remembers what we find 
 in our lanes and woodbinds from the association of a few kinds of 
 native phints. We could, hy the adoption of this system, define 
 
108 
 
 THE TARKS AND GARDENS OF PAINS. [Chap. YII. 
 
 for eacli mancagor of a public garden, in what direction bis efforts 
 sboubl cbietly tend ; give eacb a distinct aim, and tbereby free 
 bim from puerile rivalry with bis fellows in tbe matter of " bedding 
 plants." He could then take up a Family, Order, or Flora, and 
 develop its beauty and variety to tbe completest extent. In tbe 
 vast expanse of our public gardens, there is not one interesting 
 
 and important 
 branch of arboricul- 
 ture or horticulture 
 which could not be 
 developed in a way 
 hitherto quite unex- 
 ampled. On our 
 botanic gardens al- 
 ready in existence— 
 of which many of 
 the older ones are 
 not large enougli 
 for the proper 
 grouping and ar- 
 rangement of one 
 single family of trees 
 — the system would 
 have the best results. 
 It would relieve the 
 botanic gardens of 
 the necessity of 
 cramming every 
 available plant or 
 tree into a small space, and permit their managers to devote 
 most of their attention to the many tribes of plants which require 
 special and continual care or renewal. 
 
 Generally our national gardens give no more idea of the beauty 
 of vegetation, than the fountain-basin does of the sea. No botanic 
 garden in existence gives any worthy expression of the vegetation 
 of even the cold and temperate climes of Europe alone ! What do 
 we see of the beauty and character of any one large family of trees 
 by planting them all at regular intervals over a plot, or in the 
 various ways they are at present arranged in lx)tanic gardens ? 
 
 Margin of Lake nenr Temple, ivith tuft of Giant Antndo. 
 
CuAP. VII.] THE BOIS DE YIXCENNES. 109 
 
 This plan might be continued, if we have no higher object than to 
 procure specimens to illustrate the scientific names that men have 
 given plants. But if our aim be to show the inexhaustible beauty 
 and dignity of the vegetable kingdom, we must disentangle our- 
 selves from such limitations. And, clearly, the way to do this 
 is to treat each city's series of gardens (both botanic gardens and 
 parks) as a whole, developing in each some distinguishing feature 
 — from the smallest square with a complete collection of Ivies or 
 Hawthorns, to the noblest park adorned with the trees of a 
 hundred hills. 
 
 Finally, though the subject suggests other points of interest, 
 lot it be considered what a noble school of instruction the parks 
 of Paris or London, New York, or any other great city, might in 
 this way become. The whole would thus be made a great 
 experimental garden, in which every question in connection with 
 arboriculture might be thoroughly tested. In every direction 
 distinct types of vegetation would be met with, instead of the 
 " universal mixture " now everywhere seen, and which so soon and 
 so thoroughly trains the eye to take no more notice of trees or 
 plants than of the railing-spikes round a square. The contents of 
 no botanic garden now in existence would be worthy of mention 
 compared with the good results we could obtain in this way. It 
 is not, like many of the changes we long for in towns, impossible 
 to carry out from want of means. The adoption of it would at once 
 tend to make the expenditure of every shilling in our public 
 gardens go toward definite and precious results, and by it we 
 should soon have national gardens worthier of the name than any 
 hitherto in existence. 
 
 Near Lac des Minimcs, shelving had effect of Road and Walk paralUl wiih Margin. 
 
110 THE PAinvS AND GARDENS OF TAIUS. [Cnvr. YIII 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 Squares. 
 
 It would perhaps be difficult to find a greater contrast than that 
 presented by the London and the Paris squares, both as regards 
 their arrangement and management. Most people are familiar 
 enough with the aspects of squares in London, their ill-keeping, 
 melancholy and deserted air, well though the scraggy hedges 
 of miserable Privet conceal their interior. Indeed they are 
 so carefully hedged in and locked up that of them might well 
 be written the motto, " Thieves without, and nothing to steal 
 within." 
 
 If we glance at the state of a few of the best-known squares in 
 Paris before entering on the general question of the management 
 of city squares, we shall be able to get a general idea of the very 
 different system pursued in that city, and of its value as a guide 
 
Chap. VIII.] SQUARES, TLACKS, ETC. Ill 
 
 to ns in dealing with such important open spaces in large towns, 
 The Square and Tour St. Jacques well illustrate judicious city 
 improvements. This tower, originally part of an old church, and 
 hidden from view by tall, narrow, dirty streets which crowded 
 around it, is now one of the most striking objects in Paris ; while 
 the garden is a source of much pleasure and benefit to the people 
 in this central neighbourhood. 
 
 The first thing that strikes the visitor in this square is its 
 freshness, perfect keeping, and the numbers of people in it, reading, 
 working, or playing. " The same reason," it is said in ' Guesses 
 at Truth,' " which calls for the restoration of our village greens, 
 calls no less imperatively in London for the throwing open of the 
 gardens in all the squares. What briglit refreshing spots would 
 these be in the midst of our huge In'ick and stone lal)yrinths, if we 
 saw them crowded on summer evenings with the tradespeople and 
 mechanics from the neighbouring streets, and if the poor children 
 who now grow up amid the filth and impurities of the alleys and 
 courts, were allowed to run about these playgrounds, so much 
 healthier both for the body and the mind ! We have them all 
 ready, a word may open them. At present the gardens in our 
 squares are painful mementoes of exclusiveness. They who need 
 tliem the least, monopolize them. All the fences and walls by 
 which this exclusiveness bars itself out from 
 the sympathies of common humanity must 
 be cast down." The aspect of this square 
 with its wnde walks thronged by people, 
 would have well realized that writer's ideal 
 of what a square should be. No gardens 
 contain more beautiful or diverse objects 
 than are here for all who will enjoy them. Portion of Marsino/ a raru 
 It is almost as attractive to the passer-by as •^^'""■'■' '"" ''"'^''^ '"■ 
 to those inside, for instead of a clump of shrubs of commonplace 
 character cutting it oft' from view, there is a belt of grass of 
 varying widtli, kept perfectly fresh and green, and on it here and 
 there large beds and groups usually distinct from each other. 
 Now it is a fine bed of the dwarf Fan-palm, as easily seen from 
 the street as in the square ; now a group of shade-giving hardy 
 trees, furnished beneath with evergreens, and finished oft" with 
 flowers; next, a mixed Ix-d of Dahlias and other tall autumn 
 
112 THE PARKS AND GAUDEXS OF PARTS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 flowers, and so on. On tlie carpets of fresh grass between these 
 various clumps there are isolated trees to give the necessary shade 
 and dignity, and to flower in their season. In nearly every case 
 the stems of these are clothed with climbers, generally Ivy, 
 occasionally Aristolocliia and Clematis. But the grassy carpet is 
 also ornamented by smaller, though not less beautiful things than 
 the large trees just mentioned. It is sparsely dotted with plants 
 having fine leaves, or distinct character, as Acanthuses, large 
 grasses, and Yuccas. 
 
 Between the walk and the tower there is a little lawn, and in 
 one bay of its green carpet, sheltered on three sides, but coming 
 boldly into view from the greater part of the square, is a specimen 
 of the noblest of fine-leaved plants, the great Abyssinian Musa. 
 It is about twelve feet high ; the base appears quite two feet in 
 diameter ; the young leaves made during the season are intact, 
 each of them eight feet long, with a great red tapering midrib, 
 like a huge billiard cue, running from base to point. Believed 
 by the foliage of the trees of our own latitude, it forms a fine 
 object. In the immediate foreground there is a mass of a scarcely 
 less striking plant, the edible Caladium, which springs from a 
 groundwork of Mignonette. In like manner are scattered over 
 the green (the central parts being kept clear to secure a little 
 breadth and repose) striking sj)ecimens or groups of specimens, 
 some of which it would repay the city to grow, if only to give 
 art students living specimens of the finest leaf-forms. 
 
 Amidst the whole stands the famous old tower, its beauty 
 greatly enhanced by being set in a pleasant garden. At every 
 step the square presents a new charm. About this Tour St. 
 Jacques were tried for the first time the Wigandias, now the 
 admiration of so many in both French and English gardens, the 
 Cannas, the Musas, Palms, Ficuses, and others of the better 
 kinds of what may be termed the flora of Parisian gardens. 
 What a change from tlie filth and consequent uuwholcsomeness 
 of its old state ! How diff"erent from the small squares around 
 our churches and monuments ! 
 
 Although our island is in good repute for its natural verdure, 
 there are few of us who would not be persuaded of the necessity 
 of more efficient watering in our public gardens if tlicy had seen 
 the Square Montrouge during the last days of August. To say 
 
Chap. YIII.] 
 
 SQUARES, PLACES, ETC. 
 
 113 
 
 it was green would be to give the faintest idea of the glistening 
 verdure displayed by everything in it, from the trees to the grass. 
 It is a very small place, but quite a gem in its way. It is laid 
 out with belts of low trees and shrubs ; the centre of the little 
 lawn left unadorned, while all around its edges really distinct 
 plants are dotted about. A handsome specimen of Bambusa 
 aurea, planted alone on the grass, helps to show what may be 
 expected of these tall, shrub-like grasses in the time to come : 
 
 tlicy will impart to our gardens an entirely new aspect, and that 
 of the most desirable sort. The one we suppose to be the hardiest 
 of all is tenderer than several other species grown in Parisian 
 gardens. This little Square Montrouge has lately been marred of 
 much of its beauty l)y an attempt to adorn it with statuary, one 
 wretched thing in the centre indeed taking away almost all its 
 grace. The remarks on statuary in the chapter on Versailles 
 apply with greater force to statuary in small squares. 
 
114 
 
 THE PAllKS AND GAEDENS OF PAPxTS. [Cn.vr. VIII. 
 
 Slunving widening of Walk for Playground, luilh 
 Seats and Shade-giving Trees. 
 
 The Sqnare des BatignoUes is one of the largest in Paris. 
 Entering from its lower side, the general scheme is seen to be 
 
 that of a little vale, down 
 which meanders a streamlet, 
 ending in a small round piece 
 of water. The rich grassy 
 sides of the streamlet sloj:)e up 
 till they end in dense planta- 
 tions, so well planted and 
 watered that they look as fresh 
 as if growing far from a large 
 city. The walk round the 
 grass expands from a breadth 
 of ten or a dozen feet to forty, in the first corner of the square, 
 so that the children find little playgrounds without going on the 
 grass. The Plane-trees have Honeysuckles trained up their stems 
 here — a pretty mode of training them. 
 
 Here is a profuse variety of the very best shrubs, flowering 
 and otherwise ; all these groups of shrubs being edged with 
 flowers. Indeed, it is these margins that afibrd the floral 
 display ; and the absence of all attempt to make a garden of the 
 coloured-cotton-handkerchief pattern makes it almost as free 
 from gaudiness as a ferny dell in a forest. The keeping is 
 perfect, and there is no fence between the public and the flowers 
 but an edging of rustic iron, which rises about five inches above 
 the gravel, and is placed about two inches outside the grass. 
 
 The streamlet is tastefully margined with tufts of water-plants, 
 but a novel feature is added. At some distance from the margin 
 — from four to ten feet — are planted here and there single 
 specimens of plants which, while not absolutely aquatic, associate 
 well with such plants ; for instance, hardy Bamboos, Yuccas, 
 Erianthus, and other large grasses, some fine Acanthus latifolius, 
 the Pampas grass, and Tamarix. 
 
 The square or garden around the Hotel Cluny and Palais des 
 Thermes is quite distinct from all its fellows, and rightly so. 
 Inclosing ruins and a museum of antiquities, the character of 
 both has been imparted to it by arranging some of the rougher 
 and more enduring objects in it ; and being green and shady, 
 the efi'ect of the whole is quiet and good, though situated 
 
Chap. VIIL] 
 
 SQUARES, I'LACKS, ETC. 
 
 115 
 
 alongside the busy Boulevard St. Michel. As in many cities there 
 are old ruins and buildings bearing some resemblance to those in 
 this garden, it may not be amiss to say that they are always 
 greatly enhanced by being surrounded with the simplest kind of 
 garden. Ivy, grass, and a few hardy trees and shrubs are 
 sufficient to change their aspect from grimncss, hardness, and 
 
 ^ilratmut tit I'arts 6y 
 
 and Water-side flan'.s. 
 
 decay to great beauty. A few seeds of Alpine plants shaken in 
 tlie tufts of moss or cracks of mortar would give rise to a dwarf 
 vegetation interesting in itself, and also as illustrating the cease- 
 less spring of life even in the most unlikely places. For the 
 embellishment of gardens round old buildings, abbeys, (tc, there 
 
 I 2 
 
116 THE I'AKKS AND GAEDEXS OF TATiTR. [Chap. VTTI. 
 
 are usually dhjecta menih-a, not of importance enough to be pre- 
 served indoors, in sufficient abundance, and if arranged somewhat 
 as they are here, the result will prove satisfactory. The grounds 
 of the museum at York afford an admirable example of good taste 
 in this kind of garden. 
 
 Although so far in advance of our own squares in every way, it 
 may be noted that the idea was first taken from London ; but 
 while we Londoners still persist in keeping the squares exclusively 
 for the few overlooking residents, and usually without a trace of 
 any but the poorest plant ornament, the French make them as 
 open as our parks, and decorate them with a charming variety of 
 trees and plants. 
 
 " It has been often remarked," says M. Eobert Mitchell of 
 Paris, "and with great reason, that the English have carried 
 their material civilization further than we have. Comparisons 
 have frequently been made between Paris and London that were 
 not at all to our advantage, and we are obliged to allow that the 
 sort of accusation brought against us was not wanting in justice. 
 It is not many years since the boundaries of Paris inclosed an old 
 city that was a disgrace to our civilization; streets, or rather 
 fissures, without ventilation, and unhealthy districts where an 
 entire population of poor people were languishing and dying. 
 Now, however — thanks to the useful and important works that 
 have been lately carried out — the sun shines everywhere ; streets 
 have been enlarged, and every one has sufficient air to breathe. 
 Paris contains but few unhealthy alleys, whilst in London the 
 existence of such localities as Berm(ftidsey, Soho, St. Giles's, 
 Spitalfields, Whitechapel, &c., &c., is still to be deplored. 
 
 " We are far from forgetting the immense development of 
 material civilization in England. We simply mean to say that 
 our neighbours frequently invent for the sake of privilege, and 
 that when their ideas are good we take advantage of them and 
 popularize them We will take a single example: every one 
 knows how justly the English pride themselves on their gardens 
 called squares, which are the admiration of every foreigner. Our 
 unfortunate public places that the pedestrian cannot cross in 
 summer without being grilled by the sun or blinded by the dust, 
 only serve as examples of our inferiority in this respect. The 
 square, that is to say, a garden surrounded l)y a railing, is at 
 
Chap. VIII.] SQUARES, PLACES, ETC. 117 
 
 ouce the representation of a question of health, a question of 
 morality, and perhaps even of national self-respect. We certainly 
 could boast of the Place Koyale, which, however, much more 
 closely resembled an unsuccessful attempt than the first step in 
 a happy direction. At present, however, Paris need envy London 
 for nothing. The Squares of St. Jacques, La Boucherie, St. 
 Clothilde, the Temple, Louvois, des Arts et Metiers, and the Pare 
 Monceau are worthy of our city. These masses of vegetation 
 widely distributed amongst the most populous neighbourhoods, 
 cleanse the air by absorbing the miasmatic exhalations, thus 
 enabling everyone to breathe freely. 
 
 " Before the establishment of the Paris squares, the existence 
 of a great number of children was passed in confined and 
 unwholesome districts The fresh air for them was only the 
 threshold of a vitiated atmosphere. They were obliged to walk 
 far before they could find a patch of verdure or a bit of country. 
 The children went out but little ; it was thought useless to 
 dress them or make them clean, because they never went out 
 of their own neighbourhood, and in this way their early 
 years passed away. How many times have we not noticed with 
 painful emotion these little, ragged, pale creatures, who never 
 apparently thought of the filtli in which they were obliged to 
 live ! 
 
 "' Now, thank God, this dark picture has become bright. Within 
 a couple of steps of the poor man's house there are trees, flowers, 
 and gravel- walks where his children can run about, and seats 
 where their parents may sit together and talk. Family ties are 
 strengthened, and the workman soon understands that there are 
 calmer and more moral pleasures than those in the wine-shop. 
 Again, the diff'ereut degrees of the members of the working-classes 
 meet together on common ground, and parental feeling is developed 
 by emulation. A child must not be allowed to be ragged for fear 
 of its being remarked, and we will answer for it that a woman in 
 whose breast maternal instinct has not been entirely smothered 
 will never take her child into a public place without first paying 
 attention to the cleanliness which is the ornament of the poor. 
 Some time ago, while walking through the Square du Temple, 
 where hundreds of children were running and jumping and filling 
 their lungs with the country air tliat has thus been brought into 
 
118 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Paris, we could not help saying to ourselves that, strengthened 
 and developed by continual exorcise, these youngsters would one 
 day form a true race of men, which would give the State excellent 
 soldiers, good labourers for our farms, and strong artisans for our 
 factories. 
 
 " It has already been stated that the English originate privileges, 
 and that we popularize and perfect their ideas. We shall prove 
 what we advance by comparison. The Parisian iEdiles have 
 made squares wherever a too-crowded population threatened to 
 contaminate the atmosphere, and in all the parts of the city 
 farthest from the Tuileries, the Luxembourg, or the Bois de 
 Boulogne, so that those living in the neighbourhood might be 
 able to get to them easily. In London, on the contrary, with but 
 few exceptions, there are no squares worthy of the name, except 
 in rich and open neighbourhoods. The largest and most beautiful 
 gardens are found at the West-end in Belgravia, or at Brompton, 
 that is to say, at the very gates of Hyde Park. With us trees are 
 planted for sanitary reasons, and the squares have been established 
 more especially in those neighbourhoods where the atmosphere 
 most required to be constantly purified, and to this end trees of a 
 particular sort were chosen for their power of absorption. 
 
 " In London they appear to have been above everything anxious 
 about the health of the trees ; a healthy and warm climate was 
 chosen for them in open neighbourhoods close to the parks, so 
 that they should not suffer too much from home sickness. We do 
 not mean to say that the city, for instance, or the other parts of 
 the town are completely provided with squares, but simply that 
 they are so small and mean that they give one the idea of 
 having been blown into their position by the wind. But the 
 headquarters of misery that we spoke of a short time ago — those 
 masses of crumbling houses — those networks of dark alleys — in a 
 word, all that most need pure air and daylight — have been forgotten, 
 or rather neglected, while the richer parts have been improved. 
 In Paris the squares are open to everyone : in England they are 
 locked up, surrounded by a railing surmounted with spikes, and 
 planted with bushes so as to impede the view of all that is going 
 on inside. By the payment of a small sum, generally a pound a 
 year, each inhabitant of the houses forming the four sides of the 
 8»inare has the right to a key of the gate. So that for a poor 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 SQUARES, PLACES, ETC. 
 
 119 
 
 man to walk with his family in any of these gardens, he must first 
 live in a square and pay a high rent for the privilege, and then 
 contribute a pound a year towards the expense of maintaining it. 
 Practically these squares are useless, and nearly always deserted. 
 In London the squares are private property with which the State 
 cannot meddle. With us, on the contrary, it is the Government 
 that takes the initiative in these municipal improvements. It is 
 to the city of Paris that we owe their construction ; they have 
 cost a great deal, and the idea has to be yet further carried out. 
 
 
 Acanthus on Turf in Paris Square. 
 
 " It is only necessary to walk in the neighbourhood of any of 
 the squares of Paris towards the middle of the day to see with 
 what pleasing readiness they are frequented by the working-classes. 
 To give only an example, the Square des Arts et Metiers is so 
 crowded with people after four o'clock that it is impossible to pass 
 through it. It was at one time said that the establishment of a 
 public garden was an idea that was perfectly practical in London, 
 but not in Paris, where the inhabitants were so turbulent and 
 revolutionary that they would soon pull down the trees, pluck the 
 flowers, and pull up the plants by the roots. Experience, how- 
 
120 THE TAKKS AND GARDENS OF PAHIS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 ever, has shown how utterly this opinion was devoid of founda- 
 tion. At the inauguration of the Pare Monceau all the gates 
 were thrown open to the crowd. No surveillance Avas exercised 
 over the fifty thousand persons who crowded the walks. At the 
 end of the day the total amount of damage done only amounted to 
 some thirty-five shillings for a few turf borders that had been 
 trampled upon. The fact is perfectly conclusive. Besides, the 
 squares have now been opened for a long time, and the numberless 
 frequenters of them have conducted themselves with admirable 
 order and decency. The people evidently understand that they 
 are at home ; that it is for their especial behoof that the gardens 
 have been constructed ; they know that in pulling up a flower it 
 is their own property they are destroying ; and, moreover, they 
 evince a respectful gratitude for the hands that have given them 
 these pleasant places of resort. The establishment of public 
 squares in Paris is an eminently social idea. We repeat it tends 
 to regenerate the human race by the development of the physical 
 forces ; by exercise in the open air it improves the morals of the 
 people, by allowing the working-man to change the dirty wine- 
 shop for a pleasant walk and an agreeable resting-place ; and, 
 lastly, it proves our readiness to adopt in our own country what- 
 ever appears good and useful to our neighbours." 
 
 It is to be hoped that we in our turn shall show an equal 
 readiness to profit by the excellent examj)le shown us in city 
 squares. There are many private squares in London which 
 merely occupy space that otherwise would be devoted to the 
 gardens of the houses around ; but, on the other hand, there are 
 not a few which seem to invite a trial of the system found to work 
 so well in Paris. 
 
 Whatever the condition of the squares of London now, we should 
 be thankful that we have them. The haunts of disease are 
 weakened by these islets in our desert of slate, brick, and mud. 
 In them the sun shines — dimly, no doubt, from our smoke-plague 
 — the air seems to attain a little more freedom, and trees persist 
 in growing, no matter how badly they are treated. We have 
 many squares in London, but assuredly not half so many as its 
 colossal expanse requires. In the suburbs, unhappily, they do 
 not seem fashionable with the cheap builders nowadays. If 
 matters were arranged as in Paris, the square and the wide airy 
 
ClIAK VIII.] 
 
 SQUARES, PLACES, ETC. 
 
 121 
 
 road would be laid down long before the builder came to arrange 
 tlie ground as seemed best to him. There they say to him : Here 
 you may build, but do not encroach on the space necessary for 
 public convenience ; and thus avoid the tortuous, close, and often 
 dirty suburban roads which tend to make many districts round 
 Loudon unvisited by and unknown to all but their immediate 
 inhabitants. A broad and pleasant tree-planted road through 
 such a district would, by opening it up and making it attractive 
 to the inhabitants of London generally, prove as beneficial from a 
 commercial as from a sanitary and an aesthetic point of view. 
 And if such roads as convenience and 
 good taste demand existed in a city the 
 size of London, squares would be of less 
 importance. Our Thames Embankment, 
 for example, is better than a score of 
 squares. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary to point out 
 the benefits that a square confers on the 
 district immediately around it. All, or 
 nearly all, our present expenditure for 
 public gardening is on the vast parks of 
 which London is happily the possessor. 
 As, however, many of the parks are 
 separated by miles from each other, the 
 squares or any open space is of the highest 
 importance. Parks for play and exercise, and beautiful garden 
 scenery, let us have by all means ; but our great want is the 
 smaller open spaces called squares, and wide roads planted with 
 trees. We have in London squares of various degrees of mag- 
 nitude and keeping, from the West Central squares, with their 
 tine old trees, to the new ones at Brompton ; from the wide 
 West-end square to the small dark grimy ones in Soho or the 
 City ; but even the best of them are badly kept, and unworthy of 
 Loudon. No clear idea of what a square should be seems to have 
 been possessed by those who designed them. The chief feature 
 they have in common is a dirty and ugly crowded bank of Lilac 
 and other common shrubs just within the margin, to prevent a 
 view into them. 
 
 There is nothing in any of our parks, there is no feature in 
 
 " Thieves without and nothing to 
 steal within." 
 
 Margin of a London Square, with 
 Edge o/ Plantation designed to 
 cut offtlie Vie-M {Park Crescent] . 
 
122 'I'lIK TAliKS AND OAKDENS OF TAEIS. [Chai'. YIll. 
 
 any of our public gardens, more beautiful and effective than even 
 our small squares could be made ; but little can be done so long 
 as the absurd system of cutting off the scene from public view, 
 and from the view of the jiersons who inhabit the square, prevails. 
 There are squares in London in which views, almost Arcadian in 
 their beauty, could be made; yet, except from the windows of 
 the houses that surround them, one can see nothing but a struggle 
 between Privet and Lilac. Two of the finest weeping Ash-trees 
 in London are near the margin of Brunswick Square, but they 
 are so surrounded by the usual mean scrub that they are rarely 
 recognized by the passer-by. Cleared around and surrounded by 
 well-kept turf, they would prove ornaments to the whole district. 
 But it may be urged that the squares are private property, and 
 that their owners have a perfect right to keep them shut out 
 from public view, if so disposed. Even so, it is quite possible 
 to do this without making the margin inviting as a receptacle for 
 miscellaneous rubbish, and without concealing the finest objects 
 the squares contain. 
 
 By allowing the grass to venture near the railing here and 
 there, and dotting it with flowers and isolated shrubs, so as to 
 permit of pleasant peeps into the interior, quite a new aspect 
 would be given to our now gloomy squares, and the change would 
 not by any means destroy privacy. No conceivable harm could 
 come of making these little gardens attractive to the public, and 
 in doing so, to those having " vested rights " also. There can be 
 little doubt that if we could drop the Square Montrouge into our 
 West Central district, there would soon be a general desire on 
 the part of the owners of our squares that they should be disposed 
 in like manner. In that small, much-frequented square, may be 
 seen plants in masses in the open air as valuable as those exposed 
 in our great public gardens here, and that without the least 
 danger, though crowds frequent the place from morning till after 
 dusk. 
 
 Another important feature of the arrangement of our squares, 
 and one which, like the filthy and crowded marginal shrubbery, 
 is common to nearly all of them, is the disposition of the central 
 portion. The ground is usually so small that it is desirable to 
 make the most of it. The best way to make it look mean and 
 contracted is to build a structure varying in appearance from 
 
CuAp. VIII.] SQUAKES, PLACES, ETC. 123 
 
 a wooden fowl-house to a bathing-machine. Yet this is what is 
 clone in the majority of the " best " London squares. The eye 
 is thus fixed on the contemptible objects in the centre, an agree- 
 able spread of turf is made impossible, and the beauty of the trees 
 or shrubs cannot be felt. It is unwise to desire uniformity in 
 any art, but one principle deserves being engraved on the mind 
 of every person who has the care of squares, which is that the 
 best way to obtain an excellent effect is by keeping the centre 
 open and grassy, untortured by walks, hedges, or beds. 
 
 The gardening in our squares is of a peculiarly lugubrious 
 description, and of a style quite apart. Hardy subjects are not 
 made a study of, and the bedding plants with which the country 
 is ablaze in many parts are rarely seen. Year after year the 
 same tone of slimy melanclioly 
 is assiduously preserved. The 
 trees crowd upon each other, 
 and even those that tower above 
 all, and assert their dignity in 
 spite of neglect, are not seen to 
 advantage. Any flowers planted 
 usually soon perish in the dismal 
 sliado. 
 
 rpi n 11 1 • 1 Striicliirc in centre of a I.oiului Square. 
 
 Ine walks, generally designed 
 so as to cut through and destroy the prettiest spots in the square, 
 appear to receive most attention, but it is sometimes shared by 
 the ugly, high, and elaborate seats piled round the bases of the 
 beautiful trees so as to cut short the effect of their stems as seen 
 across the lawn. All the necessary seats, as well as tool-houses 
 and arbours, should be placed near or towards the sides, where 
 they would be useful without being obtrusive. It is quite easy 
 to so place such objectionable features that while convenient for 
 shade and comfort, they shall not be objectionable from any 
 point of view. 
 
 The best feature of the Loudon squares is their trees. In the 
 West-Central districts are frequently seen Planes which would 
 command admiration in their native forests. Huddled together, 
 at first, with a number of miscellaneous trees, they, thanks to 
 their constitutions and stature, now tower above the masses of 
 overcrowded shrubs around them, and spread forth their boughs 
 
124 THE PAlUvS AND GAKDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. Ylll. 
 
 so freely that each tree seems as if it tried to fill up the square, 
 "Wheu the multitudinous fires are active around them in -winter, 
 these trees give us in the dreary wastes of London a glimpse of 
 the beauty of the wild woods. And let it not be thought that 
 the Plane is the only tree that would thrive perfectly in our 
 squares, even in the most smoky and crowded parts. It would 
 take a long list to enumerate all the beautiful deciduous trees 
 and shrubs that grow in the temperate and colder regions of 
 the world, and the great majority of which would do perfectly 
 well in our Loudon squares, if properly planted and attended to. 
 It would be perfectly easy, even with our present knowledge, 
 to select as many beautiful trees that would thrive in the squares 
 of London, as would represent in them the brake and forest 
 beauty of every important cold region in America, Europe or 
 Asia. To select such trees and shrubs, and plant them so as to 
 secure to each a due amount of light and air for its develop- 
 ment, should be the aim of those responsible for the squares of 
 London. 
 
 One way of encouraging desirable variety would be the devoting 
 of one square to the trees and shrubs of a particular country; 
 one, for example, might have British trees and shrubs alone, 
 another American trees, another Chinese and Japanese trees and 
 shrubs, and so on. It would be permanent, too ; and permanence 
 in these matters simply means saving of constant trouble and 
 expense. But there is no reason whatever why the squares 
 should be devoted to hardy trees and shrubs alone. On the 
 contrary, the best way would be to allow much latitude, so as to 
 secure variety. When people begin to understand the management 
 of city gardens, one of the first principles they will discover is 
 that each square and small garden should differ as much as 
 possible from its neighbours. Some of the suburban squares 
 might be devoted to that evergreen vegetation which cannot be 
 grown in the central parts ; some in all parts might be gaily 
 decorated with flowers and fine-foliaged plants ; others chiefly 
 with hardy flowers and shrubs, and so on. But little of this 
 kind could be well done unless all or most of the squares were 
 under one responsible head, who could determine what was best 
 to do in each case and prevent imitation and paltry rivalry. 
 
 Private interests and public prejudice may be against the 
 
ClIAP. VIII.] 
 
 SQUARES, TLACES, I-:'rC. 
 
 125 
 
 opening of most of our squares to the public now, and may long 
 continue so, but in the interest of all it is the true plan, and 
 will yet, it is to be hoped, be the rule in all parts of London. 
 The advantages enjoyed by those who " possess keys " are surely 
 not such as need prevent their oft'ering the boon in question to 
 the poorer inhabitants, many of whom, perhaps, seldom have an 
 opportunity of seeing more of nature than is visible in the streets 
 of London. Once devoted to public use, and under intelligent 
 supervision, a modest allowance from the public purse would 
 suffice to convert the squares into beautiful gardens. They 
 would save some from the attractions of the public-house, and 
 keep the world of London children from the gutter. 
 
 A Town Square opened up. 
 
 An important subject in connection with squares and city 
 gardens is that of playgrounds. These small spaces, provided for 
 play and rest, form a commendable feature in the Paris squares. 
 They are usually formed by widening the outer walk of the 
 square at each corner, where trees are generally planted so as to 
 afibrd shade. Here the children play and their nurses work. It 
 is one of the pleasantest sights in Paris to see these playing- 
 places with crowds of happy children on line days. No system 
 of city-gardening can be good which does not meet this want. It 
 is not enough to have open spaces or beautiful little gardens ; we 
 should keep the children from the lilth and dangers of the 
 crowded streets. The best way, in the case of all large cities, is 
 
126 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 to have, as far as possible, squares or open spaces arranged as 
 playgrounds alone. These should be planted with large trees, 
 which, while aftbrding ample shade, would not suffer from the 
 crowds beneath. The smaller class of square would do best as play- 
 grounds, and there are not unfrequcntly in large cities open spaces 
 which, at a trifling expense, might be made into useful recreation- 
 grounds of this kind. The only requirements are hardy trees, 
 gravelled spaces, and seats. In these cases the whole surface 
 should be gravelled over after thorough preparation has been 
 made for the trees. The reason of the superiority of trees alone 
 for such places is that the whole of the space beneath them is 
 free as a playground, while overhead their leaves and flowers and 
 forms may do as much to adorn the neighbourhood as an elaborate 
 garden. In several of the small spaces and squares opened of 
 late in London, an opposite plan has been adopted — that of flower- 
 beds and elaborate gardening ; hence their use as playgrounds is 
 interfered with. Of course garden-squares are needed as well as 
 playiug-squares ; but in most districts the playground is the 
 greater want. 
 
 The recent improvements in Leicester Square invite a word 
 here. A garden of any kind, in lieu of the nuisance of Leicester 
 Square, with its decaying and not inodorous rubbish of various 
 kinds, is a boon to the district, and the most notorious eyesore in 
 London is now to be seen no more. But we have scores of 
 squares needing like changes ; and the manner in which this 
 transformation has been done being likely to influence future 
 work in the same direction, it is desirable that the points in 
 which the design of Leicester Square is deficient should be made 
 known to all interested in such improvements. The first and 
 chief defect in the plan is that it is too much " cut up." There 
 is a broad walk immediately encircling the fountain, and another 
 walk all round, between that and the enclosure, and then there 
 are four other walks, one from each of the four entrances, 
 intersecting the external walk, and leading directly to the one 
 round the fountain. This needless prevalence of gravel instead 
 of turf, is a radical mistake : it is a repetition of the tones of the 
 surrounding houses ; it wearies the eye, and destroys all repose. 
 The fountain is too big for the space, while the lesser pieces of 
 sculpture dotted about would be better away. There is far too 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 SQUARES, PLACES, ETC. 
 
 127 
 
 much of the architect and sculptor, and too little of the gardener. 
 This is a very common defect in the embellishment of town- 
 gardens. In the centre, where there ought to he repose, there is 
 nothing but stone, chairs, gravel — and confusion. As for the 
 planting, much is wrong, both as to the kind of trees selected, and 
 
 The Square and Fountain des Innocents. 
 
 their disposal as to position. It is curious that in spite of all the 
 experience of the constant failure of evergreens in the London 
 squares, few deciduous trees have been employed in the planting 
 of Leicester Square ; Rhododendrons and Portugal Laurels are the 
 plants chiefly made use of, though a moment's thought, with all 
 
128 THE TABKR AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. YIII. 
 
 the experience that our town-plantations furnish, would have 
 shown that trees which do not shed their leaves annually, hecome 
 so encrusted with soot after a single winter in the midst of 
 London smoke, that they soon dwindle into miserable dying 
 objects. 
 
 As the freshness and texture of the lawns in Paris gardens is a frequent subject 
 of remark, we have thought it well to translate the following account of how they 
 are formed. Nothing can surpass the beauty and texture of our own garden- 
 carpets; but the Paris system may be worth trying in countries drier than ours, 
 lu any case, the information conveyed by M. Rafarin to the ' Revue Horticole' 
 is worth repeating. In order to obtain the best results in forming a lawn, three 
 points must not be lost sight of: — 1st. Preparation of the Soil ; 2nd. Choice of 
 Grass-seed ; 3rd. Maintenance. 
 
 1. Preparation of the Soil. — In the first place, it must be well drained, that 
 is, if it be too damp, swampy, or if it rests upon an impenetrable sub-soil. 
 Secondly, light dry soils must be enriched by means of manure, as must also 
 clayey, damp, or cold soils. Thirdly, the soil should be mellowed by repeated 
 ploughings and harrowings, taking care, during each operation, to break the clods, 
 and to extract the stones and roots of weeds. Fourthly, it must be made even 
 by levelling a fortnight after it has been ploughed ; then roll it, break the clods 
 afresh, and finally sow the seed. 
 
 2. Choice of Seeds. — It is indispensable that the seeds used be of the best 
 quality. Having chosen the seeds, mix together those that resemble each other 
 in size, form, and weight, taking care that they are suitable for the natnre of the 
 soil on which they are to be sown. The following are four mixtures that are 
 very commonly used Jn France; they should, however, only be considered as 
 examples, and may be modified according to circumstances. 
 
 FIRST MIXTrRE — FOB A FRESH SOIL, IJirROYED AND rREPARED AS .lUST DIRECTEP. 
 
 lbs. I lbs. 
 
 Agrostis stolnnifera ... 22 Poa trivialis 11 
 
 Bromus pratcnsis ....111,, pratcnsis 22 
 
 Cynosurus cristatus . . . 19? , Lolinm perenno . . • . r>f! 
 
 Festuca tenuifolia .... 22 j Trifoliura rcpcns .... 2\ 
 
 „ rubra 33 
 
 Antlioxanthum odoratuin . 11 | 220 
 
 The amount will suffice for an area of rather more than two acres. For smaller 
 pieces of land and for borders a larger proportion must be used. 
 
 SECOND MIXTl'RE. 
 
 lbs. Ib.-^. 
 
 Agrostis vulga)i.s .... 11 Cynosurus cristatus ... 8^ 
 
 Avena fliivcscens . . . .11 1 Fesluca tenuifolia .... 11 
 
 Bromus pratcn.sis .... 11 ,. liotrropliylln ... 11 
 
Chap. YIIL] SQUARES, 
 
 PLACES, ETC. 
 
 
 lh.«. 
 
 
 U.S. 
 
 Festuca ovina 22 
 
 Pou nemornlis . . . 
 
 . . 11 
 
 „ rubra 11 
 
 Lolinni pereiinc 
 
 77 
 
 Anthoxanfhum (xloratuin . . 11 
 
 Trifoliuni rcptns . . 
 
 • • 21 
 
 Poa trivialis 11 
 
 
 
 
 „ pratensis 11 
 
 
 220 
 
 129 
 
 THIRD MIXTIRE — FOB SHADY GnOIXD, AS. F.iR EXAMI'LE, THAT llEXKATH TREF..S. 
 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 Aira olatior 22 Poa trivialis 8? 
 
 „ flexuosa 22 ,, pratensis 11 
 
 Festuca elatinr 22 „ neinoralis 11 
 
 „ tenuifolia .... 11 T.nliura perenne .... 44 
 
 „ heterophylla ... 22 Trifoliuni rcpens .... 2J 
 
 „ rubra 22 
 
 Anthoxanthura odoi atnin . .11 220 
 
 Holcus lanatus Hi 
 
 For small patches, an increase of 20 to 50 per cent, is required. 
 
 FOIRTH MIXTURE — FOR CALCAREOUS SOILS. 
 
 lbs. i lbs. 
 
 Agrostis slolonifera . .11 Aiitlioxantburn odoratuni . . lOJ 
 
 „ vulgaris . . . .11 Poa trivialis 11 
 
 Bromus pratentiis . . . . 33 i Loliuni perenne 88 
 
 Cynosurus cristatus . . .11 Trifolium rcpens .... 2} 
 
 Festuca ovina 11 
 
 rubra 22 | 220 
 
 For borders and small plots, from 20 to 50 per cent, more should be used. 
 Sowing should take place in the spring in the case of stiff, damp, or cold soils, 
 and in autumn in soils that arc light, dry, or scorched, and, a.s far as possible, 
 when the weather is calm, and the earth cool without being damp. Each variety 
 of seed, of which the mixture is composed, should be sown separately, commen- 
 cing with that of which there is the largest quantity, and which requires to be 
 buried at a greater depth in the soil than the others ; and finishing with that of 
 which there is the smallest proportion. After each sowing, harrow with an im- 
 plement of a power proportionate to the depth which each kind of seed should 
 reach. Then beat down the earth (esfiecially if it bo light), and scatter a 
 layer of mould to the depth of an inch or so. Finally, water when the soil has 
 become dry to hasten germination, which will take place in from eight to forty- 
 five days according to the variety. 
 
 3. Maintenance. — The old popular saying — " Water makes the Grass," proves 
 the importance of frequent waterings fur maintaining turf in perfect order. It is 
 necessary to water after each cutting and whenever the ground becomes too dry. 
 Each year in autumn and during cotjl but not damp weather in spring, after 
 having given the turf a vigorous harrowing, and, above all, those parts which are 
 covered with Moss, first remove the Mf>ss and noxious weed.s — an operation which 
 
 K 
 
ino 
 
 'rilF. r.\lU\S AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chai-. VIII. 
 
 is iiulisix-nsabli', thuu;.;!! t(x) often neglected, and which it is necessary to 
 repeat during tlie course of tlic year, whenever they make their apiicarance ; 
 secondly, sow the seed over all parts which are bare ; thirdly, scatter upon the 
 surface a layer of good soil, using guano if the ground requires enriching; fourthly, 
 roll with a roller, the weight of which is adapted to the nature of the soil. 
 Lawns should be mown with the scythe once or twice a month in spring, 
 three times a mouth during the summer, ceasing towards the end of October, 
 so that the Grass may grow again before the winter frosts set in. 
 
 AVitliin the past few years there have been signs of slight 
 change for the better in some squares in London. Some of the 
 ugliest structures in the centre, and the most puerile features 
 have in various cases been removed ; but much remains yet to be 
 done. The best recent work in London is in Bedford Square, 
 which has been very much improved by Mr. Meston for the Duke 
 of Bedford. The dwindling, mean, undershrub vegetation has 
 been swept away, root and branch, from beneath the fine old 
 Planes, which now stand out grandly over the smaller trees. 
 Unsuitable and decaying trees have been cut down, and the soil 
 renewed on the surface, so that since then the trees that remain 
 have grown well, and there has been fresh green turf throughout 
 the summer. The effect from the streets, but more particularly 
 from the windows of the surrounding houses, is greatly improved. 
 It is to be hoped that this step of the Duke of Bedford's may 
 happily inaugurate a general adoj)tion of such improvements. 
 The capabilities, so to speak, of many of the older London 
 squares are so remarkable, that a little good taste and good 
 gardening are all that are required to make them beautiful 
 gardens and a credit to the nation. 
 
 Tuft of large grass (Sorghum) in Paris sijuarc. 
 
( 131 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Avenues and Boulevards. 
 
 Parks and gardens are excellent in tlieir way, but they effect 
 only a partial good if vast areas of densely-packed streets are 
 unrelieved by green or open spots where the air may obtain a 
 vantage ground in its work of removing impurities. The slight 
 good efl'ected by fine parks placed here and there in or towards 
 the outskirts of a city is as nothing compared with what may be 
 carried out by so planning and planting streets and roads that 
 the air might be comparatively pure and free, and the eye 
 refreshed with green at almost every point. What would the 
 new boulevards of white stone be without the softening and 
 refreshing aid of those long lines of trees that everywhere rise 
 around the buildings, helping them somewhat as the grass does 
 the buttercups? The makers of new Paris— who deserve the 
 thanks of the inhabitants of all the filthy cities of the world 
 for setting such an example — answer these questions for us by 
 pulling down close and noisome quarters, where the influence of 
 fresh air and trees was not felt ; by piercing the city with long 
 wide streets, flanked with rows of trees ; and by relieving in 
 every possible direction man's work in stone with the changeful 
 beauty of tree-life. It is pleasant to add that these improvements 
 of Paris were not part of the scheme of one government only. 
 Since the Empire the good work has gone on more vigorously, 
 and certainly more economically than before. Only lately, two 
 of the most striking improvements ever effected in Paris — the 
 avenue from the Opera to the Rue de Rivoli, and the I^oulevard 
 St. Germain, have been completed. 
 
 Paris shows the most praiseworthy attempts yet seen to render 
 an originally close and dirtv citv hcalthv and pleasant ; and this 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE rAP.KS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. [Chap. TX. 
 
 has been cliiefly effected by her vast system of wide streets and 
 roads bordered with trees, and with footways as wide as many of 
 the old streets. These streets do not merely pass throupjh the city in 
 a few important lines, but pierce it in every direction, and are 
 designed upon a far-seeing and systematic plan. ]\Iany visitors 
 who walk along the crowded boulevards of central Paris, who see 
 those extending in all directions from the Arc de Triomphe and 
 offering bold approaches to every important position, may yet 
 have but a meagre idea of their vast extent in the outward and 
 less-known regions of the city. The elm-bordered Boulevards 
 Sebastopol and St. Michel cut through Paris from north to south 
 in a straight line, and on their way effectually open up the old 
 Latin quarter and many others as bad ; while beyond their outer 
 extremities and between the fortifications and the central districts 
 still larger boulevards sweep round, wide enough to be planted 
 with groves of trees, and to prevent overcrowding for all time. 
 Immediately within the fortifications there is a wide boulevard 
 running round the city under various names for many miles, 
 while from every circular open space — like the Place du Trone, 
 Place du Trocadero, Place d'ltalie, or Place de I'Etoile — broad 
 tree-planted streets radiate. In fact the whole of the space 
 within the fortifications is netted over by them, and the outer 
 and less-frequented boulevards are often much wider than the 
 central ones. In many instances these outer boulevards pass 
 through parts but thinly or not at all populated, so that the 
 buildings of the future cannot encroach upon the space necessary 
 for free circulation, air, and trees. 
 
 How backward we are in England, those can tell who know 
 what has been done of late years in such cities as Eouen, Lyons, 
 and Paris, and are also acquainted with our own sooty, packed, 
 and cheerless cities. Are our cities and towns to remain a mere 
 agglomeration of ruts which form such an excellent contrivance 
 for preventing foul vapours to escape from the town ? At first 
 sight there does not seem any reason why the places where men 
 most congregate should be those from Avhich all who can afford it, 
 escape as often as possible ; though, doubtless, in a country 
 where the laws of supply and demand regulate everything and 
 everybody in such a satisfactory way, one would not have far to 
 travel for reasons why tilings are right as they are. Nevertheless, 
 
Chap. IX.] AVENUES AND HOUDEVAKDS. 133 
 
 it cannot be denied that the disposition of our cities is a disgrace 
 to any civilized race. Why, without touching at all upon the 
 most crowded and Hlthy parts of London, one may see in a walk 
 from the Strand to the Kegent's Park such a reeking mass of 
 mismanagement as may be found in no other European capital ; 
 and yet London is the " richest city in the world ! "' 
 
 It is a city of commerce, and we cannot afford space or money 
 to remodel it, say some ; but apart altogether from questions of 
 salubrity and appearance, it is worth considering how much 
 material loss occurs from mere want of room even in our leading 
 thoroughfares. In many cases they are almost impassable except 
 to those compelled to force their way through them. All real 
 improvements would result in a clear gain to the business of the 
 city ! But the space ? " Land is too dear ! " This is really not 
 a great difficulty in London. There is no city which could be 
 pierced with free, open roads and boulevards more cheaply and 
 readily. In its very centre there are acres covered by shallow brick 
 buildings, which have not cost nearly so much as closely-packed, 
 tall, stone houses in interior parts of Paris, that are cut through 
 every day almost as freely as if they were made of pasteboard. 
 Whole regions of London, most important and well situated for 
 business purposes, are covered by the veriest shanties. In such places 
 houses to accommodate thrice the number of persons might be 
 built, while the streets might be as wide again, and therefore have 
 purer air and more light. Wide tree-planted avenues might lead 
 from the embankment out towards the suburbs, and would act as 
 veins of salubrity to the regions they traversed. The increase in 
 the value of property along such main arteries would repay for 
 the outlay. If land be so valuable, why occupy it with such 
 trifling and unprofitable buildings ? The fact is, the objection as 
 to space, which is usually urged as the greatest, is a groundless 
 one. Half occupied and sometimes waste ground without the 
 margin of the city, and square miles almost worse than waste 
 within, attest this. 
 
 A change for the better would probably involve the adoption of 
 the " flat " system, which, some say, our people have a great 
 objection to. In houses constructed well in this way, and 
 with many modern improvements never to be found in the 
 miserable and fragile structures now everywhere to be seen, the 
 
134 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 additional warmth and dryness could hardly fail to have a bene- 
 ficial effect on the health of the inmates, besides other manifest 
 advantages which such buildings possess. Our narrow streets, and 
 flimsy houses, and the want of anything like a generally recognised 
 plan, are worthy only of a period when men first herded together 
 within walls for security, not of the Yictorian era. No sprinkling 
 about of disinfecting agents when danger becomes imminent, or 
 pulling down of a few shops that have protruded themselves so 
 far into the narrow street that they have become intolerable even 
 to those accustomed to dodge through the streets of London, will 
 touch more than the surface-roots of the evil. We want a plan . 
 with the Thames Embankment for its backbone. There is nothing 
 to prevent us having the embellishments seen in Continental 
 cities, minus their trees in tubs and paltrier features. But to 
 have them it is indispensable that we first have breadth and room, 
 that the street-traffic may circulate freely. Footways and roads, 
 wide and open, are the first and greatest necessaries, and they ought 
 to be planted with trees, which thrive better in London than in 
 Paris. No fancy-gardening, no stone work, vases, griffins, expensive 
 fountains, and fountain-basins — nothing whatever of that type 
 — should be tolerated until free air be enabled to penetrate 
 into the heart of the town, through open verdure-bordered roads ; 
 which indeed would induce it to ignore the boundary line that 
 now so widely marks the difterence between to"wn and country. 
 Pure air and light are naturally the property of all; but 
 civilized man repels them by his stupid arrangement of our cities. 
 To make them once more, even in cities, the property of all should 
 be the aim of all. 
 
 The conditions complained of do not simply occur in central 
 parts of London where land is very dear : far beyond the radius 
 of the parks, the arrangements of streets are frequently quite as 
 bad as in the more central districts, and capital preparations are 
 being made to secure a dozen years hence a suburban cordon of 
 districts like St. Giles's. To experience the truth of this the 
 reader has merely to go from Kensington Gardens to Kew — not 
 the most unpleasant stroll that could be selected in suburban 
 London. In the course of his journey he will find in the least- 
 populated parts pleasant open roads, in some cases wider than a 
 boulevard, and with useless spaces railed off, and gravelled spaces. 
 
CiiAi-. IX.] AVENUES AND BOULEVARDS. 135 
 
 wide as an avenue, before some public-house ; but the moment he 
 arrives at a densely-populated part, the dead rabbits, sheep, &c., 
 thrust out from the shops into the few feet of crowded footway, 
 oblige him to dodge so often among the manure-carts and 
 omnibuses of the narrow crowded street that, if he has ever 
 seen anything like a decently-arranged city, he will be forced to 
 admit that suburbs of London, miles in extent, have received less 
 attention as to design than a cottager bestows upon his little 
 garden, or a designer of wall-paper on his rudest patterns. From 
 a like, or even a worse, condition our neighbours have by spirited 
 improvements been delivered, and in a very short time. 
 
 The boulevards of Paris are, generally speaking, so very much 
 alike that to describe them in detail is needless. From house to 
 house they are usually, in the most-frequented parts, over 100 
 feet wide, occasionally reaching between 130 and 140 feet, and 
 even much wider than this in the outer boulevards, which are 
 sometimes large enough for half a dozen lines of trees, in addition 
 to very wide footways, and perhaps two minor side roads, besides a 
 Ijroad central one, as in the Avenue de la Grande Armee. The 
 footways of the most-frequented boulevards are about twenty-six 
 feet wide on each side, and sometimes more. But, notwith- 
 standing their general similarity, there are a few distinctive 
 enough for special mention, and among these none more so than 
 tlie IJoulevard llichard Lenoir, which runs from the Place de la 
 Bastille to the Bue du Faubourg du Temple. This often escapes 
 observation from visitors, as the Boulevard Beaumarchais drains 
 most of the traffic from the Bastille to the fashionable boulevards ; 
 but it is one of the most remarkable in Paris, and more than 
 usually ornamental. It is nearly 2000 yards long, and is in 
 great part built over a canal. It was thought desirable to cover 
 a large portion of the canal, and to make a wide boulevard over 
 this huge bridge, in order to facilitate the traffic and improve the 
 appearance of the district. It became necessary to have venti- 
 lating and lighting shafts for the canal, and eighteen pairs of tliese 
 openings occur in the course of its length. These have been 
 ingeniously and tastefully hidden by eighteen little railed-in 
 parterres. In these the openings, which are wired over, are 
 surrounded by a thick low hedge of Euonymus or some close 
 evergreen, so that no o])ening of any kind is exposed to the 
 
136 'I'llK I'AllKS AND GARDENS OF PAlilS. [Cii.vr. IX. 
 
 passing observer. In the centre of each garden there is a long 
 basin and a fountain, the whole being connected and surrounded 
 by flowers and grass. Then on each side of these parterres there 
 is a very wide avenue footway, shaded by two lines of Plane-trees — 
 a road being on each side of the parterres and tree-avenues. For 
 a considerable distance from the Chateau d'Eau, the flower-market 
 that has its head-quarters held there extends down amongst the 
 little railed-in parterres, and the efi'ect is altogether unique. 
 
 Of avenues, the largest and most picturesque is the Avenue du 
 Bois de Boulogne, leading from the Arc de Triomphe to the Bois 
 de Boulogne. The beauty of which avenue-gardening is capable, 
 even in cities, is fairly shown in the engraving of this avenue. 
 The effect is from various points of view very free and graceful, 
 there being considerable variety in the vegetation and ample room 
 in the well-formed footways and roads. There is also considerable 
 breadth — a notable fact in days when large gardens have none ; 
 indeed, the most pleasing feature to anyone caring about garden- 
 design is the ample turf that forms a carpet for the groups and 
 masses of shrubs. Most large cities have opportunities for the 
 formation of avenue-gardens which have hitherto seldom been 
 taken advantage of. 
 
 This handsome avenue was formed in order to put the centre of 
 Paris in communication with the Bois de Boulogne by means of a 
 wide direct road. Half the expense was borne by the State, under 
 the conditions that an iron railing of uniform design was to be 
 constructed along the whole length of the road, that a strip of 
 eleven yards in breadth be left for a garden between this railing 
 and the houses on each side, and further, that no kind of trade or 
 manufacture should be carried on in the houses adjoining. The 
 avenue was made entirely through private lands which were 
 required for the purpose. Its total length is 1300 yards ; the 
 width 130 yards. It consists of a central drive, seventeen yards 
 wide, of two large side walks, each measuring thirteen yards wide, 
 and of two long pieces of grass with shrubs and flowers. 
 
 The Champs Elysees, the great central avenue of Paris, 
 happily combines the grand avenue and the public garden ; the 
 wide belts of varied shrubs are encircled with the choicest flowers ; 
 tlie grass spreads out widely here and tliere ; great clumps of 
 lihododendrons and trees shroud buildings, not completely to hide 
 
/••>^ 
 
 #M 
 
 ,1 ^ 
 
 M 
 
 
 s 
 
Chap. IX.] AVENUES AND ]50ULEVA1U)S. 137 
 
 them, but to prevent them from staring forth nakedly in tlie 
 midst of the quiet of the garden. These buiklings are chiefly for 
 concerts, cafes, etc., and are wholly out of place in such a position ; 
 this noble avenue is in fact blighted by a crowd of petty theatres, 
 etc., which should have no place therein. Were the avenue at 
 some distance from the streets, there might be some reason to 
 give place in it to a number of insignificant buildings, but as 
 matters are there is none whatever. This system of introducing 
 paltry structures, statues, fountain-basins and water-spouting 
 apparatus in the public gardens and parks ought to be jealously 
 watched by those who care more for the garden than for stones 
 or slates. It would be easy to point out places already much 
 defaced in this way. 
 
 It was only in 1860 that the garden of the Champs Elysees 
 was laid out, and yet it looks long-established, has many good 
 specimens of Conifers, Magnolias, etc., numerous large and well- 
 made banks and beds of lihododendrons. Azaleas, Hollies, and the 
 best shrubs and trees generally, with abundant room for planting 
 summer-flowers, chiefly, however, as margins to the clumps of 
 shrubs. The gardens finish at the Ilond Point, a circular open 
 space, in which there are large beds for flowers, fountains, etc., 
 disfigured, however, by the undulations which some poor little 
 bits of grass are made to assume. Useless and unnatural 
 diversification of the ground in some small spaces, and the 
 grouping together of too many things in one mass, are weak 
 points in the gardening of Paris. 
 
 The Place de I'Etoile, with its surroundings, is precisely the 
 reverse of our own efibrts in like positions— its breadth, dignity, 
 and airiness contrasting strikingly with the narrowness, mean- 
 ness, and closeness of the arrangements in our so very much 
 larger and busier London. 
 
 In contrast to this remarkable city-avenue garden that in the 
 llegent's Park deserves notice, the site being even better than 
 that in Paris. No such opportunity for noble improvement of 
 this kind exists in any city of Europe as in London. And there 
 is not even any such expense required as would be the case if 
 the space were covered with houses. Portland Place is broad 
 enough to allow of planting a line of trees on either side of the 
 roadway, which would give it almost the aspect of a Parisian 
 
138 'I'lll': I'AUKS AND GAKDENS OF I'AIMS. [Ciiai-. JX. 
 
 boulevard. The carriage-way might, at its northern end, turn 
 to tlie right and left, as at present ; but in a line with its straight 
 portion a broad footway of equal Avidth to the straight carriage- 
 way should be opened through the Park-Crescent gardens into 
 the Eegent's Park. Such an improvement, if worthily carried 
 out, would be the grandest that could be effected in the park- 
 ways of London. It would, in some respects, surpass even the 
 Champs Elysees themselves. Why the direct opening from Port- 
 land Place to the Regent's Park should not have been effected 
 long ago is difficult to understand. Another fine opportunity for 
 an avenue occurs in "Westbourne Terrace. From the Bishop's 
 Road to Hyde Park, in a direct line, a noble avenue of trees, 
 springing from a strip of turf, might be established, which would 
 produce a fine effect — unlike anything else in the metropolis. To 
 effect this, it would only be necessary to sweep away the paltry 
 lines of balustrades and the (so-called) shrubberies of mutilated 
 Lilacs and Privet bushes, and of irregularly-planted trees stunted 
 by reckless lopping, and establish in their place a stretch of 
 simple turf, in which detached trees and groups should be 
 planted. This treatment of the important thoroughfare in ques- 
 tion would so greatly add to its apparent spaciousness, and to 
 its beauty, that the value of the property would be at once greatly 
 increased. 
 
 Naturally the features of the boulevards which command most 
 attention in this book are the trees that adorn them so well. 
 The planting in all the London parks is as nothing compared 
 to the avenue and boulevard planting in and around Paris. 
 Trained and pruned so as to form a symmetrical straight-ascend- 
 ing head, with a clean stem, every tree is protected by a slight 
 cast-iron or stick basket, and is staked when young, and when 
 old if necessary ; nearly every tree being also provided with a 
 cast-iron grating six feet wide or so, which effectually prevents 
 the ground from becoming hard about the trees in the most- 
 frequented thoroughfares, permits of any attention they may 
 require when young, and of abundance of water being quickly 
 given in summer. The expense for these strong and wide 
 gratings must be great, but the result that will be presented by 
 the trees a few years hence will more than repay for all the out- 
 lay by the grateful shade and beauty they will afford. As soon 
 
Chap. IX.] AVENUES AND HOULEVAllDS. l,'}'.! 
 
 as a new road or boulevard is made in Paris, it is planted with 
 trees ; and every one of the millions is as carefully trained and 
 protected as a pet tree in an English park. 
 
 To plant trees so closely as those on the boulevards helps to 
 provide the streets with some shade almost directly ; and as the 
 trees are usually trained specially for boulevard-planting, some 
 little effect is obtained at once ; but there can be no doubt that 
 it is too close a system of planting, as the trees cannot grow 
 sufficiently when so much crowded. A better way would be to 
 place them further apart, and to plant alternately with the per- 
 manent trees some kind that grows very rapidly when young. 
 This would help to furnish the avenue until the trees intended to 
 permanently adorn it have been established a few years. As soon 
 as those of the free-growing, nursing kind become large enough to 
 deprive their neighbours of light, they might be cut in vigorously, 
 and finally removed altogether. Sometimes double ranks of trees 
 are planted, but this is only wise where the boulevards are very 
 wide. It is occasionally practised in avenues — like some of those 
 that radiate from the Arc de Triomphe ; but usually it has the 
 effect of darkening the houses too much. They should however 
 be planted wherever, as is often the case in the outer boulevards, 
 there is abundant room for a double or even treble line of trees to 
 develop without disagreeably shading the houses. The trees are 
 usually placed within three and a half or four feet of the edge of 
 the footway, but there can be little doubt that it would be a better 
 plan to keep them a few feet further from the road, and this 
 would admit of giving them a larger body of soil, of which 
 generally they receive too little in Paris. 
 
 With the boulevards one naturally associates the quays, planted 
 in every available spot with trees, and in Paris the public swim- 
 ming-baths are all on the silent boulevaid. However, the Seine 
 at Paris is not a noble river, and the ugliest things to be seen 
 from its banks in summer are the floating baths, which in some 
 l)laces half cover its surface. But public bathing is a matter of 
 the highest importance, and it is perhaps better to have floating 
 baths on the river than tolerate the exhibition which may be 
 witnessed on the Serpentine on any fine summer evening. 
 Whatever may be thought upon this point, it is certain that 
 there is no question connected with the healthful exercise of 
 
140 THK ]'A1!KS AND (JAKDKNS OF PAinS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the people tliat has hccn more neglected than that of public 
 bathing. 
 
 There is no city in which a series of convenient open-air 
 swimming-baths could be so economically made as in London. 
 Abundance of wide-spreading park and garden ground belonging 
 to the public is at hand in which capital sites occur. Our parks 
 are not like those of Paris, outside the town, but for the most 
 part quite surrounded by it, so that swimming-places in them 
 would be most convenient for the inhabitants of the surrounding 
 districts. Consider, for example, what a boon one or more small 
 swimming-lakes in Regent's Park would prove to the districts 
 around it. The land in the possession of the public, the excava- 
 tion and proper shielding of such lake-baths by belts of varied 
 plantation would be quite easy and inexpensive. Something like 
 a model for an open-air swimming-bath already exists in Victoria 
 Park. Such baths once formed, the expense of maintaining them 
 would be little or no more than would be bestowed on the same 
 piece of ground if kept as a park or garden. Shrouded by 
 shrubbery, they could be used for fourteen hours of the summer 
 day, while, if their disposition were entrusted to a good land- 
 scape-gardener, they and their surroundings could be made 
 charming embellishments of our parks, now in many parts bare 
 and unattractive. It is needless to point out how beneficial such 
 a series of baths would prove to the population of London, by 
 placing within reach of all the means of practising in the open 
 air, and in the pleasantest manner, the doubly-useful exercise of 
 swimming. By the Serpentine, the army of the great unwashed 
 is so densely packed that none but those with the least-developed 
 sensibilities could enter the water ; indeed, it is not quite agreeable 
 to go near the margin when the crowd is away, for the authorities 
 make no sanitary provision whatever for the crowds, and the 
 place is filthy to a degree not pleasant to see illustrated within 
 a few hundred feet of the most fashionable lounge in Europe. A 
 good suggestion has been made as to bathing-places in the centre 
 of islands in such a piece of water as the Serpentine. More con- 
 venient would be little bays opening from the main sheet of water 
 and surrounded by dense plantations. 
 
 It would be an excellent plan if roomy bathing-sheds were 
 also erected near the water's edge, near those bathing-places, but 
 
CiiAP. IX.] AVENUES AND BOITLEVARHS. 141 
 
 slightly thrown back and concealed by vegetation. These might 
 be well utilised in the Avinter as a working-place for the park- 
 men or other labourers. In all places where a number of work- 
 men are employed in winter, there is generally a difficulty in 
 providing them with work unless there are large sheds to shelter 
 them. They might also be advantageously used as winter store- 
 houses for seats, boats, and the like. But their chief use would 
 be in making it possible for people to bathe at all times. How 
 many summer, spring, and autumn days are there on which 
 bathing would be pleasant, but when showers of rain prevent it in 
 the open air ! Those sheds would afford a place where clothes 
 could be kept dry, and then rain, light or heavy, would not 
 make any diflference — a swim being as enjoyable in the heaviest 
 of rains as at any other time. Partial bathing, such as that 
 practised in the Serpentine during the mornings and evenings, 
 goes a very short way towards meeting the public wants. There- 
 fore it is in the public interest to be desired that some of the 
 means so liberally granted to the parks should be devoted to the 
 formation of proper bathing-places, judiciously veiled with trees 
 and open throughout the day. 
 
 Street Pavements. 
 
 The subject of street-pavements is one of such vital importance 
 for health as well as convenience, that municipal authorities 
 ought to be extremely careful in deciding questions as to the 
 material to be adopted. 
 
 The number of streets recently laid down with wood-pavement in 
 London, make it desirable to state, as an opinion carefully derived 
 from observation, that w^ood is the very worst material for such. 
 
 The requirements of a city or town thoroughfare are, that the 
 surface shall be (1) firm ; (2) noiseless, clean, and dry ; (3) smooth; 
 (4) permanent, yet easily removed; (5) durable, producing a 
 minimum amount of wear and tear ; (6) cheap ; and (7) non- 
 combustible. In the very first of these requirements wood is 
 found to fail, the vibration experienced in passing over a wood- 
 l)avement in a vehicle being to many persons more unpleasant 
 than the rougher jarring of the stones. 
 
142 TJIK PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Vegetable substances, containing within themselves elements of 
 decay and putrefaction, should be rejected from sanitary con- 
 siderations alone ; but in addition to this, their combustibility, 
 softness of fibre, permeability, and cost are serious obstacles, and 
 experiences on both continents, under varied conditions, have 
 proved wood-pavements failures as to durability. 
 
 Wood-pavements have been laid down in New York for thirty 
 years, and are now altogether condemned, the surveyors describing 
 them as "Avorse than worthless," Thirty years ago it was laid 
 down in Oxford Street, and was generally condemned by the shop- 
 keepers as an offensive nuisance, and it was soon discarded. It 
 is the dirtiest of all pavements, the most expensive, and the most 
 unhealthy. The easy removal of mud, slush, and other accumula- 
 tions from the surface of the asphalte, is not by any means so 
 attainable on the wood-paving. Owing to the porous character 
 of the material, a large proportion of the refuse soaks in, and in 
 hot weather or during stress of traffic the smell and the offensive 
 particles are given off to add to the impurities of the atmosphere. 
 On the contrary, where the road and footways arc properly 
 asphalted, the whole may be so washed with a hose that not even 
 a particle of dust shall be left on a summer's day. 
 
 As a matter of health and comfort, then, the wood-pavements 
 are clearly inferior. But besides being by far the most offensive 
 of all forms of street-paving, it is also the most troublesome to put 
 down properly. It also requires more frequent renewals than 
 any other form. Wood was laid in King William Street four 
 years ago. It has since then* been entirely relaid, and is more- 
 over in constant repair, no part of it lasting three years at the 
 outside, and some scarcely two years. 
 
 Although much improvement may have been introduced in the 
 manner of laying it down, yet its inherent defects will always 
 prevent its forming a perfect roadway. In a state of decay it is 
 both offensive and unhealthy. It is also most costly to repair. 
 The New York surveyor states that the yearly repair for stone 
 in 1874 was £87 per mile, for wood £392 per mile. Are rate- 
 payers prepared to pay a rate for paving four times in excess of 
 that now paid, and that for a bad pavement ? 
 
 In times of slight frost the wood-paving is exceedingly dangerous, 
 owing to the continual moisture of the surface of the wood which 
 
Chap. IX.] AVENUES AND BOULEVARDS. 14o 
 
 is quickly iced over, while in similar weather the smooth surface 
 of the asphalte dries immediately and the frost takes no effect. 
 The comhustihility of the wood, heightened as it is by the 
 pitch-dressing, is also a strong objection to it. It is frequently 
 supposed that the buildings in Chicago and Boston burnt by the 
 great fires of the past few years, were built of more combustible 
 materials than ours, but to a very large extent this was not the 
 case. They were often of stone, and as massive as any in London ; 
 fires of much less intensity would quickly extend to the road- 
 ways, and add new horrors to such calamities. 
 
 For park, boulevard and suburban roads, macadam is cm- 
 ployed in Paris, frequently adding two side-ways of paving- 
 stone for heavy traflSc. These macadamized roads are well 
 formed by the aid of heavy rollers, and are usually excellent. 
 Asphalte has, in addition to macadam, long been used in Paris, 
 and for two reasons : first, shortness in the supply of good paving- 
 stone similar in quality to our York stone, the few quarries which 
 yield it being also some distance from the capital ; and secondly, 
 the cheapness and abundance of the peculiar bituminous stone 
 from which the asplialtc-pavement is made. Asphalte has proved 
 its superiority over all pavements yet known, especially for a wet 
 climate. Nothing else is so clean, smooth, dry and agreeable in 
 all weathers. 
 
 Bad attempts at laying asphalte produce such very disagreeable 
 results that the very name has rendered it dreadful to some 
 people ; but in a sloppy climate the advantage of having in 
 all weathers dry, smooth and permanent roads and footways, 
 insteady of cloggy, saturated gravel, wood, or mud, is so great 
 that some account of the best system of laying this material 
 may be useful. Some years ago asphalte produced quite an 
 industrial fever, and pavements were made in all directions 
 in Paris and London, of any material at all resembling it. Gas 
 tar, wood tar, pitch, and all sorts of abominations were ground 
 up with stone, and laid down without proper preparation, the 
 consequence being a large number of failures and (at least in 
 this country) the tabooing of asphalte by many, l^ut asphalte, 
 properly so called, and properly laid down, is, notwithstanding, so 
 far as our present knowledge goes, the very best material for a 
 pavement in a crowded street. 
 
144 TIIK I'AIIKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Vn.w. IX. 
 
 Bituminous limestone occurs naturally in many parts of the 
 ^Yorld, notably at Yal de Travers, in the Canton of Neufchatel, 
 Switzerland, and at Pyrimont, near Seyssel, a small town in the 
 department of x\in, on the right bank of the Khone. The asphalte- 
 rock near Pyrimont consists of pure limestone impregnated with 
 about ten per cent, of fossil or natural bitumen. It may be asked 
 how it is that ordinary tar or pitch of good quality mixed with 
 pounded limestone does not answer the purpose of this natural 
 combination ; but it is found by experiment that, although natural 
 bitumen differs but slightly in chemical composition from pitch 
 and tar, it is much more elastic and durable. If made with tar, 
 the resulting asphalte is sticky and soft in hot weather ; if with 
 pitch, it is too brittle, and soon cracks and splits. 
 
 In the natural asphaltic rock the bitumen is so intimately 
 combined with the calcareous matter, that it not only resists the 
 action of the air and water for a considerable time, but even that 
 of some of the strong mineral acids. The ancients were in the 
 constant habit of using natural bitumen instead of mortar. The 
 principal ingredients used in forming the mastic for the pavement 
 is the dark brown bituminous limestone from Pyrimont, just 
 described. The stone is first reduced to fine powder, and then 
 mixed with a certain proportion of mineral bitumen, extracted 
 previously from another portion of it. 
 
 "When it is intended to be used for covering roofs, lining tanks, 
 etc., no other addition is necessary ; but if it is to be used for 
 paving, a certain quantity of sea-grit is added. One specimen 
 analysed by an English chemist yielded 29 of bitumen, 52 of 
 limestone, and 19 of siliceous sand. The ingredients are exposed 
 for some hours to a strong heat in large cauldrons, and kept 
 constantly stirred by machinery. The mastic thus formed is 
 made into blocks, measuring eighteen inches square by six inches 
 deep, and weighing from 1121b. to 1301b. each. In this state 
 they are sold ready for use and are remelted on the spot where 
 the asphalte has to be applied ; for which purpose small portable 
 furnaces fitted with cauldrons are employed. A pound weight of 
 mineral bitumen is first put into the cauldron, and when melted 
 561b. of the mastic is added, the whole being repeatedly stirred. 
 When fully mixed, another 561b. of mastic is stirred in, and so 
 on until the cauldron is full. When thoroughly melted — which 
 
Chap. IX.] AVENUES AND BOULEVARDS. 145 
 
 may be known by the mastic dropping freely off the stirrer, and 
 by jets of light smoke darting out of the mixture — it is conveyed 
 quickly to the spot where it is to be used, in heated iron buckets 
 or ladles. The cauldron ought to be as close to the work as 
 possible, and in covering brick arches it should be hoisted to the 
 top of the building. It must be clearly understood that the only 
 kind of bitumen to be used is that impregnating the limestone 
 itself. 
 
 In forming foot or carriage ways it is most important to secure 
 a good foundation by removing or ramming the soft earth, and 
 laying a course of concrete, care being taken to allow the whole 
 to dry before putting down the asphalte. If this precaution is 
 not attended to, the heat will convert the moisture in the concrete 
 into steam, and fill the asphalte full of airholes and bubbles. The 
 thickness of the layer of asphalte may be regulated by slips of 
 wood arranged across the pavement at a distance of 30 inches 
 from each other— a width quite sufiicient for one man to work at 
 a time. If two men are employed, double the width may be 
 taken, as it is always better to have as few joints as possible. 
 The work is levelled with a long ciirved wooden spatula, assisted 
 by a long straight ruler, which stretches across the layer of 
 asphalte, over which it is moved backwards and forwcards, the 
 wooden gauges supporting its ends. If the surface is intended to 
 be smooth, a mixture of equal parts of silver-sand and slate-dust 
 or plaster of Paris is sifted over it before it has quite set, and 
 rubl)ed down with a flat tool of wood. If it is required to be 
 rough, sharp grit is to be beaten in with a heavy wooden block. 
 One portion of the pavement being complete, it is best to proceed 
 to lay the next but one, leaving the intermediate space to be 
 filled up afterwards, when the first layer is firm and cold, so as 
 to insure a good joint. 
 
 The thickness of asphalte for footways varies from half an inch 
 to an inch and a quarter, the former being sufficient for common 
 floors and courtyards, the latter for carriage-pavements. A 
 thickness of from half an inch to five-eighths is sufficient for 
 roofs and the coverings of arches, and for lining tanks and ponds, 
 and about half an inch for the ground line of brickwork to 
 prevent the damp from rising. An asphalted surface admits of 
 easy repair. By placing hot mastic on the places requiring it, 
 
 L 
 
140 THE TARKS AND GAIJDKXS OF PARIS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the faulty part may be cut away and the edges cut square, when 
 the hot material will be found to adhere to them if they are 
 perfectly free from damp or moisture. 
 
 The great secret, then, in obtaining a perfect layer of asphalte 
 paving, dry, hard, elastic, warm, and durable, is first to employ 
 only the natural material, such as that from Pyrimont-Seyssel ; 
 and secondly, to provide a firm, dry substratum of concrete for it 
 to rest upon. For pavements, terraces, etc., nothing can be better. 
 It is always warm and elastic to the tread ; there are no joints to 
 encourage the accumulation of filth or the growth of weeds ; and 
 in case of rain it dries in a few minutes. As laid down by the 
 Seyssel Asphalte Company, its durability is immense. The whole 
 of the quadrangle in Trafalgar Square has been laid with asphalte 
 since 1868, and yet there is no sign of wear upon it, in spite of 
 the traffic. 
 
 After rain, asphalte (more especially if there is any mud about) 
 becomes disagreeably slippery both for horses and foot-pas- 
 sengers. Therefore it is necessary to keep it thoroughly clean. 
 For laying between the courses of brickwork to prevent the damp 
 from rising, it is unequalled, a layer, even only one quarter of an 
 inch thick, keeping all damp down most efi'ectually. It is especially 
 fitted for this purpose in the case of boat-houses built by the sides 
 of rivers or lakes. For ornamental ponds and banks it is also 
 excellent, but it should be roughened for, say, a foot in depth, so 
 as to hold sufficient soil or mud to grow water-plants and weeds, 
 and so entirely conceal its existence. 
 
 During the last few years the preparation of the asphalte in 
 Paris has been much improved. Some years ago, when a pavement 
 was to be made with bitumen, a great nuisance was experienced 
 by the public during the operation. The mastic was liquefied on 
 the spot, and produced a nasty smell and smoke, disagreeable and 
 injurious ; but now some of these inconveniences have been done 
 away with by a new system, and asphalte is laid down in the 
 most expeditious manner. It is prepared first in out-of-the-way 
 places devoted to the purpose, and the material, ready for use and 
 liquefied, may be transported from these places to any parts of the 
 town without the least inconvenience in a semi-cylindrical boiler, 
 closed by iron doors, and moved about on iron wheels as freely as 
 a common cart. Under the boiler is a fireplace, and the blaze, 
 
("iiAi>. IX.] AVKNUKS AND IJOULEVAKDS. 147 
 
 after having heated the two sides of the hoilcr, passes out by a 
 chimney placed at tlie back of the machine. Means to keep the 
 mastic in motion, and prevent its burning by adhering to the 
 sides of the boiler, are secured by a simple mechanism easily 
 worked by the hand. These carriage boilers, full of liquid 
 asphalte, are driven from place to place with the greatest facility. 
 The boiler is emptied by the means of a pipe fixed to its bottom, 
 and the mastic is collected in a pail, and spread on the surface to 
 the thickness of three-quarters of an inch. 
 
 If the surface is not perfectly dry, the drying must be ac- 
 celerated with hot ashes, which are to be taken away afterwards, 
 or with a little spreading of quicklime in powder. These opera- 
 tions are indispensable, as if the mastic were laid on before the 
 surface is dry, the heat of it would dispel in steam the water 
 underneath, and that steam would produce blisters in the asphalte 
 which would crack under the pressure of the feet, and endanger 
 the success of the operation. The workmen place on the platform 
 two iron bars of the same thickness as the asphalte is to be, 
 at equal distance from each other ; it is then laid down in a very 
 warm state, and thick enough to require some slight exertion of 
 the operator to make it level. This done, a small quantity of fine 
 gravel must be spread over the asphalte while hot, and slightly 
 beaten down to penetrate into it. This gives a greater hardness 
 and solidity to the footway, and insures its lasting for a very 
 long time. 
 
 The roads before spoken of are made of the powdered and not 
 liquid asphalte. The surface of the roadway must be beaten down 
 very hard, and covered with a thickness of about three inches of 
 concrete, well beaten down and dry. If the dryness is very 
 necessary in the making of a pavement, this condition is of a 
 greater importance for the road, as, if the powder were spread on 
 a wet surface, the steam caused by the heat would produce a great 
 number of little fissures, the elasticity would be destroyed, and 
 the road would be useless after a few months' use. The concrete 
 well dried, the powder (hot) must be spread about three inches 
 thick ; and then well levelled and beaten. The sides must be 
 done first, and pressed down with a rectangular iron pestle eight 
 or nine inches in length and two or two and a half inches in 
 width. When the sides are done, the middle is proceeded with 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 The postles used in pressinf^ it are of cast-iron, circular, and al)ont 
 eight inches in diameter. The pestles of either form" are heated 
 and used quite hot, so as to compress the asphalte into a hard 
 smooth mass. 
 
 When the crust of asphalte is brought to the thickness required, 
 and is sufficiently smoothed and heaten hard, a little quantity of 
 very fine powder is sj)read with a sieve to fill all the unevenness, 
 and the whole is again smoothed with a flat piece of hot iron. 
 The compression is completed by the employment of two cast-iron 
 rollers, one of 40001b. weight and the other of oOOOlb, Sometimes 
 three of these rollers are employed, the intermediate one being 
 about 15001b. or 16001b. in weight. This rolling is not always 
 necessary, in many cases the beating down with pestles being 
 sufficient. The roads thus made, completely noiseless and lasting 
 a long time, have been adopted with the greatest success by the 
 city of Paris, and are supplanting the paving-stones, macadamized 
 and other pavements in many narrow streets. 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 'i'bc city swims in verdure, beautiful 
 
 As Veuico on the waters, the sea-swan. 
 
 AVhat bosky gardens dropped in clisc-walleil courts 
 
 Like plums in ladies' laps, who start and hwAi ! 
 
 What miles of streets that run on after trees ! " 
 
 AuKOKA Lkiuii. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Trees for Cities. 
 
 It is a popular but erroneous notion that trees will not thrive in 
 London, People often see in France streets bordered with rows 
 of handsome young trees, and they naturally compare these 
 verdant avenues with our own streets, where trees are rarely 
 planted, and come to the conclusion that there is " something in 
 the air" which prevents trees thriving in London. The following 
 letter to the ' Pall Mall Gazette ' is an example of the ideas often 
 held on the subject. " When people propose to decorate London, 
 the first consideration should be what will suit the climate. It 
 cannot be too often repeated that our city atmosphere is fatally 
 inimical to delicacy of architecture, and quite equally so to 
 delicacy of vegetation. Our skies will rain soot continually, and 
 moisture therewithal to make the soot adhere ; the soot will 
 insinuate itself amidst fairy tracery of stone, and clog the pores of 
 beautiful trees and shrubs ; and it is an utter waste of art and 
 money to disregard these inevitable conditions of the question. It 
 is very childish to tickle our fancy by providing for a momentary 
 admiration of things which a short time will make hideous, and 
 then, when the inevitable has taken place, contenting ourselves 
 with a shrug of the shoulders and ' what a pity !' Few young 
 trees will really flourish in the climate of our modern London ; 
 the case was perhaps difi'erent some years ago. But from any 
 general planting of trees in London, especially in leading 
 thoroughfares, I cannot expect agreeable results — Misodendros." 
 
\:>{) TlIK I'AIIKS AND GAIJUENS 01-^ PA1!IS. [Chap. X. 
 
 These opinions are as erroneous as they are emphatic ; the 
 splendid Planes in Berkeley Square, and other places in London, 
 should rid us of the erroneous notion that trees cannot be grown 
 well in London. It is the custom in Paris and other Continental 
 cities to plant trees with care, to provide them with good soil, 
 to spend a great deal of money in attending to them and 
 watering them, and yet neither in all Paris, nor in any Conti- 
 nental city, can such noble examples as these be found. But 
 some may say, An open square at the West-end of town may do 
 that which the smoky, densely-packed city will not. If these 
 persons, who are evidently not yet acquainted with Stationers' 
 Hall Court, will inquire for that narrow enclosure the next time 
 they are passing near St. Paul's, they will find in it a great Plane- 
 tree looking as happy as if it were in its native forest. Much, 
 however, depends upon the kind of tree selected for the purpose ; 
 for even our landscape-gardeners make mistakes, by persisting in 
 planting evergreens, which as a class are totally unfit for town- 
 cultivation. Even when moderately healthy, these trees are 
 generally so coated with smut that they entirely lack that 
 refreshing verdure which is so characteristic of evergreens grown 
 in fresh and pure air. 
 
 "Will nobody deliver us from the perils of smoke ? Every year 
 our cities grow vaster, and the great pall of " blacks " is ever 
 widening ! To hope to arouse public attention to the magnitude 
 of the evil, by pointing to the thousands of plants that are 
 always perishing from it, would be vain considering that its 
 pernicious effects on our own lives do not seem to be taken the 
 least notice of. London and all our large cities are always under 
 its ban ; but its most detestable aspects are most apparent on 
 those still, frosty, autumnal and winter days, which in the 
 country are so clear and sunny. On these, there being no 
 breeze to brush away the outpourings of the innumerable 
 chimneys, the whole settles down in the streets, leaving the sun 
 powerless to shoot a ray through its density. Not the least 
 curious thing about this great but avoidable plague, is that both 
 foreigners and natives often put it down to the climate. M. 
 Taine speaks of the woefully-depressing influences of the climate 
 of London. Doul)tless there are many l)ettcr ; but certainly the 
 clinuite of London is (juite as agrecaljlc as tliat of Paris or 
 
Chap. X.] TREES FOR CITIES. 151 
 
 Nortlierii France. The clouds of smoke make the difference. In 
 consequence of being contented to live in a sea of refuse of our 
 fires, we possess the privilege of having our fairest still, winter 
 days turned into foulest nights, in which one is stifled with 
 vapours that would add a new terror to the lower regions. If 
 anybody doubts the true cause of the horrible " climate " of our 
 large cities, let him walk forth at three or four o'clock in the 
 morning into the heart of one of them, in November and 
 December, when the fogs are at their worst. If he has any 
 memories of the fog of the previous evening, he may be surprised 
 to see the street quite free of fog, the buildings not only visible, 
 but perfectly clear in outline; and the air pure! Let him sally 
 forth again at from half-past seven to half-past eight, and he will 
 find a change; the street is filling with a bluish foulness, the 
 buildings losing shape. An hour later, and the smoke, which we 
 fancy would vanish, after passing up the chimney, has fallen down 
 into the street, dimming the sight, and stinging us as we breathe 
 it. It is not the climate that we should blame, but our own 
 complacent stupidity in resting content under an evil which, as 
 half the population of these islands is now gathered in cities, has 
 a hurtful effect on the national health. 
 
 It is a difficult problem to solve, but surely there are no pains 
 or expense to which we could be put in the defeat of this smoke- 
 monster, for which we should not be abundantly repaid by its 
 destruction. Lengthened days, or at least some of heaven's light 
 in those we have, and undefiled air, are surely blessings to secure 
 wliich we might well submit to some inconvenience. If questions 
 were brought forward in the degree of their importance, the 
 smoke-plague of our cities would be one of the first before 
 Parliament. 
 
 Notwithstanding this foul state of the atmosphere, the slaughter 
 of the evergreens, through being planted in it, goes on without 
 ceasing. "What a pity it is we do not contrive some less-expensive 
 and more-attractive way of destroying the thousands of evergreen^' 
 ])lanted about London every year, than that of planting them and 
 allowing them to blacken and perish before our eyes from the 
 effects of our smoke-laden air ! There perish annually as many 
 beautiful young evergreen shrubs and trees in and near London 
 from smoke, as would suffice to plant a whole county. There are 
 
152 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. X. 
 
 surely few greater evidences of obtusity of mind than is shown by 
 this persistent wasting of precious time and precious energy, and 
 thoughtless destruction of trees and slirubs, which so soon perish 
 in the smoke of London. 
 
 It is not so with the deciduous tree or shrub ; nor with those 
 beautiful rosaceous bushes and trees which are the glory of the 
 grove in all temperate climes. After their summer-life they 
 enjoy a long winter-rest leafless, and when spring returns and 
 the flues cease vomiting " blacks " they again put forth their leaves 
 in the purer air. The consequence is, they grow nearly as well 
 in London as in the country. No charm of tropical or other 
 climes surpasses the freshness of an English spring, during the 
 period of the leafing and blossoming of these winter-sleeping 
 northern trees. Why, then, should we not take advantage of the 
 fact, by developing chiefly those plants which flourish as well in 
 towns as out of them ? It may be noticed that Peaches, Almonds, 
 the double Cherries, and the numerous flowering trees and shrubs 
 allied to them, flourish as well in cities as they do in the country, 
 while beside them valuable evergreens are but the ghosts of what 
 evergreens should be. Suj)posing for a moment that evergreen 
 trees and shrubs throve as well within city influences as deciduous 
 ones do, it would even then be a questionable practice to use them 
 extensively, because they do not gladden us with that floral and 
 changing beauty which deciduous trees are wont to put on. They 
 do not keep time with our suns and seasons ; and they are not 
 so beautiful, because not so changeful, as the deciduous kinds. 
 
 Notwithstanding the obvious advantages ofiered by the many 
 deciduous trees, planting in most of our parks is much neglected 
 — at least, in all its nobler aspects, while great expense and skill 
 are lavished on myriads of plants that live for the summer 
 only. The remedy wanted is the annual planting of a certain 
 portion of ground in each great park. That portion should 
 be thoroughly cleared, prepared, and planted. We should thus 
 secure perpetual growth and vigour, as well as stately beauty 
 in our park-trees. Stealing out a dying tree here and there, and 
 stealing in a young one — often done in Paris and London— is a 
 mistake. Frequently there are open bare spaces left unplanted 
 for years, as, for example. Primrose Hill, which is as bare as a 
 great inverted basin. 
 
Chap. X.] TKEES FOli CITIES. 153 
 
 The evils that affect the trees in Kensington Gardens — old age, 
 injury from overcrowding or from exhaustion of the ground, or 
 from the trees being in unsuitahle positions— are such as would 
 work like results everywhere else. Old trees die at last, and if 
 we fail to raise an annual crop, decay soon begins to be disagreeably 
 conspicuous. The difficulties of planting even in the very heart 
 of London are exaggerated. In Printing-house Square, under the 
 very windows of the ' Times ' office, are trees of the American 
 shrubby Trefoil (Ptelca trifoliata) as healthy and as large as we 
 have ever seen them in any collection in this country. Look at 
 the beautiful weeping Ash trees in Brunswick Square and else- 
 where in west-central London, and the excellent Catalpas seen 
 here and there (in the Marylebone Eoad, for instance), that are 
 covered with handsome blossoms and large sliade-giving leaves. 
 Look, also, at the Hawthorns and other trees of the Kosaceous 
 order in the Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, where the soil is 
 very cold, at the Sumach, Py ruses. Medlars, snowy Mespilus, 
 Bird Cherry, Tulip-tree, Sir Charles Wager's Maple, flowering 
 Ash, and many other trees, which anyone who cares about trees 
 may see thriving in London. Let one-fifth of the means and skill 
 now devoted to the building of glass-houses and the culture of 
 tender plants in London parks be diverted to the systematic and 
 judicious planting of hardy trees ; and, in due time, the parks of 
 London will become the finest Arboretum of deciduous trees in 
 the world, for there is no city where they thrive better, no city 
 with anything like the same grand opportunities for planting. 
 
 It is a curious fact that there are no big trees in the streets or 
 avenues of Paris ! And not only no big trees, but scarcely a 
 medium-sized one ! It is not the fault of the poor trees, or the 
 soil, or the air. It is caused by a system of management 
 apparently based on the notion that trees, like soldiers, are best 
 arranged in close order, or like the poor fellows who find a last 
 rest in the Fosse Commune without any earth between the boxes. 
 There is no evidence whatever that any one responsible for the 
 street-trees of Paris has the least idea of the beauty of hardy trees 
 when well developed. At best they are only seen a little better 
 grown than in the nursery-garden. They are everywhere with 
 heads crowded together — starving for want of space above and 
 below. Two or three Planes usually stand where one fairly- 
 
154 THE PAliKS AN1> GAIJDEXS OF PARIS. [Chap. X. 
 
 developed tree would be sufficient. Often the Planes may be 
 seen running up before the tall bouses in the finer streets with a 
 stem before every window. Tlic Plane-trees in our squares are 
 far finer than any in Paris, owing to the fact that they had room 
 to grow and were let alone. Pruning, to throw the strength 
 of a tree or shrub into fruit or flower, or into some shape 
 desired by the cultivator, is a rational process, but nothing of 
 the kind can be said of the pruning of any grown forest or 
 ornamental tree, to prune which is in fact to destroy its beauty, 
 individuality, and dignity. In Paris, pruning into a miserable 
 uniformity is carried out to a deplorable extent. These remarks 
 apply to trees in open spaces as well as in the street, which are, 
 however, often wide enough to admit of fair development. If this 
 system is to go on, it will be wise of the educational powers now 
 doing so much for young France to plant a few acres with native 
 and hardy trees to be allowed to assume their full size and natural 
 development. One does now and then see in the etchings in the 
 shop-windows a portrait of a fine tree, but it is desirable to have 
 living examples. It has been said to the writer that fine trees 
 cannot be grown in Paris ; but that this is not the case is proved 
 by the existence of occasional good specimens in courts and small 
 gardens, which the municipal pruners did not visit. Here and there, 
 when " demolitions " are in active progress, a tine old tree may 
 sometimes be seen as the houses are taken down around it. In 
 such positions the conditions are by no means so favourable to 
 tree-growth as in the many open streets and wide avenues. Along 
 the quays, too, where the trees might throw their arms over the 
 water on one side, and over a wide road on the other, they are 
 just as prim and as unlike fine trees as they are anywhere else; 
 no doubt, in some narrow streets very wide-spreading trees are 
 not desirable, but in such cases the right way is to select species 
 and varieties which will suit the position without needless 
 mutilation. 
 
 So»ie Trees for Cities. 
 
 The best of all trees for European cities is the Western Plane 
 (Platanus occidentalis). It may be seen in many places in towns, 
 from the heart of the city of London to the shores of the lakes of 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 'iUtEES FOR CITIES. 
 
 155 
 
 Northern Italy ; in the towns of cokl Central France, in the fine 
 old cities in La Belle Touraiue, and in Anjou, whore the Camellia 
 and Azalea grow luxuriantly in the open air ; in the numerous new 
 boulevards of Paris ; under a scorching sun in Naples ; and in many 
 other places, thousands of miles from its native home in North 
 America ; and everywhere it is hy far the noblest city-tree. In no 
 place are there finer individual specimens of it than in London, 
 although receiving no such attention as they do elsewhere. 
 
 P'aiies on J\tris (Ju lyi 
 
 Fairly and roundly developed specimens of the Plane have in 
 summer almost the grace of a weeping-tree. In wunter the 
 branches retain this character, but also present a rugged Gothic 
 picturesqueness, while the pendulous seed-vessels and striking 
 column-like bole add to their beauty in the winter season, when 
 the trees are at rest and safe from smoke. 
 
 It is only a few years since the possibility of growing Planes 
 <>u the Thames Embankment was doubted by many; now we have 
 
156 THE l'Al{KS AND CiAHDKNS OF TAinS. [Chap. X. 
 
 tliem not only growing, but thriving as well as anywhere. There 
 is, indeed, good reason to think that they will soon overtake their 
 older Paris relations, and as we (unlike our neighbours) are 
 fortunately not often obliged to boil the soldier's pot or warm the 
 famished citizen with our trees, we may expect them to live long ; 
 how long they may live we cannot say, but there is some proof 
 that the Plane is a very long-lived tree even with us. Other 
 trees we have in all stages of decay, but where are the crippled 
 Planes? The oldest and biggest trees in London seem infants 
 as regards freedom from decay. There being such good promise 
 of fine trees, more than ordinary care should be taken to guard 
 against impeding their growth from over-planting or want of 
 timely thinning. The Planes on the Paris quays are not un- 
 frequently too close together ; such, we hope, will not be the case 
 here. When timely thinning is not carried out, it is not only that 
 the trees are not allowed to assume their full beauty overhead, 
 but the exhaustion of the soil by the trees to be eventually cut 
 away is an important consideration ; therefore we should never 
 wait till the trees crowd each other, but remove them as soon as 
 they come in contact. 
 
 Next to the Plane, the Horse-chestnut seems to ofi'er the 
 greatest advantages. It has not indeed the stature and beauty 
 of the Plane, nor does it attain as large a size and as perfect 
 health in cities, but it possesses great claims from its fine foliage, 
 large sweet silvery spikes of bloom, and proved capacity of growing 
 well as a town-tree. While selecting trees for towns that are not 
 liable to sufi'er from disease or insect-pests, we should encourage 
 variety as much as possible. The Horse-chestnut would be worth 
 growing for the sake of its foliage alone, but wdien the additional 
 charm of its blossoms is taken into account, there can be no hesita- 
 tion in j)lacing it among the town-trees. 
 
 The common Eobinia or Locust-tree has been so long and 
 extensively tried that we need have no more doubt about it. It 
 will never justify the reputation that Cobbett gave it, but no tree 
 maintains such a depth of sweet verdure even in the dustiest 
 roads. No drought seems to affect it ; no heat renders it rusty- 
 looking or fatigued. It is worthy of being much more extensively 
 used as a park and square tree ; it is also good for street-use, not 
 growing too largo, and is the best of all . trees for planting in the 
 
CiiAP. X.] TREES FOR CITIES. 157 
 
 front of a suburban house or villa, or in any position where a 
 pleasant object is required to refresh the eye at all times. 
 
 At first sight there seems little reason why the somewhat 
 despised and roughly-treated Acacia, should come in after such 
 stately and noble trees as the Plane and the Chestnut ; but, taking 
 the varieties as well as the original tree into consideration, it is 
 worthy of this rank, being equally well adapted for the smallest 
 town-garden as for the largest public park. 
 
 To many rows of suburban houses a thin line of trees is an 
 improvement, and forms the only species of garden-embellishment 
 of which they are capable. The qualities necessary in such trees 
 are hardiness, healthy constitution, and size and habits suited to 
 the positions for which they are destined. No tree combines these 
 better than the spineless round-headed variety of the Kobinia 
 (R. inermis). 
 
 Perhaps the most beautiful and appropriate city-trees in Europe 
 are those formed by the round-headed Piobinias in some of the 
 cities of Northern Italy ; their grace, dense and grateful shade, 
 and deep verdure being perfect. I measured several nearly thirty 
 feet in diameter of head, and with a bole a foot or more through, 
 the heads being picturesque and somewhat irregular from age, 
 while preserving their compactness and valuable shading-pro- 
 perties. It would be impossible to find a greater improvement 
 upon the hideous lines of clipped Limes so common in France 
 than is presented by these trees at Novara. But as we have no 
 proof that as good a result could be obtained in our English 
 streets, we must turn to those trees that we have already tested 
 thoroughly. 
 
 The bad and not the good qualities of the Lime place it so high 
 in the list; for, while planted more abundantly than any other 
 city-tree, it is by far the worst, and the extensive use of it in our 
 streets is a great mistake. The tall lines of Lime-trees in the 
 Garden of Plants at Paris fall into the sere and yellow leaf before 
 one has time to admire their soft green. In London, at the 
 end of July, the Limes are often the most miserable-looking trees 
 anywhere to be seen. And all this in the midst of the summer. 
 The withered, burnt, insect-covered leaves rustle lifeless upon the 
 trees, hoarsely whispering the coming death of the year in our 
 ears bof(U-o we have half enjoyed the suninier. 
 
158 TIIK I'AIJKS AND GAKDKNS OF PARIS. [Cum.. X. 
 
 It is very unwise to persist in planting such a tree so largely 
 as we do when there are various deciduous trees that will do all 
 that a Lime does at the best of times, and that have none of its 
 drawbacks. Our winter, the period when our deciduous trees 
 must be devoid of leaves, is long enough without making it 
 needlessly so by lining every street with the Lime. In the parks 
 this tree may sometimes be planted, but never in streets, quays, 
 or boulevards. Apart from its presenting a diseased appearance 
 for more than half the time that it ought to be full of green life, 
 the Lime grows much too large for the little front gardens where 
 it is so abundantly employed, and will soon deprive of a large share 
 of light and sun the house it is planted to adorn. 
 
 The Elm is a tree much used in the London parks, and some- 
 times seen of fine dimensions, but occasionally it is much diseased 
 when used as an avenue-tree — for example, in the Mall, in St. 
 James's Park, where the effect of the avenue-planting is as bad as 
 it can be. A few Plane-trees near the Buckingham Palace end of 
 the Mall almost save it from looking absolutely hideous from that 
 point of view. The effect of the Elms in Piotten Eow, though 
 much better, is not nearly so good as may be produced in like 
 positions by using other trees. The variety chosen has a good 
 deal to do with it — the long Boulevard St. Michel, in Paris, planted 
 with the large-leaved Elm, is a success. 
 
 Paulownia imperialis is a very noble subject for town-gardens, 
 especially so for those on a dry soil like Paris, and where a good 
 shading-medium is wanted. It might well replace some of the 
 miles of poor clipped Elms and Limes about Paris and around 
 numbers of French country-houses. The stems of the trees are 
 straight, and just about the right elevation for a shade-giving 
 tree, and the heads spread out flat, so as to give comj)lete shade 
 without betraying an awkward tendency to rise too high and 
 require clipping to prevent them from keeping the light from the 
 windows. The large leaves are quite fresh in autumn. The 
 Paulownia, the Ailantus, and the Plane seem to preserve freshness 
 and vigour no matter how great the heat or abundant the dust. 
 The forest-trees of our own latitudes do not do this, but become 
 withered while their companions from Japan and America are in 
 the greenest health. It is not easy to imagine a greater improve- 
 ment than that which would be effected by planting this tree 
 
Chap. X.] TREES FOR CITIES. 159 
 
 where a low and yet good shade is required. It is also worthy of 
 attention as a town-garden tree, and for similar reasons. 
 
 The Ailantus glandulosa is a town-tree of great excellence. 
 When young it is graceful from its long pinnate loaves — when old 
 and well grown it becomes a noble forest-tree. But the qualities 
 that will above all others recommend it to the town-planter are 
 its health and freshness, under all circumstances, in towns. 
 Dust, foul air, or drouglit seem to have no effect upon it. For 
 parks and avenues it is valuable, as it perfectly retains its foliage 
 long after our own deciduous trees have been scorched by drought 
 and dust. It seems to do equally well on all soils, having a 
 constitution which seems perfectly indifferent to any vicissitude of 
 climate of these latitudes. 
 
 Everywhere in cities the Lombardy Poplar retains its health, 
 proving its claims to be far more abundantly used than it is at 
 present. Avenues of this tree would tell as well in some positions 
 in cities as single specimens and groups of it do in the landscape. 
 The drip of trees is sometimes objected to : this erect and close- 
 growing kind would seem to offer itself for rather narrow streets 
 and positions, where a spreading habit or a drip might be an in- 
 convenience at any time. Of other tapering, columnar, or fastigiate 
 trees, the pyramidal variety of the Oak and the tapering variety 
 of the liobinia do particularly well in the parks ; and the last is 
 deserving of recommendation for the town-garden. 
 
 Of weeping-trees, in addition to the long-proved and indispen- 
 sable Weeping Willow, we have the Weeping Birch, Ash, Beech, 
 and Elm, in all cases in perfect health in the parks. There is one 
 tree of those above-mentioned which ought to be much more 
 grown — the weeping variety of the large-leaved Elm (Ulnius 
 montana pendula). This is a tree of much beauty and character, 
 and it does not seem in the least to suffer from the atmosphere of 
 London. It is a weeping-tree of the first order : its foliage is 
 massive, shade dense, and outline most picturesque when thickly 
 clothed in summer — the backbone, so to speak, of each wide- 
 spreading branch being seen just glistening above the dense mass 
 of leaves. It is a hardier tree than the weeping Willow, and 
 never grows too high for a London or any other town-gaiden ; in 
 all courtyards or open gravelled spaces, in little squares wherever 
 a shady tree is desired, it is iuvaluublc 
 
160 THE PAKKS AM) (lARDENS OF PATUS. [Chai-. X. 
 
 The numerous free-growing trees of the Rose order, from the 
 Chinese Pear and the Almonds that illuminate our groves with 
 masses of light rosy flowers in earliest spring, to the dwarf 
 double Prunus, all grow healthfully in our parks ; and though 
 unfit for street-planting as streets are at present, are worthy of the 
 highest attention both for small gardens in towns, and for squares, 
 jiublic gardens, and parks. 
 
 The group near the museum in the Botanic Gardens in the 
 Regent's Park proves that the Hawthorn family will succeed 
 perfectly on the worst kind of soil — the deep bed of clay on the 
 north side of the city. The Hawthorn family furnish a greater 
 number of hardy ornamental dwarf trees than any other known to 
 us. They are not only pretty and fragrant in flower, but the 
 aspect of the fruit in autumn — borne in showers of bright red, 
 yellow, black, and scarlet — is of itself a recommendation which 
 should entitle them to general cultivation, even if the bloom and 
 fragrance were of that obscure type which never attracts the 
 attention of any one but a botanist. 
 
 Of tribes that may be associated with the Hawthorns there are 
 the Cotoneasters — the freely flowering and fruiting deciduous 
 species ; the Almonds and Peaches, double and single ; the various 
 double Cherries and Plums ; Amelanchiers (Snowy Mespilus) ; the 
 Bird Cherry and the Weeping Cherry ; the Judas-tree ; the 
 Quinces and Medlars (particularly Mespilus Smithii) ; the varieties 
 of the Scotch and common Laburnums ; the Daphnes, the Deutzias, 
 the various kinds of Lilac, and numerous other rather dwarf 
 shrubs for the embellishment of the margins of groups, etc. ; the 
 various kinds of Pyrus from the great P. vestita to the handsome 
 Chinese Pear and Japan Quince. 
 
 The common Stag's-horn Sumach succeeds so well in the small 
 town-garden that it deserves a word of praise. It does not grow 
 so gross as to require clipping, and retains its verdure without 
 taint long after the Lime ; but it is apt to produce suckers too 
 abundantly. Amongst deciduous flowering shrubs, the Althea 
 would seem to be the best. With attention it should form 
 a telling object in all parts where the bottom is dry. By 
 " attention," is meant planting it so as to develop it into a speci- 
 men, and not thrusting it promiscuously amongst rough and 
 mixed shrubs, which may obscure it from the sun or tend to rob it 
 of nntrinu'nt nt tlio root. 
 
C'liAP. X.] TREES FOR CITIES. KU 
 
 Liriodendron tulipifera, the Tulip-tree, seems perfectly at home 
 in city parks or gardens, and, being a handsome and distinct tree, 
 in every way deserves to be planted largely in such places. 
 Sophora japonica forms on dry soils a grand tree in the neigh- 
 bourhood of London, and has the valuable property of never 
 seeming to suffer from drought, no matter how dry the soil, 
 retaining its verdure to the end of the season. It therefore merits 
 an important place in all our parks and squares, especially those 
 with a light soil. 
 
 The various species of Ash ofter many valuable trees for the 
 town planter, of which good evidence may be seen in Kensington 
 Gardens. To enumerate fully all the other deciduous trees that 
 would thrive in cities, would simply mean a catalogue of all the 
 more vigorous species that flourish in the northern world. 
 
 Transplanting Large Trees. — Not the least remarkable 
 feature of the public gardening of Paris is the excellent system of 
 transplanting trees there practised. For the following article on 
 this subject I am indebted to my friend M. Edouard Andre, of 
 Paris : — 
 
 " Tlie city of Paris, prior to having formed the large parks and public gardens 
 which she now jwssesses, l)ad no regular system of transplanting large trees, with 
 the exception of the old-fashioned carts which had been used at "Versailles and 
 the other royal jiarks, and at M. de Rothschild's chateaux at Boulogne and 
 Ferriferes, principally for the purpose of removing large Orange-trees in tubs, and 
 occasionally for transplanting old and valuable trees. These carts were designed 
 and constructed in the time of Louis XIY., ami it may well be imagined that 
 they were extremely cumbersome and inconvenient. In recent days, however, 
 when the chief gardeners and the city architects were often called upon to extem- 
 porize shady avenues in a few days, it became absolutely necessary for them to 
 put their heads together to invent some new machine which would work more 
 easily and with less damage to the lives of the trees. The first apparatus built 
 consisted of a frame bearing two movable wooden rollers, one on the fore-carriage 
 and the other at the back, each provided with holes in which to place the ends of 
 the levers when hoisting up the tree. A round case made of sheet-iron was 
 hung in the centre suspended from the rollers by chains, which, when the tree 
 was raised up by the levers, held the earth-ball and roots. 
 
 " We do not intend reviewing all the improved means successively employed 
 before the models now in use were adopted ; we have only to state the way in 
 which the removal of large trees is now managetl in Paris. 
 
 " We take, for example, a specimen tree, thirty years old, thirty feet in height, 
 the trunk of which has a circumference of three feet at a height of three feet from 
 the ground, its total weight with the earth-ball being nearly two tons. The 
 
 M 
 
1G2 'i'lIK I'AriKS AND CiAKDENS OF rAPJS. [Chap. X. 
 
 operation is commenced by staking out, round tlie stem, tlic circumference of the 
 eartli-ball, wliicli will be on an average about four feet in diameter for most 
 species, and larger according to the size of the trees to be removed. A second 
 concentric circle is then made about two foot outside the first, the space between 
 which will be the place for the trench to be dug for preparing the tree. The soil 
 is then removed from this trench to the depth of three feet, and the small and 
 delicate roots are drawn out of the earth, left hanging, and carefully jireserved. 
 The earth-ball is then undermined to prevent the roots from adhering to the 
 subsoil ; two thick planks, a foot wide, and a little longer than the ball, are 
 placed underneath jiarallel with the width of the cart, so that they sustain the 
 weight of the earth when the tree is lifted. Privet-branches are now placed 
 upright, close together, all round the earth-ball, tied round securely with ropes, 
 so as to prevent the earth from crumbling away, and also to i)rotect the small 
 roots from the influences of the weather. 
 
 "The removal of the tree is then commenced in the following manner: — 
 Two stout thick planks, strong enough to support the cart with the tree slung in 
 it, and a little longer than the entire excavation, and having iron guard-plates 
 about two inches higher than the surface bolted on each side so as to prevent the 
 wheels from slipping off, are placed parallel to each other across the excavation 
 of the exact width existing between the wheels. The movable bars at the back 
 of the cart are then removed, an! the cait is backed into the ways until the trunk 
 of the tree is exactly in the centre of the frame. The movable bars arc then jmt 
 in their place again so as to strengthen the back of the wheels, which do not run 
 on an axletree, but are fitted in wrought-iron frames hanging from the upper jiart 
 of the cart. The chains attached to the rollers on each side of the cart are now 
 lowered and passed under the planks before described, which are placed under 
 the earth-ball. When all is fast, four w-orkmen begin simultaneously to turn the 
 handles attached to the cast-iron cog-wheels, by which great ix)wer is obtained on 
 the rollers. The tree is raised slowly and steadily until it just swings clear of the 
 ground, and then nothing is left to be done but to stead}' the tree before it is 
 hoisted up to its proper height. For this purpose there is at each corner of the 
 cart a strong wrought-iron hook, to which is attached a block, through which runs 
 a strong rcj-K; fixed at the other end to a leather collar. These four ropes are 
 then raised up together and the collar firmly fastened on the stem of the tree 
 about seven or eight feet from the top of the carth-ball. The tree can now be 
 easily removed without fear of its falling over. 
 
 " The horses are then attached to the cart, which is drawn slowly off the ways, 
 and the tree can be removed with safety to its future resting-place. If the tree 
 be vigorous and healthy, a hole a little wider than the one from which it has l-)een 
 removed should be dug beforehand, the earth being placed carefully on one side 
 if it should be of a kind to suit the tree about to be jilantcd, and if not, it shotild 
 be replacediliy suitable soil. The average dimensions for the hole, for an earth- 
 ball of four feet in diameter, should be about seven feet, so that eighteen inches 
 are preserved all round the tree to be filled up with good vegetable soil. The 
 depth should be equal to the height of the earth-ball, or a little more, if the tree 
 be of a species with tap-roots. The bottom of the excavation should be filled in 
 
CiiAP. X.] TREES FOR CITIES. 1C3 
 
 with a little goofl soil, which will allow the toj) of the earth-ball to be a little 
 higher than the surrounding ground, in accordance with an instinctive notion, 
 which almost invariably induces us to place trees used as isolated specimens in 
 lawns on small hillocks. 
 
 " When this is done the jilanks or \va\s are jilaced in position as before described, 
 and the cart is vcrj' carefully drawn on them until the earth-ball is exactly in 
 the centre of the hole. The tree is then slowly lowered, and when it touches the 
 ground the guyrojies from the corners of the cart are inillcd tight, so as to have 
 tlic tree perfectly upright and steady; the chains are unfastened and hoisted 
 up round rollers; the two ])laiiks beneath the earth-ball are undermined and 
 removed, and the privet-shoots taken off. They then i)roceed to fill up the hole, 
 particular attention being paid to the small roots, which are each separately 
 covered in. When this is finished and the tree is considered sufficiently steady, 
 the ropes are removed ; the bars are taken out of the back of the cart, which 
 is drawn away, and the bars having been refixed all is ready for another 
 removal. 
 
 " An abundant watering, if the removal has been made in the growing-season, 
 will be the end of the oiieration. 'J'he tree must now be protected against the 
 wind, being as yet merely dependent upon its own gravity, as the roots take time 
 to get hold of the ground. This result is obtained by placing at about half-way 
 up the stem of the tree a ])adding of straw, round which three or four long pieces 
 of wire-rope are attached ; these are carried out on all sides of the tree and firmly 
 fastened to strong stakes driven in (he ground. We may then bid defiance to the 
 strongest winds that blow, 
 
 "If drought is to be feared, the stem and main branches of the tree can be 
 surrounded with plaited straw watered from time to time, or by a coating of clay 
 mixed with cow-dung and covered with rough canvas, which is much about the 
 same colour as the bark. Sometimes in the boulevards of Paris they water trees 
 surrounded in this manner by pouring water through a fimnel fiom the top, 
 between the clay and the trunk of the tree. These auxiliary means for keejjing 
 the tree alive may be supplemented by many others, such as covering it entirely 
 on the south side with canvas, to preserve it from the sun and drought if it is 
 of a rare kind ; by watering the ground well if it is dry, or by draining the hole 
 with rubbish or drain-pipes if the soil be too damp, etc. 
 
 " The ordinary season for transplanting large deciduous trees is from October 
 to April, and from March or April to August for evergreens. But with sufficient 
 care it is quite [ossible to transplant trees all the year round, jirovided tho 
 weather be suitable, the roots uninjured, the soil good, and that (hey be kept 
 well sheltered and watered. 
 
 " In choosing the tree to be transi)lanted, its age and .species must be duly 
 considered. For instance, it is useless to remove a tree that is sixty or eighty 
 years of age, as it will never produce as fine foliage as it did before its removal, 
 nor will it make any remarkable progress in size. It is better only to remove 
 those not more than fifteen years old and under without any earth-ball at all, 
 taking es]x?cial care to preserve all the roots intact. The best age for trans- 
 planting larger trees is from twentv to thirtv vears. The numlx>r of species 
 
 M 2 
 
1G4 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. X. 
 
 ordinarily removed is limited, as only the more common kinds of trees are 
 subjected to the process, no one caring to nm the risk of losing a rare and 
 valuable tree. In Paris, experiments made on various si>ecies have given the 
 follo\ving results : — 
 
 " Success nearly always certain : Elms, Pianos, white and red Horse-chestnuts, 
 Limes, Ailantus, Catalpa, Paulownia, Celtis, Planera, Sophora, and Willows. 
 
 "Success uncertai}), hut sometimes satisfactory: Poplars, Sycamores, Maples, 
 Alders, Mulberries, Beech, Ash, Magnolias, American Walnuts, Cercis, Diospyros. 
 
 " Siiccess very rare : Kobinias, Crataegus, Hawthorns, and nearly all the Posaceaj, 
 Birch, Laburnum, and many LeguminosJB, Oaks (European and American), Pavias, 
 Ehns, and Gleditschias." 
 
 With respect to the value of this machine as compared with 
 any in use in England, there can be no doubt that the Paris 
 machine is the best. Trees are there removed daily without the 
 least difficulty or fuss, that, if removed in this country, would 
 probably be honoured with a notice in the local papers. The best 
 of our English machines must be taken to pieces for the removal 
 of every tree : the beams have to be taken off in order to bring 
 the wheels in position, then they have to be replaced in position, 
 as well as the lifting apparatus. Besides, the machines are un- 
 wieldy and awkward. The advantage of the French machine is, 
 that by removing the iron rod which connects the hind wheels 
 and the hind cross-beam, the machine is put to the tree without 
 trouble or awkwardness. The lifting power is by means of racks, 
 pinions, and levers. Lately whole boulevards of trees have been 
 moved when half-grown by the aid of these machines. A few 
 years ago only comparatively young trees were tried as a rule. 
 The new Boulevard Henri IV. was planted recently with Planes 
 almost as large as any long-established trees in Paris. 
 
( 10.3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Jardin Fleuriste and other Public 
 Nurseries of the City of Paris. 
 
 In its public nurseries Paris possesses a very useful aid which Ave 
 have not in England. With us each park or garden produces or 
 purchases its own supplies ; in Paris all the public gardens of 
 the city are furnished from the city-nurseries. There are two 
 sets of public gardens — those of the city comprising the boulevards, 
 squares, parks, and church-gardens, and those of the State, the 
 gardens of the Luxembourg, Tuileries, Louvre, and others. All 
 are equally open to the public — all arranged with a view to its 
 pleasure and convenience ; but in the case of the State-gardens 
 each supplies its own stock. What we have to deal with now is 
 the manufactory, so to speak, for the great number of gardens 
 and open spaces made during recent years. At one time the old 
 State-gardens were by far the most important in Paris ; now they 
 are surpassed by those created specially for the city and its 
 people. In commencing to improve the public gardens of the 
 city, it was a wise step to begin with central nurseries, from 
 whence all those gardens could be supplied. 
 
 The advantage of having public nurseries of this kind to 
 supply the parks, gardens, and squares of a great city is so great, 
 that it is surprising they have not been already adopted by us. 
 Not only could the necessary trees, shrubs, and flowers be 
 procured much more cheaply, but a greater selection of choice 
 subjects would be at the disposal of the planters. By selecting 
 ground favourable to each class of plants, shrubs, or trees, each 
 could be grown to perfection, and at a cheaper rate than they 
 could be bought ; and the necessity of inquiry, selecting and 
 
166 THE I'AKKH AND GAKDKNS OF TAIUS. [CiiAi'. XI. 
 
 bargaining, -wonlcl bo clone away with, the planter having merely to 
 indicate the snbjects required. They could be quickly desi^atched 
 to any given point in vans constructed for the purpose. In 
 addition to these advantages, a small portion of each nursery 
 might be set apart as an experimental ground to test newly- 
 introduced or imperfectly-known plants ; and in this respect each 
 would be of valuable aid, not only to the State, but also to the 
 general public. With our parks and crown lands in which to 
 select positions, the establishment of such gardens would not be 
 expensive, and would in a very few years save the first cost of 
 their formation. Our large nurserymen would feel a pleasure 
 in contributing their novelties and rarities, as they now do to our 
 botanic gardens, and a system of exchange might be arranged 
 between them to the advantage of both public, private, and 
 commercial establishments. The adoption of such a system does 
 not do away with the commerce with nurserymen for new or rare 
 plants, but simply secures ample supplies of those in general 
 request. 
 
 The present system is too expensive and imperfect to last. 
 We have, in and around London and our other great cities, 
 numerous public parks and gardens, and it is to be hoped their 
 number will go on increasing from year to year. Let us suppose 
 that the superintendent or designer of a new public jiark or 
 garden wants many thousand trees and shrubs for its embellish- 
 ment. He has to obtain them wherever he can, and as our 
 nurseries are arranged chiefly or solely for private supply, most 
 probably there will be great difficulty in getting some things 
 even at high prices. For example, a very important item in 
 town-gardening consists of trees for park and avenue planting. 
 If at the present moment we wished to plant an avenue of Plane- 
 trees, of suitable size and properly prepared for the purpose, we 
 should have to send to the Continent for them, as in our own 
 nurseries they are not prepared for street-planting ; in which 
 case they would cost much more than if bought in this country, 
 and be in far worse condition for the purpose than if they had 
 been grown at home. The Planes on the Thames Embankment 
 were imported from the Continent, and of course there would not 
 have been the slightest occasion for this if we possessed the kind 
 of establishments described, and of whicli the necessity must be 
 
Chai'. XI.] JARDIN FLEUIUSTE AND NURSERIES. 
 
 1G7 
 
 obvious. lu Paris there is a great central establishment at Passy 
 whore all the tender plants are raised and reared, and there are 
 nurseries devoted to the production of city-trees and shrubs, in 
 which the most suitable kinds are grown, and grown to the size 
 in which they are best suited for being placed in the streets, 
 parks, or gardens. The cost of each plant or tree is in this case 
 a mere trifle ; Avith us the plantation of even a very small park, 
 or one boulevard, would amount to a very considerable sum. It 
 would, therefore, be^wise to establish a large nursery for all 
 liardy subjects, from trees downwards, for the supply of the 
 puldic parks of London. 
 
 ill tlu- JarJin I'Uiiristc 
 
 The Jardin Fleuriste of the city of Paris is situated in the 
 Avenue d'Eylau, close to the Porte de la Muette, leading to the 
 principal promenade of the Bois de Boulogne. It is the depot for 
 all the tender plants used in the decoration of the parks, gardens, 
 and squares of the city. Entering from the Avenue d'Eylau, the 
 first objects of interest that are seen are collections of liardy 
 plants growing in the open air on a small lawn amidst the glass 
 houses with which the place is nearly covered. The most in- 
 teresting and valuable group planted on this lawn is a number of 
 hardy Bamboos, proving clearly that in our latitudes we may 
 enjoy the peculiar grace and verdure of these giant grasses, and. 
 
1(J8 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XL 
 
 by planting them, liiglily improve the appearance of our gardens 
 and pleasure-grounds, especially in places under the mild influences 
 of the sea and in the west and south of England and Ireland, 
 
 The interior arrangements made in the glass houses here for 
 the convenience of the workmen and for the preservation of the 
 plants in winter are admirable, and should be adojjted in similar 
 instances. We build more hot-houses than any other people, 
 construct them better, and furnish them better ; and therefore it 
 is desirable that in disposing them in relation to each other, we 
 should employ the most economical and convenient plan. They 
 are frequently scattered about without any connection with each 
 other, and there is consequent additional expense and trouble. 
 But, even where the errors of the scattering-system are guarded 
 against, there is seldom an effective means of communication from 
 one to the other without going into the open air. All know how 
 disagreeable it is to pass from a hot stove to frosty or damp air ; 
 it is dangerous to tender plants ; nor can it be otherwise than 
 injurious to the health of those employed in such structures. All 
 these inconveniences are got rid of by the very simple j)lan 
 adopted in the case of the group of houses, the arrangement of 
 which the woodcut may serve to explain. The plant-houses are 
 ranged on each side of a glass-covered passage, and there is no 
 necessity for taking the plants into the open air in winter, or for 
 the men who work in the houses to undergo any change of 
 temperature for hours at a time. The houses are placed so close 
 together, that heating them becomes much less difficult than when 
 they are separated. The advantages of the plan are so great, that 
 nobody building houses for growing or storing plants should 
 neglect to adopt it. For Graperies with the borders outside, it 
 would not be so suitable ; but where good borders are made 
 inside, it would answer well; or the Vineries or Peach-houses 
 might form the outer four houses of each block, leaving the plant- 
 houses and forcing-houses inside. 
 
 Plants may be placed in the passage, when narrow, in half- 
 oval groups between each door. In large places where the houses 
 on each side would be filled with ornamental specimen plants, it 
 would be a good plan to make the glass-covered passage as wide 
 as one of the houses. Beds might be placed between the doors, 
 and climbers run up the roof, thus converting the passage into an 
 
CiiAv. XL] JARDIX FLEUIUSTE AXD XURSERIES. 
 
 IGO 
 
 agreeable wiuter-garden. With the better kinds of climbers 
 depending from the roof; a few beds of Oranges and Camellias, 
 and some Palms and tine-leaved plants here and there, to lend 
 grace and character to the scene, one can fancy few things more 
 agreeable in the way of winter-garden or conservatory, particularly 
 as the varied contents of the houses on each side could be seen 
 through the glass from the corridor or i)romenade. 
 
 The Cannas and like plants, of which such graceful use is made 
 in Paris gardens, arc preserved in a most efficient way in caves in 
 this garden. When the stone is quarried for building purposes, 
 a rough propping column is left here and there, and thus dark 
 
 HOUSE FOU YOUNG PLANTS 
 RECENTLY BOOTED. 
 
 I I 
 
 PROPAGATING HOUSE. 
 
 PELARGONIUM HOUSE. 
 
 ■ELARGONIUM HOUSE. 
 
 SOLANUM UOU.SE. 
 
 UEGONIA HOUSE. 
 
 CALADIUM AND ARUM HUUSE. 
 
 51ISCELLANEOU3 HOUSE. 
 
 Dui^riiin slwiuirig the arrangement of a t^roup of Glass Houses in the Jar din Fleuristc. 
 
 and spacious caves of equable temperature are left underground. 
 They are in this case about seven feet high, and are used for 
 storing plants that may be well preserved without light in the 
 winter. Here too in masses against the cave walls are arrayed 
 quantities of the Chinese Piice-paper plant, which is so much 
 grown in the gardens. It seems in a perfectly firm and safe 
 condition, growing in the gas-lighted atmosphere, and sending 
 out long bhmched leaves of a delicate lemon-colour, which when 
 the plants are placed in the open air in the summer, soon acquire 
 a healthy green. 
 
 The nursery for trees for the boulevards is situated at Petit 
 Bry, near Nogent-sur-Marue. It consists of nearly forty-five 
 
170 TIIK I'AUKS AND (lAltDENS UF PAIMS. [Cuai'. XL 
 
 acres, entirely devoted to the raising of the commoner and more 
 useful kinds of trees for avenue and boulevard planting. On 
 entering, the first thing that strikes the visitor is, that the whole of 
 the surface of the ground is thrown into ridges nearly six feet 
 in width, on the apex of which the trees are planted. This 
 arrangement is adopted in consequence of the ground being 
 occasionally flooded by the river Marne, which is close by, to prevent 
 the trees being injured by the water freezing above the base of their 
 stems. The kinds mostly raised are the Western Plane, the Horse- 
 chestnut, the large-leaved Elm, Ailantus glandulosa, Planeras, 
 and Lombardy Poplars — the last, however, are not used for 
 avenue or street planting. Other kinds used on a smaller scale 
 than these — the Paulownia, for example, are grown at Longchamps. 
 These trees, the names of which are here mentioned in the order 
 of their importance, are all trained with straight stems, and sent 
 from hence to the boulevards for planting as far as possible of 
 equal size. The rule is to send them out with a straight stem of 
 nearly ten feet long, and about eight inches in circumference. The 
 portion above the ten feet of clear stem is not of so much 
 consequence and may vary, but if the trees when taken up for 
 planting do not present the length of " clean " stem considered 
 necessary, the lower branches are cut away till it is attained. Of 
 course the trees are so pruned when young that straightness of 
 stem is obtained. To arrive at the size and fitness for street- 
 planting, the Plane requires about five years, the Horse-chestnut 
 ten, the Ailantus four, the Elm and Planera about five years each. 
 The Elm and Planera are the only trees that require support in 
 training them into the necessary form, for which purpose stakes 
 from fifteen to eighteen feet high are used. 
 
 The nursery for shrubs is very pleasantly situated near the 
 racecourse of Longchamps in the Bois do Boulogne, and is some- 
 what more than twelve acres in extent. It is in excellent keeping, 
 and contains a good stock of both well-known and rarely-used 
 subjects. Pioses and all kinds of shrubs and hardy climbers are 
 grown here for the city-gardens, as well as nearly, every kind of 
 low tree. 
 
 The nursery for hardy flowers is situated in the Bois do 
 Vincennes, and consists of nearly twenty acres of sandy ground 
 just outside the fortifications, near the Porto Picpus and Lac 
 
Chai'. XL] JAliDlN FLEURISTE AXU NUKSKIUES. 171 
 
 Daumesnil. The stock of spring flowers is not a varied one, ami 
 leaves much to be desired. Where there is so much ground 
 devoted to a speciality, it ought to be well done ; and it is a 
 matter of regret that with so much improvement in other ways a 
 hirge stock of all the really ornamental hardy flowers is not 
 formed. It would be conferring a general benefit if, instead of 
 depending so much on plants requiring expensive stoves and 
 ceaseless trouble for their preservation, the chief gardeners of the 
 city showed what may be done with the hardy plants belonging 
 to our own and similar climates. At present their collections of 
 
 herbaceous plants and spring flowers consist of quantities of 
 ordinary kinds. A dozen years ago there was a greater number 
 of hardy plants grown in Paris gardens than in London. But 
 since then a great impetus has been given to the culture of hardy 
 flowers in England, and now our collections are far richer than 
 any to be found in France, 
 
 The nursery for the Pines and lihododendrons is also in the Bois 
 de Boulogne, near Auteuil, and is about the same size as the 
 hardy-flower nursery. The climate of Paris is not so favourable 
 to the growth of coniferous trees as that of England, and con- 
 sequently to the English visitor tlie Auteuil nursery does not look 
 
172 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cuap. XL 
 
 SO attractive as that at Longchamps, but it is well stocked, and 
 serves its purpose admirably. The American plants are mostly- 
 grown in the slight shade aftbrded by thin hedges of Arbor vitae. 
 The Ivy used for making the edgings, which are so much admired 
 in the public gardens of Paris, and for every other purpose for 
 which the plant is employed, is grown here. 
 
 ■*<-*-c <; 
 
 ^ 
 
( 173 ) 
 
 CHAPTEPt XII. 
 The Cemeteries of Paris. 
 
 To anyone accnstomed to associate cemeteries with f^arclens more or 
 less heantiful, tlie cemeteries of Paris are far from Lein^,' agreeable. 
 In these human love does not fail in its testimony ; but such are 
 the evils of overcrowding, of still following plans less evidently 
 wrong when the city was much smaller, and of a horrible system 
 of using the same ground for interments many times over — that 
 the best aspects of these cemeteries are painful to anyone who 
 knows what is possible or what has already been accomplished in 
 the formation of decent burial-grounds near large cities. Nothing 
 more agreeable is to be seen than crowded stones and whole acres 
 covered with decaying blackened " immortelles " — the sight being 
 most depressing to anyone accustomed to green churchyards. In 
 the portions devoted to the graves of the rich, or of such as passed 
 on their way to the grave by the paths of fame or glory, a little 
 chapel or a ponderous tomb often prevents, for a time, the dust 
 of individuals from mingling with the common clay of their 
 neighbours, and the earth is not used merely as a deodorising 
 medium, as in other parts of the same cemetery. 
 
 Where the poorer people bury their dead in this part of the 
 graveyard may be seen a most revolting mode of sepulture. A 
 very wide trench, or fosse, is cut, broad enough to hold two rows 
 of coffins placed across it, and one hundred yards or so in length. 
 Here they are rapidly stowed in one after another, close together, 
 no earth between the coffins, and wherever the coffins, which are 
 very fragile, happen to be short so that a little space is left 
 between the two rows, those of children are placed in lengthwise 
 l)etween them to economise space ; the whole being done much as 
 a workman would pack bricks together. This is the fosse commune. 
 
174 
 
 Tin 
 
 ARKS AND C.A1U)KXS OF IWIUS. [CuAr. XII. 
 
 or grave of the humble class of people, who cannot afford to pay 
 for the ground. The remains of these people thus dishonoured 
 are not even allowed to rest in the grave, such as it is, but after 
 the lapse of a short time their bones ar^ dug up and the ground 
 prepared for another crop. There is thus a very wide difference 
 between " sickle and crown " in Pere-la-chaise. A cutting thirteen 
 or fourteen feet wide, with the earth thrown up in high banks 
 on either side, a priest standing at one part near a slope formed 
 by the slight covering thrown over the buried of that day, and, 
 frequently, a little crowd of mourners and friends, bearing a 
 cofiSn. Thoy hand it to the man in the bottom of the trench, who 
 
 packs it beside the 
 ^^^^^ ^ __^: r'^-^j^^ others without 
 
 placing a particle 
 of earth between ; 
 the priest says a 
 few words, and 
 sprinkles a few 
 drops of water on 
 the coffin and clay ; 
 someof the mourn- 
 ers weep, but are 
 soon moved out by 
 another little 
 crowd, with its 
 dead, and so *on 
 till the long and 
 wide trench is full. They do not even take the trouble 'to throw a 
 little earth against the coffins last put in, but simply place a rough 
 board against them for the night. Those places not paid for in 
 perpetuity are completely cleared out, dug up, and used again 
 after a few years. The wooden crosses, little headstones, and 
 countless ornaments are carted away or are thrown together 
 in great heaps, the crosses and consumable parts being generally 
 sent to the hospitals as fuel. The headstones from such a clear- 
 ance (when not claimed in good time by their owners) go to make 
 the drainage of a drive, or for some similar end. And yet these 
 people, who cannot afford to pay for the ground in perpetuity, 
 go on erecting inscribed headstones, and bringing often their 
 
 
 ttiry in tlu \ !>• 
 
Chap. XII.] THE CEMKTEHIKS OF I'AIUS. 175 
 
 little tokens of love, knowiuf]^ well that a few years will sweep 
 away these, and that afterwards they cannot even tell where is 
 the dust of those that have heen taken from them. One day, 
 when in tlie Cemetery of Mont Parnasse, I saw the workmen 
 making a new road, the hottom of which was formed of broken 
 
 headstones, many of them bearing a date four years before. 
 These had been placed on ground that had not been paid for in 
 perpetuity, and were consequently grubbed up at the end of a 
 few years when the ground was required again for another series 
 of these disgusting interments, which arc needless too so long as 
 
176 TlIK PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. [riiAP. XII- 
 
 there is plenty of cheap hmd in the environs of Paris. Let us 
 hope that whatever else may be " taken from the French," we 
 may never imitate them in their cemetery-management. 
 
 The Americans are the only people who bury their dead 
 decently and beautifully, that is, so far as the present mode 
 of sepulture will allow them. For beauty, extent, careful 
 planting, picturesque views and keeping the garden-cemeteries 
 formed within the past generation or so near all the principal 
 American cities are a great advance upon anything of the kind in 
 Europe. They are in some cases as large as national parks, and 
 as full of trees and flowers as a choice garden. Many of the 
 larger cities have several of these beautiful large garden-like 
 cemeteries. There are half-a-dozen or more within driving 
 distance of New York. Not the least interesting or admirable 
 feature of these American cemeteries is the room allotted to each 
 family and to each grave. Each family possesses a " lot " — quite 
 a little garden — in which the graves are dotted about, and which 
 is usually neatly kept and well planted. Thus the repulsive 
 overcrowding of the European city-cemeteries does not exist in 
 America. 
 
 The gentleman who lirst originated these noble American 
 cemeteries, Mr. J. Jay Smith of German town, Philadelphia, is yet 
 alive, and only a year or two ago visited London with the view 
 of founding a similar kind of cemetery here, with all recent im- 
 provements. AVhen in America a few years ago, I had the 
 pleasure of seeing with him some of the larger cemeteries of 
 Philadelphia, and was pleasantly surprised at their riches in trees 
 and shrubs, their vast extent, and the beautiful position occupied 
 by the West Laurel Hill Cemetery, on the slopes on both sides 
 of the noble river. This quiet, impressive resting-place for 
 the dead, which looks more like a great national garden than a 
 cemetery, is situated at such a distance from the city as to pre- 
 clude any danger of the requirement of the ground for building 
 purposes. Moreover, it is bounded on the east by the valley and 
 river of the Schuylkill, and on its northern and southern sides by 
 ravines so deep and precipitous as to insure that no engineering 
 skill will ever pierce them with roads or streets. It consists of a 
 delightfully-undulating plateau, situated on a bluff projecting into 
 the Schuylkill, thus constituting it a promontory bounded on three 
 
fiiAi>. XII.] THE CEMETERIES OF IWKTS. 177 
 
 sides l)y tlie doe}) valleys already raentiouod. In America even 
 small country-towns have followed the example of the cities, and 
 instead of the old city graveyard, we see imitations of Greenwood, 
 Laurel Hill, or Mount Auburn, with their drives, walks, and 
 avenues. In many respects the change is a beneficial one, 
 especially in the matter of healthfulness. When nearly forty 
 years ago, the idea of such cemeteries was first broached, it en- 
 countered great opposition. Since then no good fashion ever 
 spread so rapidly. I am indebted to Mr. T. L. Olmstead of New 
 York, for the photographs from which the engravings of American 
 cemeteries were made, and also for the following notes upon the 
 S|)ring Grove cemetery, said to be, in some respects, the best 
 ordered in America, and which may be taken as a typical specimen 
 of its kind. I take pleasure in illustrating these beautiful ceme- 
 teries for the sake of comparing them with the ghoul-yards of 
 l^iris and other European cities. In Spring Grove an important 
 improvement is effected by a rule which prevents the erection of 
 more than one monument on each family burial-lot. This is 
 placed in the centre, and on a solid foundation not less than six 
 feet deep, the usual depth of graves, so that burials can be made 
 around the monument, and the respective inscriptions be placed 
 on it, thus saving the expense of head and foot stones, which 
 always, more or less, convey the idea of a potter's field, particularly 
 in the case of single interments ; and where people, to all appear- 
 ance, vie with each other in procuring the tallest headstones and 
 the largest amount of ornament, thus increasing the difficulty of 
 keeping such places in proper order. Wherever grave-marks are 
 necessary, they should project but little above the surface of the 
 ground, and be not much larger than ordinary landmarks to lots, 
 but the base deep enough to be below the action of frost. In some 
 instances lot-holders have planted a tree until a suital)le monu- 
 ment can be procured, or sometimes even to remain permanently, 
 which latter course is very desirable on sections where there is 
 already a great abandance of tomb- stones. 
 
 To the arboriculturist, in particular, Spring Grove ought to be 
 a place of great interest, as indeed will be many like places. It 
 was the desire of the directorate from the first to introduce a 
 variety of suitable representatives of the vegetable kingdom into 
 the grounds. In this they were considerably assisted by the 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 'I'lIK PAltKS A^'L) GAllDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. XIL 
 
 owners of the lots, the most prominent of them being members of 
 the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, in which Society originated 
 the idea of establishing a rural cemetery in this spot. The greater 
 part of the grounds, when purchased, was densely covered with 
 native forest-trees. In the lower or southern portion, the Elm, 
 Sycamore and Ash predominate ; the central part is chiefly 
 covered with Tulip-trees, Sugar-maples, Sassafras, etc., while the 
 western division is almost exclusively occupied by Beech, Sour- 
 gum, Ked-bud, and Dog- wood. The northern part is adorned with 
 some of the finest fjroves of various kinds of Oak, of Nature's own 
 
 P 
 
 A Contrast: the Cemetery of Perc la Chaise. {After Hachette.) 
 
 planting centuries ago. The efiect produced by the brilliant 
 colours which most of these trees and shrubs assume in autumn, 
 is magnificent. The introduction of varieties of evergreens, whose 
 perennial verdure is particularly appropriate for ornamenting 
 places of sepulture, has contributed much to mitigate the bleak 
 desolation of winter and to render the prospect agreeable at all 
 times. The area of Spring Grove is considerably over 300 acres 
 of undulating surface, mostly of sandy subsoil, and abundantly 
 supplied with water and forest -scenery. 
 
 Although we do not allow the remains of our poor to be treated 
 with tlie same disrespect as the French, there is no place where 
 
Chap. XIL] THE CEAIETEEIES OF PAIUS. 179 
 
 our backwardness in all that is best and most essential in garden- 
 ing is more apparent than in the churchyard. All the advantages 
 that could be desired for a charming garden are sometimes at 
 hand in these j^laces, yet the rule is to see them as bare as a 
 housetop, and much less interesting as regards vegetation than 
 the very ditches by which they are surrounded. This is true, 
 not so much of churchyards in towns, as in the fairest parts of 
 our fairest counties. Indeed, in cities and towns trees and shrubs 
 often embellish the space around the church, whereas in some 
 beautiful parts of Kent, or Surrey, or Warwickshire, it is common 
 to sec a churcli without a particle of graceful vegetation on either 
 the walls of the church, the ground, or the low walls that some- 
 times surround the whole, although no spots are more easily 
 converted into lovely gardens. In these days of costly church- 
 decorations one may surely not in vain call attention to the 
 wants of the church-garden. Thousands spent on the most 
 elaborate artistic decorations indoors will never produce such a 
 beautiful and all-satisfying result as a few pounds judiciously 
 spent in converting the churchyard into a church-garden. There 
 are several reasons why churchyards are more than usually 
 favourable spots for the formation of gardens of the best kind. 
 The site and situation, in the country at least, are frequently 
 favourable and picturesque, the soil is generally suitable, the 
 tree-planter has usually the assurance that what he does will 
 remain for ages, the associations of the spot are such as to awaken 
 the mind to the influences of great natural beauty, the walls of 
 tlie church usually offer excellent opportunities for the display 
 of the larger hardy climbers, the walls of the churchyard 
 advantages for the development of those of more humble growth, 
 the ground is generally admirably adapted for trees, and the 
 very turf may easily be converted into a garden of spring-flowers. 
 Of suital)le trees the Yew is even more enduring than archi- 
 tecture itself; and it should never be forgotten that gardeners 
 have observed and propagated varieties of this tree which differ 
 greatly from the ordinary type, and are no less beautiful — the 
 Irish Yew, for example, one of the most precious trees in existence, 
 because it is as hardy as it is distinct from all other trees in 
 beauty. It would be easy to adorn many a churchyard with 
 varieties of the common Yew alone, and of these we should 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE PAUKS AND GAliDKNS OF TAinS. [Chap. XII. 
 
 certainly give preference to tlie green as against the variegated 
 kinds. Although we shall never get any finer trees than our 
 native Yew and its varieties, it mnst yet be remembered that our 
 gardens now contain many evergreen trees from various countries, 
 and from these a selection may be made ; but in that selection 
 there should never be a tender tree. It has long been fashion- 
 able to plant quantities of evergreen trees not hardy enough for 
 many districts of the country, and even where they seem so far 
 to l)e hardy, anybody who knows anything of the quick growth 
 of the trees in their own and in more favourable climes, knows 
 also that they will never attain their natural dignity or beauty 
 in this country. There are, for example, many places where the 
 Deodar, the Wellingtonia, or the Araucaria should not be planted. 
 The church -garden being usually limited in space, for this reason 
 alone only trees certain to be long-lived in the situation should 
 be planted. Evergreens have been mentioned first. Summer- 
 leafing trees should, however, not be neglected, as among these 
 are our most beautiful flowering-trees, and many of them give 
 also refreshing shade and pleasant green foliage long into the 
 autumn, as, for instance, the Locust-tree. Where the space is 
 limited and it is desirable, as it nearly always is, to leave some 
 room between the trees for views, etc., the various pyramidal or 
 tapering trees will be useful. In planting it is essential not to 
 hide the building itself from important points of view. To 
 enhance and not to conceal beauty should be the planter's object, 
 and he can scarcely pay too much attention to points for view 
 both of and from his site. 
 
 All who know how readily and simply the walls of churches 
 may be made into charming gardens of evergreen or flowering 
 plants, must regret that so many of them are bare of even Ivy or 
 Virginian Creeper. Many of the finest flowering looses and 
 climbers could be grown in such positions. Fresh foliage or 
 roseate blooms are never seen to greater advantage than against 
 the worn grey or brown stones of our churches. The several 
 sides of the church may each have its api)ropriate plants, choice 
 ]ioses and the least-hardy subjects having the warmer and more 
 sheltered walls. Where Ivy is used it should not be allowed to 
 wholly exclude other and rarer subjects. The low walls often 
 placed round graveyards offer also a desirable position for wall- 
 
Chap. XIL] THE CEMETERIES OF PARIS. 181 
 
 plants, such as the various Ivies, Clematis, Cotoncaster, etc. Some- 
 times tombs may offer opportunities here and there for the growth 
 of a plant of similar character ; but there should be no disturb- 
 ance of any monuments or graves for planting of any kind. 
 Intelligence will be best employed in beautifying, not concealing 
 or obliterating such objects. 
 
 Flower-beds of the common type are quite out of place in a 
 churchyard. A group of Yuccas or of Lilies may be planted, but 
 they do not need formal beds ; the tasteful gardener may make 
 at least one beautiful large bed — the whole of the turf. In tliis 
 one of the ideas of the " wild garden " — dotting bulbous flowers 
 through the grass — may be most effectively carried out. It is 
 scarcely necessary to state here that many of our fairest spring- 
 flowers are easily naturalised in grass. The surface of the 
 churchyard is often suitable for this, because the grass in it is 
 not mown so early or so primly as that in gardens. There are 
 usually in churchyards little variations in surface or soil whicli 
 favour the development of a variety of spring-flower life, and the 
 flowers are very welcome among the budding grass in spring. 
 The Scillas and Snowdrops do exceedingly w^ell in turf, and so 
 does the Apennine Anemone. It may be urged that the occasional 
 needful disturbance of the ground would interfere with these 
 plants, but once well established, they would not mind this in the 
 least. Groups of Daffodils of various kinds would look exceedingly 
 well in the turf ; perhaps they would require watching, but they 
 would repay it by their noble blossoms, which seem quite regard- 
 less of harsh weather in spring. 
 
 In connection with this subject the state of our old London 
 cemeteries invites some notice. They could for the most part be 
 readily converted into oases of trees, and surely they ought to be 
 preserved for ever inviolate — if not as graveyards, yet as gardens. 
 In some places they have commenced rooting up the grave- 
 yards, not merely where the tunnelling power of a railway 
 company is brought to bear, but where the thing is done for mere 
 love of " improvement." Tombs and headstones are being cleared 
 out of the way and all obstructions removed, so that a level 
 surface may be obtained on which to set a few hundred ever- 
 greens, which have little more chance of flourishing in London 
 with its present atmosphere than if planted in the Salt Lake. To 
 
182 THE PAliKS AND GARDENS OF PAlliy. [Chap. XII. 
 
 have the memorials of one's friends disturbed for the ill-digested 
 schemes of a jobbing gardener is bad enough ; but when it is 
 considered that this sacrilege is performed to plant subjects that 
 have no chance of thriving, then the wisdom of the change is fully 
 seen. It is true the sculpture of these stones in our cemeteries is 
 anything but Greek, but the rudest tell of love and death " where 
 human harvests grow," and to all but vulgar minds must be 
 sacred. What, then, must be the feelings of those who have had 
 the memorials they cherish disturbed for such a purpose ? And it is 
 the more inexcusable when we reflect that there is not the least 
 occasion for any mutilation of the kind, and that the most 
 suitable trees for such places are those that would not require 
 any alteration of the ground, and would flourish freely in a town- 
 atmosphere. The weeping Willow, Birch, Ash, weeping Elm, 
 and a considerable variety of drooping and other deciduous trees, 
 are especially suited for this purpose, and might be planted 
 without interfering with the stones in any way. Would the 
 latter look any the worse for being shaded by a beautiful 
 pendulous tree here and there ? The fact is, town-cemeteries 
 may be made as beautiful as it is possible to make them with 
 vegetation, by the use of deciduous trees and shrubs and a few 
 well- tried evergreens. Instead of any clearance or levelling being 
 required for the judicious placing of these, they will look all the 
 better for being picturesquely grouped among the tombstones and 
 other irregularities of the surface. When new gardens are made 
 in connection with a new church, it matters not of course how the 
 ground is moved, but it would be a great advantage if the 
 churchwarden-mind could get rid of the idea that before making 
 a garden in a graveyard it is necessary to level the space and 
 make it like any commonplace bit of ground. Instead of pursuing 
 such a course they should procure advice from some intelligent 
 landscape-gardener, and say to him, " Embellish the spot without 
 destroying its memorials or associations." If it must be levelled, 
 mutilated, and planted with a few formal beds and shrubberies, 
 confide its execution to a navvy. In such graveyard-gardens much 
 short-lived flower-gardening should be avoided in consequence 
 of the ceaseless care it requires, and the attention should be 
 confined to the hardy and permanent ornaments suitable for such 
 a spot. 
 
Chap. XII.] 
 
 THE CEMETERIES OF PARIS. 
 
 183 
 
 There is no place in wliicli a fresh little garden can be made in 
 better taste than round a city-church ; and in Paris, where the 
 difficulty would be to find an open spot that is not planted, the 
 spaces around churches are of course not neglected. The view of 
 the Square and Church of St. Clothilde, engraved from a photo- 
 graph, will serve to show how much the beauty of similar 
 buildings may be enhanced by a little judicious planting. 
 
184 
 
 TIIK PARKS AND GAKDKNS OF PARIS, [('map. XIII. 
 
 /■y ,n II ,..i;/,.. .t>,.i S/u,t.. 
 
 C„, .,('..,. ,J„/.,...)- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Ivy in Paris. 
 
 Anyone who traverses tlie streets of the newer parts of Paris may 
 sec many evidences of tlic graceful way in wliicli Ivy is used to 
 embellisli the court-yards, railings, walls, and the public and private 
 gardens of that city. It would be difficult to give any adequate 
 idea of the charms it imparts to many surfaces that would otherwise 
 be hard and bare. In any city or town, where the air is not much 
 polluted by smoke, the same effects may be easily produced. In cold 
 districts, where evergreens are liable to suffer, it is all the more de- 
 sirable to make judicious use of the most valuable of all evergreen 
 climbers for northern countries. To rob the monotonous garden- 
 railings of their nfikedness and openness, the French use it most 
 extensively, so that even in the dead of winter it is refreshing to 
 walk along by them. And if it does so much for the street, how 
 much more for the garden ? Instead of the inmates of the house 
 ga/ing from the windows into the street swarming with dust, or 
 .splashing with mud, a wall of verdure encloses the garden ; 
 
CllAI>. XIII.] 
 
 IVY IX I'AIUS. 
 
 185 
 
 privacy is sGC^^l■ed ; the cft'ect of any flowers contained in the 
 garden is heightened ; and histly, the heavier clouds of dust are 
 kept out in summer, for so well are the railings covered by 
 planting the Ivy rather thickly, and giving it some rich light 
 
 soil to grow in, that a dense screen is soon formed. Ivy-edgings 
 also make excellent margins to beds on grass-lawns. In this 
 case one would have thought the verdant carpet of turf suflicient, 
 and so it is, if tlie subjects lill the IhmI properly and conie flush 
 
186 'I'llK I'AltKS AND UAUDKNS OF PAIUS. [Cii.vi-. Xlll. 
 
 to the margin ; but, with the bare earth more conspicuous than 
 the beclcling-phxnts, as is so often the case early in the summer, 
 the belt of fresh Ivy, rising as it does several inches above the 
 level of the earth, efi'ects great improvement. Near at hand this 
 is not so evident, but when a little way off, the nakedness of the 
 earth is hidden by the Ivy, and the flowers peep above it. The 
 best kind for this purpose is the Irish Ivy, but where many 
 edgings are made, it would be very desirable to produce some 
 variety by using other healthy green-leaved kinds ; and the 
 variegated ones, too, should be attractive, though no charm" of 
 theirs can ever equal the unmatched verdure of the green Ivies 
 in early summer. It should be observed that an Ivy-band of the 
 width of an ordinary edging is not at all so desirable as when 
 its sheet of green is allowed to spread out to a breadth of more 
 than a foot. In nearly every courtyard in Paris the Ivy is 
 tastefully used. Scarlet Pelargoniums are seen to great advantage 
 when grown in boxes placed against a wall densely covered with 
 Ivy, and with it also planted along their front edges so as to 
 hang down and cover the face of the boxes. One of the floating 
 baths on the Seine has its entrance embowered with Ivy, which 
 looks as much at home as if no river were gurgling beneath. It 
 is secured by placing deep boxes filled with very rich light soil here 
 and there on the bare space ; then planting the Ivy at the ends of 
 each box, devoting the remainder of the space to floAvers. The soil 
 is kept well watered, and the shoots of the Ivy are trained to a light 
 trellis overhead. In the garden of the Paris Exhibition of 1867, 
 a pretty circular bower was shown perfectly covered with Ivy, 
 the whole springing from a large tub. Imagine an immense 
 green umbrella, with the handle inserted in a tub of good soil, 
 with boards placed over it, so as to form a circular seat, and the 
 whole arrangement will be understood in a moment. Such a bower 
 could readily be made on a roof, or on a wide balcony. 
 
 An illustration here given of " rocky caves covered with Ivy," 
 shows a successful attempt to hide with graceful vegetation 
 some caves for storing tools, and also serving as a shelter to passers- 
 by in showers. These caves are almost completely covered with a 
 mantle of Irish Ivy, which also spreads into the bushes and grass 
 around. Where the rocky masses forming the grottoes are seen, 
 the efl'ect is good, owing to the rock being well formed. The 
 
CiiAr. XIll.] 
 
 IVY IN rAI{lS. 
 
 187 
 
 caves are made in a sloping bank backed with trees. It will be 
 seen from this example that where structures are really required 
 in gardens it is easy to make them ornaments and not eyesores 
 in the garden-landscape. 
 
 Where there are tall bare walls near a house, they are quickly 
 covered with a close tapestry of Ivy. If the margin of the grass 
 around some clump of shrubs or flower-beds looks bare, some 
 
 eg.;?'' -"^^2 
 
 Rocky Caves covered with Ivy. 
 
 young plants of Ivy will soon make a wide and graceful edging 
 which will look well throughout the year with slight attention. 
 When Ivy is planted thickly and kept neatly to a breadth of 
 from twelve to twenty inches, it forms a dense carpet of leaves on 
 the ground. The effect of Ivy-bands outside masses of gay 
 flowers is excellent, forming, as they do, a graceful setting for 
 the flower-borders. In some geometrical gardens panels are 
 edged with stone. These Ivy-edgings associate well with such 
 stone borderings, while they may be used with advantage in any 
 
188 
 
 TllK TAKKS AM) (iAKDKNS OF I'AIUS. [('iiAi-. XIII. 
 
 style of garden. A gartleu pleases in direct proportion to the 
 variety and life that are in it ; and all hands and circles of stone, 
 all unchangeahle geometrical patterns, are as much improved l)y 
 heing fringed here and there with Ivy and the like, as arc the 
 rocks on a river's hank. 
 
 In the Square St. Jacques there is an example of the way in 
 
 which the small-leaved Ivy 
 ;1^^t>^lii^V may be used for covering the 
 
 V.-Lxii^^jc^x/^tr^: trunks of trees ; the effect 
 
 heing more lace-like than 
 that of the ordinary kinds. 
 It would he well to plant a 
 variety of the green-leaved 
 kinds at the foot of trees. 
 It is not, however, advisable 
 to cover very young trees in 
 this way, as it is apt to in- 
 terfere with their proper 
 development. With regard 
 to growing Ivy on trees, 
 Mr. George Berry of Longleat 
 makes the following judicious 
 remarks : — 
 
 "In almost every park, 
 however small, there are 
 some few trees — old trees 
 that are of no value, and 
 that have matured their 
 growth — that may be given 
 up to Ivy by those who wish 
 to grow it in this manner. 
 It may also be allowed 
 freedom on any inferior un- 
 dcrgrowing trees that have 
 been overtopped by better ones, of which there are generally too 
 many on nearly every property, particularly where judicious 
 thinning has been neglected until too late to be of any benefit. 
 In natural copses, when not grown for profit. Ivy forms an 
 ornamental feature, especially on the Birch, to whose white bark 
 
Chap. Xlll.] 
 
 IVY IN PAIJIS. 
 
 ]8U 
 
 and brown airy twigs the green of the Ivy oflers an agreeable 
 contrast. Ornamental Fir-clumps, too, with the stems of two or 
 three of the most inferior trees clad in Ivy, become thereby much 
 improved in appearance ; but the Ivy rarely creeps among the 
 branches of the Fir ; when it has reached the foliage the dense 
 shade repels its further advance, and then it seems to retrace its 
 steps and forms pendent festoons. Lovers of creeper-clad trees 
 should, however, take care not to allow young growing trees 
 or any fine healthy ornamental timber to be taken i)ossession 
 of by Ivy. It is an indisputable fact that when Ivy is permitted 
 to cling to and cover growing 
 
 young trees, it prevents de- j y.-.^.^i^.^^'^ii'it-k^-:^ -j^.m.^^^ 
 velopment of the stem ; while 
 its tightly-laced and inter- 
 woven mass of dense plaits 
 also excludes light, air, and 
 moisture. The production 
 of foliage, too, gradually 
 diminishes, and when Ivy has 
 established itself on young 
 trees, the result is often slow 
 l)ut premature death." 
 
 The Ivy may be readily 
 grown and tastefully used in 
 a dwelling-house, especially 
 in making living screens for 
 rooms. This is usually done 
 ])y planting it in narrow 
 l>oxes and training it u}) 
 wirework trellises. The boxes being portable, a screen may l)e 
 formed in a few minutes in any part of a room. Sometimes, 
 however, it is permanently planted, and it is not unfrequently 
 used to embellish glass partitions between large apartments. To 
 make the Ivy-edgings which are so abundantly and well employed 
 in and around Paris, plants are easily procured in pots at the 
 markets, on the quays, or of the nurserymen at Fontenay-aux- 
 lioses, who every year grow it in large quantities. 
 
 When used as a screen, Ivy may often be combined with other 
 creepers so as to produce a variety of pretty effects. A happy 
 
 
 ?bstt 
 
 /7'y pn High Window. 
 
190 
 
 TIIK I'AliKS AND GARDENS OF I'AIilS. [CiiAr. XIll. 
 
 combination of "Wistaria above and Ivy below in the Kanie railing 
 often occurs, and the contrast of colour between tbe delicate Lilac- 
 blossoms and light green leaves of the Wistaria and the deep 
 glossy green of the Ivy is so charming, that one could wish it 
 were far more extensively employed in such companionship. 
 Ivy also forms an admirable frame for windows, in situations 
 where little else will grow. The window framed in Ivy, as shown 
 in the sketch of " Ivy on high window," was a very high one (four 
 stories) and the effect was very good. A deep box, filled with 
 rich light soil, suits these Ivies best. 
 
 In some cases a green screen may be desirable far above the 
 ground-line. It can easily be formed of Irish Ivy, planted in deep 
 boxes of rich light earth or in a trough formed of stone or cement ; 
 in such positions the effect of the Ivy is all the more telling 
 
 from its contrast with 
 the large expanse of 
 stone. The high screen 
 represented in our illus- 
 tration was formed 
 about twenty feet above 
 the ground, and in a 
 position where it could 
 not be planted in the 
 earth on the ground 
 fry over hi,h .vaV. j^^^j^ j^^ preparing Ivy 
 
 for growing against the railings and trellis -work in the various 
 parks and gardens, it is trained carefully during the first one or 
 'two years, so that it may cover spaces equably. At the end of 
 the second year the railings are completely covered, and it is 
 then only necessary to keep it properly trimmed. 
 
 The Ivy used by the City of Paris for ornamenting the flower- 
 beds in the squares, the trunks of trees, etc., is grown at the 
 nurseries in the Bois de Boulogne. Towards the end of the 
 summer the propagation of the Ivy by means of cuttings is carried 
 on. Three or four leaves are left on each cutting, and they are 
 planted very thickly in lines in a half-shady position. When 
 they have taken root sufficiently, which generally takes place in 
 the following spring, they are transplanted into pots of four or 
 five inches in diameter. Afterwards stakes are fixed along tlie 
 
Chap. XIII.] 
 
 IVY IN PARIS. 
 
 191 
 
 rows of pots, and from these are stretched lines of thin galvanized 
 wire ; to this slender hut firm trellis of from three to five feet 
 high, the plants are trained daring the growing-season. At the 
 end of the second or third year they are strong enough to be 
 employed to cover railings, and for many similar purposes. The 
 nurserymen in the suburbs of Paris generally propagate them by 
 layers, which are often rooted in pots. If a wide belt of Ivy is 
 
 Screen of Irish l7>y — Boundary to Garden on Banks of Seine at Courbc 
 
 desired, the young plants may be arranged in two or three rows, 
 as the French do when making the excellent Ivy-edgings which 
 are here described. In any case, after the plants are inserted the 
 shoots must be neatly pegged down all in one direction. 
 
 The reason why Ivy-edgings when seen in England look so poor 
 as compared with those in Paris, is that we allow them to grow 
 uncontrolled, and they get overgrown, wild, and entangled, whereas 
 the French keep them down to the desired size by pinching or 
 
192 
 
 Till': I'AKKS AND (lAKDKXS OF I'AlilS. [('ii.\i'. XIII. 
 
 cutting tlie little shoots wrll in, two or even three times every 
 summer, after the ctlgiug has once attained size and health. The 
 abundant sujiply of estahlished plants in small pots ohtainahlo in 
 the markets, enables them to lay down these edgings so as to 
 look well almost from the first day. 
 
( 15^'^ ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Gardens of Versailles. 
 
 This being one ot' the must celebrated gardens in the work!, it 
 may profit us to examine it somewhat in detail — were we, how- 
 ever, to treat of it in proportion to its real merits as a garden, a 
 very small amount of space would suffice. Let us pass through the 
 vast stone courtyard and look from the garden-front of the palace. 
 Standing near the palace walls, one first sees a vast expanse of 
 gravel, some marble margins of great water-basins, sundry protu- 
 berances from the level of the water, and away in the distance an 
 effect like that afforded by a suburban canal in a highly- practical 
 and unlovely country. A few Lombardy Poplars help the remote 
 vista, but the effect of the whole is from this point of our view 
 lamentable. To the right of the palace is a parterre-garden, with 
 high. Box-edgings, clipped conical Yews and other trees, and 
 numerous statues prominent against dense woods of Horse-chestnut 
 trees. To the left is one of those spreads of gravel and grass, 
 diversified by stone steps, walls, and a few stumpy clipped Yews, 
 forming what are termed geometrical gardens, Horse-chestnut 
 groves starting up beyond it and somewhat relieving the whole. 
 Advancing from the palace, the lower terrace and its surroundings 
 come into view, the faces of the terrace walls are hedged with 
 green; above the terrace- walls Yew-trees planted and clipped very 
 regularly ; in the centre there is an elaborate fountain, and the 
 dense groves of trees near by again spring up and only just save 
 the scene from bald formality, not to say ugliness. Versailles is 
 a vast garden, much of its interest hidden behind these kindly 
 groves of trees, but it is about this spot that we obtain the 
 broadest effects of this far-famed place, and may judge how far 
 
 o 
 
194 TlIK TAliKS AND CAKDKNS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 they are worthy of the praise bestowed on them ami of our admira- 
 tion or imitation, 
 
 Versailles is often extolled as the queen of geometrical gardens, 
 and it is certainly a vast illustration of the formal style of 
 gardening. There are in books many dissertations on the several 
 styles of laying-out gardens ; indeed some have taken us to China 
 and Japan, others to Mexico for illustration ; but when all is read 
 and examined, what is the result to anybody who looks from words 
 to things ? That there are really two styles : — one straitlaced, 
 mechanical, with much wall and stone, or it may be gravel ; with 
 much also of such geometry as the designer of wall-papers excels 
 in, often poorer than that ; with an immoderate supply of spouting 
 water, and with trees in tubs as an accompaniment, and perhaps 
 griffins and endless plaster-work and sculpture of the poorer sort : 
 the other, with right desire, though often awkwardly, accepting 
 nature as a guide, and endeavouring to illustrate in our gardens, 
 so far as convenience and knowledge will permit, her many 
 treasures of the world of trees and flowers. 
 
 We read that " we are forced, for the sake of accumulating our 
 power and knowledge, to live in cities : but such advantage as we 
 have in association with each other is in great part counter- 
 balanced by our loss of fellowship with nature. We cannot all 
 have our gardens now, nor our pleasant fields to meditate in at 
 eventide. Then the function of our architecture is, as far as may 
 be, to replace these ; to tell us about nature ; to possess us with 
 memories of her quietness ; to be solemn and full of tenderness 
 like her, and rich in portraitures of her ; full of delicate imagery 
 of the flowers we can no more gather, and of the living creatures 
 now far away from us in their own solitude." What, then, are 
 we to think of those who carry the dead lines and changeless 
 triumphs of the building and the studio into the garden, which, 
 above any other artificial creation, should give us the sweetest 
 and most wholesome " fellowship with nature ?" Simply that their 
 doings result from ignorance of what a true garden ought to be. 
 The Avorst thing that can be done with it is to introduce any feature 
 which, unlike the materials of our world-designer, never changes. 
 Away, then, with the afi'ectation of pretending to enjoy, with the 
 ignorance which believes that there is some occult beauty in, or 
 t'xcuse for, such gardens as this ! 
 
Char XIV.] TIIK liAltDENS OF VERSAILLES. 105 
 
 It is iierfectly true that there are some positions where an 
 intrusion of architecture and embankments into the garden is 
 justitiahle, now and then even necessary. The misfortune is that 
 they are often said to be so when such is not the case. Tlie best 
 terrace-gardens in Europe are those built where the nature of the 
 ground calls for them, usually where the ground is steep and 
 rugged ; it is in positions like these that they are most wanted in 
 tliis country. There is no code of taste resting on any solid 
 foundation which proves that garden or park should have any 
 extensive stonework or geometrical arrangement. Many instances 
 could be given to prove that the natural or nearly natural 
 disposition of the most monotonous ground is preferable to the 
 great majority of expensive geometrical gardens. Let us then 
 use as few oil-cloth or carpet patterns and as little stonework as 
 possible in our gardens, and arrange them so that when our sunny 
 season does come they may be full of life and change, and of such 
 beauty as is nowhere to be found in the deadly formalism of 
 Versailles and gardens like it. 
 
 In considering this kind of gardening we have a capital 
 example in the case of the Crystal Palace, in the region of tlie 
 great fountain-basins, where a more dismal impression is received 
 than in any part of Versailles, though the upper terrace at the 
 Palace illustrates some of the best features of the formal system. 
 But at both the Palace and Versailles the vast expense for a poor 
 theatrical eft"6ct is not the most regrettable matter ; that, perhaps, 
 is the mass of formal, dirty water-basins, with their spouting 
 pipes and crumbling margins ; for the purse that creates such 
 delights frequently fails, or at any rate gets tired of the constant 
 expenditure needed, to keep the stone-cutter's work and geometry 
 in good order. There is nothing more melancholy than the walls, 
 tountain-basins, clipped trees, and long canals, of places like 
 these, not only because they utterly fail to satisfy in them- 
 selves, but as constantly suggesting wasted eflbrt and riches 
 worse than lost. There are, from Versailles to Caserta, a great 
 many ugly gardens in Europe, but at Sydenham is to be found 
 the greatest modern example of the waste of enormous means in 
 making hideous a fine piece of ground. It has been called a work 
 of genius, but it was only the realisation of a misguided ambition 
 to outdo another sad monument of i^reat means prostituted to a 
 
 o 2 
 
Hm; Tin: i'aiiks and caijdkxs oi- i'aims. [i hm'. xiv. 
 
 base use — Versailles. But Versailles is a relic of past ages, and 
 was the expressiou of such knowledge as men possessed of the 
 gardening art at the date of its creation. Backward as we are 
 now, our means for garden-embellishment have increased a 
 hundredfold since Versailles was designed. Therefore this modern 
 illustration of a barbarous style has none of the excuses which 
 might be urged for Versailles. Instead of a desire to express all 
 that we at present know of pure garden-design, and of the wealth 
 of beauty now within our reach, the major idea was to out- 
 Versailles Versailles. There being many mouldering water-basins 
 there, it was thought well to make some vastly bigger. Versailles 
 having numeri)us tall water-spouts, the best way to glorify our- 
 selves at Sydenham was to make some unmistakably taller ! Instead 
 of confining the purely geometrical gardening to the upper 
 terrace, by far the greater portion of the ground was devoted to 
 the more antiquated and baser features of a changeless and stony 
 style of garden-design, and nearly in the centre were placed those 
 vast fountain-basins, with their unclean water and appalling 
 display of pipes. Surely these water-basins are more hideous as 
 garden-sights than the crater of a volcano. The extensive con- 
 trivances to enable the water to go downstairs (prettier than the 
 spouting upwards, it must be admitted), the temples impudently 
 prominent, the statues, the dead walls, all help to add to the dis- 
 tracting elements of the central region. The special gardens, too, 
 such as the Eose-garden, so much better if veiled from the great 
 open central scene, are made as prominent as possible. 
 
 Redeeming features were here and there charming bits of 
 good gardening and good planting, but the vast geometrical 
 system overshadows the whole, and only towards the outer 
 margin could one feel free from this incubus. Here was one of 
 the finest marginal plantations ever made. Those who knew it, 
 and enjoyed the many fine shrubs and trees it contained, must 
 regret its recent destruction to provide sites for a number of villas 
 which now stare point-blank into the remains of what a few years 
 ago was the most beautiful scene in the grounds. The one thing 
 for which those with feeling for the beautiful in landscape-garden- 
 ing always felt grateful to Paxton, was the belt of beautiful 
 plantation that so gracefully cut off the grounds from the 
 cliimney-})ots around. Tliis jjlaiitation was formed at a cost of 
 
rsailles. — Fom 
 
 origin, Les Jardins.) 
 
11)8 TlIK I'AKKS AND GAIJDENS OF PAKIS. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 many tlionsands of pounds, and contained specimens of nearly all 
 that was beautiful in the trees and shrubs of northern and 
 temperate regions. Wearied with the crater-like dreariness of 
 the great stony region, one could lift the eye to this varied 
 and interesting belt of vegetation, and therein find rest. This 
 plantation has been almost entirely cut down, and long 
 lines of red villas stare into the garden in its place. The con- 
 sequence is that beauty or repose in the garden-landscape is made 
 impossible. And to what end? For the gain of about £1,200 a 
 year (the ground-rent of these villas) the gardens have sustained 
 a loss which nothing can repair. Unhappily many instances are 
 to be seen of poor design in public gardens, and of precious 
 surfaces of garden-ground frittered away, but of blind destructive- 
 uess it would be difficult to find an example to equal this. 
 
 In connection with the Crystal Palace one thinks of ruined 
 shareholders ; and with Versailles, of the enormous sums wrung 
 from an oppressed people, and put to such a miserable use. And 
 this was the kind of good eff'ected wuth the money extorted from a 
 starving population ! It was merely burying wealth — indeed, it 
 might have been better to have buried it literally, for many would 
 prefer the naked earth to such extravagances in stone, which 
 must be kept in repair at great cost or soon become intolerable 
 even to their builders and designers. When a private individual 
 indulges in expensive fancies, he has little influence to injure any 
 one but himself; but in the case of a public garden which is set 
 up as an example of all . that is admirable, we then have, in 
 addition to the first wasteful expenditure, an object hurtful to 
 the public taste, sowing the seed of its ugliness all over the 
 country. 
 
 It may be said that our taste in England is sufficiently assured 
 against this ; but it is not so. Many whose law2is w^ere, or might 
 readily be made, the most beautiful of gardens, have ruined them, 
 for the mere sake of having a terraced garden. There is a modern 
 castle in Scotland where the embankments are piled one above 
 another, till the whole looks as if Uncle Toby and a Avhole army of 
 Corporals had been carrying out his grandest scheme in forti- 
 fications. Were such an erection a matter of trifling cost, or one 
 which could be easily removed or even avoided, it would not be 
 worthy our attention ; l)ut being so expensive that it may curtail 
 
Chap. XIV.] THE GARDENS OF VEIISAILLES. 199 
 
 for years the legitimate outlay for a garden, and prevent ex- 
 penditure in living objects of the highest value, rather than in 
 slow crumbling monotony, too much cannot be urged against it. 
 The style is in doubtful taste in climates and positions more suited 
 to it than those of northern France and England ; but he who 
 would adopt it in the present age, and in the presence of the in- 
 exhaustible and magnificent collections of trees and plants now 
 within our reach is an enemy to every true interest of the garden. 
 Versailles is one of the places in which the terraced garden 
 is least appropriate. At Eome, where the immediate environs, 
 unlike those of Naples, Genoa, and many other cities, are not 
 hilly, the fashionable resorts, such as Tivoli and Frascati, were of 
 a character to necessitate the terrace ; the rude stone wall of the 
 husbandman supporting a narrow slip of soil for his Olive-trees 
 or Vines became, in the ornamental garden of the wealthy Roman, 
 an architectural feature, varied by vases, statues, etc. It is 
 essential to bear in mind that the beauty of an Italian or 
 geometrical garden of any kind will depend on the predominance 
 of vegetation over the merely artificial. This may be said to be 
 true of all gardens, and so it is, no doubt ; but it applies to the 
 terraced style more than to any other, inasmuch as it is in that 
 style that artificial features are most predominant. Terraced 
 gardens, allowing of an endless variety of architectural work, 
 apart from that of the house, have naturally been much in favour 
 Avith architects and artists who have taken up the profession of 
 landscape-gardener. The landscape-gardener proper, so to say, 
 impressed by " orthodox " custom, and not attempting to think 
 for himself, chimes in with the popular notion that every house, 
 in no matter what position, should be fortified by terraces. 
 Accordingly he busies himself in forming terrace-gardens, usually 
 on level ground, which is unsuitable for them. Hence it comes 
 that vast sums, ostensibly devoted to the garden, are spent on 
 waterworks, fountains, vases, statues, balustrades, walls, and 
 stucco-work. By the extensive use of such materials many a noble 
 lawn is cut up ; and, sometimes, as at Witley Court, the archi- 
 tectural gardening is pushed so far into the park as absolutely 
 to curtail and injure the prospect— that is, if the prospect of a 
 noble, well-wooded park or arboretum is better than that of a 
 posing-ground for the objects above enumerated. Many of the 
 
200 
 
 'I'llK I'AKKS AND CAIIDKXS OF I'AIM^^. [Ciiai-. XIV 
 
 houses before wliidi we see tliese formidable arrays would them- 
 selves seem to require much further eml)ellishmeut from the hand 
 of the artist-architect. Indeed, if the cost of the stone and stucco 
 ornament lavished on the garden, in many cases, were spent on 
 its legitimate object — the house, it could not fail to be a change 
 for the better, for architecture as well as gardening. The fact 
 is, the style is only worthy of serious adoption with us when the 
 ground favours it, as, to name an English example, at Shrubland. 
 There it is used, with a very pleasing effect, to lead from the house 
 down a steep bank to the pleasure-grounds below. 
 
 Nothing can be more pernicious for gardens than the too- 
 popular notion that the right plan is to place a terraced garden 
 on the best front of the house, no matter what the nature of the 
 
 Terracotta Mania in Garden, Fortification Style: a Sketch in Suliirhs of York. 
 Example of modern landscnfie-'Mork. {From the ' Field.') 
 
 ground ; tlie fact being that, where the ground is level, a finer 
 effect results from allowing the turf to sweep up to the walk in 
 front of the house than from an elaborate terrace, as may be seen 
 on the north side of Holland House, and at Cambridge House, 
 and in such gardens as Oak Lodge, where there is a very narrow 
 terrace. There is, in many cases, need for a formal walk, raised 
 or otherwise, find, it may be, for a small terrace— points which 
 will be governed in each case by the position, and sometimes by 
 the house itself; but, where the ground, as in most Englisli 
 gardens, is level, there is no occasion for more than a grassy 
 foreground, which leaves us free to adopt everywhere a purely 
 artistic and natural style of gardening. In level town-gardens, 
 where the excuse of formal surroundings is used to justify a 
 
(;ii.\i'. XIV.] THK (lAKDKXS OF VERSAIM.KS. 201 
 
 stony style, it is also a mistake. The highest effect is to be 
 obtained, not by carrying architectural features into the usually 
 small town or city garden, but, by securing an absolute contrast 
 between the garden-vegetation and its unavoidable formal sur- 
 roundings. This contrast should be secured in such cases, not 
 by aiming at the sham picturesque with rocks, cascades, and 
 undulations of the ground, which would be too obviously artificial 
 in such a case, but mainly by the simple majesty of trees and the 
 charm of level turf. Thus it has been affirmed that none but an 
 Italian garden would have suited South Kensington. Well, we 
 had an elaborate garden designed there, and skilfully designed in 
 its way. The plan was carried out with the greatest care ; the 
 planting, etc., was done by experienced men, yet the result, as 
 everybody knows, was unsatisfactory in the highest degree. 
 There arc many private gardens in European cities, of a more 
 limited extent and with more formal surroundings, which are 
 Ix-autiful in the highest sense, and as devoid of the aspects that 
 ((fiend many in such a garden as that of South Kensington, as if 
 they were in some happy valley far away from the city. 
 
 Garden Statuari/ at Versailles. 
 
 One feature of the Versailles gardens deserving special comment 
 is the statuary. Notwithstanding the wealth of art thus 
 bestowed, it is rare, indeed, that a good effect is seen. On the 
 contrary, the result is often spotty and objectionable, as in the 
 Pincio, at Home, where there is quite a regiment of new busts ; 
 and at Caserta, where the clipped masses of shrubs have statues 
 laid against them at regular intervals. In the distance, that is 
 to say, in the landscape, such dotting about of statues and l)usts 
 is exceedingly ofi'ensive, because it prevents the vegetation from 
 expressing itself, so to speak. At a distance of a few hundred 
 yards or feet, the varied forms and hues of a variety of trees and 
 shrubs may be full of beauty, but a line of statues or busts and 
 pedestals ranged along its face, neutralises all good efiect. Then, 
 again, in a real garden, there are, or there ought to be, many 
 living objects to invite the attention which a number of statues 
 or other artificial objects may distract. In the very multitude of 
 
202 
 
 'illK I'AUKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cuai-. XIV. 
 
 statues auJ busts here there is weariness. One or two fine works, 
 isolated near or in a grove of evergreens, might be introduced 
 happily — the more so if the statue had any associations con- 
 necting it with the place ; but it would be better to have such 
 works under cover. No one who witnesses the disfigurement 
 and decay of statues in the open air, here and elsewhere, can 
 doubt, that, for mere safety's sake, all works of any value from an 
 artistic point of view should be under cover. If the works arc of 
 no such merit, it is not wise so to place them that they continually 
 
 ^. ^J; 
 
 
 
 S/a/ue on Terrace. — rase from the Basin of Neptune. — Vase Borghese. (^Hadictte.') 
 
 interfere with the pleasant impressions one receives in a fair 
 garden. And if these things be true of the green tree, what shall 
 we say of the dry ? How is it when Venus is leprous with lichen, 
 when Mars is armless, and when the lion has lost his tail ? In 
 Italy, in the open air, in a drier climate than that of Versailles, 
 statuary is distinguished mainly by mouldiness. It is not only 
 the moist climates of the north and west that favour the small 
 spreading growths which so disfigure the forms wrought in marble. 
 Everywhere in Italy, from Genoa to Caserta, the statues that 
 
CiiAP. XIV.] THE GAKDKXS OF VERSAILLES. 208 
 
 have been more than a year or two in tlie open air arc half-covered 
 with a dirty blackish mould-like lichen, which adheres to them 
 as closely as if it were part of the marble itself. The result is 
 grotesque in nearly every garden where statues or busts are 
 seen ; the expression is distorted, or the form defaced, from half 
 its surface being obscured by an offensive blackish lichen. If 
 this would only grow equally over the whole surface, the statues 
 might be mistaken for those of a dusky race, but it persists in 
 growing in great flakes, now throwing black patches over Apollo, 
 and now bestowing on Psyche a discoloured nose. These facts 
 being considered, it will probably be admitted that marble 
 statues are best under cover ; and that, in any case, a garden is 
 not the place for them. Another error worth noting is that of 
 placing large groups of sculpture in central positions. In this 
 case, all objections urged against statues hold good ; but here 
 they are more offensive, inasmuch as they occupy the best positions, 
 and frequently destroy the precious quality known as " repose " 
 in landscape-gardening. 
 
 Vases of fine design seem as profuse at Versailles as if the gold 
 and marble had been dug up on the spot, but, good in conception 
 and execution as many of them are, they are open to the same 
 objections as the statues ; though, generally, when well designed 
 and properly placed they have a more legitimate use in the 
 garden. But if such vases as these do not, when too numerous 
 and unrelieved, fail to weary us, what chance can the wretched 
 vases, now so profusely scattered over our gardens, have of 
 satisfying ? In the group illustrated the artist has graced the 
 statuary with a few garlands of Ivy, and other shrubs — a liberty 
 which is never permitted in this garden. All who wish to 
 preserve a little quiet grace in their gardens, would do well to be 
 on_ their "guard against the mistaken use of vases now made in 
 country-seats by certain " fashionable " landscape-gardeners. 
 Vases of terra-cotta and artificial stone, often of poor design, are 
 dotted about so thickly in situations unfitted for them as to 
 destroy all repose and good effect. There are many beautiful 
 gardens in which not one vase is seen, and many extensive ones 
 in which half-a-dozen would sufiice. Where the nature of the 
 ground necessitates a terrace or a wall, the lines of these are better 
 for beinK broken by tlie graceful forms of vases. It is even then 
 
204 
 
 'I'lIK I'AIJKS AND CJAKDENS OF TAIJIS. [Ciiap. XIV 
 
 well to 1)6 sparing in their use; but, where the nature of the 
 ground does not furnish opportunities for using them, to scatter 
 vases about profusely is one of the worst of blunders in landscape- 
 gardening. The effect reminds one of the Euston lload displays 
 of statuary- ware ; only in making the comparison, it is fair to 
 
 The Colonnade at Versailles 
 
 • offensive of the Stone-^uor?; Gardens 
 ipuily decaying. 
 
 remember that the owners of these displays have a reason for 
 showing them which the country-gentleman cannot plead. In 
 the variety of advice that is offered, it is often difficult to decide 
 what is best, but one thing proprietors may be assured of, namely, 
 that an extensive display of terra-cotta and similar rnl)l)ish has 
 nothing to do with either good gardening or good art. 
 
Cjiai>. XIV.] rilH GAKDENS UF VKlfSAIIJ.KS. 205 
 
 The Orangery here, in a sunk garden to the south of the Palace 
 and the Parterre du Midi, is probably the most extensive known. 
 It is massively built in the face of a terrace, and is more than 
 thirteen hundred feet long by thirty-six wide. It is an 
 ininienso archway lighted at one side. The collection of Orange- 
 trees here is very large ; but as we have already discussed this 
 unhapi)y phase of horticulture in the Tuileries gardens, little need 
 be said here. The trees are usually placed in the open air about 
 the 15th of May, and are taken under cover not later than the 15th 
 uf October, so that they only enjoy the free air and sun for five 
 months out of the twelve. In addition to the Orange-trees, a few 
 other exotics are kept in this structure in winter, and submitted 
 to the same treatment as the Orange-trees at other seasons. 
 These are Justicia Adhatoda, Olea angustifolia, Jasminum 
 azorieum, and Edwardsia grandiflora. They seem to do re- 
 markably well under the treatment usually given to Orange-trees 
 on the Continent, and the Justicia and Jasminum, and perhaps 
 the others, are more worthy of being thus grown than the Orange, 
 since they display their fine flowers in the open air in summer, 
 and are less costly than when grown in stoves or conservatories. 
 The specimens of the Madeira Jasmine are very fine : the rich 
 green shoots drooping gracefully and bearing abundance of 
 flowers. The Justicia and others are said to flower abundantly 
 in their seasons. Considering the success which attends the 
 culture of the Oleander and the sweet-scented Pittosporum under 
 like circumstances, and even when preserved in cellars during the 
 winter, this would seem to point to the desirability of adopting this 
 system, or a modification of it. With us the nearest thing to it is 
 the practice of putting handsome evergreens in tubs for placing in 
 terrace-gardens, etc. But surely it is scarcely worth while doing 
 this with things that we see in every shrubbery ! If we do go to 
 the expense of growing plants in boxes in the open air, it is 
 best to select those that will not bear the cold of our winters, but 
 which grow well out of doors in summer. 
 
 Few spots at Versailles will please more than the garden or 
 Bosquet du Roi, near the Orangery ; and simply because the 
 artificial look, the stonework, and want of repose characterising 
 the greater part of Versailles, are here absent. It is a sweep of 
 grass, surrounded liy handsome trees, \vith a few tiuwer-beds and 
 
206 
 
 rill': TAltKS AND (iAKDENS OF TAItlS. [Cii.\i'. XIV. 
 
 fine -leaved pLiiits here niul there. It is but one of many types 
 of garden-landscape "svliicli simple taste and a kno\Ylcdge of hardy 
 trees and plants may produce. It well shows the unsatisfactory 
 character of the various far more costly gardens in the immediate 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Another interesting spot is the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. 
 This is a large picturesque surface of rock, backed by trees and 
 having a pillared grotto or recess about its centre, containing a 
 
 Foiiutai'is oj t/u- Bnsin of X,/>/ii>i,-. {l/.uhfitt:.) 
 
 large group in marble. The rocky banks in front are wildly 
 clothed with trailing shrubs, the Polypody densely mantles the 
 rocks, and the vegetation around is well arranged to suit the 
 scene. It is not for its statuary we are interested in it, but for 
 the rich garlands of vegetation over its rocks. Sculpture has, 
 even in gardens, a very few noble uses, but not many will admire 
 these costly groups — at least, as part of any garden-scheme; 
 though the Ivy and Polypody, trailing shrubs, rock and hardy 
 flowers, that fringe tlie grottoes, cover manv blemishes. 
 
Cjiak XIV.] THE GARDENS UF VERSAILLES. 207 
 
 On the fountains and waterworks of Versailles as much or more 
 labour and wealth were lavished by their creators as were perhaps 
 ever before bestowed on such confectionery " art." The Bassin 
 de Neptune is the most important of these creations. As the 
 waters only play on special occasions, and cost about 400Z. every 
 time they do play, one is justified in considering the basins in 
 their usual dormant aspect. Nothing can look more wretched 
 than any garden exhibiting large fountain-basins. The formality 
 of the surroundings, the mouldering faded margins, the in- 
 describable ugliness of the scenes near the great fountains here, 
 seem only worthy of some lifeless world of geometrical craters 
 and pools. 
 
 In landscape-gardening, and even in semi-architectural gar- 
 dening (if that combination may be called gardening at all), 
 notliing is more ditlicult and requires more care and artistic 
 judgment than the introduction of fountains, which, far more 
 often than otherwise, serve to spoil the combinations which they 
 are intended to embellish. 
 
 The Little Tricmou at Versailles. 
 
 This is the true garden of Versailles. To enter the gardens of 
 the Little Trianon, leaving the tortured trees and many inanities 
 of the large gardens at Versailles, is like escaping from a desert 
 into a flowery land. The trees are no longer paralysed, mutilated, 
 or starved, but healthy giants ; they inspire one with awe and 
 admiration, while those we have just left give rise to pity and 
 annoyance. The Pines of Europe attain here size and dignity, 
 and so do the deciduous trees. In spring, when the tall Cherry- 
 trees are seen here and there, masses of white bloom among 
 evergreen and Ivy-clad trees, the effect is beautiful. The charm, 
 however, of the Little Trianon exists all the year round ; though 
 there is no time when it is so delightful as in April or May, when 
 the tender leaflets are swarming out into the warm air, and many 
 trees are tasselled with catkins. The grass is long, green, and 
 pleasant, and, happily, walking on it is not " forbidden," like 
 so manv things in France. Housemaid-gardening has not yet 
 
2U8 
 
 TlIK I'AIJKS AND IJAUDENS UF I'AltlS. [C'ii.\i-. XIV. 
 
 ck'piivecl it of Cowslips aiul Ladics'-smocks, which abouiul in the 
 grass. When shall we cease to mow and mutilate the sweet Howers 
 that love to grow in the grass ? It is sad to think oi" the eternal 
 shaving of lawns and slopes with the mowing-machine ; many of 
 these might he bright Avith lovely flowers in early spring. Many 
 tlowers, natives of our own and other countries, would he happy in 
 the turf, which might he cut once or twice a year without injuring 
 their foliage. It is to be hoped we shall some day see a wisely- 
 modified use of the mowing-machine ami the scythe. There are 
 
 r -V. s: 
 
 {i^ 
 
 Loitage in the Little Trianon. 
 
 many primlv-shaven acres in pleasure-grounds from which flowers 
 might be gathered and grasses cut that are now shaved close every 
 fortnight. A carpet is pleasant to the feet, but we do not want 
 carpets everywhere. Pictures, for example, are better still, and 
 these in gardens may be on the grass. 
 
 It is a common belief with French people that the climate and 
 soil of Paris are unfavourable to trees. They speak of England 
 as the laud of " fine trees." No wonder this is so, considering 
 the mutilation and overcrowding of trees around Paris. Five 
 minutes in the Little Trianon prove that trees grow as well there 
 as in any country. Here, in this " English garden," the trees 
 
CiiAi-. XIV.] THE GARDENS UF VERSAILLES. 
 
 209 
 
 were not ruined by being crowded together in close lines or 
 tortured by clipping. They are too thickly planted in parts, but 
 this did not prevent them becoming tall and noble trees. Indeed, 
 of many rare trees finer examples could not be found. Those who 
 plant with a hope that the trees may survive themselves in 
 
 Stn:iM.'ft in the Little Trianon {.Spring). 
 
 time, or may excel in beauty or dignity, should plant so that 
 overcrowding can never injure them. It does injure nine out of 
 ten of every kind of tree now planted for ornament. 
 
 There is one feature in the «.jardeus of the Little Trianon — a 
 
210 
 
 THE I'ARKS AND (lAHDENS OF I'AKIS. [Chap. XIV 
 
 little building overgrown with Ivy and deeply embosomed among 
 noble trees — which is so picturesque that it matters little 
 whether it bo a reality or a sham, for it is undoubtedly a charming 
 object; so much so, that few will care to be told that it was originally 
 built as a real dairy. One cannot wonder that Charles X., when 
 driven from his throne by the revolution of a single day, lingered 
 a tV'W hours in the gardens of the Little Trianon, recalling sweet 
 and bitter memories, before hastening to the frontier and quitting 
 France for ever. 
 
 The young trees planted by Marie Antoinette, and those 
 previously established during the reign of Louis XV., are now 
 
 renerable with age, and, during the summer and autumn, throw 
 the greater part of this pleasure-garden into a soft and pleasing 
 half-light, which greatly adds to its charm. Jussieu has left his 
 landmarks in the garden of the Little Trianon, in the rare and 
 beautiful trees that still flourish there, most of them (planted in 
 1704) being now in their prime, and some of them the finest 
 specimens known of their kind. The Weymouth Pine, for 
 instance, and a great variety of American Oaks arc very 
 renuirkable, while a AVillow-leaved Oak (Quercus salicifolia) lias 
 attained a height of above ninety feet. There is also a superb 
 Plauera, besides many other fine trees. 
 
Cjiap. XIV.] 
 
 THE GAKDEXS OF VERSAILLES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Those who have spent any time in the extensive solitudes of 
 geometry at Versailles, and have been happy enough afterwards 
 to cool their eyes among the rare trees and choice variety of plants 
 of what is called the " Fleuriste," will probahly preserve an 
 agreeable souvenir of the spot. It is a little garden cut off from 
 the rest of the Little Trianon grounds, and, like all charming 
 gardens, remarkable by not being " laid out," in the usual sense 
 of the word. Grass, trees, choice plants, a house and walls 
 
 eathcd 'Mtth Wistaria 
 
 clud with climbing plants form the elements; the resulting 
 charm is indescribable. It is only a gardener's garden, but if 
 kings were born to wisdom they would prefer it to the stony 
 solitudes generally spread around their homes by thoughtless 
 "landscape-architects." For botanists and all lovers of horticulture 
 this garden has much interest, the collection of Rhododendrons 
 and Azaleas being rich, as well as that of other American shrubs. 
 There are also some remarkable trees in this part of the grounds, 
 among them a grand Pyramidal Oak, a Muntezuma Pine, and a 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 IllK I'AKKS AND (iAKDKN'S OF I'AltlS. [Cii.\r. XIV. 
 
 Piuus Liviubortianii, which hist is so vi<i;()i()ns tluit it promises 
 rapidly to attain its native growth of one hundred feet or upwards. 
 Fine eft'ects are seen in this jijarden in spring, atibrded by a 
 number of fine oUl specimens of the early Magnolias in blossom. 
 They stand up boldly out of low clumps of American and like 
 shrubs. The contrast between two such dissimilar types of 
 vegetation tells well ; the flowering-trees are seen to advantage, 
 and the masses of low evergreens relieved. In summer there avo 
 
 h'rctich-sarden Side of tlic Little 1 
 
 groups of Aruudo and Pampas-grass, Tamarix, masses of Cannas, 
 New Zealand Flax, and many other handsome tender plants 
 placed out of doors. These are usually gracefully arranged, and 
 there is plenty of turf as well as flowers. At one end there is the 
 gardener's house, at the other the Wistaria-wreathed Orangery, 
 both here shown. The side walls connecting these two are 
 covered with many beautiful shrubs that benefit by their shelter. 
 A series of villanous clipped trees and hedges, mutilated and 
 
XIV.] 
 
 TIIK tIAlJDKNS (tF VEKSAILLKS. 
 
 21:} 
 
 suffering from repression and overcrowding, is seen on one side of 
 the palace here. This monstrosity arose from the chihlish desire 
 to represent various kinds of gardens, a desire which still prevails 
 among us to some extent. Instead of using our knowledge to 
 express all the beauty i)ossible in gardens, and in many ways, 
 some have offered us in the name of landscape-gardening a patch- 
 work coiii])(»scd of a variety of harhniisins. Having exhausted 
 
 
 ly inc Little Trianon. 
 
 the watery fancies (or misfortunes) of the Dutcli, dug up scroll- 
 gardens of gravel from old books, shaved the brandies of trees 
 into dismal unif(U-mity, they have gone even as far as China for 
 models. There is no example of a garden where this patchwork- 
 system has any but a harmful effect. Let us leave such gardening 
 in books. There it always lot)ks better than in fact. Artists are 
 generous in touches that make ugly things graceful. We do not 
 make the garden more varied l)y such practices. They simply 
 
214 
 
 T,IIK PARKS AND GAlfDKXS OF rAlIlS. [Chap. XTV 
 
 spoil grouiul tliat miglii he used in a hoantifnl manner. Given 
 the largest and most varied garden in Europe, it would bo easy 
 to suggest a hundred beautiful aspects of vegetation not illustrated 
 in it. Therefore it is a mistake in all ways to illustrate in our 
 own day the gardening of the past, even on a small scale. 
 
 The aspect of the French-garden side of the Little Trianon 
 I'ahxce may to our advantage be compared witli what is called 
 the English-garden side. This side of the Little Trianon well 
 shows the superiority of simplicity and a carpet of grass, as com- 
 pared with the very different materials often seen before houses. 
 There are some noble trees among tbose on the little lawn, 
 
 
 ri?fri»>iiTrriif>a*i 
 
 o////<- results of the "Genius of Le N fit re!" {//ochette.) 
 
 notably a very fine spreading Sophora. The open glade of grass 
 allows the forms of the trees to be seen and enjoyed, and the 
 eflcct is very good. The grass is somewhat rougher and more 
 tossed in appearance than it is in fact, but that must be laid to 
 the charge of the artist — artists not liking shaven surfaces. 
 
 There is very little artificial rock in the Little Trianon, and 
 that little is constructed so as to be useless for plants. There arc 
 however several small rocky bridges, with shrubs trained over 
 them. Such might be made with advantage in gardens witli 
 running water. They could readily be formed so that Avater-sid<^ 
 and Alpine plants and rock-shrubs might be well grown on and near 
 
An Avenuf of o!d f.nmhir./y ro/>!ars at Vcrsnil!cs {vear thf Little Triniron). 
 
2i(; 
 
 'rill', r.MIKS AND (iAKDKNS (»F I'AIMS. [Ciiai-. XIV. 
 
 tlu'iu. The water is the worst feature liere. A wide ditch trails 
 tlirough tlie }];rouiids near the house, and prevents it from heintj; 
 seen to advantage from one side. By the same means the lawn 
 is cut up and destroyed. Needless bridges are of course an 
 accompaniment to needless water. The pond in front of the 
 cottages, etc., would have been enough here, and one brooklet 
 trickling through the grass. The scene however is scarcely wide 
 enough for the successful use of water, except in the form of a 
 streamlet. From any point of view the pond approaches too 
 near the cottage. In many parts tlie effect of the water is 
 spoiled by rounded margins. This is most 
 noticeable where the water is dragged about in 
 a ditch-like manner near the palace. 
 
 The gardens of the Grand Trianon near these 
 are part of the series of gardens at Versailles, 
 and very instructive from the point of view of 
 garden-design. They are, perhaps, the most 
 repulsive of all the gardens of the same school 
 yet made. Many other gardens have something 
 to distract attention from the puerile or barba- 
 rous nature of their plan, but here the geometry 
 stares at us naked as a prison-w^all. They are 
 in a position not demanding a geometrical garden 
 at all, being an adjunct to a pretty little palace, 
 situate on level ground. The illustration on p. 
 214 gives a feeble idea of one of the dismal pro- 
 spects which meet the eye of the visitor wan- 
 dering through the grounds in search of objects 
 of interest or beauty. According to the books, this is a legitimate 
 phase of garden-design — " very well in its place." But the art 
 to which it belongs is that of destroying all beauty, or possibility 
 of l)cauty, in a spot specially intended by man for his delight. 
 
 In speaking of Versailles, it is impossible not to consider the 
 way trees in the streets of that town are mutilated. A huge 
 ladder, reminding one of the shrouds of a ship, is moved along on 
 wliccls, and from the top of this a man, armed with a very 
 Iniig-liandled bill-hook, slashes away at the trees. It would be 
 diflicult to lind a more striking example of labour worse than 
 thrown away than that bestowed on cli})ping trees in France. 
 
 .\Sh>7,t Tree {:' ideal" 
 form : after years 
 of muHta/ion tlie 
 trees are eren more 
 litthous). 
 
Chap. XIV.] THE GARDENS OF VERSAILLES. 210 
 
 Not only are the trees themselves robbed of all individual lieanty 
 or character, but many places are spoiled by their presence. 
 Frequently the trees become hideous from disease consequent 
 upon mutilation ; and what they are in " perfection " may be 
 seen by the accompanying]; " model " tree fi<:^ured (see p. 216) in 
 one of the best French books on arboriculture. 
 
 No necessity for this clipping exists. When trees are planted 
 in close lines to form a shady avenue, their natural tendency is 
 to form a beautiful and, though formal, picturesque arch, so that 
 clipping them to obtain this is a futile barbarism. Do we want 
 to prevent them spreading forth and filling the streets with their 
 ,<^reat wide heads ? If so, wo may select trees almost pillar-like 
 in their habit, as the Lombardy Poplar, the fastigiatc Acacia, and 
 various trees of similar habit. Do we require them flat-headed 
 and low, so that while shading the hot street they may not 
 darken all the windows ? If so, we have the Paulownia, of great 
 shading power, and fine as a street tree on dry soil, without a 
 disposition to mount much higher than the mutilated Limes so 
 commonly seen. There are also the excellent Catalpa and the 
 common and round-headed Acacias, which do not rise higher 
 naturally than the tortured trees. No lover of trees or gardens 
 will regret that this miserable practice is now nearly discontinued 
 with us. We have our walls and pillars, and pyramids of verdure, 
 liut happily the branchlets that form them know not the shears. 
 We may, indeed, yet see for ourselves, in the few places where 
 clipping and shearing are still carried on, how wretched is the eficct. 
 In the case of a very old garden, where this system was in fashion 
 many years ago, it is permissible perhaps to continue the old idea 
 in our own time, but it is surely absurd to permit a trace of it in 
 modern gardens. Apart from the question of taste, or rather of 
 our right to deform beautiful natural oltjects, there is to be con- 
 sidered the great amount of not unskilled labour necessary to 
 carry out this absurd practice. 
 
 As if to contrast with all these decr(q»it avenues and monstrous 
 achievements of the l)ill-hook, there is a grand avenue of old 
 and very tall Lombardy Poplars near the gardens of the Little 
 Trianon, an illustration of which, here given, shows how we may 
 have, at least, noble walls of verdure without clipping or 
 mutilating one leaf or shttot. It will also serve to show how 
 
CiiAi". XIV.] TIIK GARDENS OF VERSAHJ.KS. 221 
 
 desirable it is, in order to concentrate the effect and to obtain 
 character, that at certain places in the landscape and certain 
 streets in the town, one particular tree should predominate. 
 How pleasantly our imagination is stirred by the mention of the 
 Horse-chestnuts at Bushey Park, the Linden-trees of Berlin, and 
 the Elms of Windsor ! I am quoting the words of a correspondent 
 who has paid much attention to trees from an ajsthetic point of 
 view : — " Great beauty is obtained by the disposition of trees in 
 an avenue, tlie essential character of which is that it should be 
 composed of single species. In no way are trees displayed to 
 better advantage ; they gain cliaracter by their fellowship, and 
 the attention is at once arrested by the uniformity, which, if it 
 were not confined to certain limited parts of the ground, would 
 become intolerable. The well-ordered ranks of stately Poplars, 
 composing the avenue depicted in the woodcut, give a striking 
 and unique effect to a flat and otherwise featureless piece of 
 ground. Their grandeur and formality impose upon the imagi- 
 nation in a way which would be quite absent if the road 
 were bordered by ordinary masses of mixed planting, or by 
 isolated groups ; but tlie effect to be produced by an avenue such 
 as this should be strictly localised. The contrast should be 
 sharply defined between the formal lines of stately trees and the 
 open park or gloomy, tangled wood. Another principle not to 
 be lost sight of is that there should be an object — not necessarily 
 visible — at either end of the avenue. Let it not be purposeless, 
 or half the sentiment is lost. In a town, let the avenue lead to 
 the river, the cathedral, or the central square, — then the object of 
 the formality will be obvious." 
 
222 THE rAPvKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Ciiai>. XV 
 
 CHAPTEPt XV. 
 
 Winter Gardens. 
 
 There arc few tilings more worthy of the attention of those 
 interested in indoor-gardening in this country than the mode of 
 embellishing conservatories and winter-gardens which is some- 
 times seen in France, Belgium, and Piussia. Winter-gardens in 
 these countries are usually verdant at all times, being filled 
 with handsome exotic evergreens, planted and arranged so as to 
 present the appearance of a small garden of luxuriant vegetation, 
 and not that of the glass shed filled with red pots and prim plants. 
 We build more glass houses than any other nation, but have as yet 
 nearly everything to learn as to the arrangement of the most 
 important of them, or what is usually called the conservatory. 
 This in some form is an adjunct to a large class of country and 
 suburban houses ; sometimes it is well placed and an ornament to 
 the house, but more frequently a thing which would seem better 
 placed among the out-offices. As regards the form and style of 
 building little need be said, as the improvement required seems 
 so obvious. When conservatories are built near the house they 
 should always present a somewhat permanent and architectural 
 character. This is desirable for several reasons, chiefly the 
 propriety of having a j)resentable find lasting structure in such an 
 important position, and the fact that plants in bloom show to 
 greater advantage in a subdued light than in that of the ordinary 
 greenhouse. Those who remember the effect of the flowers under 
 the thick canvas of the great flower-show tent in the Pegent's Park, 
 as compared with the aspect of the same plants in a well-lighted 
 conservatory, will at once appreciate the truth of this. It should 
 also be borne in mind lliat iduiits wt)rlliy of culture for their leaf- 
 
Chap. XV.] WINTER GAKDENS. 223 
 
 beauty alone always associate well with substantial surroundings. 
 But the most important improvement to he efl'ected is in the con- 
 tents of conservatories. They will never he truly enjoyable until 
 we display in them beauty of form. The aspect of most con- 
 servatories throughout the country is paltry in the extreme, except 
 perhaps when the flush of flower in early summer diverts at- 
 tention from the faults of a structure so little conservative of the 
 elegant forms which make the vegetable world so attractive. As 
 in many instances these structures stare point-blank at the 
 living-rooms of the house, it is clearly desirable to make them 
 presentable. Small subjects, from the Cineraria to the Azalea, may 
 please the enthusiastic amateur, but plants are capable of inter- 
 esting everybody and not the specialist only. So much liowever 
 cannot be hoped for the conservatory until a nobler type of 
 vegetation is not only represented but predominates. Flowers of 
 a similar type to the popular ones mentioned abound in our 
 gardens during summer ; there is therefore no necessity for 
 giving them prominence indoors: while on the other hand, those 
 tropical and semitropical aspects of vegetation which we can never 
 see in the open air in this country, may be obtained under glass 
 without difficulty. The temperature of conservatories generally is 
 sufficient to develop as rich a type of vegetation as the hottest 
 stove, and without its heat and moisture. The grandest of all the 
 Banana tribe (Musa Ensete) thrives in a cool house, and so do the 
 Palmetto Palm of the Southern States of America, the Fan Palm 
 of Europe, Chamaerops excelsa, the graceful Seaforthia elegans, 
 and many other Palms. Nothing even among Palms can surpass 
 the effective grace of many Dracaenas, and they, all grow well in the 
 cool temperature of the winter-garden. Numerous Ferns, from 
 tliose great Dicksonias which at the Antipodes rival or surpass 
 the Palms in grace, to the Woodwardias, which spread forth 
 such great fronds, grow under such conditions without trouble 
 compared to that required by commoner and smaller plants. It 
 is not only the Palms, Cycads, Tree-ferns, Dracauias, and fine- 
 leaved plants generally which thrive throughout the year in a 
 eool temperature, that we may enjoy tlierein ; nearly all similar 
 plants that flourish in stoves would well bear intr(xluction to the 
 cool conservatory or winter-garden after their spring and curly 
 summer growth has bt'cu matured. Left there during the 
 
224 Till-: I'AKKS AN1> (iAlinKNS (IF TAKIS. [Ciiai'. X V. 
 
 hottest months, they wouhl ho more appreciated than if in a hot 
 stove, anil they couhl he taken hack to their Avinter-quarters in 
 early autumn. 
 
 But perhaps the host plea in favour of the fine-leaved plants 
 that can he urnjcd is that they enhance the heauty of the ordinary 
 flowering-suhjects in a remarkahle degree. By their aid a few 
 flowers will suffice to produce a more beautiful effect than 
 was ever obtained by the abundant use of the blooming plants 
 alone. This is important, and particularly in winter, when 
 flowers are scarce. In winter, too, the aspect of houses arranged 
 on the system advocated is quite as good as in summer, and more 
 grateful from its contrast with the surrounding dreariness. A 
 correspondent of the ' Field ' writes as follows to that journal : — 
 " This subject has long been engaging my attention. Every 
 suburban villa boasts nowadays of its so-called conservatory ; 
 but whether such adjuncts are ornaments is most questionable. 
 In nine cases out of ten, I affirm, they are far from ornamental, 
 whether viewed from the inside or the outside, and it is a Avonder 
 to me that people consent to have these ill-shapen, ill-adapted 
 greenhouses stuck on to their residences. Anyone visiting the 
 villas built within twelve or fifteen miles of London must have 
 noticed the conservatories, so named, attached to the houses. I 
 ask, are they even sightly ? 
 
 " But there is a point I wish to insist upon much more than 
 upon the external ; it is the arrangement of the plants inside. 
 What do we find as a general rule ? Long lines of wdiite stages 
 with sickly, leggy plants in pots all round the house ! If people 
 could all hire efficient gardeners, the thing would be diflerent ; 
 the conservatory might then be filled with well-grown plants and 
 specimen shrubs. It is needless to say that the gardener could 
 do but little with only one house ; what I want to point out is 
 the advantage to be derived from a totally different arrangement 
 of the house. For goodness' sake get rid of all those weakly, 
 insect-infected Cinerarias, Primulas, Geraniums, and others, and 
 plant in borders round the house plants and shrubs alike easy of 
 cultivation and beautiful. 
 
 " What I am aiming at is a graceful and novel kind of 'shrubbery ' 
 adjoining the house, rather than a house full of pots. Why not 
 make round the house rich borders of the same width usuallv 
 
Chap. XY.] WINTER GARDENS. • 225 
 
 devoted to these iinartistic stages, and plant Camellias, Ficns, 
 and other such things ? 
 
 " The aspect of these houses is equally beautiful in summer and 
 in winter. This is the most thorough praise that can be given to 
 the system. In St. Petersburg, where the climate is intensely 
 rigorous, conservatories are exen more appreciated than here at 
 home. "When people cannot afford these, you will find their 
 rooms crowded with plants of the Palm tribe and numerous 
 creepers, which thrive well all the winter; and it must be 
 remembered that the windows are not opened from October till 
 April. In the conservatories of the wealthy what do we see ? A 
 shrubbery — a maze of luxuriant foliage. It matters not whether 
 there be 50 degrees or 60 degrees of frost : the promenade round 
 the greenhouse — truly a greenhome — is always agreeable, always 
 charming. No words of mine could give you a true idea of the 
 beauty of these places, nor of their utility to those deprived of 
 plants and trees for six months in the year. One requires to see 
 these plant-houses thoroughly to appreciate them. 
 
 " Some may object that they are more suited to Kussia than to 
 our country. Not so. Is it not a melancholy exhibition to see 
 our conservatories naked, nearly destitute of bloom, during 
 December and January, and equally disheartening to see them 
 full of flowers only when the gardens are becoming gay ? Depend 
 upon it, what we want, and what will some day be the cry, is an 
 agreeable promenade attached to the house— not a swarm of little 
 plants in pots, which none but the gardener can name or appreciate. 
 Then, again, look at the simplicity of the cultivation of the 
 plants whose cause I advocate. Plant them fairly in the border, 
 and they will always thrive. Azaleas, Geraniums, etc., are con 
 stantly requiring to be smoked or otherwise attended to. Are you 
 to take them outside, or into another house, each time they require 
 such attention ? If not, and the conservatory adjoins the drawing- 
 room, there will not unfrequently be a decidedly unpleasant 
 aroma there. I could go on to show other advantages connected 
 with the system I am endeavouring to put forward ; I could 
 attempt a description of the plant-house of the banker, Outchine, 
 at St. Petersburg ; but I feel I have already said enough. To 
 my thinking, it is, however, an important topic, and I hope to 
 live to see more interest taken in the beauty of the conservatory, 
 
 Q 
 
220 THE TATARS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 of its tout ensciiiWe, and less of the rarity of the plants and 
 flowers." 
 
 To any person with a knowledge of what the beauty of vegetation 
 really is, there can he no doubt of the correctness of these views. 
 The rule therefore in the conservatory or winter-garden should be 
 to use plants of fine foliage or stately habit. Plant them in beds or 
 borders ; grow them in pots or boxes ; the means, size, and require- 
 ments of the place must determine on what scale the thing may 
 be carried out. In some degree the effect desired may be produced 
 in the smallest greenhouse. In planting out, select things that 
 continue graceful during the whole course of their lives. Do not 
 plant subjects which, like Acacias, run up to the roof rapidly and 
 only bloom for a week or two in spring, presenting no attraction 
 for the rest of the year. A great many greenhouse plants grow 
 like these, but if we plant out a Palm like one of the hardier 
 Fan-palms, or a plant like the New Zealand Flax or the superb 
 Musa Ensete, they are in perfection at all seasons. Every 
 conservatory should possess, in proportion to its size, a certain 
 number of green and graceful plants, or those distinguished by 
 some peculiar beauty of habit, which are ready at all times for 
 fresh combinations, and look as well in mid-winter as in June, 
 Without these we cannot succeed in the successful arrangement 
 of a conservatory at all seasons without great expense, or even 
 with it. What are flowers unless set in the graceful green 
 among which we find them nestling in a wild state ? By the 
 selection of a great number of things which flower profusely — 
 80 profusely as to hide the leaves in many instances, the cultivator 
 has often contrived to conceal leaf-beauty. Nature is bountiful in 
 the production of leaves, and in the widest spread of Heath over a 
 mountain, in the densest mass of Bluebells in a wood, or in any 
 natural display of bloom whatever, we find the mass toned down 
 by pointed leaves, and in the case of the spreading Heather by 
 a fringe of Polypody, or even the cushion of mountain-moss. 
 Everywhere Nature sets her flowers in clouds of refreshing 
 verdure, and they err who merely cultivate dense flowering 
 subjects, and do not take care to relieve them with others 
 possessed of grace, and beauty of form. The continental plan 
 of divesting the interior of the conservatory of all formality is 
 well wortliy of imitation by us. Usually an attempt to create 
 
Chap. XV.] WINTER GARDENS. 227 
 
 a picturesque scene in some small spot with formal surroundings 
 has a ridiculous ending ; but in consequence of the luxuriant 
 growth of many plants that flourish in the temperate greenhouse, 
 it is possible efiectually to hide almost every trace of the 
 building in a few years. With little lawns made of Lycopodium 
 denticulatum, tiny winding streamlets bordered with New Zealand 
 Flax and graceful Grasses, Ferns, and the like ; groups of Tree- 
 ferns, Camellias, and Palms, and a plant of the great Musa 
 Ensete, some winter-gardens are made really worthy of the name, 
 and quite as charming as small wild gardens in those sub-tropical 
 climes most favourable to vegetation. Whether the natural 
 system of arrangement be adopted or not, every attempt should 
 be made to soften the lines of the building and to shroud the 
 spot with foliage. 
 
 For the following article on the arrangement of a winter-garden 
 in the natural style, I am indebted to M. E. Andre of Paris, who 
 has had much experience in these matters. " In England, where 
 amateur gardening is so highly developed, and where more 
 attention is concentrated upon the beauty of individual plants 
 than upon general effect, next to nothing has been done towards a 
 picturesque style in conservatories. Even the largest establish- 
 ments leave much to be desired in this respect. Of course, in a 
 mercantile or a small private establishment where the plants are 
 either frequently removed or where they are awaiting sale, they 
 will be arranged for convenience, like the bottles in a chemist's 
 shop. But it is surprising that in planting the glass palaces of 
 the rich, such as we find at Sion House, or spacious Palm-houses, 
 like that of Kew, so little regard has been paid to general effect. 
 The cause is simply this, that cultivation has alone been 
 considered in England and in most European countries, and 
 that the knowledge of plants has hitherto been limited to 
 experimental culture. Gardeners have ignored the teachings 
 of plant-distribution. Information on this subject can usually 
 only be gained by studying the narratives of travellers, and 
 these, unfortunately, are often incomplete and uninstructive on 
 this point. 
 
 To supply in some measure this defect, we shall attempt to 
 show how a winter-garden in the picturesque style should be 
 treated. Before doing so, however, we should mention that there 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF TARTS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 arc some notable exceptions to the monotonous repetitions wliich 
 we deplore. In Mr, Llewellyn's garden at Penllergare, in 
 Wales, might have been seen a few years ago an orchid-house 
 aquarium where lovely denizens of the tropics were planted in the 
 admirable disorder which they present in their native forests. 
 True, it was only on a small scale, but the effect produced was 
 most pleasing. Again, at Paris, in the Garden of Acclimatisation 
 in the Bois de Boulogne, is a large house, which is planted in an 
 attractive manner, representing a tropical scene, with rockwork, 
 a cascade falling into a pool, and a rivulet meandering through 
 a valley of Sclaginellas, There would be little difficulty in 
 beautifying in like manner the Palm-house at Kew, the large 
 pavilion of the Museum at Paris, the Horticultural Society's fine 
 conservatory at South Kensington, a portion of the Crystal 
 Palace at Sydenham, the large houses at Sion and Chatsworth, etc. 
 When in Belgium last year I visited the seat of M, Yarocque, 
 at ]\[ariemont, where a new winter-garden, between fifty and sixty 
 feet high, had been erected on the site of an old Orangery, in 
 which a Belgian landscape-architect of some note (M, Fuchs) had 
 essayed to introduce the style I advocate. Magnificent Palms, 
 Tree-ferns, Cycads, etc., form the principal features in this large 
 building, with an undulating carpet of Sclaginellas beneath them. 
 Immediately facing the grand entrance door was an artistic group 
 of rockwork flanked by a miniature basin, and jjlanted with 
 evident care. But, in our opinion, the result was not commen- 
 surate with the pains bestowed. The walks are too winding, the 
 surface too uneven, the rockery too imposing to appear natural, 
 and the plantations confused, the sides being naked, and the 
 centre excessively dense. The artist aimed at the picturesque, 
 but he has failed to produce it in consequence of too great pro- 
 fusion, to the detriment of the general effect and the loss of 
 harmony in the details. We cite this example to show that it 
 is easy to err in carrying out the best of ideas, and that exaggera- 
 tion in the intended natural style is more to be deprecated than 
 crowding in the unmitigated uniformity of houses with stages and 
 benches. Even in winter-gardens where the aim has been to 
 produce picturesque effect, there is always something in the 
 structure to remind us of the artificial surroundings. Thus, 
 walks are indispensable, and they should be of sufficient breadth 
 
Chap. XV.] WINTER GARDENS. 229 
 
 to admit of free and agreeable promenading. To try to imitate 
 the forests of Brazil by compelling the spectator to scramble over 
 the rotten remains of trunks of fallen trees, rough stones, and 
 withered Fern-fronds, would be the height of absurdity. And those 
 interminable tortuous walks are equally opposed to good taste, 
 with the rectangular paths which remind us of the system and 
 order of a purely botanic garden. There is a happy medium to 
 be studied. 
 
 An outer circular or slightly devious walk near the well- 
 clothed side-walls or lights should surround the central area, 
 where the eye rests upon choice specimens standing out distinctly 
 upon a carpeting of Selaginella denticulata, trailing Commelynaceae, 
 Lippia repens, Tradescantia, and other plants which readily form 
 a close and compact verdure. The space between the walks and 
 the walls should be filled with dense masses of foliage efiectually 
 concealing the stems of the plants, and rising gradually from the 
 walk outwards ; and the centre should show isolated trees and 
 little groups upon an open lawn of creeping-plants. The detached 
 specimens must not be planted indiscriminately in the central 
 area, which is surrounded and intersected by the walks. They 
 should be grouped in combinations or planted singly, according 
 to size and foliage, and in such a way that the view between their 
 trunks is uninterrupted ; and at the same time their heads should 
 harmonise together in colouring and outline. 
 
 A ground-plan of our ideal winter-garden is given in this 
 chapter with numbers indicating the positions for the plants 
 enumerated as suitable. 
 
 Instead of undulating the surface in an infinity of insignificant 
 hillocks, as in M. Varocque's winter-garden, we recommend 
 limiting it to two intercepting dells. A longitudinal one from 
 the rockery, terminated by a bower, under which are placed a 
 table and seats, and ending, at the side-entrance, in a single 
 hollow, of which the pool or basin is the lowest point. From this 
 pool to the fiower-bed No. 94, the ground rises slightly, and the 
 cross walk curves towards the middle in agreement with the 
 lower ground. The boundary walk is of the same level throughout, 
 except towards the rockery, where it rises and terminates in four 
 or five rustic stone steps leading to the alcove. The beds Nos. 94, 
 r23, and 1(J7, should be elevated about two feet above the 
 
230 THE PAHKS AND GAKDKNS OF PAIUS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 walk ; and each of the isolated trees should be planted on a very 
 gently rising mound of earth, with the exception of the groups 
 on either side of the rockwork, which are on an abrupt slope, 
 and the large clump on each side of the bed No, 94, which 
 should be raised about nine inches above the walk and gradually 
 sloped off. 
 
 Let us now proceed to enter into the planting, which is cer- 
 t.ainly the most important part of winter-gardening. This may 
 be considered from several points of view, according to the class 
 of house, whether cold, temperate, or hot, or for orchids or an 
 aquarium. For the present we will content ourselves with 
 treating of a warm temperate winter-garden with a mean 
 temperature of from 65' to 68' Fahr., in which we could place 
 Palms and similar house-plants that would thrive all the better 
 for the increased warmth. Previous to planting, due care must 
 be given to the drainage and the composition and preparation of 
 the soil. As bottom-heat is the main thing to produce luxuriant 
 vegetation in plants, it is important that the hot-water pipes 
 should be properly arranged and covered with flag-stones to 
 prevent the plants on the walls from being scorched, instead of 
 being around the outside, and exposed, as usually is the case. If 
 uncovered pipes are considered absolutely essential along the base 
 of the walls, a brick or other partition of some sort should be 
 placed between them and the plants, to prevent too great an 
 accession of direct heat from the pipes. But a still better method 
 is to conduct the heat through underground brick channels to 
 points with open gratings in the walks to allow the heat to rise. 
 The soil, well drained at the bottom, and crossed here and there 
 by the pipes wo have mentioned, will be warmer and will encourage 
 the luxuriant growth desired around the walls of the house. A 
 good drainage of broken bricks and mortar rubbish will suffice for 
 the subsoil, leaving a depth of about three feet for the mould in- 
 tended for the plants. Two drains should run below this through 
 the house, with an outlet to carry off the surplus water. The 
 composition of the soil may be varied according to the class of 
 plants it is intended for. But, as a general rule, for strong 
 growing plants and large Palms it will be found advantageous to 
 prepare the mass in the following manner : — Upon the layer of 
 broken bricks and mortar rubbish should be placed a layer of 
 
Chap. XV.] WINTER GARDENS. 231 
 
 reversed turves about eighteen iucLes thick, ami upon that a 
 second formed of — 
 
 Stiff loam __---_ 3 parts. 
 Ordinary garden soil - - - - - 3 „ 
 
 River, or white sand - - - •• - 2 „ 
 
 Coarse pieces of eartli and brickbats - - 1 „ 
 
 Leaf-mould - - - - - -1„ 
 
 10 
 
 Mix this well together and apply it about a foot thick. Then for 
 the surface add a layer of about five ov six inches thick of peat, loam, 
 and leaf-mould from hedgerows, or rotten Willow, Oak, or Chestnut 
 trunks, if attainable, with a tenth part of sand. The peat should 
 be but slightly broken up and the roots left in it. Prepared in 
 this way, it will be ready to receive the Selaginella, which will 
 thrive admirably in it and speedily clothe it with verdure. 
 
 It will be understood that these three layers, forming a total 
 thickness of three feet, will not be of uniform thickness all through 
 the house, because the surface will be undulated. The measure- 
 ment of one yard is merely given as a basis or unit, for the total 
 depth of subsoil in different parts of the house will vary, having, 
 for instance, a depth of only eighteen inches near the basin in the 
 centre of the little lawn, and from four to five feet for the clumps 
 abutting on the flower-bed No. 94, But the top-dressing will be 
 equal all over. The majority of large tropical plants can be 
 grown in such a compost. Those which may require special 
 treatment may be potted in suitable soil and plunged deep enough 
 to conceal them, and allow the Selaginella to spread over their 
 surface. Liquid manure, if used with moderation and judgment, 
 will accelerate the growth of most plants, including Ferns. So 
 much for the preparations for planting. But the key of the 
 question, the secret of success, depends above all upon the choosing 
 and grouping of the plants. This selection may vary to infinity, 
 such are the riches of exotic flowers at our command. It is 
 ditiicult to lay down rules on the mode of arranging plants 
 according to the colour and character of their foliage. We may, 
 however, remark that in houses, no matter how splendidly con- 
 structed, the effects of uniformity are bad, and that masses of one 
 species or of one genus of plants should be avoided. The harmony 
 
232 THE PARKS AND GAKDEXy OF PARIS. [Cii.vi'. XV. 
 
 and grandeur of unity in composition, attained with difficulty- 
 even in large parks, is here impossible. The object to be sought, 
 then, is contrast in the foliage and habit of the plants employed. 
 Two species of massive foliage, for example, should not stand side 
 by side, such as a Musa and a liavenala, or a Coccoloba pubescens 
 and a Theophrasta. But a large tuft of a Strelitzia beneath the 
 shade of a Cocos plumosa is very eflfective, and a fine contrast is 
 presented to the eye by backing up the grand foliage and yellow 
 spikes of Hedychium Gardnerianum with clumps of Ferns, 
 Bamboos, or feathery Conifers. The rigid foliage of Rhododendrons 
 and Camellias should be excluded, these beautiful plants being re- 
 served for a separate house, where they will better display their 
 charms in a collection. 
 
 In dense masses of foliage, like those adjoining the rockery in 
 our plan, the arrangement should be in gradual rising ranks, 
 thick, heavy foliage forming the basis, surmounted by lighter and 
 more graceful forms of Palms and Tree-ferns, whose slender-plumed 
 columns break through the sombre undergrowth. The use of 
 ordinary flowering-plants should be limited to the borders and 
 special beds for them, with the exception of here and there one on 
 the rockwork. We mean such plants as are grown in pots in 
 special houses and taken to the winter-garden for temporary 
 decoration, as— Primulas, Cyclamens, Tulips, Hyacinths, Heaths, 
 Crocuses, etc. 
 
 The side-walls, or sashes, should be provided with wire trellis- 
 work or wooden lattice-work against a dead wall, to support 
 climbing-plants all round the house. For covering the surface of 
 the soil nothing is better than Selaginella denticulata ; and this 
 should be planted or re-planted in autumn, or in spring, as the 
 dry heat of summer is unfavourable to it. Small fragments, about 
 three inches long, planted four or five inches apart, will soon 
 cover the ground. Above all a good system of shading must be 
 ensured to protect the plants from the direct rays of the sun in 
 summer. The paths may be formed of gravel, and they are best 
 edged with half-plunged portions of rugged stone. The con- 
 struction of the rockery should be of the simplest kind, composed 
 of a few stones naturally disposed and projecting slightly from the 
 earth so as to be discovered rather than seen. Monumental rock- 
 work should he avoided, and, above all, reject the so-called pretty 
 
CuAP. XV.] 
 
 WINTER GARDENS. 
 
 233 
 
 stones. Geological or inineralogical toys may be all very well iu 
 the cabinets of the learned, but they are altogether out of place iu 
 a garden where the object is to show us plants in their native 
 beauty. If a small pond be added to the rockwork, it should 
 neither be absolutely round nor sinuous. 
 
 In order to secure a warm, humid atmosphere, so essential to 
 the well-being of plants, we recommend having the pipe that 
 feeds the cascade and replenishes the basins made so as to pass 
 through the boiler, which will sufficiently heat the water in its 
 transit to cause it to give ofl' a portion by evaporation when dis- 
 charged. In this way the atmosphere will be charged with 
 
 Section of a Conservatory arranged in ike A'aturul Style. 
 
 moisture, to the improvement of the health of the plants. As 
 regards choice of plants, as has already been observed, it may be 
 
 varied indefinitely. These arrangements are, of course, applicable to 
 a far larger structure than the one under consideration. In fact 
 the design is open to modification or expansion almost unlimited. 
 
 Distribution of the Plants. 
 
 Perennial climbing-plants for placing alongside walls, or for 
 covering supporting columns, may consist of, — 
 
 (1) Aristolochia cordifolia, which is very vigorous, and has 
 
234 THE I'AlfKS AND GARDENS OF TAKIS. [CiiAi'. XV. 
 
 large leaves and enormous flowers; (3) Tliunbergia Ilarrisi, 
 moderately vigorous, flowers numerous ; (7) Ipomoea Horsfallia) ; 
 (9) Tecoma stans, which has pinnate leaves and pretty flowers ; 
 (12 and 13) Plumbago capensis ; (17) Hoya carnosa; (19) Smilax 
 marmorea, leaves marbled with white ; (21) S. macrophylla 
 maculata ; (23 and 25) S. marmorea ; (27) Hoya imperialis, a 
 vigorous kind, bearing corymbs of rich brown flowers ; (28) Stepha- 
 notis floribunda; (30) Passiflora Decaisneana, a species with 
 large foliage, and large rose and violet flowers; (31) Quisqualis 
 indica ; (33 j Tacsonia Van Volxemii ; (36) Aristolochia leuconeura; 
 (37) Hexacentris mysorensis ; (41) Centrostemma multiflorum ; 
 (44) Passiflora carmesina ; (45) Aristolochia clypeata ; (49) Tac- 
 sonia mollissima ; (53) Quisqualis pubescens ; (54) Passiflora 
 trifasciata ; (58) Meyenia erecta ; (60) Thunbergia laurifolia ; 
 (62) Passiflora Buchanani, and (63) P. marmorea, two pretty, 
 vigorous species ; (65) Bougainvillea lateritia ; (68) Aristolochia 
 gigas; (71) Bignonia incarnata; (72) Tropa^olum Lobbiauum ; 
 (74) Allamanda nobilis ; (77) Clerodendron Thomsonae ; (80) Cissus 
 discolor. 
 
 Entering the principal doorway of the house and bearing to 
 the left, near No. 1, we shall come to the outer border of which wc 
 have spoken, which should mainly be filled with strong-growing 
 fine-foliaged plants. Nothing will prevent these from being in- 
 creased and renewed as often as we please. These i)lants being 
 grouped according to size, the larger ones behind may consist of 
 the following species, viz : — 
 
 Amomum grana-paradisi, Andropogon squarrosum, Panicum 
 plicatum, Fuchsias, Aspidistra, Dracaenas, Begonias, Cyperus, 
 Eugenia, various free-growing tufted Ferns, Ficus elastica, Aralia 
 and Oreopanax, Hedychium corouarium, and H. gardnerianum. 
 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Heterocentrum, Hajmatoxylon campe- 
 chianum, Imantophyllum Aitoni, Laurus Camphora, Plumbago 
 coccinea, Poinsettia pulcherrima, Eogieras, Sparmaunia africana, 
 Xylophylla latifolia, Abutilons, Allamanda ncriifolia, Pipers and 
 Macropipers, Begonias, Ccntradcnia grandifolia, Francisceas, 
 Gardenias, Hebeclinium ianthinum, Siphocampylus (bicolor and 
 fulgens), Iresine Hcrbsti, Amorphophallus, Hibiscus liliiflorus, 
 and Marantas, etc. 
 
 Above tliis groundwork of foliage and flowers the following 
 species, with taller stems and stronger habits, may rise : — 
 
CiiAV. XV.] 
 
 WlNTEll GAKDEXS. 
 
 2. 
 
 IMusa paradi.siaca 
 
 35. 
 
 Cyatliea mcduUarid 
 
 ■t. 
 
 Oreopauax dactylifo- 
 
 37. 
 
 Cliamoerops excelsa 
 
 
 liuin 
 
 39. 
 
 Artocarpus incisa 
 
 (J. 
 
 Also()hila australis 
 
 40. 
 
 Musa vif)lacea 
 
 10. 
 
 Stailinaniiia australis 
 
 42. 
 
 Iledychium coccineum 
 
 15. 
 
 Anthuriura acaule 
 
 43. 
 
 Carhidovica palmata 
 
 IC. 
 
 Rhnpala organensis 
 
 4G. 
 
 Cibotium regale 
 
 20. 
 
 Sauraiija sarapigensis 
 
 47. 
 
 Castilloa elastica 
 
 22. 
 
 Draciena arborea 
 
 48. 
 
 Antlmrium cordatuin 
 
 2i. 
 
 Rhopala Jongliei 
 
 50. 
 
 Dracffina fragrans 
 
 20. 
 
 Theophrasta regalid 
 
 51. 
 
 Maraiita Liiideni 
 
 32. 
 
 Musa sapientuin 
 
 5.-). 
 
 Musa paradisiaca 
 
 34 
 
 Ileilycliium gardueri- 
 
 50. 
 
 Chaniajrops stauia- 
 
 
 anum 
 
 
 cautha 
 
 235 
 
 59. Ficus Chauvieri 
 01. Orcopauax platanifo- 
 
 lium 
 04. Seiadopliylluin pul- 
 
 cliruiu 
 GO. Astrapaja WallicliiL 
 07. Anthurium regale 
 70. CcTcus mexicanus 
 73. Theophrasta imperialis 
 75. Cyatliea dealbata 
 70. Cocos flcxuo.sa 
 78. Ficus niaerojihylla 
 71). Arcca lutescoiis 
 
 The bed No. 94 will be decorated with dwarf, bright-coloured 
 flowers, to be renewed as often as required. 
 
 The two groups encircling the portion of green near this bed 
 will be composed as follows : — 
 
 ridutx icith tall i<ii'ins, but vanjiiig in Jwight. 
 
 100. IJalantium antaicticum 
 
 101. Arcca sapida 
 
 1)5. Coccoloba pubesccns 
 
 101. Pteris argyraja 1 
 
 102. Mediuilla magnifica 
 
 107. Clivia niiuiata 
 
 loo. Anthuriuni leuciineuiun 
 
 81. Cyathea bcyrichia 
 85. Oicodoxa rcgia 
 84. rhoeuix rccliiiata 
 
 83. Amorphopliallua 
 
 nivosus 
 82. Dracasna australis 
 
 0/ medium size. 
 Asplcuiiun raacro- 
 pliyllum 
 
 0/ iiicdiuin aVJC. 
 
 ]yilli tail <~t,' 
 
 Of medium size. 
 Crolon uudidatuni 
 Colocasia niacrorhiza 
 
 variegata 
 
 110. Syagrus botryophora 
 1 12. raudinus oruatus 
 
 1 !.■>. T.atiuia rubr i 
 
 1 1 1. IJhapis flabelliformis 
 110. Arcca sapida 
 
 On Laicn. 
 111. Anthurinui raagui- 
 
 fieuni 
 110. Ulecliuum bnsilicnse 
 1 13. Alpinia nutaus 
 117. Medinilla niagnifica 
 
 1)7. Caryota sobolifcra 
 105. Ficus elastica 
 101). Lauius Cainphora 
 
 105. Cycas circiualis 
 108. Dracajna teruiinalis 
 
 08. Attaccia cristata 
 90. Criuuiu aniabile 
 99. Acalypha tricolor 
 
 87. Theophrasta niacio- 
 
 phylla 
 90. Rhopala corcovadensis 
 
 92. Seaforthia elegana 
 
 88. Asplcniura nidus-nvis 
 
 93. Dracrena cauua;folia 
 80. Autliuriuui hybridum 
 
 118. Cordyliuc indivisa 
 ll'.t. Cibotiuui princcps 
 
 120. Pteris argyr.-ca 
 
 121. Agave Verschaffeiti 
 
 Flower-beds Nos. 123 and 1G7 refilled from time to time with 
 llowcring-plauts, bulbs, &c. 
 
Chap. XY.] 
 
 WINTER GARDENS. 
 
 23' 
 
 122. 
 
 Bambusa Thouarsi 
 
 137. 
 
 Vricsia gignntea 
 
 151. 
 
 Tiieophrasta imperi- 
 
 124. 
 
 PhilodcnJron pinnati- 
 
 ■ 132. 
 
 Thalia dcalbata 
 
 
 al is 
 
 
 fidum 
 
 147. 
 
 Philodendron pcrtu- 
 
 149. 
 
 Musa sinensis 
 
 128. 
 
 Phajus Wullichii 
 
 
 811 in 
 
 148. 
 
 Cocos wronata 
 
 129. 
 
 rhaanicopliorium 
 
 127. 
 
 Pontederia cordata 
 
 146. 
 
 Pteris argyrsea 
 
 
 Seychellariim 
 
 12o. 
 
 Nymph.Ta gigantea 
 
 14.5. 
 
 Platycerium grande 
 
 130. 
 
 Phormium tenax 
 
 125 
 
 Ortgiesiana 166. 
 
 Verschaffoltia splen- 
 
 
 foliis varie^'atum 
 
 
 rubra 
 
 
 dida 
 
 121. 
 
 Pandanus elegantis- 
 
 1G3. 
 
 crerulea 
 
 165. 
 
 Bambusa Fortunci 
 
 
 simus 
 
 102. 
 
 Philodendron Lindeni 
 
 i 164. 
 
 Colocasia nymphtefolia 
 
 13,-). 
 
 Durio usibcthiiius 
 
 161. 
 
 Vallisncria spiralis 
 
 168. 
 
 Cypripedium barba- 
 
 134. 
 
 Lomaria gibba 
 
 ICO. 
 
 Nymphaja dentata 
 
 
 tum superbiun 
 
 1S3. 
 
 Carludovicaatrovirens 15G. 
 
 Musa Ensete 
 
 167. 
 
 Attalca excelsa 
 
 144. 
 
 Hoya bella 
 
 157. 
 
 Crescentia regalis 
 
 170. 
 
 Dion edulo 
 
 141. 
 
 Acanthus latifolius 
 
 159. 
 
 Disteganthus basi 
 
 171. 
 
 Cyanopliyllum mag- 
 
 142. 
 
 Clivia rainiata 
 
 
 lateralis 
 
 
 nifieum 
 
 140. 
 
 Clusia rosea 
 
 158. 
 
 Cycas rcvoluta 
 
 172. 
 
 Dracffsna Guilfoylci 
 
 13G. 
 
 Ficus Cooperi 
 
 154. 
 
 Carludovica plicata 
 
 173! 
 
 Scindocalyx digi- 
 
 139. 
 
 Musa paradisiaca 
 
 155. 
 
 Balantium Culcita 
 
 
 tal iflora 
 
 143. 
 
 Pteris crctica albo 
 
 153. 
 
 Lomaria gibba 
 
 174. 
 
 Cordyline indivisa 
 
 
 lineata 
 
 152. 
 
 Billbergia zjbrina 
 
 175. 
 
 Croton maximum. 
 
 1.38. 
 
 Platyloma falcata 
 
 
 
 
 
 Such are the prominent distinctive features of this mode of 
 grouping the principal furniture in this palace of flowers. As we 
 have already observed, these combinatiojis are capable of endless 
 variations, and numerous small species may be inserted in empty- 
 spaces between the larger plants ; while baskets of Ferns, Brome- 
 liaceae. Orchids, etc., may be suspended from the rafters on slender 
 wire. These may either be planted in the baskets, or the j)ots 
 placed in them, the interspaces being filled with growing moss. 
 The rockery will be adorned with all sorts of plants that will 
 flourish in the interstices between the stones, including a complete 
 collection of Selaginellas creeping amongst innumerable Ferns. 
 
 Lastly, dead trunks of trees, fixed in the ground by means of 
 iron stakes to prevent them from falling as decomposition goes 
 on, should be placed at the spots Nos. 8, 14, 18, 29, 52, 57, G9, 
 and covered with tropical creepers and Epiphytes, and a whole 
 collection of Bromeliacese, especially Tillandsia usneoides and 
 Orchids. A short time will suffice for these to assume all the 
 picturesque appearance they present in the tropics. Here ends 
 our rough sketch of a warm winter-garden as it might and should 
 be made. 
 
238 THE PAI^KR AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV, 
 
 A Cool Winter-garden. 
 
 "We have given consideration to the laying-ont of a ^Yinter- 
 garclen or conservatory for plants belonging to the warmer regions 
 of the world, and have gronped together such representatives of 
 tropical vegetation as can exist in the same atmosphere. Some 
 greenhouse kinds which acquire larger dimensions under the in- 
 fluence of a more intense heat than they would in a cooler atmos- 
 phere, such as certain Palms, Aralias, etc., have been omitted. 
 For instance, the Eice-paper plant, which grows in the open air 
 in the south of France, acquires gigantic dimensions in a hothouse. 
 A specimen of it, thus treated, measured thirteen feet two inches 
 high, and threw out superb leaves, exceeding six feet six inches in 
 length, including their stalks. 
 
 In most cases, nevertheless, the plants named for a greenhouse 
 suffer under too high a temperature. Besides, the cool winter- 
 garden is still more valuable than that just described, for, while it 
 is as rich in ornamental specimens, it is more within the reach of 
 moderate means. Very little artificial heat is enough to keep the 
 temperature in winter at a minimum of three degrees above the 
 freezing-point, which is quite sufficient for the period of repose 
 required for many of the plants from Australia, China, Japan, 
 New Zealand, and mountainous tropical regions. One can hardly 
 believe with what numbers of plants, often supposed to belong to 
 tropical climates, a cool conservatory can be furnished. Numbers 
 of our beautiful Palms would flourish under cool treatment ; and 
 hundreds of Ferns require no better situation than the shelter of 
 glass. The Dracaenas, Agaves, Acacias, Dasylirions, Ficus, 
 Aralias, Banksias, tender Conifers like the Norfolk Island Pine, 
 Yuccas, Grevilleas, lihopalas, and the Cactuses, would certainly 
 submit to the same treatment, without mentioning the smaller 
 kinds, which only thrive under a low winter-temperature. 
 
 The treatment carried out in reference to some tropical species 
 has often no relation to the altitude at which the plants naturally 
 grow. Should a plant arrive from Mexico, it would naturally be 
 placed in a warm conservatory. But as regards the Ferns of that 
 country, they arc found between 3,600 and 6,000 feet above the 
 sea-level, that is to say, at the limit where begin the Pines and 
 
Chap. XV.] 
 
 WINTER GARDENS. 
 
 239 
 
 Heaths of the sub-alpine region ; and it is at this height that the 
 magnificent Alsophihis spring up. 
 
 More than thirty kinds of Palm now flourish in our cool houses. 
 A great number grow in the cold regions of tropical mountains, 
 such as the Ceroxylon andicola, which is found at 10,000 feet and 
 upwards. Oreodoxa frigida, and several kinds of Chamaedorea, 
 reach as high as the Pine region ; x\reca humilis reaches to 8,000 
 feet in Java ; Chamferops Martiana to 7,800 feet in Nepal ; 
 Phoenix humilis to 6,000 feet ; without reckoning Chamaerops 
 excelsa of China, Ehapis flabelliformis of Japan, Corypha 
 australis, and others. 
 
 Let us now proceed to plant a cool house on the plan already 
 used in the case of a winter-garden. By the aid of the same series 
 of numbers on the plan, we can at once show the diflerent types of 
 vegetation that may be used in each case. We will first give a list 
 of climbing-plants, without which no such structure can bo 
 properly adorned : — 
 
 1 . Ehynfbospcrmum jas- 
 
 minoides 
 4. riunibago scandens 
 7. Passifloru crerulea 
 9. Mikania scandcns 
 12, 13. Solanum jasiiiin- 
 
 oides 
 17. Cohasa scaiidens varic- 
 
 gata 
 21. Thunborgia laurifolia 
 2:^. Keuuedya violacea 
 
 25. iVrundcvillii suavcolens 
 27, 28, 30, .SI. Scnecio 
 
 niikanioidos 
 33. Tropffiolum Si)itfirc 
 36. Passiflora cdulis 
 38. Akebia qninata 
 41. Aristolocbia scmpcr- 
 
 virens 
 44. Cliantbus puniceus 
 46. Fucbsia cocci iiea 
 49. Lapageria rosea 
 
 53,54,58. Aristolocbiaciliosa 
 60. KLnnedya Maryattno 
 
 62. Tropaiolum sptciosuin 
 
 63. Tropajoluin pentaphyl- 
 
 luin 
 65. Bignonia Cbcrtre 
 6S, 71, 72. Tacsonia Van 
 
 Volxemii 
 74. Lapageria alba 
 77. Hoya carno?a 
 80. Cliantbus Dampieri 
 
 It must here be observed that, for a conservatory of the size 
 named, the number of plants given would be too extensive, and 
 would darken the house too much during winter. "We only give 
 the list entire for the use of a conservatory large enough to 
 contain them ; for example, from 100 to 150 feet in length, with 
 a proportionate width and height. 
 
 The following is a list of plants with noble leaves, and of stately 
 port, that thrive well in a cool house : — 
 
 67. Cbainncrnps staura- 
 
 cantba 
 15. Cbnmajrops excelsa 
 32. Corypha austr.ilid 
 56. Jubffiit spectubilid 
 102. Sabal palmetto 
 
 10.5. Phccnix reclinnta 
 95. Khapis flabelliformis 
 93. Livistona sinensis 
 84. Seafortbia robustii 
 90. Oreodoxa frigida 
 
 173. Plicenix tenuis 
 
 108. Cocos Romanzoffii 
 
 159. Areca siipida 
 
 166. Glaziova elegantLs- 
 
 sima 
 154. Ceroxylon andicola 
 156. Calyptrogjnc elata 
 
240 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 149. Soaforthia clegans 137. Chamrerops Mnrtinna 0^^. riiconix farinifcra 
 
 134. Uralica dulcis 119. riiochix sylvostris lOii. ChanuTrops liumilis 
 
 13G. Pcnforthia gracilis 105. Cocos uu.stralis 102. Bralua iiitida. 
 
 142. Chamajdoreaglaucifolia 
 
 Hero, then, are twenty-six kinds of Palms, of varied stature, 
 and perfectly suited to form a background of foliage of supreme 
 elegance. We speak of such only as have been proved to succeed ; 
 and if the altitudes at which they grow spontaneously are com- 
 pared, it will be seen that a conservatory with a minimum of 
 38'' Fahr. is all that they require. It is known that for every six 
 hundred feet of altitude above the sea, the mean temperature 
 decreases one degree. But if we take, as is generally done, the 
 mean temperature of the tropics as 80^ at the sea-level, at 0,000 
 feet it would be only 65'^, and at 10,000 feet, 50'^, which is equal to 
 the mean temperature of Southern England. It is not, therefore, 
 very extraordinary that the Palms of these high regions, the 
 Chamaerops excelsa, for instance, can live out-of-doors in those 
 climates where they have nothing to fear but exceptional winters. 
 If we have not certain data as to this mode of culture, it is 
 because Palm-trees have hitherto been too costly to risk their 
 sacrifice in the open air. The Cycads, although generally less 
 hardy than the Palms above named, are still available for the 
 conservatory, where a low temperature for a short time would 
 not be prejudicial, though they would suffer by prolongation of 
 that temperature. Thus we would advise the following specimens 
 to be planted : — 
 
 85. BowcTiia spcctabilis 109. Eiiccplialartos Alten- 134. Dion cdule 
 96. Cycas ruvoluta steini 120. Zaniia australis. 
 
 Among the Tree-ferns, the following are suitable for the cool 
 winter-garden : — 
 
 124. Alsophila australis 116. Alsophila ornata 170. Cyathca dcalhata 
 
 82. BlecliDum brasiliense 140. Balantium antarcti- 151. Todca australis 
 
 With plenty of space one might add :■ — 
 
 Alsophila excelsa C. spectabilo Lomaria rycadilolia 
 
 Balantium Culcita Cyathca medullaris Ij. gil)l)a 
 
 B. Sellowianum C. Smitliii L. discolor 
 
 Blechnum rio-grandcnsc Dicksonia fibrosa L. mngellanica. 
 ("ibijtium regale D. squarni.sa 
 
242 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV 
 
 The following plants, though not so important, deserve a place 
 by the side of these, such as : — 
 
 106. Cordyliiio indivisa 
 
 97. Aspidistra elatior 
 
 98. Podocarpus Totara 
 
 99. Clivia cyrtanthiflora 
 
 100. Corr^a cardinalis 
 
 101. Farfugium grande 
 
 104. Eucalyptus vinnnalLs 92. Edwnrdsia giaiuliflora 
 109. Ehcagnus undulata 91. Spanuannia africaiia 
 108. Clivia iiobilis 87. Eigulaiia Ka3iupferi 
 
 107. Camellia japonica, var. 8S. Brugmiinsia sanguiuea 
 86. Erythrina Marie Bell- 81. Daphne delpliiui 
 anger 
 
 To make intervening spaces a little ornamental, any number of 
 less important plants could be added. We next come to plants 
 for decorating the beds of the central portion. For the grass- 
 plot may be taken : — 
 
 174, 
 
 172. 
 
 171. 
 112 
 
 111, 
 no, 
 
 113, 
 114 
 115 
 117, 
 117 
 118 
 
 Pancratium mc.Kica- 
 
 nuui 
 Aspidistra elatior va 
 
 riegata 
 Agave Verschaffelti 
 Plioriniuin Colcusoi 
 Philcsia buxifnlia 
 Macleayia cordata 
 Linum trigyuura 
 Eucalyptus giganteus 
 Aralia Sieboldii 
 Skinimia oblata 
 Rubus vosfeflonis 
 Tiiuiopbis dolabnita 
 
 121. 
 
 122. 
 128. 
 IHO. 
 
 137. 
 143. 
 139. 
 142. 
 141. 
 135. 
 131. 
 
 Rhododendron Jeii- 
 
 kinsii 
 Araucaria excels i 
 Lomaria gibba 
 Beaucarnea tubercu- 
 
 lata 
 Crowea saligna 
 Asiiidiuni Bellangeri 
 Stadinannia austraUs 
 Mimosa cultitbrmis 
 Spanuannia africana 
 Eucalyptus giganteus 
 Thea viridis 
 
 144. Platyceriuui grandc 
 
 145. Senecio phitanifolia 
 140. Nephrolejiis e.xaltata 
 148. DraciBna Rumpliii 
 150. Pteris cretica albo- 
 
 lineata 
 153. Agnostus siuuatus 
 152. Cyrtoiiiiuni falcatum 
 155. Acacia dealbata 
 158. Pimelca elegans 
 157. Litlasa gracilis 
 165. Senecio Ghiesbrcglitii 
 IGl. Musa Ensete 
 
 Plants between the borders and the glass may consist of: — 
 
 Wigandia urens 
 Yucca aloitolia tricx^ilor 
 Woodwardia radicnns 
 Viburnum suspensum 
 Xanthorrhcea hastilis or 
 
 Plionnium tenax 
 Veronica Andersoni va- 
 
 riegata 
 Acaeia lineal a 
 Abutiion striatum 
 IlibifCus rosa-s mn.si.s 
 Araliapubcsceus 
 Senecio Ghie.-sbreglitii 
 Nicotiana wigandioidcs 
 Bumbusa Fortuiiii va- 
 riigata 
 
 Viburnum Arrafuski 
 Magnolia fuscata 
 Araiia daetyiifolia 
 Ficus macrophyllii 
 Temj)lctonia retusa 
 Sii)hocanipyIus Hum- 
 
 boldtianus 
 Solanum Warszewiczii 
 MonfagMCa lieraclifolia 
 Clivia niiniata 
 Rogcria gratissima 
 Rhododendron Gibsoni 
 Rliopala aubtralis 
 Rhododendron Nuttalli 
 Pleroma elegans 
 Podocarpus zamiajfolia 
 
 Phyllocactus Aker- 
 
 nianni 
 Fuciisia var. 
 Araiia nerifolia 
 Osmanthus ilicifolius 
 Oreopanax platani- 
 
 folium 
 Bocconia frutescons 
 Ileliantlius major 
 Araiia pajjyrifera 
 Ilcbecliiiium niacro- 
 
 phyllum 
 Hedyciiiuin gardiK ri- 
 
 anuni 
 Desfontainea sj)inosa 
 
Chap. XY.] WINTER GARDENS. 243 
 
 The Palms for a winter-garden ought to be kept in pots up to 
 the period Avhen their leaves divide and show their character, and 
 their stems become at their base as thick as a man's arm. They 
 must not be put in the ground before this, nor until they have 
 been frequently repotted and kept as much as possible in a warm 
 greenhouse where the pots have been plunged in tan. They 
 should be repotted twice a year, in spring and summer, when their 
 growth is rapid, without cutting the roots, and in deep narrow 
 pots. A warm atmosphere, somewhat shady, but without stagnant 
 moisture, is best suited to Palms when young. 
 
 A great number of the plants will remain uninjured in the cool 
 winter-garden if frost is kept out ; but it is better, as has been 
 already said, to keep up the winter temperature a little over the 
 freezing-point ; and even when the sun strikes upon the glass 
 raising the temperature, it will not be necessary to open the 
 house at all during the winter. After February, however, when 
 vegetation is getting active, it will be necessary to give air 
 gradually, and in the evening, to give water. In March we must 
 begin to shade with some light material up to the time that we 
 can uncover the greater part of the conservatory, and perhaps 
 place some of the plants in pots or boxes in the open air. As to 
 the great Palms and Tree-ferns, Dracaenas, Aralias, etc., they 
 will be better slightly shaded throughout the year, taking care to 
 give plenty of air. Where it could be done easily, it would be 
 desirable to remove the roof and allow the contents to be refreshed 
 by the summer rains. Plants easily moved, and of fine habit, 
 may be removed to the open garden, where they will be more 
 enjoyable during the hot months than in any house ; many of 
 them are all the better for making their principal growth in 
 the open air. Thus managed, with plenty of water and a 
 proper amount of shade, it is very possible to develop beautiful 
 tropical vegetation in such a structure. 
 
 As for Orchids, hothouse Ferns, and other stove-plants, which 
 do not bear the temperature of the conservatory without injury, 
 an arrangement might be readily made by which they also could 
 be enjoyed in this structure. A conservatory heated to stove- 
 temperature would be unpleasant to many, while the heat of the 
 temperate house is agreeable to our senses. The best way to 
 secure means for displaying tender Orchids and other plants in 
 
244 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAinS. [Cuai-. XV. 
 
 the conservatory, is Ly making a closely- glazed case tlierein fitted 
 up with rustic shelves. In this might he placed any Orchids, 
 choice Ferns, or not over-large stove-plants that come in flower 
 in winter, spring, and autumn, and hy interspersing them with 
 the choicer dwarf fine-leaved plants so common of late in our 
 stoves, a welcome feature would he added to the conservatory. As 
 the plants would only remain in this case during their period of 
 flowering, and fine foliaged plants perhaps a few weeks longer, 
 the position of the case as to light matters little. Against the 
 back or some other wall of the house is of course the best position ; 
 and if there be an arched recess, it might be taken advantage of. 
 To heat a little boiler sufiiciently to keep any desired temperature 
 in the case would be easy, and to do it with gas would be con- 
 venient to many. To make the wall and the shelves in this case 
 of a rustic character is a good and tasteful plan ; they should be 
 studded with Moss, which if kept moist will give off the vapour 
 so congenial to stove-plants, and the windows or folding-doors 
 should be fitted with single sheets of glass, kept clear at all 
 times. It would be easy to induce the common Lycopodium, 
 seedling Ferns, and miniature stove Mosses to crowd over the 
 back wall and indeed on every rocky surface in the case, or even 
 to grow on turves placed along the front shelves. 
 
 The Plant Decoration of Apartments. 
 
 The graceful custom of growing plants in dwelling-rooms is 
 very much more prevalent on the Continent than in England. It 
 is true that we often see a display of flowering-plants in rooms, 
 though rarely subjects distinguished by beauty of form, or adapted 
 for culture indoors. But the day is approaching when the value 
 of graceful plants as house-ornaments will be recognised. That 
 the substitution of life and changeful interest for much that is 
 without these qualities, will prove a gain, few will doubt. Apart 
 altogether from their efi"ect as ornaments, what can more 
 agreeably introduce us to the study of plant life ? Eooms are 
 often overcrowded with ornaments, many of them representa- 
 tions of natural objects ; but in the case of the plants we may, 
 without inconvenience, enjoy the natural objects themselves. 
 
Chap. XV.] WINTER GAltDENS. 245 
 
 Those we employ for this purpose now are mostly such as cannot 
 be preserved in health for any length of time in living-rooms. If 
 in addition to the best of these we select handsome-leaved plants 
 of a leathery texture, accustomed to withstand the temperature 
 of hot countries, we shall find that the dry and dusty air of a 
 living-room is not at all injurious to them, and that it is quite 
 easy to keep them in health for months and even for years in the 
 same apartment. The variety of form and grace of outline which 
 many of these plants possess, is very great. Many of them are 
 exotics, rarely seen in England out of stoves, while about Paris 
 they are sold in abundance for the decoration of apartments. The 
 widely-spread taste for plants in rooms explains the prevalence of 
 these graceful plants in Paris gardens and flowershops. The 
 number of Dracaenas cultivated in and around Paris is enormous, 
 one Versailles nurseryman annually raising from 5000 to 6000 
 plants of the bright-leaved Dracaena terminalis alone, by far the 
 greater part being for room-decoration. Among the newer species 
 of Dracaenas — not alluding to the coloured-leaved kinds — are 
 some that combine grace with stateliness as few other plants do. 
 They are useful for the centres of massive groups of plants in 
 their larger forms, while the smaller species may be advantageously 
 associated with the ]\[aidenhair Fern and small flowering-plants. 
 They are of the greatest utility in these decorations, and are 
 largely used in all parts. Young Palms are also cultivated to a 
 surprising extent about Paris, and so are all graceful-leaved plants 
 from the Cycads to the common trailing Ivy, — used a good deal 
 to make living screens of. 
 
 The following few notes on the principal plants which serve 
 for window and room decoration in Paris are by M. A. Chantiu, 
 a cultivator of plants for these purposes on a large soale, and the 
 possessor of a very rich collection of Palms and other exotics. 
 Of these the Palms are without doubt the most important, and 
 are most generally used, because of their hardy character and 
 moderate price. Among the very best are the Fan-palms — 
 Chamiierops humilis and excelsa. Corypha australis, although 
 now but little known as a house-plant, is destined in a short time 
 to occupy a foremost place in tlie decoration of apartments. It 
 is conspicuous for its peculiar beauty, and the number of its 
 leaves, and is, I believe, the most hardy and enduring of all the 
 
246 THE PARKS AND CJAUDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 Palms for indoor-culture. Cocos coronata and flexuosa are very- 
 elegant, and produce a charming effect. Latania borbonica is 
 certainly one of the most valuable plants of this family, as much 
 for the deep yet fresh green of its leaves as for its hardiness and 
 elegant appearance. Phoenix dactylifera, leonensis, and reclinata 
 are very much sought after, and are highly esteemed, as arc also 
 Areca alba, lutescens, and rubra. 
 
 The following Palms could be used with great advantage in the 
 decoration of apartments ; but their high price and great rarity 
 cause them to be not much known, although they accommodate 
 themselves to the atmosphere of rooms as well as any of those 
 previously mentioned. Areca sapida, most of the species of the 
 genus Caryota, Chamaedorea amazonica and elatior, Chamserops 
 Palmetto, Ela^is guineensis, Euterpe edulis, with its finely-serrated 
 and very graceful foliage ; Oreodoxa regia, young plants of which 
 are very frequently used ; Phoenix pumila, Phoenix tenuis, Thrinax 
 argentea and elegans, Khapis fiabelliformis, and Leopoldina 
 pulchra. 
 
 Next in importance to the Palms we must place the Dracaenas. 
 Those which are the most frequently noticed are Dracaena 
 australis, cannaefolia, congesta, indivisa, indivisa lineata, rubra, 
 stricta, terminalis, and umbraculifera. Those most easily managed, 
 and therefore the most popular for window-ornaments, are Dracaena 
 congesta, rubra, and terminalis. Pandanus utilis, amaryllifolius 
 Vandermeerschi, and javanicus variegatus ; Cycas revoluta, and 
 varieties of Aspidistra, occupy also a very important place in the 
 decoration of apartments. 
 
 The plants composing the following list, although suitable and 
 distinct in appearance, require somewhat more care and attention 
 than the preceding. Several species of Aralia, more especially 
 Aralia Sieboldii ; Pambusa japonica variegata and B. fortunei 
 variegata ; the different varieties of Begonia ; most of the Brome- 
 lias, Billbergias, and allied families arc very useful, including the 
 variegated Pine-apple, which forms a splendid object for placing 
 in large warm rooms on special occasions. Caladiuni odorum, for 
 winter decoration, and the species with the beautifully-spotted 
 and mottled leaves, for the summer ; Carludovica palmata and 
 plicata ; Croton in variety, Curculigo recurvata, and several species 
 of the genus Dieffenbachia. Ficus elastica is a capital plant for 
 
Chai'. XV.] WINTER GARDENS. 247 
 
 window-ornament, and some years ago was very much employed 
 for that purpose ; but since it has become somewhat common, 
 Ficus Chauvieri has been substituted for it in many phices. 
 There are many other Ficuses which are suitable for this purpose, 
 and will be found most useful when they become plentiful enough. 
 Maranta zebrina is the only species of Maranta suitable for 
 cultivation in apartments, as all the other species should be grown 
 and kept in the houses, and only carried indoors when extra 
 attractions are desired for special occasions. Several species of 
 Musa are favourites, but principally M. discolor and M. rosea ; 
 Musa Ensete is particularly suitable for room-culture. Monstera 
 deliciosa was much sought after during recent winters, and has in 
 most places thriven so well that it has given general satisfaction. 
 Several varieties of Beaucarnea are suitable for rooms, and 
 produce a very beautiful and graceful effect when grown in 
 suspended vases or baskets. Rhopala corcovadense is a plant that 
 exhales a somewhat disagreeable odour, but it is nevertheless much 
 in favour on account of its very elegant and graceful appear- 
 unco during the development of its young leaves. Hecktia 
 pitcairnifolia is excellent for suspending in baskets. Tradescantia 
 discolor, Phormium tenax, Ehododendrons, Camellias, Grevillea 
 robusta, Euonymus, Aucubas, Bonapartea, Agaves, variegated 
 Yuccas, etc., are also frequent. In addition to the common 
 Saxifraga sarmentosa, which is frequently seen with its slender 
 runners pendent from window-baskets in England, sev ral other 
 allied species would prove equally useful in the same way — 
 Saxifraga Fortunei variegata, and S. cuscutreformis, for example. 
 The family of Ferns, although classed among plants with 
 delicate tissues, and having a great dislike to dry hot atmo- 
 spheres, nevertheless furnishes numerous examples which, with 
 careful management, add very much to the beauty of apartments. 
 Thus I have very frequently remarked several species of Adiantum, 
 which wherever they can be preserved in good health, produce a 
 most pleasing effect. Pteris argyraea, P. cretica albo lineata, and 
 P. serrulata variegata likewise produce a good effect with their 
 prettily-marked fronds. Alsophila australis and Dicksonia an- 
 tarctica are also sometimes employed for decorative purposes in 
 rooms of large dimensions, where their magnificent appearance 
 never fails to produce a pleasing impression. Ne})hrolepis 
 
248 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 exaltata is universally useful, and witbstaiuls the air of rooms 
 without the slightest injury. 
 
 Experience has shown me that Orchids may be introduced into 
 a drawing-room with perfect success, the plants not having 
 suffered in the least by the change of atmosphere. The most 
 suitable are the various species of Cattleya, Vanda, Aerides, and 
 Cypripedium. Doubtless the time is not far distant when we 
 may venture to try many more kinds than we can now afford to 
 do ; but even from what we have already done in that way, I 
 entertain no doubt that the Orchid family will eventually furnish 
 the most valuable of all plants for room-decoration. True, they 
 may not live throughout the year in rooms as Ficuses and such 
 plants do, but that is not desirable — their appearance, as a rule, 
 not being prepossessing when out of flower. The quality that they 
 do possess, and that which makes them so valuable, is the thick 
 succulent texture of the flowers generally. This enables them to 
 continue a long time in bloom in a room, and a like kind of 
 texture enables the leaves to stand during the blooming-time 
 without injury. 
 
 We ourselves are foremost so far as flow^eriug-plants are con- 
 cerned, ours being as a rule better grown. One plant, however, 
 cultivated in great abundance around Paris for winter-blooming, 
 is well worthy of increased attention — Ei)ipliyllum truncatum. 
 There are several varieties, and they certainly form most beautiful 
 objects on dull December days. The employment of simple 
 materials is also to be commended. Thus the variegated form of 
 the common Eoast-beef plant — Iris foctidissima — may be seen 
 occasionally used with good cfl'ect. We mostly use hot-country 
 plants if We want those that live long in our dwelling-rooms, but 
 this is a true hardy native which well deserves culture indoors. 
 It forms a very pretty plant for room-decoration, requires none 
 but the most ordinary attention, and is easily obtained. In 
 France the plant is rather commonly used as an edging. The 
 Acanthuses too, and particularly A. lusitanicus, used so effectively 
 out-of-doors, are also grown abundantly in rooms, where they do 
 very well. 
 
 A sketch here given shows Acanthus latifolius, as grown in a 
 window, but no drawing could represent its superb health and 
 the deep untiring gloss of its tine leaves as they are seen from 
 
Chap. XV.] 
 
 WINTER GARDENS. 
 
 249 
 
 the street. The specimen figured was sketched from before the 
 window of a restaurant in the Champs Elysees, where it has not 
 only grown for years but flowered vigorously. It is quite a hardy 
 plant, but no tropical one is more beautiful in form or colour of 
 foliage. It is the most valuable of large-leaved room-plants, and 
 far more so than the long popular Ficus elastica, because it is 
 hardy and the easiest of culture in a cool room. It will be found 
 perfectly at home in cool rooms and halls where no artificial heat 
 is applied. The plant figured grows in a wooden box in the 
 window. Everything proved to do well indoors without the 
 protection of a case is a gain to those who wish to grow plants in 
 -ooms. 
 
 
 Acanthus lati/olitts in ITinJow in Paris. 
 
250 
 
 THE TAUKS AND (iAKDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 A FEW Notes on Private Gardens. 
 
 The contrast between 
 French and English 
 country life is strongly 
 marked, and nowhere 
 more so than in the 
 garden. The effect of 
 the love of gardens and 
 trees in England is to 
 make the country the 
 most beautiful on earth 
 — parts blighted by 
 smoke and cinders not 
 included. The expla- 
 nation of the unri- 
 valled charms of rural 
 England is found in the 
 groves that make the 
 landscape lovely with 
 their clouds of verdure 
 and varied forms. The 
 best-cultivated parts of Belgium and France are devoid of such 
 charms from the absence of trees. The streets of many fine 
 continental towns are as arid as a barrack-yard from the same 
 cause. Gardening abroad, as with us, has received a great impetus 
 within the past score of years ; in France this is mainly seen in the 
 gardens of the middle-class. In the homes of the old families in 
 France we see no such evidence of love for the art as we have at 
 
 fill above Ivy — (J>y Koadsidc 
 to Montreuii). 
 
Chap. XVI.] A FEW NOTES ON PRIVATE GARDENS. 251 
 
 home ; and richly-stored or otherwise remarkable gardens are not 
 so common as with ns. Frequently the chateau-garden is a dismal 
 exhibition of the absurdities of the old school of landscape- 
 gardeners. Lime and other trees shorn into the form of walls ; 
 dreary expanses of gravelled surface ; endless straight avenues 
 instead of open spaces where the breezes might play with the 
 grass ; crumbling fountain-basins suggestive of mouldering tombs ; 
 often an Orangery reminding one of the time when the Orange 
 was our only greenhouse-plant ; and statues that one wishes 
 buried with those who carved them. There are exceptions, and 
 many, but even in the best there is a great deal more of the 
 zoological element that one cares to have in an English garden. 
 The aviary, too, is often disagreeably conspicuous, and the water- 
 fowl plentiful enough to destroy the beauty of the water. The 
 buildings— hoary with time, and frequently interesting as regards 
 architecture— are seldom surrounded by noble trees. The absence 
 of these is frequently accounted for by the destruction through 
 wars, especially round Paris, though the stupid practice of lopping 
 has much to answer for. A revolution in this respect is as much 
 wanted in many gardens in France, as ever it was politically in 
 that country. The admirable culture that one notices in the 
 market-gardens round Paris and some other cities, is rarely 
 seen in the ordinary chateau-garden, which seldom looks so well 
 cultivated as an average English kitchen-garden. A few well- 
 trained trees, however, are always to be seen. The art of training 
 and grafting fruit-trees with ease, seems now to be as deeply 
 engrained into the French as the art of making soup. 
 
 It is in the gardens of the middle-class that we may best judge 
 of French gardening. The merit of these is that they are not 
 wholly sacrificed to the demon of bedding-out, but often contain 
 a variety of plant-form and flowers ; they are frequently fresh 
 and pretty in winter, and laid out without the horrid pattern- 
 beds which make the sight of so many gardens far from soothing. 
 In large gardens at home, wise people sometimes get a little 
 freedom from the tormenting beds that have been the worthless 
 stock-in-trade of the landscape-gardener for centuries ; small 
 gardens are nearly always ruined by these. A bed, in the sense 
 of a body of well-prepared soil, is essential in gardens ; but it is 
 not necessary that beds should take ugly forms. The best pre- 
 
252 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 paration needed for shrubs or flowers may be hidden beneath the 
 green turf. When men come to see the meaning of real garden- 
 ing, they will laugh at the endless weary strainings after patterns 
 in beds. They will not admire a garden that is laid out as men 
 used to design wall-paper ; now better things are expected of 
 wall-paper designers. Here is an engraving of a little garden on 
 the banks of the Seine near Courbevoie, and in it there are no 
 beds at all in the central parts. With its varied trees and shrubs, 
 
 A Paris Garden not spoiled by Beds. 
 
 and masses of Rhododendrons against the house, and deep green 
 fence of Irish Ivy, it is quite charming even through the winter. 
 In such a garden one may have as much variety of flowers as may 
 be desired, and one of the ways of best attaining this end is by 
 having groups of beds, simple in outline, a little Avay from the 
 central scene. All the really fine hardy plants, from Tritomas to 
 Grasses and Yuccas, maybe planted to best effect in good ground, 
 but not in formal beds. Where a geometrical series of beds is 
 
Chap. XVL] A FEW NOTES ON PRIVATE GARDENS. 
 
 253 
 
 desired, they certainly will also be best on one side in a quiet 
 nook, and not in the centre of, and dominating, all. 
 
 Borders of Ivy, sometimes with great roguish-looking Pansies 
 inside them ; well-developed isolated plants, like Yuccas or 
 Acanthus; Ivy bowers; lawns, open and fresh, if small; Pome- 
 granates with coral blossoms ; Wistaria wreathed in many ways ; 
 lovely straggling of Vines about the walls ; Eoses often on 
 Iheir own roots, and too often on broom-sticks; noble standard 
 Evergreen Magnolias ; groups of tree and herbaceous Peonies on 
 the grass ; and graceful tufts of hardy Bamboo, also add to the 
 charms of these little gardens, which are often very quiet and 
 lovely, and which though small have a dignified air, and contain 
 a variety of beautiful life. The walls are nearly all garlanded 
 with creepers, often with a half-wild look through luxuriant 
 
 TrcUis for I ■ 
 
 ■/','■ y /•,■,,/ ii:,f: c' 
 
 growth. So long as we have dead walls, some means of modifying 
 tlieir severity is desirable. In landscape-gardening the dead wall 
 is a serious obstacle to deal with, and so it is in the small garden. 
 In these, however, there is sometimes a necessity for the dead 
 wall as a dividing-line or a screen, whereas in large country-places 
 they are often made where they are needless and objectionable. 
 In small gardens the dead walls, usually bare along the top, may 
 be gracefully wreathed with either climbing-shrubs or fruit-trees, 
 as shown in the accompanying cut. Single stems are easily 
 taken up the wall and trailed along two or three firmly-fixed but 
 slender galvanised wires. In this way much of the harsh aspect 
 of the upper part of the wall is removed. The sketcli given was 
 made on the road from Vincennes to j\Iontreuil, a country in 
 which good Grapes are gathered on the trellis ; ornamental 
 
254 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XYI. 
 
 subjects for such places are numerous enough from Wistaria to 
 Clematis montana. 
 
 In Paris there are, besides the suburban gardens, numerous 
 pretty gardens in the city itself, of one of which, thanks to the 
 courtesy of its owner, Madame Haine, an illustration is here given. 
 Enclosed by high walls and buildings, with large trees, a lawn of 
 freshest grass, Acanthuses and Yuccas on the turf, bold Pansies in 
 masses, carpets of the ever welcome Ivy and the Periwinkle beneath 
 the trees, and numerous Wallflowers, it had, on the April day when 
 sketched, many charms not usually associated with crowded cities. 
 In Paris one frequently finds an oasis of trees and flowers and grass 
 hidden by high buildings from the noisy street. In such nooks, 
 finer trees are often found than grow in the public squares. 
 Paris is far richer than London in these pleasant city-gardens. 
 Some town-gardens in London, such as that of Montagu House, 
 may be named as examples of what a town-garden may be made 
 even in London, but they are too rare. The main blemish in the 
 small French gardens is the water, which never ought to be 
 present at all in such places in a so-called ornamental state. It 
 is another instance of the futility of forming artificial water in 
 any form in the small garden, and it is wonderful that people can 
 tolerate cemented tubs of unclean water in spots that might be 
 wholly beautiful with flowers and grass. Cement-margined 
 puddles of this sort, and larger, abound, sometimes associated 
 with very droll rock-work. Sometimes, on the other hand, a 
 little rock-garden is fairly well constructed, but contrasted with 
 the vilest margin of black asphalte to the water-basin. 
 
 A disagreeable feature of the Paris garden is the mirror-globe, 
 which is a burnished nuisance in so many otherwise pleasant 
 gardens. I once hoped that this object would never be introduced 
 to English gardens, but lately a very large one was seen in one of 
 our new provincial parks. Lately also a misguided gentleman in 
 the north-western district of London, not content with one or two 
 of these mirror-globes, made himself an avenue of them of various 
 colours. Each huge globe rests on a terra-cotta vase, and the 
 avenue on each side, from the gate to the house, is bordered by 
 vases with mirror-globes. The efi'ect is as good as could be 
 desired for a Shoreditch theatre. Such an object may jjcrhaps 
 amuse children, but surely one is merely expressing the sentiments 
 
Chap. XVI.] 
 
 A FEW NOTES OX PRIVATE GARDEXS. 
 
 255 
 
 of all lovers of English gardens, in saying that a globe-mirror is 
 one of the most oflensive objects that can be placed in a garden. 
 
 The picturesque style of gardening as seen round Paris is 
 mainly distinguished by its tempestuous undulations. Even in 
 the Champs Elysees every patch of turf is waved up and down in 
 the most violent manner, and very often it is so in the little 
 gardens. The adjacent level lines of roadway, footway, or 
 
 ./ ■r.';,;,.j;,„;l,„ 
 
 buildings, contrasting abruptly as they do with all this, show its 
 artificial character at once. When valleys are traced through 
 bits of turf not much larger than a dining-room floor, and 
 surrounded by wide level walks, we get the puerile instead of the 
 l)ictures(jue. One might as well attempt to diversify the surface 
 of a dinner-table. In addition, the undulations are stiflly and 
 badly carried out— scarcely an easy, natural gradation is seen. 
 Sir Pachard Wallace's garden at P>agatelle, in the ]>ois do 
 
256 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 Boulogne, oflfors, in tins respect, a pleasing contrast to the many 
 places in Avliicli the ahovc-nametl Lleniish is conspicuous. Here 
 ■\ve have broad easy glades, so gently, though artificially, hollowed, 
 that they rarely suggest the artificial or the incongruous. Here, 
 too, may be seen successful attempts to open-up charming views, 
 both in the garden, and from it into the surrounding country. 
 Happiest of the features, however, is the way these glades and 
 vistas are planted. Instead of the usual plum-pudding-like 
 mixture everywhere, we have small groves of distinct trees, with 
 turf spreading beneath them, and natural-looking groups of dif- 
 ferent kinds, and sometimes a cluster of one kind only. There is not 
 a trace of the dot-a-tree-everywhere system, by which so many 
 garden-landscapes are spoiled. Open breezy turf^carpets abound, 
 and afford a foreground from which the various beauties of trees or 
 
 shrubs or landscape may be seen to advantage from the diflcrent 
 points of view. Groups of Yuccas are effective here ; also groups 
 in threes of various Tree-peonies and other vigorous hardy plants. 
 Many of the older trees, with high stems, are clad with a mantle of 
 Ivy, which, however, is confined to the bole only. Where a 
 number of tall trees thus covered occur, one may sometimes fancy 
 (seeing only Ivy-clad boles) that it is an evergreen-grove, the heads 
 of the deciduous trees being high overhead. Two large groups of 
 artificial rock here are more successful than they generally are 
 in France ; both are gracefully embellished with suitable plants, 
 and so well supported with masses of trees and shrubs that they 
 have a picturesque effect in the grounds. Here, however, as 
 in other places, no attempt is made to grow the true Alpine 
 plants in or near these inviting positions ; that is work for the 
 future. Where there is so much to praise, one may venture to point 
 
(Hap. XYL] A FEW NOTES OX PKIVATE GARDEXS. 257 
 
 out that the artificial water here, as in too many gardens, is 
 rather too mucli after the dnck-poncl pattern — too abrupt in its 
 margins, and too near the house. With a graceful bend of the 
 Seine glistening through one of the vistas, it would have been 
 wiser to dispense with artificial water. Such contrasts remind 
 us of the full moon and stars calmly shining down on a Bond- 
 street illumination. 
 
 It has long been a fashion with continental lovers of gardening 
 to employ Englishmen to form their gardens ; and, among those 
 so formed, there is none more remarkable than Paxton's work at 
 Ferrieres, the seat of Baron Kothschild, which is an oasis amid 
 the dreary fields of this part of France. The house, as well as 
 the grounds and almost everything about the place, was the work 
 of Englishmen, and the gardens show an instructive mixture of 
 the best features of the horticulture of both countries. The house 
 is, of course, fortified with a terrace-garden, but this is not too 
 extensive nor overdone with " bedding-out." On its steps, one 
 day, Jules Favre met Bismarck, when he went to plead in vain 
 the cause of prostrate France. The king and Bismarck had their 
 quarters here when the Germans overran the plains around, and 
 gave orders that not a hand was to be laid on anything. Had it 
 been otherwise, the specimen "Wellingtonias might have suffered 
 the ignoble fate of thousands of fine garden-trees around Paris 
 during the siege. Probably the finest Orangery in any private 
 garden in France is here, and the Orangery-system of cultivating 
 plants is here seen in its best aspect. Nothing can exceed the 
 health and beauty of the specimens grown in enormous but well- 
 designed tubs, and standing so close together that the dense heads 
 touch, and one seems in an Orange-grove. In addition to the many 
 Orange-trees, there are superb pyramidal I\Iyrtles, nearly twenty 
 feet high, in tubs ; numbers of tubs of the New Zealand Flax and 
 large specimens of the Australasian Araucariaa, which do well 
 treated thus. The plan of planting-out Palms and many other 
 fine-foliaged plants in a large house, and with an eye to picturesque 
 effect, is here well carried out, and the efi'ect very good at all 
 seasons. The fresh green Lycopodium denticulatum forms, as 
 usual, the turf of the small landscape in which the flowers look so 
 well. Among trees, good specimens of the weeping So})hora are 
 employed with fine efi'ect near the water at Ferrieres. Perhaps 
 
238 THE TARKS AND GARDENS OF TAIUS. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 its slow growth with us prevents it from being more frequently- 
 seen in our gardens. The remarkable and well-managed fruit- 
 garden here is alhided to in another part of this hook. 
 
 An unhappy feature is a formal margin of stones around the 
 ^Yater, somewhat similar to, hut smaller than, that which now dis- 
 figures a part of the ornamental water in the Kegent's Park. The 
 individual who causes a neat little barricade of stone to be built 
 around a piece of ornamental water may have genius, but certainly 
 not for landscape-gardening. The very line of beauty, so to say, 
 where the turf might slope easily down to kiss the water, or the 
 wavelets play amongst a fringe of Forget-me-nots or Arrow-heads, 
 finished oif like a manure-tank ! It is too bad. The line of kerb- 
 stones placed along the margin of the Serpentine, is another 
 " improvement " of the same type. As a protection to the edge 
 from the action of the water, such things are never of any real 
 use, and, in the case of the Serpentine, the water is frequently 
 below the kerbstones. The best margins for artificial water are 
 sand or turf, and, if these are disturbed by the action of the 
 wavelets, they will certainly be more appropriate in their worst 
 condition than cement, bricks, flints, or kerb-stones. 
 
 Baroness Rothschild's garden at Boulogne is too extensive and 
 remarkable to be passed over. From a landscape-gardening point 
 of view the grounds at both sides of the house are more than 
 usually well disposed, there being plenty of open lawns and a 
 variety of good views, particularly on what is called the English 
 side, where there is a considerable space devoted to lawns, water, 
 and shady groves. On this English side there is a terrace-garden 
 against the house, which, though needless perhaps in its position, 
 has the merit of not being overdone or jjrolonged into the green 
 garden to its detriment. On this terrace, strange to say, there 
 are no flower-beds — simply grass and walks — what flowers there 
 are l)eing in jardinieres or vases. From each end of this terrace 
 extends one of those formal shady groves so common in France, 
 The water is well formed and adorned in one part with little 
 rocky islets very naturally constructed, and over which scramble 
 briars and other trailing and wild plants. A beautiful scene 
 is formed in one part of the gardens by the rich tropical vegetation 
 of the stoves grouped in picturesque masses under trees, the 
 plants coni})rising Tree-ferns, Giant Cacti, numerous handsome 
 
C;hai'. XVI.] A FEW NOTES ON PRIVATE GARDENS. 250 
 
 Dracaenas, the large-leaved Musa, New Zealand Flax, and many of 
 the very finest tropical and sub-tropical plants, arranged on high 
 sloping banks. 
 
 From among them rise the stems of the native and garden 
 trees which shade and shelter the tenderer plants beneath. 
 These are arranged so that nothing but the beauty of the plants 
 and foliage is observed, the pots, tubs, etc. necessary in the case 
 of such tender subjects being concealed. These plants are placed 
 out-of-doors in early summer, when all danger of frost is over, 
 and are taken in about the end of September. Many of them 
 make free growth in the open air, all are cleansed and refreshed 
 by the summer-rains, and are thus in a better state for passing 
 the winter than if they had made their growth in the hothouses 
 in summer. This system merits considerable attention, inasmuch 
 as plants cannot be so much enjoyed in the hothouses in summer 
 and autumn as in the open air arranged as described. As carried 
 out here, this grouping of the rich collection of plants, and the 
 effect generally obtained, are the most picturesque and satisfactory 
 I have ever seen afforded by tropical plants in a northern country. 
 Here, cut off from the picturesque or English part of the gardens, 
 is a " French garden " well formed, and perhaps the largest and 
 best of its kind. That style of garden means straight walks, 
 straight borders, and rigidity in general plan as well as in details. 
 It is effective but formal, and takes up much space which might 
 be disposed in a simpler and more artistic manner. Notable here 
 were huge plants or masses of New Zealand Flax in large vases. 
 This plant is invaluable for many purposes in ornamental gardening. 
 In the great court before the principal entrance is a little garden 
 in the centre, formed by gigantic Orange-trees in tubs, and other 
 evergreens. This is a good idea, giving as it does a little privacy, 
 and forming a small oasis of verdure in what would otherwise be 
 a very bare and arid space. The most beautiful weeping-tree I 
 have ever seen is here, a large specimen of Gleditschia Bojoti, the 
 leaves divided like a delicate Fern, and the tree giving a shade as 
 light as the Cloud-grass. It does not weep formally and regularly 
 like some other trees, but in an irregular and picturesque manner, 
 while it is free in growth and large in stature. There is a 
 graceful way of training Climbing-roses over old stumps and old 
 trees, which here leads to some very pretty effects. 
 
260 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cn.w. XVI. 
 
 The great gardens of the Eothschilds and like places, however, 
 must not be taken as representative of the chateau-gardens gene- 
 rally, in which not so much attention is bestowed on the gardens 
 as in England, Circumstances have placed gardening for pleasure 
 and planting in a more advanced condition in our country than in 
 any other. We have got further away from the ideas that led to 
 lopping trees into the forms of cofiee-pots than any other people. 
 We have much to do and much to abolish yet. But our privilege 
 of leading the van in this way should incite us to greater exertion 
 still in the cause of progress ; to make the garden more and more 
 a conservatory of beautiful natural objects ; to abolish unmeaning 
 line-gyrations and formality, so that our garden-galleries may be 
 fitted for the reception of the living, changing pictures we may 
 have in them. 
 
 A garden horror; the mirror-globe. 
 
( 2G1 ) 
 
 CHAPTEPt XYII. 
 
 The school of horticulture at Versailles. 
 
 The once royal and imperial kitchen-garden at Versailles is 
 at last turned into a school of gardening. It is the most suitable 
 spot that could have been obtained about Paris for the purpose. 
 The scheme seems to have been carefully considered, and in all 
 ways deserves success. On visiting some of the suburbs round 
 Paris, places which only a few years ago, immediately after the 
 war, were scenes of what seemed irrepar.able desolation, we 
 strangers may well be surprised at tlio great change that has 
 taken place for the better ; not only are traces of the destruction 
 Avrought by the war unseen, but the gardens and fields look 
 better cultivated than they were before. This result is largely 
 owing to the skill in market-garden-culture and fruit-growing 
 common about Paris and taught in such places as this. It is 
 gratifying to see such minute attention bestowed on the new 
 school of gardening at Versailles, though the burdens of the 
 country prevent its being liberally endowed. This and similar 
 institutions cannot fail to further improve the horticulture and 
 add to the real wealth of the land. 
 
 The fruit- and forcing-gardens at Versailles form a large 
 establishment, not so costly nor nearly so fine as those at Frog- 
 more, but containing much that is instructive to the visitor. 
 Generally the crops do not display the high cultivation nor the 
 surface the rapid rotation to be seen in the market-gardens round 
 Paris, but in the culture of hardy fruits there is something to 
 learn. It is a forcing-, culinary, and fruit-garden mainly. 
 
 The hardy fruit-growing department is undergoing a gradual 
 and complete alteration, especially as regards the choicer Pears 
 
 T 
 
262 
 
 PARKS AND (iAKDENS OF PAPJS. [CitAP. XVll. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 =1 
 
 if* 
 
 trained as espaliers. So satisfactory is the system adopted, that 
 if English cultivators generally could get an idea of its excellence 
 it would lead to a revolution in our fruit-culture, and a great 
 improvement in the appearance of our gardens. 
 
 There is no way wherehy we may so highly improve the garden- 
 culture of the Pear as by 
 paying more attention to it as 
 an espalier-tree. It is well 
 known that some Pears suf- 
 fer in quality by being grown 
 against walls. It is equally 
 certain that a fuller degree 
 of sun and exposure than the 
 shoots and fruit get on a 
 pyramidal tree is very de- 
 sirable in many parts of 
 this country, especially for 
 particular kinds. Many sorts 
 grow beautifully as pyra- 
 mids; others, to be had in 
 perfection, must be grown 
 upon walls; but by means 
 of the improved espalier 
 system the majority of the 
 finer kinds may be grown to 
 the highest degree of excel- 
 lence. The French can cer- 
 tainly give us a lesson we 
 may well profit by, as to 
 the improved appearance, 
 cheapness, and utility of 
 the espalier mode of grow- 
 ing fruit, especially as regards 
 the finer varieties of Pears. 
 Nothing can be uglier or 
 more inefficient than the usual mode of training espaliers in 
 our gardens. It is generally so costly and disagreeable to the 
 eye that in many gardens it has been done away with for 
 these reasons alone. In many instances the espalier-supports are 
 
 IVafl Pear-tree with 7iertical hranckes ; ten years 
 planted. 
 
CiiAP. XYII.] THE SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE AT VERSAILLES. 203 
 
 the most unworkmanlike things to be seen, consisting as they 
 do of rough uprights of wood, which soon rot and wabble out of 
 position ; thick and costly bolt-like wire, making the whole a 
 cumbrous and expensive construction. The form of tree used, too, 
 
 PROFIT AND ORNAMENT ON SURFACES USUALLY BARE. 
 
 Outhouse ctniered uith Plum-trees nt Versailles. Photographed by Jules Lemercier in 
 Af-rit 1877 ; drawn and engraved exactly after the photograph. 
 
 is such that the lower branches become impoverished, and often 
 nearly useless. 
 
 To support his espalier fruit-trees M. Hardy, tlie lioad of the 
 School of Horticulture, has largely adopted a system which is at 
 
 T 2 
 
264 
 
 TIIK I'ATJKS AND GAKDENS OF I'AlilS. [Cuw. XYII. 
 
 once cheap, neat, and almost everlasting. Instead of employing 
 ngly and perishable wooden supports he erects uprights of T-iron, 
 and connects these with slender galvanised wire. These are 
 tightened with raidisseurs, without difficulty. He erects this 
 trellising nine feet high for less than a shilling a yard run ; 
 but it could not be done so cheaply in small quantities. Then, 
 instead of adopting the common form of espalier-tree, with 
 
 TRELLIS FOR PEAR-TREES 
 
 TEN FEET HIGH. 
 
 Uprights and stays of T-iron; horizontal lines, slender galvanised wire ; ver- 
 tical lines, fiinc-mood rods half an inch square and painted green : to these 
 the ascending branches are trained. 
 
 horizontal branches, he more frequently plants trees of which the 
 branches ascend directly towards the top of the trellis. The 
 accompanying figures will give a better idea of both trellis and 
 tree than any description. There is no more important matter 
 connected with our fruit-culture than this. Those who give their 
 attention to this system will be led to adopt it, and will much 
 improve their fruit-culture. The finest stores of Pears to be seen 
 anywhere are to be found in those French gardens in which a good 
 
Chap. XVIL] THE SCHOOL OF HOUTICULTUKE AT VERSAILLES. 265 
 
 length of tree has been trained in this manner. In lew places in 
 France is the espalier system so extensively and so well carried 
 out as here. The form here represented is much better than the 
 cordon or single-branched Pear-tree, because a more free and 
 natural development is allowed to the tree: at the same time the 
 
 I'inf of />orlion of sqiinrr dn<ot,-d to doiibU' espaliers of Tear-trei-i at Versailles. 
 
 trellis is covered quickly, and a considerable variety of fruit may 
 be obtained from a small space. It is very extensively adopted 
 by M. Hardy, upon walls as well as on the neat trellis, of Avhich 
 he has constructed so much. Of course the Palmetto Verrier, the 
 fan, or any other form may be trained on these trellises, but 
 decidedly the best of them are such as combine the advantages of 
 
266 
 
 THE TAKKS AND GARDENS OF PAWS. [Cuap. XVII. 
 
 quickness of growth and early productiveness claimed for the 
 cordon, with the fuller development and natural appearance of the 
 larger forms. It should be borne in mind that planting erect 
 cordons close together, as they must be planted, involves an 
 amount of expense which is avoided by using trees which have 
 been allowed to attain a more natural growth. It takes a good 
 
 DOUBLE TRELLIS FOR PEAR-TREES : TEN FEET HIGH. 
 
 Uprights and stays of T-iroti ; horizontal lines, slender galvanised ■wire ; ver- 
 tical lines, pine-wood rods, half an inch square and painted green : to these 
 the ascending branches are trained. 
 
 many years to form the large style of tree usually adopted ; the 
 general planting of tliese intermediate forms is therefore to be 
 preferred. 
 
 Nothing can be neater in the kitchen- and fruit-garden than 
 lino« such as these trained on the trellis alluded to. There is no 
 shaking of rough irons or w^ooden beams, no falling down or 
 
Chap. XVII.] THE SCHOOL OF HOllTlCULTUKE AT VERSAILLES. 2G7 
 loosening of the wires ; the fruit is firmly attached and safe from 
 
 gales, the wood is fully ex] 
 
 well covered 
 
 form.s an elegant dividing line in a garden. The best way to 
 
268 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 place them is at from three to six feet from the eclj^e of the walk, 
 and if in the space between the espalier and the walk a line of the 
 cordons elsewhere recommended be established, the effect and 
 result will prove very good indeed. In some cases where large 
 quantities of fruit are required, it may be considered desirable to 
 place them across a square some fifteen or eighteen feet apart. 
 The principle is very simple, the proof of which is that the 
 trellises at Versailles were erected by the garden workmen. 
 M. Hardy, the superintendent at Versailles, is the son of the 
 celebrated writer on fruit-trees of that name, and has had much 
 experience in fruit growing. "These trellises," says he, "are the 
 cheapest as well as the most ornamental that we have yet succeeded 
 in making, and the trees which I plant against them are of the 
 form that I prefer to all others, for promptly furnishing walls and 
 trellises, and for yielding a great number of varieties in a com- 
 paratively restricted space." The mode of employing the uprights 
 of pine-wood painted green and reaching from the top of the 
 trellis to within six inches of the ground is not a common 
 one, though very desirable where the erect method of train- 
 ing the shoots is practised. Of course any other forms may 
 be used with this system of trellising, with slight modifications 
 to suit different kinds or forms of trees. The double trellis 
 shown is simply a modification of the single one, and is not 
 only desirable where space is limited, but also for its economy, 
 for one set of uprights supports the two sets of wires by using 
 cross pieces of iron about eighteen inches long, and at the 
 desired distance apart. However, the engraving shows this 
 at a glance. 
 
 The Pear is found to succeed badly here as a low cordon, and 
 to plant it as an oblique cordon at fifteen or eighteen inches apart 
 is considered much too close. A white wall fourteen feet high 
 covered with Easter Beurre Pears shows an excellent example of 
 the best method of growing this Pear. The trees are mostly on 
 the Quince stock and a few on the Pear, but all bear equally well. 
 They are all trained in the five-branched form usually adopted 
 here, and almost cover the tall white wall. The growers here 
 insist on the necessity of having white walls for fruit-trees, and 
 state that dark ones injure both fruit and leaves, while white ones 
 benefit both. White walls, apparently well lime-washed every 
 
CiiAP. XVIL] THE SCHOOL OF HOllTICULTURE AT VERSAILLES. 269 
 
 year, are to Le found iu every good establishment, whether for 
 Peach, Grape, or other wall-fruit culture. The Easter Beurre may 
 be seen here double-worked on the Cure. The Cure is first grafted 
 on the Quince and allowed to form five vertical branches ^.,,i 
 before it is budded. The Easter Beurre is found to do 
 best when double-grafted, though the trees ^„«" 
 directly on the Quince and Pear seem to do 
 well. The bare parts of the stems of 
 Iruit-trees in this garden are iu 
 many cases protected from 
 injury frcm a strong 
 sun by being -: 
 neatly co- 
 vered 
 
 WALL OF PEACH-TREES 
 
 Engraved from a photograph taken in Apru i 877 'j J:i,',s LcuirrJ. > . sk^wmj^ :!ij tic-.s -ehcu in 
 flo^ver and he/ore the young shoots begin to cover the surface between tite erect branches. 'J he trees 
 are protected from frost during the flowering season by straw mats temporarily fixed on the top 
 of the wall. Tliese trees, having x'ertical slwots, are quickly and easily formed. Tlu ivall is 
 perfectly co^'ered with tlie trees as shenvn in the engraving, in which no alteration from the 
 photograph wlutiever his been tuade. — 'J'/tese Peach-trees are trained in tlu Uform with x>ertical 
 branches, and arc about seventeen years old. The sorts are the Crosse Mignonne, Madeleine 
 Rouge de Conrtpy, Belle Bcausse. The wall is about thirteen feet high, and faces the 7vest. The 
 trees took only sir years to cover tlu wall. Each tree produced from 150 to 10a Peaches wlun in 
 full bearing, hut after this figure had been reaclud the yield was reduced to 150, or even 120, tlu 
 fruit becoming better in ijuality as they bciame less numerous. 
 
270 TIIK 1\\1;KS AXI^ CJAltDEXS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVIT. 
 
 with straif^ht straw, tied with willow twigs. Neatly clone, 
 it seems better than the commoner plan of placing slates 
 or boards before them. Brackets to support straw mats in 
 spring are placed on every wall at a little more than a yard 
 apart. 
 
 There are a great many old and worn-out trees in the garden 
 which have a bad effect on its appearance here and there, but 
 many promising improvements are being carried out as far as 
 the funds afforded to the school will allow. The Pear makes 
 as strong a growth here as in Britain, though some of our growers 
 say that a more fruitful kind of wood is formed in the fine climate 
 of France. 
 
 For some years past M. Hardy has carried out a novel system 
 of protecting espalier-trees. The plan is simply to strain lines 
 
 . of galvanised wire above the top of the 
 
 _ ':'- .^ ^ espalier, so as to form a low-span roof when 
 
 covered with rough canvas. The sides 
 are not covered, but the protection at the 
 top is sufficient to prevent radiation, and 
 Side view o/prottxtiou to to tlirow off heavy rains when the trees are 
 
 double line of Espaliers. • i i Ti> j^i • ii • , 
 
 in bloom. It there is a wail running at 
 right angles with the lines of espaliers, wires are stretched from 
 it so as to form a light support over each espalier ; if not, a post 
 is driven in so as to support and stretch the wire in the firmest 
 way. The lower of these two lines may be supposed 
 
 to represent the top of the espalier, the upper a line firmly 
 supported at a few inches above it. Wires are also stretched 
 at each side of this, at about twenty inches from it, so as to form 
 the outline of a very low-span roof. It is a matter of little 
 difficulty to stretch canvas over these wires, letting it be an 
 inch or two narrower than the breadth between the outer wires, 
 so that it may be strained tight. The outer margins must 
 of course be firmly threaded to the outer wires with twine or 
 any convenient tying or rough sewing material. Here they 
 simply use the stems of the glaucous or hard Bush (Juucus 
 glaucus), which grows wild all over Britain, and find it answer 
 admirably. A neat ridge is thus arranged over each line of 
 espaliers, Avhich throws oil' the rain and prevents radiation, 
 thereby saving the bloom from frost iind insuring a croj). The 
 
Chap. XVII.] THE SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE AT VERSxVILLES. 271 
 
 protection is put up before the buds are liable to be injured, 
 and removed when the fruit is set and all danger has passed 
 away. Thus a very cheap and effective protection is secured. 
 The kinds of Pears mostly grown here are Easter Beurre, by 
 which several walls are covered; Duchesse d'Angouleme, of 
 which there is a square of trellising nearly 600 yards long in 
 all, and about nine feet high; Beurre Diel ; and Louise Bonne 
 d'Avranches. 
 
 The Peach is well grown and trained in some parts of the garden, 
 a form with five main branches being adopted with success. It is 
 analogous to the form used for the Pear in the same garden, and is 
 very readily made. It would be difficult to see walls more beauti- 
 fully covered with trees than a considerable portion of the peach- 
 walls here. The tree is ^ 
 here almost invariably 
 trained in a vertical 
 manner, and as usual pro- 
 tected in spring with deep 
 copings. I have to thank 
 Mr. Hardy for permis- 
 sion to have some of the 
 Peach and other trees 
 photographed, and for 
 other kindly help. 
 
 In addition to the 
 trellises above described, 
 the most remarkable fea- 
 ture of this garden is the presence of a vast number of horizontal 
 cordon Apple-trees, both in single and superimposed lines of two 
 or three stages, all on galvanised wire. The trees are on the 
 Paradise stock, and nearly always confined to a single stem. These 
 trees sometimes bear enormous crops, but the fine Apples are 
 often destroyed by tlie grub. One border devoted to cordons is 
 about one thousand feet long, and altogether there are over four 
 thousand yards of cordon-trained Apple-trees in the garden. As 
 the greater portion of this length is composed of two and three 
 lines of wires placed at distances of a foot one above the other, 
 there are really more than five miles of horizontal cordon Apple- 
 trees on the true Paradise stock, and it should be observed that 
 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 rrK"3in:^<:rx 
 
 Border of suf'crimposed Cordons at Vcrsaillc. 
 
272 THE PAKKS AND GAKDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XYII. 
 
 though the cordons are often grown in lines one above tlie other, 
 one plant does not furnish more than one line except at the ends. 
 There, however, it is necessary to take several branches from one 
 plant to furnish the two or three lines of wire starting from the 
 same post. Here, as in many other gardens superintended by 
 experienced fruit-growers, this mode of Apple-growing is preferred 
 to any other, but the enormous number planted best speaks of the 
 estimation in which it is held. The cordons, though generally 
 well managed, are not quite so good as may be seen elsewhere, 
 owing apparently to being too closely confined to the main stem. 
 They are best and most satisfactory when allowed to form a free 
 and regular bush of spurs along the stem. It is a soil as cold, 
 stifi", and disagreeable for fruit-culture as could well be devoted to 
 that purpose. 
 
 The programme of this school has been published, and reads as 
 follows : — 
 
 The School of Horticulture, established in the Pioyal Kitchen Garden of Versailles, 
 is placed under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Only 
 out-pupils are admitted; the instruction given is entirely gratuitous; and the 
 course of study continues for three years. 
 
 Conditions of Admission. — The candidates must not be less than seventeen, or 
 more than twenty-seven, years old at the time of entrance. Ai)plications for 
 admission, drawn up on stamped paper, should be addressed to the Minister of 
 Agriculture and Commerce, so that he may receive them by the 20th of September 
 at the latest. Ko notice will be taken of any application sent in ;ifter that date. 
 Each application must be accompanied by (1) a certificate of the candidate's birth, 
 if a native of France ; (2) a certificate of good character, signed by the local 
 authorities ; (3) a medical ceitificate, to the eflect that the candidate is suflicieutly 
 strong and healthy to undertake the occupation of a gardener. On receipt of these 
 documents, which should be legally drawn up, the Minister, if everything is 
 satisfactory, will authorise the candidate to present himself for an examination, of 
 which he will send him due notice. 
 
 Entrance Examination. — Every candidate must undergo an entrance ex- 
 amination in the following elementary subjects : (1) Reading ; (2) writing and 
 spelling (from dictation) ; (3) numeration, and the first four rules of arithmetic. 
 Credit will be given to the candidates for any technical knowledge which they 
 may possess. This examination will be held in the school on the 1st of October, 
 which is the date fixed for the commencement of the academical year and the 
 entrance of pupils. Every candidate who shall pass this examination in a satis- 
 factory manner is at once placed on tlic list of pupils, and has thenceforth right 
 of entrance into the school. 
 
 Course of Instruction. — The main object of the course of instruction pursued 
 in the School of Horticulture at Versailles is to train up skilled and intelligent 
 
Chap. XVIL] THE SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE AT VERSAILLES. 273 
 
 gardeners, possessing all the theoretical and practical knowledge that is necessary 
 in horticultural operations. It embraces the following subjects : (1) The cultiva- 
 tion of fruit-trees in the open air and under glass ; pomology ; (2) the cultivation 
 of forest and ornamental trees, comprising nursery work in general ; (3) the cultiva- 
 tion of vegetables in the open air, and by forcing ; (4) the cultivation of flowering 
 plants, in the open air and under glass ; (a) elementary and des^criptive botany ; 
 (11) the principles of landscape-gardening and garden architecture ; (7) elementary 
 instruction in physics, meteorology, chemistry, geology, and mineralogy, as applied 
 to horticulture ; (8) the elements of zoology and entomology, in their relation to 
 horticulture and arboriculture ; (9) arithmetic and geometry, applied to gardening 
 purposes, such as the measuring of surfaces, finding cubic contents, laying down 
 plans to sc;Ue, etc. ; (10) line drawing, and sketching plants and implements ; 
 (11) lessons in the French language and book-keeping. Tl:e i>ractical instruction 
 is suj)plied in a systematic course of manual labour, which embraces every opera- 
 tion of gardening. The time is so divided between these two branches of in- 
 struction that all tlic jtupils will take part in the work of the garden every day, 
 and thereby acquire the knowledge and manual dexterity which are so indis- 
 liensable. In addition to the instruction imparted in the school, the pupils will 
 be taken from time to time to visit the principal horticultural establishments, in 
 order to familiarise them with the best examples of practical horticulture and 
 arboriculture. 
 
 Examinations at the end of the year and on leaving the School. — At the end of 
 every academical year a general examination will take place for the purpose of 
 classifying the pupils. Those who fail to pass through this examination into a 
 higher division, will cease to be members of the School. Those pupils who pass 
 a satisfactory examination on leaving the school will receive, on the recommenda- 
 tion of the examiners, a certificate of merit from the Minister of Agriculture and 
 Commerce, ^Moreover, those pupils who distinguish themselves most at the final 
 examination may (if their acquirements and fitness in other respects point them 
 out as deserving of the favour) receive an appointment, for one year's practice, in 
 one of the leading French or foreign horticultural establishments. An allowance 
 of 1200 francs (£48) is attached to each of these appointments, the number of 
 which is not to exceed three every year. It must be understood, however, that 
 these appointments cannot be claimed as a right by those pupils who come out 
 among the first at the final examination. A nomination to one of them will 
 depend on whether the examiners have formed a judgment of the pupil, in the 
 course of the examination, as to whether he is a person likely to make a good use 
 of this complementary means of improvement; jjreference being given to those 
 pupils who manifest a desire for further knowledge, and an earnest devotion to 
 their profession. 
 
 Bursaries. — Bursaries, six in number, and each of the value of 600 francs (£24), 
 will be annually given to those pupils whose names stand first on the entrance- 
 list, to help to defray their expenses while they remain at Versailles. Holders of 
 these bursaries will receive them in monthly payments of 50 francs (£2). The 
 institution will also receive pupils sent from the departments, towns, and 
 agricultural or horticultural associations, whose expenses are defrayed by the 
 
274 THE PAEKS AND GARDEXS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 department, town, or association to which they belong. All the pupils, whether 
 holders of bursaries or not, go through the same course of study, practical work, 
 and examinations, and are amenable to the same internal regulations. In the 
 school, all the pupils stand on the same footing, and are subject to the same 
 rules. 
 
 Discipline. — Special rules arc framed for regulating the hours of attendance in 
 the school, the employment of time, the course of out-door operations, and the 
 maintenance of order in the establishment. To each rule is appended the penalty 
 incurred by its infringement. Every year the course of theoretical instruction 
 is suspended for two months (from August 1 to October 1). During this time, 
 leave of absence may be granted to those pupils who ask for it; but the director 
 has the power of limiting the periods of absence, or refusing them altogether, in 
 order to enable him to have always a su flic lent number of hands to keep the 
 gardens in order, or to carry out any works of importance or urgency. Any pupil 
 who does not return at the expiration of his leave of absence is looked upon as 
 having left the school ; his name is erased from the roll, and cannot be replaced 
 without the sanction of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. 
 
 The School of Fruit-culture of the City of Paris in the Bois de 
 Vincennes. 
 
 Before the war it was clctermincd to found a school of fruit- 
 culture for Paris, and in the spring of 1868 the first trees were 
 planted. In arrangement it is almost identical with the plan 
 given in this chapter and recommended by M. Du Breuil 
 for the north of France. It is situated near the Avenue 
 Daumesnil entrance to the Bois de Vincennes. The first thing 
 remarkable about the new garden is its walls ; they are of felt, 
 supported on a rough wooden framework. The felt is first nailed 
 on frames of wood about six feet long by four feet wide, which 
 are dropped into a groove made in the uprights, the stronger 
 framework resting upon a few inches of masonry : the felt is 
 whitened over, and the whole surmounted by a little ridge-like 
 coping. This peculiar form of wall was erected in consequence of 
 the objection of the authorities to have any walls of solid materials 
 in the neighbourhood, which is near the fort : but it has helped to 
 prove that in cold northern countries we may hope to grow good 
 fruit by means of something less expensive than brick walla. 
 These walls are about nine feet high, except at the north end, 
 where they are more than twelve feet. 
 
 The garden is in two divisions, one to illustrate the practical 
 
Chap. XVIT.] THE PARIS SCHOOL OF FRUIT- CULTURE. 275 
 
 I ' 
 
 
 ,; 
 
 ^ .J.. 1 
 
 ^' 1 
 
 t ' 
 
 
 ,. 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 
 D 
 
 
 il ia^ 
 
 
 - -^ 
 
 -" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 1) 
 
 i) 
 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 - 
 
 
 'i' 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 ' ' - 
 
 /Vrt« <yrt Fruit-sarden for tlu north of France (Du BreuU). 
 
 B, cistern. C, double espalier for Apricots. D, -.vest side of walls planted with oblique 
 cordon Pear-trees, i6 inches apart. E, Gooseberries. F, east side of wall, planted with Peach- 
 trees as simple cordons i6 inches apart. G, Cherries as obli,/ue cordons, i6 inches apart. H, 
 Plum-trees, trained in like manner. I, hedge. J, summer Pears, as vertical cordons on 
 espalier. JC, Raspberries, cultivated at the foot of the -n'oll. M , wall of Vines. Tlu borders 
 are surrcumied by a cordon of Apples, planted t feet apart, and la inches within the margin of 
 the border. The black lines sho7v the walls, and X and O wires stretched from the walls to 
 support the espalier. 
 
270 TITE TATiKS AND GARDENS OF PATIIR. [Chap. XYIT. 
 
 and i^rofitaLle culture of fruit for market, the other all the 
 important modes ot fruit-culture, the various curious and useful 
 forms of wall and st;.ndard trees, and most things necessary to 
 know concerning the subject. The part devoted to the modes of 
 culture best calculated to afford a quick and certain return is 
 planted almost entirely with the finest of all winter Pears, the 
 Easter Beurre, and that well-known Apple the Calville Blanc. The 
 Pears are all cordons, either planted against walls or espaliers, 
 and the Apples are all the low horizontal cordon. Only the best 
 fruits are cultivated. Most of the cordons against the walls are 
 oblique (thus, / / / / ^-t except on the highest wall, where they 
 are vertical. The Professor's reason for adopting these forms is 
 thai: the walls are more readily covered by it, and a much quicker 
 return obtained ; and he thinks these advantages outweigh the 
 expense of planting so closely, or any other objection that may be 
 urged against the system. Between three and four thousand 
 trees of Easter Beurre, and the same number of Calville Blanc, 
 are planted in this small garden. 
 
 One thing cannot fail to strike any visitor taking an interest 
 in fruit-growing — the precautions taken to protect the trees from 
 wet and frost. All round the walls iron brackets project from 
 immediately beneath the permanent wooden coping, to receive 
 wide copings made of felt nailed on a high wooden framework, in 
 lengths of about six feet and two feet wide. These are slipped in 
 under the short permanent coping, and rest on the bracket, the 
 hooked point of which holds them in position. The protection for 
 the espaliers is supported by iron rods projecting from the top of 
 the pine posts that arc used to support the double espaliers. On 
 these are fixed thin frames of straw, each at least a yard wide. 
 They are firmly fixed down to the wires, so that in spring the 
 trees are placed under what may be called a neatly thatched shed. 
 No doubt some other material would look better than the straw, 
 but when nailed firmly between laths it does not look untidy ; and, 
 moreover, it is the object of the school to show the cheapest as 
 well as the best way of applying the protections most commonly 
 in use. The use of neat straw mats for protecting walls is very 
 common in France. Posts of pine-wood five or six inches in 
 diameter are employed to support the espaliers, because they are 
 easy to procure ; and, to secure their durability, they are 
 
Chap. XYIL] THE PARIS SCHOOL OF FRUIT-CULTURE. 
 
 277 
 
 thoroughly saturated with blue vitriol before being used. This is 
 a cumbrous and bad plan, the kind of fruit-t jllises employed at 
 Versailles being neater, more durable, and ir every way superior. 
 
 Double Espalier with a row of Cordons on each side, shnving mode of protecting the whole in spring 
 {Du Brenil',. A, wooden support. B, B, supports for protection. F, F, wide temporary copings 
 of neat straw mats, luld by iron brackets. //, //, galvanised wires fixed at E, E, descending 
 at internals and fixed in tlte iron posts, L, L, and to stones in the ground. G. one of the Hues 
 running atross tlie espaliers from the walls of the garden. 
 
 In the garden devoted to teaching purposes only, all the lines 
 which the branches of the wall trees are to occupy when fully 
 formed are indicated by small rattan canes — accurately placed, so 
 
 u 
 
278 
 
 'J'lTK PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 [CiiAP. XYII. 
 
 that as the tree grows the trainer has merely to attach it to the 
 rods. Useless as well as desirahle Ibruis of training are shown ; 
 for instance, trees formed like a goblet, with the branches crossed 
 
 FRUIT-TREE IN THE VASE FORM. 
 
 One of tunny forms more curious than useful. A, stake. B, B, crossed sticks to sustain hoop in 
 position. To form a handsome tree of this kind, eighteen or t^venty branclws are required. 
 
 or ascending vertically. These are all useless for practical pur- 
 poses, though they may serve to amuse an amateur ; who, however, 
 would do better to amuse himself with forms more simple and 
 productive. The way of making a hedge of Pears is also shown — 
 
Chap. XVII.] THE PARIS SCHOOL OF FRUIT-CULTURE. 
 
 270 
 
 a hedge that when once made, and with its branches crossed and 
 intertwined, will support itself — and without doubt neat and 
 productive screens of fruit-trees may thus be made in any garden, 
 and the trees kept quite as neatly as if supported by expensive 
 trellising. Altogether the place will prove an instructive one, 
 though the School at Versailles will be found by visitors to be 
 more interesting so far as trained trees are concerned. A model 
 vineyard and a promising young orchard have been planted in the 
 Vincennes School of Horticulture, in which, as in the fruit-gardens 
 u professor gives free lectures to large classes. 
 
 Hedge 0/ Pear trees {lutl/jo 
 
280 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV II I. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Cordon System of Fruit-Growing. 
 
 A COEDON means a tree confined to a single stem, tliat stem being 
 furnished with spurs, or sometimes with little fruiting branches 
 nailed in, as in the case of the Peach when trained to one stem. 
 Some have supposed that it means any form of branch closely 
 spurred in ; but this is not the case. The term is wrongly applied 
 to any form of tree but the small and simple-stemmed ones. The 
 French have no more need of the word to express a tree trained 
 on the spur system than we have, and they have trained trees on 
 the spur system for ages without ever calling them by this name. 
 
 The Apple trained as a Simple Horizontal Cordon, grafted on the French Paradise Stock. 
 
 Professor Du Breuil, in reply to a letter requesting him to define 
 the exact use and meaning of the term, replied as follows : " The 
 word cordon is derived in French from corde. I employed this 
 expression to designate the forms of fruit-trees composed of one 
 branch, which only bears fruit-buds and branchlets." 
 
 He states that, struck with the long period it took to cover 
 a wall by means of the larger forms of trees, he adopted those 
 quick-rising simple-stemmed kinds to cover the walls rapidly and 
 give a quick return. Hence it is clear that if we call a fan- 
 trained or a horizontal tree a " cordon," we not only misapply the 
 
Chap. XVIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 281 
 
 term, but prevent the inventor's simple idea from being under- 
 stood. However, the figures in this chapter i , _ 
 will give a correct idea of what the cordon | 
 system is. | 
 
 A simple galvanised wire is attached to a 
 strong oak post or rod of iron, so firmly fixed 
 that the strain of the wire may not disturb 
 it. The wire is usually supported at a distance 
 of one foot from the ground, and tightened 
 by a raidisseur, a handy little implement de- 
 scribed elsewhere in this volume. A raidisseur 
 will tighten several hundred feet of the wire, 
 which need not be thicker than strong twine, 
 and of the same sort as that recommended 
 for walls and espaliers. The galvanised wire 
 known as No. 14 is the most suitable for general 
 use. At intervals a support of wood or iron 
 with an eye in it is placed under the wire on -^r 
 which the tree is trained; thus forming the 
 simplest and best kind of cordon, and the one 
 so extensively employed for making edgings 
 around the squares in fruit- gardens. 
 
 By selecting good kinds and training them 
 in this way abundance of the finest fruit may 
 be grown without having any of the large trees 
 or those of any other form in the garden to 
 shade or occupy its surface. The bilateral 
 cordon is useful for the same purposes as the 
 simple one, and especially adapted to the bottoms 
 of walls, bare spaces between the fruit-trees, 
 the fronts of pits, or any low bare wall with a 
 warm exposure. As in many cases the lower 
 parts of walls in gardens are quite bare, this 
 form of cordon offers an opportunity for cover- 
 ing them with what will yield a certain and 
 valuable return. It is by this method that 
 the finest-coloured, largest, and best French 
 apples sold in Covent Garden and in the Paris 
 fruit-shops at such high prices are grown. In Covent Garden 
 
282 TIIK PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 and in Regent Street they are sometimes marked two and three 
 shillings each, and in St. Petershurg they are sold in winter for 
 as much as six shillings each. Considering the great number 
 of walled gardens there are in this country, there can be no 
 doubt whatever that by merely covering, by means of this plan, 
 the lower parts of walls now entirely useless, we could easily 
 supply our markets with the very choice fruit referred to, and 
 be independent of other countries in this respect. 
 
 ]\[any will suppose that 
 ,■ ., ^, such very fine fruit must 
 //'y// / / . ' '.^£_J require a warmer country 
 
 than ours for their produc- 
 tion. But by treating them 
 as the French do we may 
 _^^. -^_.-^.. produce quite as good a 
 
 ^mj^ >r*U- - result, and may, in addi- 
 
 '^^^: "_" " tion, grow tender but fine 
 
 Cordon Tree on low it 'aU oj rUint-housc. In this way applcS, likc thc Calvillc 
 
 Calville Blanc, Reineite du Canada, Melon- AJ>ple, Ty\^j.f, fLof fin littlp crood 
 
 American-Mother,andthefiner and tenderer Api>les -Di'^nC, inai QO 111110 gOOtl 
 
 may be grown to perfection. whcU gl'OWU aS staildards. 
 
 The climate in most parts 
 of England will be found to suit them as well as that of France, 
 if not better, because the sun in some districts of France is 
 rather too strong for the perfect development of the flesh and 
 flavour of the apple. There is no part of this country in which 
 the low cordon will not be found a useful addition to the garden 
 — that is, wherever first-rate dessert fruit is wanted. So great is 
 the demand in the markets for fruit of the highest quality that 
 sometimes the little trees more than pay for themselves the first 
 year after being planted. In any northern exposed and cold places 
 where choice apples do not ripen well it would be desirable to give 
 the trees as warm and sunny a position as possible, while the form 
 recommended for walls should be used extensively. In no case 
 should the system be tried except as a garden one — an improved 
 method of orcharding being what is wanted for kitchen fruit, and 
 for the supply of the markets. 
 
 When lines of well-grown cordons are completed the whole forms 
 a mass of bold spurs. Some keep them very closely pinched in 
 to the rod, but the best are allowed a rather free development of 
 
Chap. XVITI.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 
 
 283 
 
 spurs, care being taken that these are produced regularly and 
 thickly along the stem. 
 
 The cordon system as generally applied to the Apple is simply 
 bringing one good branch near the earth, where it receives more 
 heat, where it causes no injurious shade, and where it maybe pro- 
 tected with the greatest efficiency and the least amount of trouble. 
 
 It is an extension of the best principles of pruning— a wise 
 bending of the young tree to the conditions that best suit it in 
 our northern climate. The fact that by its means we bring all 
 the fruit and leaves to within ten inches or a foot of the ground, 
 thereby exposing them to an increase of heat, which compensates 
 to a great extent for a bad climate, will prove a strong argument 
 in favour of the plan. The form is so definite and simple that 
 anybody may attend to it, and direct the energies of the little trees 
 to a useful end, with much less trouble than is requisite to form 
 a presentable pyramid or bush. It does not, like other forms. 
 
 Young Cordon Tree of tlu Lady Apple trained as an Edging. 
 
 shade anything; and beneath the very line of cordons a slight 
 crop may be grown. They are less trouble to support than either 
 pyramid or bush ; always under the eye for thinning, stopping, 
 and pruning; easy of protection, if that be desired; and very 
 cheap in the first instance. 
 
 A few words are necessary as to the best method of planting 
 and managing the Apple trained and planted around the quarters 
 or borders. In a garden in which much neatness is desirable it 
 would be better to plant them within whatever edging may be 
 used for the walks ; but in the rough kitchen- or fruit-garden they 
 may be used as edgings. The reason for supporting the cordon 
 at the height of a foot from the surface is to prevent the fruit 
 getting soiled by earthy splashings. In gardens where it would 
 not be suitable as an edging, the best way would be to plant 
 it ten inches within the Box or whatever kind of edging was 
 employed. In planting, the union of stock and scion must be kept 
 
284 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF TAEIS. [Chap. XYIIL 
 
 just above the surface of the p^round, to prevent the Apple grafted 
 on the Paradise from throwing out its own roots and consequently 
 becoming useless for such a mode of training. The trees should 
 never be fixed down to wire or wall immediately after being planted, 
 but allowed to remain erect during their first winter and until 
 the sap is moving in them, when they may be tied down. Some 
 allow them to grow erect for a whole year before tying them down. 
 They should in all cases be allowed to settle well into the ground 
 before being tied to anything. For general plantings, the best 
 kind of plants to get are those known as " maidens," ^.e., erect 
 growing trees about a year from the graft. These can be readily 
 trained down to the wire, or to the wall, in spring. In training 
 the young tree, the point with its growing shoot of the current 
 year should always be allowed to grow, so that the sap will flow 
 equably through the plant, drawn on by the rising shoot at its 
 end. To allow gross shoots to rise at any other parts of the tree 
 is to spoil all prospect of success. If the tree does not break 
 regularly into buds, it must be forced to do so by making incisions 
 before dormant eyes. 
 
 A chief point is not to pinch too closely or too soon. The first 
 stopping of the year is the most important one, and the first 
 shoots should not be pinched in too young, but when the wood 
 is a little firm, so that the lower eyes at the bases of the leaves 
 may not break soon after the operation. Stopping should be 
 done at six leaves, as the object is not to have a mere stick for the 
 cordon, but a dense bushy array of fruit-spurs quite a foot or 
 more in diameter when the leaves are on in summer. All the 
 after-pinching of the year may be shorter, and as the object is to 
 regularly furnish the line, the observant trainer will vary his 
 tactics to secure that end — in one place he will have to repress 
 vigour, in another to encourage it. About three general stoppings 
 during the summer will suffice, but at all times when a strong 
 " water shoot " shows itself well above the mass of fruitful ones, 
 it should be pinched in, though not too closely. In some of our 
 nurseries may be seen " cordons " with every shoot allowed to 
 rise up like a willow wand — utterly neglected and on the wrong 
 stock. 
 
 As the Paradise keeps its roots quite near the surface of the 
 ground, spreading an inch or two of half decomposed manure over 
 
Chap. XVIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 285 
 
 the ground, or in gardening language " mulching," could not fail 
 to be beneficial. This is the more necessary on warm or dry soils, 
 in which the Paradise stock is least vigorous. 
 
 The cordons are usually planted too close together in France. 
 When the trees overtake each other it is common to graft them 
 one to another — a very simple operation. If when all are united 
 they should grow too strong in rich ground, the stem of every 
 second plant may be cut oflf just beneath the wire and the trees 
 will be nourished by the others. When the line is well trained 
 and established the wire may be taken away altogether. If the 
 plantation be made on a slope, all the trees should be planted so 
 as to grow up the incline. 
 
 Finally, in winter, the trees will be the better for being looked 
 over with a view to 
 a little pruning here 
 and there ; taking 
 care to thin and 
 regulate the spurs 
 when the plantation 
 is tlioroughly esta- 
 blished, to cut in 
 useless stumps, and 
 to firmly tie the ._, ,_.^ „ , .„ ,^^, 
 
 •> rhc White Calville Apple. 
 
 shoots along the 
 
 wire but not too tightly so as to prevent their free expansion. 
 As the system is chiefly valuable for the production of fine 
 dessert fruit, only the best kinds should be selected ; but, as some 
 Apples are of high value both for kitchen and dessert, some of the 
 finer kitchen Apples are included in the following list of such as 
 will be found very suitable : Eeinette du Canada, Eeinette du 
 Canada Grise, Eeinette Grise, Eeinette de Caux, Eeinette d'Es- 
 pagne, Eeinette tres-tardive. Belle Dubois, Pomme d'Api, Mela 
 Carla, Calville St. Sauveur, Coe's Golden Drop, Calville Blanc, 
 Northern Spy, Melou -apple, Cox's Orange Pippin, Duke of 
 Devonshire, Kerry Pippin, Lodgemore Nonpareil, White Non- 
 pareil, American-Mother, Early Harvest, Lord Burleigh, Beauty 
 of Kent, Bedfordshire Foundling, Lord Sufiield, Cox's Pomona, 
 Hawthornden, Tower of Glamis, Winter Hawthornden, Betty 
 Geeson, Small's Admirable, and Braddick's Nonpareil. Some of 
 
280 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XYIII. 
 
 the best of the above are valuable keeping Apples. The Eeinette 
 Grise may be seen in fiue condition in the markets at lioiien in 
 June, and Eeinette tres-tardive is good in July. Those who 
 wish to plant good early Apples might try Borovitsky, and a few 
 of the best early kinds ; but it is better to devote most of the 
 horizontal cordons to the growth of the finer and later fruits. 
 Of the above selection the Calville Blanc, the Eeinette du Canada, 
 and Mela Carla must be grown on a warm wall ; the Mother, 
 Melon, and several of the other later and finer Apples will also be 
 grateful for the same protection. 
 
 Of the kinds of French Apples that may be had grafted on the 
 Paradise abundantly in nurseries all over France the following 
 are among the best : Calville Blanc, Eeinette du Canada, E. 
 d'Angleterre, E. Grise, E. de Caux, E. tres-tardive, E. de 
 
 Bretagne, E, d'Espagne, Belle Dubois, Belle Josephine, Calville 
 St. Sauveur. As a great number of trees is required for this 
 mode of planting ; as the Apple on the Paradise occupies but a 
 small space in nurseries compared to other trees ; and as it is 
 very likely that before long there will be a demand for this form 
 of tree, it is to be hoped that our nurserymen will offer suitable 
 kinds at a very low rate by the dozen, score, or hundred, as is 
 the case in France. Till this is done there can be no hope of 
 the perfect and general success of the system. 
 
 As to the culture of the Apple on the Paradise in its earliest 
 stage in nurseries, M. Jean Durand of Bourg-lu-Eeine, near Paris, 
 writes to me as follows : — 
 
 " If tlie Apple-tree is to be grown in the form of the horizontal 
 cordon, it must be grafted on the variety known to horticulturists 
 as the Paradise. This variety, which loves a fresh, damp, clayey 
 
Chap. XVIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 287 
 
 soil, cannot be grown from seed, but must be propagated by means 
 of layers or cuttings, which are obtained in the following 
 manner : Having chosen soil of the proper description, it must 
 be well dug and manured. Trenches, six inches deep and a yard 
 apart, are then opened, and the stocks, which have been prepared 
 previously, planted in them. They should be pruned down to 
 twelve or fourteen inches in height, and placed in the trenches 
 at a distance of fourj inches apart, and in such a way that about 
 six inches of the top appears above the ground. The trenches 
 are then filled in and the ground levelled. 
 
 " In the following spring, as soon as there is no longer any 
 danjrer from frost, the stocks are cut down level with the ground. 
 
 Edging of Simple Cordons three years old in Frtiit-garJen at Brunoy. 
 
 The object of this operation is to develop a number of shoots : 
 those are earthed up about June or July by covering them with 
 a small quantity of earth taken from the trench on each side of 
 the line of plants, so as to cover their bases to the depth of four 
 inches or so. 
 
 " In the following November these buds will have taken root ; 
 the plants from which they take their origin will give every year 
 a certaiii number of young plants, and will be alluded to in future 
 as old stools. 
 
 " Every year during the month of November the young plants 
 should be stripped from these old stools. It is necessary above 
 all during the first year to use a strong pair of pruuing-shears, 
 
288 
 
 'I'lIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 called a secateur, for taking tliem off in order not to injure tlie 
 stools; later on they may be simply broken off. Immediately 
 after this operation the stools should be covered over with earth. 
 They will afford young plants for a long time — from five to ten 
 years, according to the care taken of them — and the suckers thus 
 obtained will serve for grafting in the nursery. 
 
 " The ground which is to receive them should be well dug 
 and the trees then planted in lines two feet apart, or a little more. 
 They should be placed sixteen or twenty inches apart and three 
 or four inches deep. The operation of planting in beds requires 
 great care. The young plants should be well trimmed both at 
 top and bottom, so as to give the branches a uniform length of 
 
 sixteen inches, and the 
 ground hoed frequently 
 until the month of 
 August, with the double 
 object of destroying 
 weeds and keeping the 
 ground open. At this 
 period the young plants 
 are ready for budding, 
 each subject receiving a 
 bud at about four inches 
 above the surface of the 
 ground. Immediately 
 afterwards, particularly 
 in dry seasons, it will 
 be well to give the ground a good hoeing to help to keep it 
 moist. 
 
 " During the winter the plant should be cut down to within 
 three inches above the bud, and all the remaining shoots should 
 be stripped off. The following spring a number of small shoots 
 will make their appearance all over the pruned plant. When 
 they have reached a length of an inch or an inch and a half, tliey 
 should be pinched down to favour the growth of the graft, which 
 will have grown as large as the other buds. The bud which has 
 not been pinched will naturally soon exceed in size those which 
 have been. Fi'om this time it will attain sufficient strength to 
 absorb the sap, and it will bo necessary to remove all the other 
 
 Crafting by approach, to unite the points of Horizontal 
 Cordons. The apex of each cordon is cut at A, when 
 firmly united to its neighbour (^Du Breuil). 
 
Chap. XVIIl.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 289 
 
 shoots. This little pruning operation requires considerable 
 caution, and is performed by the aid of the knife. Care should 
 be taken not to confound the graft with the other shoots on the 
 plant. The stem of the stock above 
 the bud being thus deprived of its 
 shoots, serves as a stake to which to 
 tie the young growing scion, which 
 tied loosely is preserved from ac- 
 cident during its growth. At the 
 end of the year this natural stake, 
 having served its purpose, is cut 
 away, and the graft having attained 
 its proper size is ready for trans- 
 planting as a maiden plant, and may 
 then be trained into any form the 
 grower may think desirable. 
 
 " The Apple thus grafted on the 
 Paradise is, as is well known, a great 
 success throughout all parts of France 
 and the adjoining countries. In pro- 
 portion to the space it occupies, it 
 furnishes a great quantity of the 
 finest fruit. It is not rare to count 
 seventy or eighty apples upon a little 
 tree whose arms together are not 
 more than seven feet long. This 
 form is due to M. J. L, Jamin, of 
 Bourg-la-Eeine. This nurseryman 
 used to sell dwarf fruit-trees of all 
 kinds in pots in the Paris market, 
 and amongst them the now well- 
 known cordon. The form was much 
 appreciated and promptly spread 
 abroad, and after having had some 
 success at a horticultural exhibition 
 held at the Louvre, it was definitely adopted in kitchen- and fruit- 
 gardens under the name of the horizontal cordon. 
 
 " To establish the growth of cordons in the nursery a line of 
 galvanised iron wire is stretched horizontally at about fourteen 
 
290 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XYIII. 
 
 1=^ 
 
 inches above the ground, the ends being firmly fixed. The young 
 trees are then cut down nearly to the level of the wire, and when 
 they start in spring two opposite buds are chosen for the formation 
 .^ of the two arms, and allowed to grow during the 
 summer, the buds on the stem below these being 
 pinched within an inch or so of their base. 
 During the summer the two shoots ought to 
 form a strong cordon fit for transplanting in the 
 following winter. The simple cordon with one 
 branch is formed in the same manner, except 
 that one bud only is allowed to grow." 
 
 Since the discussion which took place in the 
 journals concerning the merits of this mode of 
 Apple-growing, I have seen a great number of 
 cordons on the Paradise in many parts 
 of France and in Switzerland, seeking in 
 various districts to ascertain its merits and 
 defects ; and am more than ever satisfied of its 
 value. Some have considered that a late frosty 
 season would be fatal to low cordons, and that 
 our climate is too conducive to the production 
 of gross wood, while on the Continent it be- 
 comes ripe and stubby, and the trees may be 
 preserved within bounds. If such were the fact, 
 this objectionable tendency should be more 
 developed in the warm parts of north-western 
 France near the sea-coast ; but this is not the 
 case. Grafted on the true French Paradise 
 stock, the tree is always good, and keeps per- 
 fectly within bounds in parts of France and 
 Belgium as cold and moist as southern England. 
 In a note from Professor Morren, of Liege, he 
 says : " The culture of the Apple as a cordon 
 on the Paradise stock has been extensively tried 
 in this country, and is rapidly extending, 
 particularly near Liege, Vcrviers, Huy, Namur, 
 and in all the Flemish districts. Hedges of horizontal cordon 
 Apples and Pears are now formed along the sides of the railway 
 between Brussels and Louvain. These plantations were made two 
 
 
Chap. XYIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 291 
 
 years ago, and have proved very successful. The fruits attain a 
 considerahle size, and the experiment promises so well that pre- 
 parations are being made to greatly extend it." It is improbable 
 that there should be so much difference in the behaviour of trees 
 separated by a few miles of sea ! In many continental districts 
 where frosts are quite as severe as here, the cordons escape yearly 
 without serious injury ; and besides, no form of tree is so easily 
 protected in spring, it being so very low. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be urged in favour of these cordon Apple- 
 trees : 1. The fruit is larger and finer than that borne on any 
 large form of tree. 2. The tree comes into bearing much earlier 
 — in fact, often bears freely the second summer after being grafted. 
 3. The growth is dwarfer and much more compact than that of 
 the apple on any other stock, 
 and the tree may, without 
 root-pruning, be kept in a 
 more compact and fruitful 
 form than apples on the 
 Crab may be with that 
 
 , ,, ij. 1- I Simple Mode of protecting Cordon Apple-trees in 
 
 troublesome attention. 4. M. Jamin's Garden at Bours-la-Reine. 
 
 The fruit being held at an 
 
 average of one foot from the ground is in consequence benefited 
 by a greater degree of heat ; and from the compactness of the 
 form the leaves and wood enjoy a greater amount of sun than 
 is the case with high trees : it need hardly be said that those 
 are great advantages. 5. The tree being confined to a single 
 stem, and stubby fruit-spurs held near the surface of the ground, 
 there is in consequence no injury to the fruit from wind 
 or the swaying about of branches ; besides, the fruit, if it does 
 fall, is not injured. (5. Tlie trees may be more readily protected 
 than any other form whatever, should protection be considered 
 necessary. 7. They may be more easily attended to in pinching, 
 pruning, and thinning the fruit, and the desired shape attained 
 more readily than any other form of trained tree. 8. Being little 
 taller than a neglected Box edging, they shade no garden-crop. 
 9. They take up but small space, and the positions best suited to 
 them are those that hitherto have been made no use of. 10. The 
 apple on the French Paradise grows to its highest perfection on 
 stiff loamy and wet and clayey soils, those which are often most 
 
292 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF TARTS. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 inimical to fniit-cultnre in these islands. 11. By planting it 
 against low walls we may grow the fine winter ajiples now supplied 
 to the capitals of Europe from northern France. 
 
 The testimony of the late Mr. James Barnes, of Bicton, is worth 
 adducing : — 
 
 " I have seen a good many espaliers in my time, but never one that bore a crop 
 like those little cordons that I saw at Ferrieres, Versailles, and amongst the French 
 fruit-growers. The espalier on the Crab stock, no matter how big and ugly was 
 the trellis you put it upon, was always with difiiculty kept within bounds, always 
 pushing its vigour to the top branch, wliercas the little trees 1 saw in France 
 growing on very stiff moist loams were in the stubbiest and neatest condition 
 that could be desired ; and everywhere I was told that they were scarcely any 
 trouble, a little pinching now and then, and some attention to see that the spurs 
 were equally distributed along the line, being all that was required. Why, the 
 trouble is worth incurring for the sake of having such a pretty garniture to our 
 walks in spring and autumn. The pinching and training would be pleasant 
 employment for ladies and young folks, in their few hours' garden rambles, 
 affording both profitable and amusing exercise. So many tortured forms of trees 
 have been presented to the public that I do not wonder at those rejecting them 
 who cannot see the undeniable merits which have been claimed for these cordons ; 
 but when once they are seen well done, and in working order, everybody inter- 
 ested in a garden will be charmed with them, and the plan will, I venture to 
 say, be adopted in the largest as well as the smallest gardens in the land. Every 
 operation connected with the culture of these trees will be agreeable in consequence 
 of its simplicity ; and it will be a pleasure to have the little trees under the eye, 
 from the unfolding of the buds in spring to the gathering of the fruit in autumn. 
 It is to me very surprising that some of our great fruit-growers, pomologists, and 
 others, who are, 1 believe, in the habit of travelling in France every year, and 
 some of them for the past thirty years, did not spy out and introduce this system 
 long ago, and more surprising still, that it is but recently that we have learned 
 from Mr. Robinson the real value and nature of the stock (others who have 
 mentioned it have always recommended the Doucin or English Paradise). No doubt 
 but for his exposition of the matter we might have gone on for many years in the 
 future as in the past without knowing anything of value about it, notwithstanding 
 the proximity of the fruit-gardens of northern France and southern I^ngland, and 
 the abundant intercourse between the two countries. We have brick and tile 
 edgings in all sorts of fancy forms, pebble, stone, slate, and wooden edgings, 
 also Grass, Box, Thrift, and many other living edgings ; but when once fairly 
 understood, the little edging of choice Apple-trees will prove the most popular, 
 profitable, and useful of them all for the fruit- or kitchen-garden. Apart from 
 edgings, the plan of planting the cordon on the ends, fronts, and low walls of 
 plant-pits and glass houses, low walls and fences, small vacancies or spaces 
 between fruit-trees on walls of any aspect — indeed, on any kind ol" blank space 
 on walls — is another distinct improvement ; and, when we have it in full operation, 
 
r'HAP. XVIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FKUIT-GItOWING. 293 
 
 tlie specimens of the finer and tenderer fruits grown on this method will be such 
 as we have not yet had in this country." — Gardeiier^s Chronicle, February 27, 
 1869, 
 
 On the same subject the kte j\rr. J. A. Watson of Geneva wrote 
 to the same journal : — 
 
 " M. Vaucher, the President of our Horticultural Society, began fruit-growing 
 ■\i Chatellaine,a mile from Geneva, three years ago. Knowing that he liad made 
 large jJantations of the horizontal cordons, I i^aid l)im a visit early in July with 
 the view of ascertaining their condition. The plantation is not more than three 
 years old, the garden having been a grass field previously. In entering the 
 garden the first thiugs that catch the eye are the very neat lines of these little 
 trees running around the borders, and at about one foot from the margin of the 
 gravel walk. The space between the cordons and gravel is planted with the 
 finer kinds of Strawberries. The borders margining each square are cut ofif 
 from the body of the square by alleys, and these are also edged by cordons in 
 the fame way. In most cases two lines of cordons are employed, one above the 
 other, the fruit of the lower line tomeiimes coming within three or four inches 
 of the ground. The effect of the whole is neat, and such as would make a 
 tasteful gardener use them for edgings, even if the result they yield be ever so 
 problematical. But as regards the Apple, with ordinary care there is nothing 
 problematical about it, for the most dense crops already adorn these beautiful 
 little trees. Here are my notes and measurements of a few of them : — Calville 
 d'Hiver, eighteen inches from the ground, seven feet six inches long, thirty-seven 
 fine promising fruit ; the same kind, seven feet long, seven inches from the ground, 
 twenty-four fine fruit ; Pepin d'Angleterre, six feet long, the fruit fifty-seven in 
 number, hanging at an average of fifteen inches from the ground ; Reinette 
 d'Espagne, three feet six inches long, twenty-four fruit; the Lady Apple, six 
 feet long, 110 fruit. These were some of the best examples I saw ; and I need 
 not remind your readers that the fruit, instead of being too thin, is much too 
 thick. I may safely say that if properly thinned as fine fruit as ever grew will 
 be gathered from these young cordons — so neat in appearance, and at the same 
 time such a source of profit. I particularly observed that the fruits on the lower 
 line of wire, at an average of about six inches from the ground, were quite as 
 good and fertile as those on the upjier wire, at an average height of about eighteen 
 inches — although, perhaps, at some disadvantage from being exactly under the 
 higher line. I may add, that there are many gardens about Geneva in which these 
 cordons on the Paradise are a perfect succtss, that they give little trouble to the 
 gardenens, who are always fond of them, be the gardens or the 'help' large or 
 small." 
 
 It is not merely in the way it is at present practised in France 
 or elsewhere that the cortlon system is interesting and instructive 
 to all taking an interest in the culture of hardy fruits. . It offers 
 a mean? of training trees so that we may readily give them that 
 ])roto('ti()n in s])ring, the want of wliicli is in nine cases out of ten 
 
 X 
 
294 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [('ir.\p. XVITT. 
 
 the cause of our failures in fruit crops. Hitherto the hcst course 
 to pursue witli the borders along our fruit-walls has always been 
 a disputed point : some contending that they ought not to be 
 cropped at all ; others that salads and small vegetables might be 
 grown upon them. 
 
 Let us crop the borders with trees trained on the horizontal- 
 cordon principle as suggested in the accompanying figures, and in 
 this way dispose of the much -debated question as to what is best 
 to do with the fruit-borders. By so doing we should collect such 
 a valuable stock of fruit-trees immediately in front of each wall 
 as would render it convenient and desirable to protect efficiently 
 both walls and borders, and by the same means. The low cordons 
 will no more shade the wall than a crop of small salading and 
 
 will prevent all need 
 for disturbing the 
 border. Indeed, lean 
 conceive no greater 
 improvement in our 
 fruit-culture than de- 
 voting to fruit-trees 
 those excellent sunny 
 borders that usually 
 lie at the foot of our 
 fruit -walls. By this 
 plan we should, it is 
 true, sacrifice some of the more suitable spots for early vegetables 
 and salads, but we should gain very much more, and the change 
 would be in every way conducive to the beauty and utility of 
 our gardens. When the wall-trees are being attended to the 
 cordons cannot be forgotten, and the whole will be under the eye 
 at a glance. 
 
 The Pear may also be grown thus in the highest perfection, and 
 there can be no doubt that the fruit which may be grown in this 
 way on the border would, if put to the market test, more than pay 
 for the expense of protecting cordons and wall-trees at the same 
 time. Other fruits will probably be found to submit to this mode 
 of culture as well as these, and all kinds should be tried by those 
 with opj)ortunities for making experiments in fruit-culture, ihose 
 kinds of a fertile and compact habit being selected for trial. 
 
 Nnrroiv border in 
 front of fruit- 
 ■wall, ivith two 
 lines oj Iwrizontal 
 cordons, protected 
 in Spring by wide 
 temporary coping 
 and rough canvas. 
 
 ]\-aJi ic.iU ami b.,rjc,; with ., 
 cordons, tite luhole protected t 
 
 Spring. 
 
Chap. XVITI.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRC IT-GROW I NO 205 
 
 Should we in time find varieties of our other hardy fruits conform 
 as readily to the cordon system as the Apple on the Paradise, this 
 way of covering borders as well as walls with fruit-trees will prove 
 a gain in the culture of our choice hardy fruits, the importance of 
 which it would be difficult to over-estimate. 
 
 Care being taken to protect the borders and walls efficiently 
 from the time of flowering till the fruit is beyond all danger, they 
 may be afterwards exposed to the refreshing summer rains, and then 
 there will be an end to all but mere routine work till the protect- 
 ing season comes again. Every hundred feet in length of such 
 well-protected wall and border would bo equivalent to a well- 
 mana;2:ed orchard-house. 
 
 Simple loooden support for Cordon, the wire 
 attached to a stone in the ground. 
 
 \3B 
 
 Iron support, 'with ratclul •.uhtrl at 
 the top. 
 
 Although the cordon is so simply supported, it is desirable to 
 know the best means of doing so in a permanent and ready way. 
 The simplest way of all is to drive a tough wooden post in the 
 ground to the required height, and attach the wire to it. The 
 post may be driven in oldiqucly, or upright; or an iron support 
 with a stay let into a block of rough stone would be as satisfactory 
 as any other, because permanent. A variety of good supports are 
 now oftored by houses who erect espalier trellises. 
 
 The Peak as a Cordon. — "When at Holme Lacy in Hereford- 
 shire, a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see a wall 
 covered with Pear-trees, trained as single cordons, and in the 
 finest bearing condition. I learnt from Sir H. Scudamore 
 
 X -A 
 
•J'.m; TIIK I'Al.'KS AND (iAlJDKiXS OF I'AIMS. [('iiai'. XVIII. 
 
 Stanliope, that lie had taken some interest in their mode of culture 
 when in France, and made several experiments, this plantation of 
 Winter Pears heing one of them. He has kindly furnished me 
 with the photograph from which the sketch was engraved, and the 
 following account of the trees : — 
 
 " Allow me to furnish you with an illustration of my cordon 
 Pear- wall, one-half of which, planted in December, 1861, bore 
 fruit in 18G4 ; another half, planted in March, 1865, bore fruit in 
 1868. From the time these trees began fruit-bearing up to 
 the present date, they have been, and are now, perfectly healthy, 
 and have yielded large crops every year, with the exception of two 
 
 rr ad of i-oraon rear'irfis in me garaens ai noime l^acy. 
 
 or three trees, perhaps, which may miss bearing each year ; as to 
 the superiority of the fruit, in size, appearance, and flavour, over 
 fruit grown in my garden on pyramids and espaliers, there can be 
 no question. In hot summers it was found necessary to mulch, 
 and even to water them, owing to the Quince stock, on which all 
 are grafted, having more fibres and rooting nearer the surface 
 than the Pear stock. They are trained on a south wall, which, 
 however, is somewhat shaded l)y large Oaks, and, although this 
 circumstance renders the wall unfavourable for Peaclies, I do not 
 consider it has been against these Quince-grafted Pears, as, but 
 for the shade, they would probably have suH'ered more iu hot 
 summers tluui they have done. I do not, therefore, think a south 
 
Cji.u'. XVIIL] 
 
 THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 
 
 2[tl 
 
 wall, by any means, a necessity for the successful culture of cordon 
 Pears in the south and west of England, As to the pruning, my 
 late gardener writes as follows : ' My experience in pinching has 
 never been what I was led to expect ; never, but in one solitary 
 instance, have I found the fruit-bud to be the result of that 
 practice, and even that one being so far from home, so to speak. 
 
 
 Oblique Cordon 
 Pear, ind yea r. 
 
 Oblique Cordon Pear, yd yea 
 
 is tlu position 7vhL:li the tree will eventually occupy. 
 
 would have to be cut off in order to keep the spur short. But that 
 was not all, for I have found that what was once a decided fruit- 
 bud would lengthen and grow into wood before the growing season 
 closed.' I myself certainly think that the pinching cannot be 
 carried out in our climate to the same extent as in France. [Clo.se 
 pinching is a bad English practice — not a Freiich one. In France 
 I never saw fruit-trees pinched in very close. — W. \\.\ The 
 
298 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVIIT. 
 
 result with us was to produce too many wood-shoots. "Whether 
 this is the result of a richer soil and a moister climate or not, I 
 cannot say. The merit of the successful results of the cordon- 
 wall is due to my late gardener, Mr. Wells, now at Osborne Park 
 Nurseries, Potter's Bar. The following are the weights of some 
 of the cordon-grown Pears, produced by trees which have always 
 been allowed to bear freely, viz. : — Glou ]\Iorceau, 
 13^ oz. ; Beurre Bosc, 12i oz. ; Beurre Superfin, 14 
 oz. ; Van Mons, 15 oz, ; Easter Beurre, 16 oz. ; 
 Beurre Diel, 15 oz. ; Zephirin Gregoire, 11| oz. ; 
 Triomphe de Jodoigne, 14 oz. ; Josephine de 
 Malines, 11 oz. ; Doyenne d'Alencon, 13| oz. ; 
 Duchesse d'Hiver, 18^ oz. ; Benamotte d'Esperen, 
 11^ oz. ; Conseiller de la Cour, 14 oz. ; and fruit 
 from Doyenne Boussoch, Beurre Hardy, Madame 
 Millet, Williams's Bon Chretien, Eigne d'Alenfon, 
 and Beurre Sterckmans have weighed equal to 
 these, as have also Duchesse d'Angouleme, and 
 many others." 
 
 For the fruiting of seedlings and testing of new 
 kinds, the cordon for Pears is also a good j)lan, and 
 if the object be to cover a wall in a short time and 
 get a quick return, it is certainly the best way. 
 In this case it enables us to attain our ends in the 
 shortest space of time, and with the least possible 
 waste of space. 
 
 Some of the leading teachers of fruit-culture in 
 France adopt the oblique cordon as the short way 
 to a quick return, and plant extensively the finest 
 varieties trained in this way ; but others ridicule 
 the planting of trees as closely as one would Cole- 
 worts. For the finest kinds of Winter Pears and 
 for culture on high walls it is well worth adopting, 
 provided the trees can be got at a low price, or grafted on the 
 spot. None but the very best kinds should be planted, and 
 to begin with, it would be desirable to plant a goodly number 
 of one kind known to succeed well in the neighbourhood rather 
 than a variety of sorts. The kinds known to do best in this 
 contracted form are *Beurre Supcrlin, Flemish Ik'uuty, Beurre 
 
 Pear-tree trained as 
 a l^ertical Cordon. 
 This form is best 
 suited for very 
 high lualls, etc. 
 
C'jiAP. XA^III.] 
 
 THE VEAR AS A CORDON. 
 
 299 
 
 Giffard, *Loiiise Boune of Jersey, *Marie Louise, Beurre Clair- 
 geau, DucLesse d'Angouleme, *Ea8ter Beurre, and Beurre d'Aujou. 
 
 Of these a beginner would do well to take those marked with 
 ail asterisk. As regards the training of the Pear in this 
 way, it is too simple to require description here. The tree is 
 
300 
 
 THE PARKS AND UAKDENS UF PARIS. [Cuai'. XVIII 
 
 merely treated as we traiu a single braiieh of a fan-shaped tree, 
 and requires none of the careful pruning necessary to form the 
 more elaborate shapes. Healthy young plants, a year from the 
 
 1' 
 
 li 
 
 •1 ^ 
 
 
 ^i i^ ^^ 1^ ^ 
 * §. J^ 1 
 
 ■if 
 
 1 
 
 
 1' 1 
 
 
 It " 
 
 i^- 
 
 ^1 
 
 V i^ "^1^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^- •# ^ 
 
 ,^^ ^^;- ,M % jcH-^ -:ii -s 
 ^1^ .i^iJi ^'\ ^r 
 
 ^F '^ H * # "^1^ ^t S ^4 1j- 
 
 :* 4. 3 4 ,* --^f; '^^ * * -^t^ 
 
 4?^ .r. 
 
 
 .1^ 
 
 -^ %- 
 
 4i >^^ 
 
 * iif ife ^ir ^|f -^.^ 
 
 I 3^ 
 
 4- 
 
 
 
 ^ € 1. 1^ u 
 
 
 m 
 
 '^fK 
 
 E-fe£^^ES) 
 
 Pear-tree trained in U form for ■'lery higli walls. 
 
 graft, are chosen, planted at from 16 to 18 inches apart, and 
 trained as explained in the accompanying figures. 
 
 Sometimes the Pear is trained as a vertical single or double 
 cordon. Of the two forms the single is preferable, and it is 
 c-liicHy suited for very liigh walls, the gable ends of outhouses, and 
 
Chap. XVIII.] 
 
 THE TEAK AS A L'UKDON. 301 
 
 that the trees iu this case 
 
 the like. It need scarcely be added 
 should be on the Quince stock. 
 
 The Pear may also be trained as a horizontal cordon on low 
 walls, the fronts of glass houses, and as an edging like the Apple. 
 But generally the Pear pushes too vigorously to be trained in this 
 way, while the pendulous habit of the fruit renders it more liable 
 to be splashed. I once saw Uvedale's St. Germain grown in this 
 
 The Spiral Cordon against vjalU. 
 
 way at Chartres, the great fruit sitting on the ground, and quite 
 encrusted with earthy splashings. 
 
 The disposition to form a neat compact line of spurs so 
 abundantly manifested by the Apple when well trained on the 
 Paradise is more rarely shown by the Pear. Nevertheless a few 
 varieties, such as Louise Bonne and Beurre Giftard, might be 
 tried ; allowing them to attain a greater length of stem than tlie 
 cordon Apples, and placing them a little higher from the ground. 
 
302 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 As regards the Pear as a horizontal cordon, Mr. Watson of Geneva 
 wrote as follows to the Gardener s Chronicle : — " I question if 
 there exists elsewhere a more extensive collection of Pears trained 
 on the horizontal-cordon system than may now he seen in M. 
 Vaucher's garden near Geneva. There are hundreds of them, 
 consisting of every good sort that M. Vaucher could buy. Beurre 
 Noirchain, four feet six inches long, had twenty-three fruit upon 
 it; Beurre GifFard, six feet six inches long, twenty-two fruit; 
 those of the last-named kind hanging about four inches from the 
 ground." 
 
 The Peach as a Cordon. — With the Peach as an oblique cordon, 
 a good result is attained, the wall being covered very rapidly ; 
 and the neat laying-in of a great number of shoots on each side of 
 the simple stem does away with the crowded appearance which a 
 plantation of cordon Pears assumes when old and the stems 
 thickened. But instead of the wood being closely pinched in, as 
 people might suppose in England from reading of the method of 
 one M. Grin, it is nailed in at each side of the branch, more so 
 indeed than if that branch were part and parcel of one of the 
 older and larger forms of tree. I once saw an excellent result 
 afforded by this system against the high back wall of a vinery in 
 the establishment of M. Eose-Charmeux, at Thomery. By its 
 means he perfectly covered his wall in a short time, and gathered 
 a great variety of fruit from a small sj^ace. Out of doors it not 
 unfrequently affords equally good results. It is well calculated 
 for high walls, and may be adopted for low ones by training the 
 trees at a more acute angle with the earth. 
 
 Considering the time usually required to furnish walls in the 
 ordinary way, there can be little doubt that this mode of training 
 the Peach is a real improvement, where a considerable number of 
 varieties are required from a small space. Apart from that, 
 however, the facility and simplicity with which walls may be 
 covered by this method, and the readiness with which a diseased 
 or otherwise objectionable tree may be replaced, will doubtless 
 prove a sufficient recommendation for cultivators who are not 
 restricted as to space. It should, however, be borne in mind that 
 on very good soils where the Peach grows very vigorously, it will 
 not suit so well as on poor ones where it grows slowly, and that 
 medium-sized forms may be adopted for the Peach as well as for 
 
CiiAi'. XVIII.] 
 
 TEACII AS A CORDOX. 
 
 303 
 
 the Pear. The following is a description of the mode of forming 
 it after M. Lepere : — 
 
 " There are two modes of growing this form. One, which was 
 recommended by a professor of arboriculture, and frequently- 
 put in practice by many amateurs, but which I consider faulty, 
 consists in planting the trees just as they come from the 
 nursery, and training them at once in the oblique form. The 
 inconvenience arising from this method consists in beinjr oblijred 
 
 Voting; Peach-tree trained as an OUiiinc 
 Cordon, ist yc-ar. A shows tlu tirsl 
 pruning. 
 
 reach-tree trained as an Ohlupie Cordon- 
 ■2nd year' s pruning. The leading shoot is cut 
 at A , and the sitie-shoots at i/te cross-marks. 
 
 to place the tree close to the wall, which crowds the roots too 
 much, preventing tliem from affording sufficient nourishment to 
 the tree. Besides this, on account of the inclination of the tree, 
 part of the roots are directed towards the surface of the earth or 
 placed in an unnatural position, thereby preventing their full 
 development. By-and-by, the trees that have been planted thus 
 are cut to half the length that they were when they came from 
 the nursery, having a number of weak, useless branches on the 
 lower part, a condition which, as every one knows, is always un- 
 
304 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XVllI. 
 
 favourable. The second method differs from the first, inasmuch 
 as the plant from the nursery is cut down instead of being planted 
 
 in an oblique direction. To obtain the oblique form without 
 planting the tree in a crooked position, the stem is cut at eight 
 
fiiAP. XVITI.] THE PEACH AS A CORDON. 305 
 
 inches from the graft, and pLaced in the ground so that the base 
 of the stem is four inches from the wall, with its extremity just 
 touching it. The roots are well spread over the hole and drawn 
 as much as possible towards the border in which the tree is 
 planted. Care is taken to leave a well-placed bud on the side 
 where the oblique branch is to be formed, and its development 
 must be encouraged by ruthlessly pinching off all useless shoots. 
 Under these conditions, the tree grows as long during the first 
 year as the one planted obliquely and allowed to be of its full 
 length from the first. This method is also to be preferred, 
 because the shoot thus obtained the first year can be left intact 
 and allowed to attain a development equal to that of the tree planted 
 according to the first method. Besides this, the shoot is calculated 
 to grow faster in consequence of its bark being less 
 hardened, and each year the terminal point may bo 
 allowed to grow without cutting back. Sometimes the 
 terminal bud does not develop, owing to its having 
 been killed by cold. In such a case a stronger eye is 
 chosen lower down to make the desired lengthening. 
 
 " As in the case of other forms of training, the 
 branches of the Peach cordons are allowed to grow in 
 a more erect position at first than they arc finally in- 
 tended to occupy. I should advise this cordon form ^t^ewiath^e 
 to be adopted in the case of gardens whose walls are '^''""- " '^'f- 
 on the incline, as often occurs, and for soil of inferior behi^ grafted 
 quality where the Peach-tree grows slowly, because "" ""'''' 
 under such circumstances it never attains its full development. 
 The plan does not answer where the ground is flat and the con- 
 ditions are such as favour the rapid growth of the tree." 
 
 Some fruit-growers think that there is no occasion for resorting 
 to this simple cordon in the case of the Peach, any more than in 
 the case of the Pear. M. F. Jamin, of Bourg-la-Eeine, plants in 
 his fruit-garden a form of tree with three vertical branches, and 
 if he wants a great variety of fruit from a small space, works a 
 diff'erent variety on each branch. This figure shows, on a small 
 scale, the appearance of one of his young specimens, trained on 
 this principle. The U and double U forms, described in the 
 chapter on Montreuil, are also extensively adopted by many 
 growers in preference to tlie oblique cordon. 
 
]06 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [CnAP. XIX. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS. 
 
 The stock is as important to the cultivated fruit-tree as the founda- 
 tion is to the house ; if we have not the right stock, all is wrong. 
 The French Paradise stock is the only one that should be used to 
 form cordon trees except on the very poorest and driest of soils. 
 Before the writer had seen the results of using this stock in France 
 and called attention to its merits, it was condemned as useless 
 by our authorities, who described it as "exceedingly dwarf in 
 its habit, and too tender for this climate, unless in very warm 
 and dry soils ! " But in fact it is as hardy as the hardiest tree 
 of the forest, not perishing even if thrown with its roots exposed 
 on the surface of the ground, and allowed to remain there 
 through a rigorous winter ; and the soils above all for which it is 
 peculiarly unfitted are those that are hot and very dry, while it 
 flourishes on rich, moist loams, and even bad clays — the very 
 soils which often present the greatest amount of difficulty to the 
 British fruit-grower. As will be readily seen, this is simply a 
 matter for experiment, and I appeal to the horticulturists of 
 Britain to settle the question by direct trial, a thing they can so 
 readily do. The " English Paradise " is the Doucin — one that 
 as regards vigour is intermediate between the Crab and the 
 Paradise, well fitted for neat standards, pyramids, and large 
 bushes, but growing too vigorously to furnish anything but 
 disappointment if planted as a low cordon, except on very light 
 calcareous or " burning " soils. To plant the Apj^le on the 
 common or Crab stock, and expect to form a dwarf fertile tree, is 
 folly. By mutilation and removals we may secure a crop, and 
 keep the Doucin or " English Paradise " within bounds ; but 
 what is wanted is a stock that will furnish a dwarf and fertile 
 
CiiAP. XIX.] 
 
 APPLE STOCKS. 
 
 307 
 
 growth, without any root-pruning or attention beyond that of 
 slight pruning, according to their luxuriance. This we have 
 exactly in the Paradise stock, grown by millions in the nurseries 
 around Paris, and in many other parts of France. 
 
 We have next to determine what is this Paradise stock. It 
 need scarcely be said that a plant like this, which exerts so 
 marked an influence on the trees grafted on it, and is so truly 
 valuable for our gardens, deserves to be at least as well known as 
 
 FLOWER OF THE FRENCH PARADISE APPLE. 
 Drawn /rom nature and engraved hy A, Thiebaiilt. 
 
 any one kind of fruit, however good. Yet this is so far from 
 being the case that but very little is known about it. To most 
 of the French botanists its origin is involved in obscurity ; 
 apparently the clearest account is that of Professor Koch of 
 Berlin, who has paid a great deal of attention to the origin of all 
 our fruit-trees. He says : — " The name Malus paradisiaca appears 
 to have been first used by Ruellius in the year 1537. It is a 
 native of South-Eastern liussia, Caucasus, Tartary, and the Altai 
 ]\[ountains. I have often seen this shrub in the Caucasus, and 
 
308 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 near the Don and the Volga, where it forms bushes and dwarf 
 trees, frequently accompanied with suckers." 
 
 Without attempting to throw any light on the origin of the 
 Paradise, M. Carriere of the Jardin des Plantes has studied its 
 characteristics, compared them with those of the Doucin, and 
 described both in the ' Flore des Serres ' : — 
 
 Paradise, 
 
 " Roots much ramified and tidy, short, 
 remaining near the surface, and never 
 tap-rooted. Shrub, bush-like, much 
 branched, the branchlets rather long, 
 and with a lateral tendency, the adults 
 covered with a smooth bark of a reddish 
 colour; lightly pubescent in the case 
 of the young shoots. Leaves lanceolate, 
 elliptical, of a light green above and 
 velvety beneath, finely denticulated, 
 acuminate at the ends, but principally 
 at the base. Petiole broadish and 
 channelled. Calyx, with divisions 
 acuminated and recurved, often con- 
 torted, as long as the peduncle. Petals 
 straightly elongated at the base, faintly 
 keeled, borne on a thin base, prolonged 
 into a sort of keel. Ovary on a slender 
 base, pubescent. Fruit higher than 
 brond, lightly ribbed, skin white, flesh 
 sweetish, almost insipid; ripening in 
 July." It flowers more abundantly, 
 and eight days earlier, than the Doucin. 
 
 DouciN. 
 
 " Roots rather long and strong, tap- 
 rooted. Tree not much ramified, 
 straight in its growth, with branchlets 
 short, large, in adult specimens covered 
 with a deep dull brown bark ; very 
 tomentose, and whitened in the case of 
 the young shoots. Leaves broadly oval 
 or nearly oboval, lightly blistered, 
 shining on the upper and pubescent on 
 the lower surface, rather broadly den- 
 ticulated, scarcely acuminate at the 
 apex, abruptly contracted and round at 
 the base. Petiole broad, scarcely chan- 
 nelled. Calyx with divisions usually 
 horizontnl, occasionally recurved, rather 
 large. Petals suboval, nearly blistered, 
 keeled, borne on a base short and 
 rather broad. Ovary on a stout sup- 
 port, covered with a tomentose down, 
 white and thick. Fruit de])ressed, 
 broader than high, not ribbed, the skin 
 of an intense green, marked here and 
 there with brownish spots : flesh of a 
 high and agreeable flavour ; ripening 
 in Auaust." 
 
 The Paradise stock has been known in France for between 200 
 and 300 years. The Doucin would appear to be not quite so 
 ancient, but has been known for at least 160 years. It is used to 
 form low trees, pyramids, wall, espalier, and even standard trees 
 less vigorous and more suitable for gardens than those grafted on 
 the Crab stock and occasionally for cordons on bad and poor dry 
 soils. It is most probably a vigorous and deep-rooting variety of 
 the same species as the Paradise, healthy everywhere, and 
 succeeding well where, in consequence of its habit of surface- 
 rooting, the Paradise would suffer and prove useless. Apples 
 grafted upon the Doucin come into bearing earlier than upon the 
 Crab, and it is admirable for all forms of garden-trees in size 
 intermediate between the very dwarf cordons and bushes and the 
 tall and vigorous orchard-trees. 
 
Chap. XIX.] 
 
 APPLE STOCKS. 
 
 309 
 
 The Crab stock it is needless to describe. It is the stock on 
 which our Apples have been grafted for ages, and which is the 
 only one employed in the majority of British gardens. It is the 
 natural stock for the Apple, and that on which it grows with 
 greatest vigour ; but it takes a much longer time to come into 
 bearing, and the attempts to keep it of a size suited to gardens 
 by pruning, pinching, and root-pruning which may be seen every- 
 where, are all efforts thrown away. Thus it will be seen there 
 
 Fruit of the French Paradise Apple. Drawn from nature and engraved by A. 'I'hietanlt. 
 
 are three distinct stocks, each suiting distinct purposes, and that 
 those who experiment upon the cordon system of Apple-growing 
 without acting upon or bearing in mind these facts as the most 
 important in connection with the sul)ject, cannot be said to try 
 it fairly. 
 
 Of these three stocks, the one which has been most abused and 
 least known, but which will yet prove the most valuable of all as 
 a garden stock for the Apple, is the true French Paradise. When 
 
 Y 
 
310 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 fairly tried it proves to be of all stocks yet known the hardiest, 
 most dwarfing in its effects, and most powerful in inducing early 
 fertility. This stock, which has been characterised in England as 
 a thing quite worthless, will, if planted in the coldest and wettest 
 of soils, instead of sending long roots down into the sour clayey 
 earth like the Crab and in a lesser degree the Doucin, keep its 
 wig-like mass of small roots near the surface, and without root- 
 pruning bear fruit long before the others. That is the way to 
 best test its powers of withstanding cold, and the other merits 
 claimed for it : on all ordinarily rich and cool soils it will be 
 found to succeed perfectly without root-pruning of any kind. 
 Growers have only to try it to prove that instead of dying in our 
 cool climate, and on our moist soils, its general adoption will lead 
 to marked improvement. It is necessary to observe that in 
 trying this stock healthy plants should be secured to begin with. 
 It has been ascertained that some of our nurserymen who have 
 tried this stock import the Paradise from France in a very small 
 state, and then graft it soon after it arrives. The consequence is 
 that the little trees have no power to push forth a healthy graft. 
 If imported in this state they should be allowed one year's growth 
 before being grafted. 
 
 Thinking that experienced growers in the colder parts of North 
 America might be able to throw some light on the hardiness of 
 this stock, I wrote to Mr. J. J. Thomas, a pomologist of long 
 and deserved repute, author of a standard book on fruit-culture, 
 and pomological editor of the Albany ' Cultivator,' who replied 
 as follows : — " The French Paradise stock grows well with us on 
 strong soils, with suitable pruning and cultivation. Neglected, 
 and on light soils, it frequently fails after a lapse of several 
 years. The oldest trees with which I am acquainted in western 
 New York are on the grounds of Ellwanger & Barry, at Rochester. 
 Trees which have been worked on it thirty years old still possess 
 a fair degree of vigour, having stems six inches to eight inches in 
 diameter, and the trees are about eight feet high, with about the 
 same extent of branches. Twelve-year-old trees are five feet or 
 six feet high, and four inches or five inches in diameter. On my 
 own grounds, which are a strong clay-loam, trees which have 
 been planted twenty-five years are seven inches in diameter at 
 the base, and are about ten feet high, with ten feet spread of top. 
 
Chap. XIX.] APPLE STOCKS. 311 
 
 These have been sparingly pruned. In these remarks I carefully 
 distinguish the true French Paradise, with its peculiar wood and 
 small fruit, with a mixture of sweet and bitter in its flavour, " 
 
 On the same subject Mr. Such of South Amboy, New Jersey, 
 writes as follows : — 
 
 "In my garden I have on this stock many little bush-like 
 Apple-trees that have endured the greatest extremes of heat and 
 of cold. About four winters ago the thermometer fell to 20^ 
 l)eloAv zero, and last summer the heat was intense, reaching 106^ 
 to 108' in the shade. In spite of this my little trees are in 
 perfect health. The Douciu stock is also thoroughly hardy. 
 There is near here a small orchard of Apples on this stock, 
 planted more than fifteen years ago, all of which are in full 
 vigour. My trees on the Paradise are like very large currant 
 bushes ; those on the Doucin are from ten to fifteen feet through." 
 
 Since the first edition of this book appeared, the Paradise stock 
 has been figured in the 'Florist and Pomologist ' (May, 1875), 
 with the following remarks : — 
 
 " We have much pleasure in submitting a figure of the true 
 French Paradise Apple, the Pommier de Paradis, which, when 
 used as a stock, is of such inestimable value in inducing dwarfness 
 and prolificacy in other varieties of Apple. Mr. Barron has 
 collected from various sources, British and Continental, a number 
 of Apple stocks, which are growing side by side, so as to admit of 
 easy comparison. Side by side, also, are various Apples worked 
 on the several stocks. There are the Crab stocks (Pommiers 
 francs), with long, spreading, rigid, wiry, tangled branches, of a 
 deep purplish-black colour, and at the time of our visit (April 11) 
 with no vestige either of leaf or flower to be seen. There is the 
 Dutch Paradise, of straggling habit, with olive-coloured shoots, 
 in full leaf, but without a flower. There is Mr. liivers's Nonsuch 
 English Paradise, destitute of leaf or flower, and Rivers's Miniature 
 Paradise, equally late, and scarcely justifying its name. There 
 is Mr. Scott's Paradise, of very distinct somewhat pyramidal 
 habit, in full leaf, but with scarcely a flower to be seen. There 
 is the Doucin, also of pyramidal habit, and producing flowers 
 early. Then there is the true French Paradise, Pommier de 
 Paradis, obtained from the most reliable sources in France, which 
 must unquestionably bear away the ]>rize for ]irecocity of flowering 
 
 Y 2 
 
812 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 and abundance of bloom. By precocity we mean not early 
 flowering witb regard to season, but with reference to age also; 
 wliile other stocks of the same age have not reached the fruiting 
 stage, this one has already done so. It is of rather straggling 
 habit, but full of flower. While some stocks at the time of our 
 visit were showing few flowers and others none at all, this one 
 stood out in the row sheeted over with pale pink blossoms. 
 These qualities it very markedly contributes to the grafts. Short 
 compact growth, and early and abundant flowering, characterise 
 the scions grafted on this stock, as they characterise the stock 
 itself. A long row in one of the quarters, consisting of various 
 Apples grafted on this stock, side by side with rows grafted on 
 other stocks, is one of the most striking illustrations of the effects 
 and consequences of grafting it has ever been our fortune to 
 witness. The difference in appearance is so great that it would 
 almost seem as if the one row were cultivated for fruit, the other 
 for timber ! By way of illustration we may mention the Ehode 
 Island Greening, a vigorous-growing kind, but which when 
 worked on this stock becomes subdued, assumes a short, bushy 
 habit, and produces an abundance of early bloom. What was 
 formerly grown at Chiswick under the name of French Paradise 
 is quite a different thing, and relatively very inferior. Of course 
 this Paradise stock is not intended for orchard use, where the 
 freer-growing stocks are preferred. The French Paradise stock 
 is of spreading habit, with pale purplish shoots. The inflorescence 
 is abundant, and precocious as to season, and also in relation to 
 the age of the plant. The young leaves are glabrescent, oblong- 
 lanceolate, the apex acute, the base rounded, the margin crenu- 
 lated, the crenulations mucronulate ; the petiole is less than half 
 the length of the leaf, setose, and the stipules are linear-subulate, 
 as long as the petiole. The peduncles are about three-quarters 
 of an inch long, setose ; the flower-tube glabrous urceolate, 
 reddish, one-eighth of an inch long ; the calyx-lobes triangular, 
 gradually acuminate, setose within ; the petals concave, oblong- 
 obtuse, tapering at the base into a short stalk, and provided with 
 a few cottony hairs on the inner surface ; the styles are crested 
 at the base for a short distance, and there slightly covered with 
 cottony hairs, dividing above into five stigmatic branches. The 
 fruit, which is a really good early eating Apple, is, according to 
 
Chap. XIX.] AITLE 8TUCKy. 313 
 
 our notes, of medium size, oblate, somewhat angular, yellow, 
 changing on the exposed side to deep golden-yellow, and sometimes 
 having a thin flush of rosy-red. The eye is broad, but closed, 
 sunk in a rather deep cavity. The stalk is short, scarcely pro- 
 jecting from the hollow, which is not so deep as that of the eye. 
 The flesh is pale straw colour, fine grained, solid, juicy, and with 
 a brisk agreeable flavour. It ripens in the middle and end of 
 August, and would form a good useful early dessert Apple, inde- 
 pendent of its value as a dwarfing stock for Apple-trees grown in 
 the bush or pyramidal form." 
 
 A correspondent of the Garden writes, " I find it to be a 
 very difficult matter to procure it (the French Paradise) in this 
 country ; and, so far as my experience goes, nurserymen seem to 
 discourage its introduction. Last year I wanted a number of 
 trees on the French stock, and i had a quantity sent to me by a 
 nurseryman whom I knew ; but the vigorous appearance of the 
 trees made me doubt the stock. Acting upon my advice, the 
 nurseryman wrote to another in the trade, who advertises one of 
 the largest collections of Apples and Pears in England, and 
 stocks of all sorts and sizes, and the result was a letter in reply 
 condemning the French Paradise stock as useless, and recom- 
 mending another variety of the English Paradise, which the 
 writer of the letter had raised and named after himself, and 
 which it appeared was superior to any other in existence. Not a 
 little annoyed at being put ofi" in this way, my friend took the 
 trouble to procure the plants for me direct from France, and 
 from an undoubted source ; and fine well-ripened little trees they 
 were, only about half as vigorous as those I had got before on the 
 English stock. They were planted in March, and some of the 
 trees, though only maidens, bore a few large fine fruit this season, 
 and they are planted in the open quarters of the kitchen-garden. 
 They have also made a good growth, and promise to bear well 
 next year. Besides these, I ordered another lot on the French 
 Paradise, this time from a house north of the Tweed ; but was 
 informed they could not be got in England true, and that I must 
 wait until the frost had gone in France, when I should be supplied. 
 I did so, and had them direct from Orleans in April. This is my 
 experience in trying to get the French Paradise stock, which I 
 am desirous of experimenting with." 
 
314 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX 
 
 Trials made in a variety of gardens, apart from that by Mr. 
 Barron in the Eoyal Horti cultural Gardens at Chiswick, have 
 proved all that has been claimed for this stock. Among the most 
 important of the trials were those at Paxhill Park, in Sussex, in 
 the gardens of the late Mr. Northall Laurie ; in Mr. Eoger Leigh's 
 garden at Barham Court ; and in Mr. Dancer's fruit-garden at 
 Little Sutton, Chiswick ; where very satisfactory results were 
 obtained. Trials were also made in the Duke of Portland's 
 garden at Welbeck by Mr. Tillery, and as in the cases pre- 
 viously mentioned, with complete success. 
 
 Mr. Eoger Leigh, of Barham Court, showed at South Kensington 
 such a collection of dessert and culinary Apples grown on this 
 stock as one rarely has an opportunity of seeing. Among the 
 dessert varieties were King of the Pippins, Cox's Orange Pi23j)in, 
 Eibston, and others, not only large but especially handsome, 
 owing to their fine colour ; while the culinary sorts, such as 
 Belle du Bois, White Calville, Eeinette du Canada, and others, 
 were remarkable for their great size. These fine Apples are 
 gathered from trees growing in bush or cordon form on the true 
 Paradise stock and in good soil. The fruit thus produced in a 
 Kentish garden is fully equal to the best samples grown on the 
 Continent — a noteworthy fact, and one well worth the attention 
 of cultivators, and especially of those who grow fruit for market. 
 
 GrajJes through the Winter without letting them hang on 
 the Vines. 
 
 The preservation of Grapes through the winter with the least 
 amount of trouble is one of the most important of all matters to 
 the British Grape-grower. Every cultivator knows to his cost 
 what a serious inconvenience it used to be to keep Grapes hanging 
 all the winter after they were ripe, especially in places where 
 there were a good many houses devoted to Vines. Books on the 
 Vine give directions for regulating the Vineries so as to preserve the 
 Grapes after they are ripe, and every calendar of operations tells 
 us how to manage them in that respect, though the directions are 
 not always intelligible. Here, for instance, is an extract from a 
 recent issue of a gardening-paper : — " Those who wish to keep 
 Grapes hanging as fresh and plump as possible to the longest 
 
Chap. XIX.] PllESEEVlNG GEAPES. 315 
 
 possible period, must take care not to afford them too much heat, 
 as an excess of this, no matter how dry the structure may be, or 
 how favourably treated otherwise, is sure to cause them to shrivel 
 more or less prematurely. Give only just such warmth to the 
 pipes or flues as will insure sufficient buoyancy to any humidity (!) 
 which may arise in the house as to enable it to make its escape. 
 Independently of the ill effects caused by actual heat, a too-warm 
 atmosj^here, even in the driest house, will cause a correspondingly 
 excessive evaporation and consequent condensation." Then of 
 course we must have fire-heat and give air when foggy days occur, 
 " as," says Mr. Thompson of Chiswick — " the mean temperature 
 of this month (November) is on the average little above 40 ', and 
 the air is generally saturated wuth moisture. When this is the 
 case, moisture will be deposited on all substances exposed to the 
 air, if they are not warmer than it is. Grapes that are ripe 
 sliould therefore be kept warmer than the air, otherwise they will 
 be liable to damp. The application of fire-heat would effect this : 
 but if it were applied suddenly, and without air being given at the 
 same time, the heated air would deposit moisture on the berries ; 
 for although these would ultimately acquire the same temperature 
 as that of the air surrounding them, yet for a time they would be 
 colder, and so long as this is the case they would act as condensers 
 of the moisture in the warmer air in contact with them. The 
 more rapidly the air is heated, the greater for a time will be the 
 difference between the temperature of the fruit and that of the air, 
 and of course the slower the heating the less at any time will be 
 the difference. Give therefore, in damp weather, a little fire-heat 
 in the morning, and admit air. If the nights are cold, the tempe- 
 rature of the house should not be allowed to fall lower than 45^" 
 Here then are delicate operations and much trouble to bestow on 
 perhaps half a dozen houses during the winter months. If the 
 vineries are old and badly heated, the task is most difficult ; in the 
 best-constructed ones it is a great and needless labour. The 
 trouble of regulating the atmosphere, the expense for fire-heat, 
 and the necessity of keeping the house almost entirely devoted to 
 the Grapes, must render any improvement acceptable. 
 
 M. Eose-Charmeux's method of keeping Grapes fresh and plump 
 throughout the winter by inserting the ends of their stalks in 
 bottles of water instead of letting them hang on the Vines for 
 
316 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 months, was in France accepted as a great boon. One of the best 
 examples of what can be done in a private place is to be found in 
 the gardens of Ferrieres, the country seat of Baron Kothschild. 
 Here is constructed, in addition to very fine and well-filled fruit- 
 rooms, a Grape-room, which is filled with stands thickly hung 
 from top to bottom with all kinds of Grrapes M. Bergman, the 
 manager, by cutting down all his Grrapes in harvest fashion, is 
 thus enabled in a few weeks, in fact as soon as the Grapes in the 
 latest houses are ripe, to do as he pleases with the crop of his 
 many and well-managed Vineries. He can allow the wood 
 to ripen, prune and clean the Vines, or utilise the cleared space 
 of the houses for any purpose that may be convenient, not fearing 
 as we used to do in England, to spill a drop of water or make full 
 use of the house. 
 
 The Grapes are cut with a considerable portion of the shoot 
 attached, much as if one were pruning the Vine ; the shoot is 
 inserted in a narrow-necked and small bottle containing water, 
 and these little bottles are fixed firmly in a row, so that the 
 bunches hang just clear of each other. In the first instance 
 two strong uprights are erected, each supported on three legs. 
 Then from one to the other of these uprights, on both sides alter- 
 nately, are nailed sets of strong laths, two for each line of bottles. 
 These laths are kej)t an inch and a half or so apart by a piece of 
 wood at each end ; in the inner one are made incisions, into which 
 the bottom of each little bottle fits, and then the outer lath has a 
 concave incision in which the side of the bottle rests, so that, 
 caught in the inner and leaning firmly on the outer lath, it holds 
 the stem and stout bunch quite firmly. Walking space was left 
 between the walls of Grapes ; for six or seven rows were arranged 
 one above another on both sides of each support. 
 
 Animal charcoal is mixed with water, allowed to stand for some 
 time, and then the water is strained off to fill the bottles. But 
 there can be no doubt that to put a pinch of animal charcoal in 
 each bottle would prove a better jjlan of guarding the water from 
 any impurity from the slight deposit of organic matter that might 
 be expected ; at least, it does not seem very clear how charcoal 
 removed from the water before the Vine-stem is put in can have 
 much eff'ect in keeping it pure. However, this is not an important 
 matter, and it is certain that a pinch of animal charcoal, which is 
 
Chap. XIX.] 
 
 rKESERVlXG GRAPES. 
 
 :}17 
 
 very cheap, will keep the water quite sweet. One cultivator who 
 keeps G-rapes on a large scale by this method, never uses any 
 charcoal at all, hut simply fills his little bottles almost full with 
 water, and then inserts the branches, which nearly close the necks 
 of them. He appeared quite as well satisfied with the plan as 
 those who had taken pains to keep the water sweet. In case 
 evaporation should cause the water in the bottles to fall below 
 the bases of the shoots it is simply necessary to add a little 
 more. 
 
 With one-tenth the amount of expense and trouble we may 
 in a Grape-room like this maintain conditions infinitely better 
 calculated to preserve the fruit than is possible in the Yinery, We 
 
 Tliomoy made of fixing tlu: 
 bottles. 
 
 Ferriires mode of fixing tfie 
 bottles. 
 
 Portion of upright 
 used ill Grape-rooiit 
 at Ferriires. 
 
 may keep the fruit in the dark, preserve the necessary amount of 
 dryness in the atmosphere, and keep up an equable temperature, 
 all of which conditions are essential to the well-being of fruits. 
 It would be wise, in arranging a room of the sort, to have hollow 
 walls and other contrivances to attain the conditions under which 
 fruit is known to keep best, 
 
 As wo grow better hothouse Grapes and on a larger scale 
 than any other country, this method has proved of more use to us 
 than to the French. Those who have adopted the system are 
 unanimous in declaring, after several years' experience, that they 
 can keep the fruit as long in this way as upon the Vine, with 
 fewer mouldy berries, and almost without trouble. Having all 
 the stock uf Grapes safely housed and away from the attacks of 
 
318 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 vermin and other interlopers, is another of the many advantages 
 presented by this plan. In places where the stock of Grapes is 
 not sufficient to require a special room for their keeping, part of 
 the fruit-room, or even a dry cellar or store-room, might be 
 adapted to this purpose. 
 
 M. Kose-Charmeux, when he originated the plan, began by 
 having a stove and a couple of chimneys to try to regulate the 
 atmosphere of his large Grape-room ; but finding that the Grapes 
 kept very much better without this, he simply devoted to his 
 winter stock of Grapes a large room in his house. It is fitted up 
 in all parts to accommodate handily the little bottles before spoken 
 of, padding the inside of the windows so as to exclude light, and 
 obviate, as far as possible, changes of temperature. The Grapes 
 are cut in October, and preserved in good condition until April, 
 when the earliest of the new crop are ready to cut. He has fre- 
 quently preserved them till May, and even till August. 
 
 A small room in M. Kose-Charmeux's house demonstrates that 
 a similar one in most houses might be made to answer the pur- 
 poses of keeping Grapes. It has no windows, and scarcely any 
 means of ventilation. The house is heated by hot air ; but while 
 there are openings in the floor of the passages and other rooms to 
 admit this, there are none in this little room in which the Grapes 
 keep perfectly. Thus it is clear that the ordinary dwelling-house 
 will present suitable conditions for the preservation of Grapes 
 throughout the winter. The system was attractive enough when 
 it was considered necessary to construct a room specially to carry 
 it out ; it is much more so now when it has been proved that not 
 only is it unnecessary to take any special means to warm or 
 ventilate the structure, but that the Grapes keep much better 
 without that trouble. The first result of the method was an 
 annual gain to the village of Thomery, which is almost wholly 
 occupied with Grape-culture, of from £4000 to £6000. The 
 system enables the cultivators to keep their Grapes much later 
 than of old, and thus to add considerably to their revenue. 
 
 In England the system has been tried and favourably reported 
 on by Mr. Hill of Keele Hall, the famous Grape grower, and by 
 other good growers. Mr. Whittaker of Crewe Hall sent some 
 to a meeting of the Horticultural Society, but he had taken 
 unnecessary trouble by corking and sealing the bottles. The 
 
Chap. XIX.] 
 
 PEESEllYING GRArES. 
 
 319 
 
 insertion of the shoot into a bottle of water is all that is required, 
 and as the bottles used are little more than wide enough at the 
 neck to admit the shoot, the surface exposed to evaporation is very 
 small. It has been urged against the method that the Grapes 
 " lose their sugar." This is not the case unless the fruit is kept 
 a very long time. The French, in carrying out their experiments, 
 have kept some of their Grapes as long as they could, and have 
 frequently shown them in a nice plump condition long after they 
 ripen their early Grapes. In these extreme instances a loss of 
 sugar was no doubt perceptible ; but what kind of flavour would 
 
 Sfction of Cr.ipe-room at Ileckfield. Scale \ in. to i Ji. 
 
 Grapes possess if left hanging on the Vine till the summer months 
 when these Grapes were exhibited ? There is no necessity for 
 keeping them till they lose their sugar. In most of our large 
 gardens Grapes are forced early, and would be ripe before the 
 fruit of the previous year had lost its virtues in the least degree. 
 To be able to clear the Vineries of Grapes two months before 
 the ordinary time, will prove to be a decided gain to all Grape- 
 growers. 
 
 Not only has this system been adopted by all our great English 
 grape-growers, but they have modified it by doing away with the 
 necessity for using bottles. Mr. AVilliam Dudds has invented a V 
 
320 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 tube made of tin or zinc, and suspended by a wire. They are 
 simple in construction, and may be made by any ordinary tinman. 
 Mr. Kemp bas invented what he calls a Grape-rail, which 
 mainly consists in the substitution of a fine trough for the series 
 of bottles. 
 
 Mr. Wildsmith's Grape-room at Heckfield is 14 feet long by 10 
 feet broad and 8 feet high, and is fitted with three tiers of racks 
 running horizontally round the room. Space is thus provided for 
 a large quantity of fruit. 
 
 Messrs. Tillery, Wildsmith, Nisbet, Simpson, Johnston, and a 
 host of others have all adopted the system as a permanent thing. 
 The particular variety of Grape which 
 seems most fitted for keeping in this 
 way is Lady Downe's Seedling ; but 
 Black Alicante, Barbarossa, Black Tri- 
 poli, Burckhardt's Prince, Eoyal Vine- 
 yard, Gros Colman, Syrian, White Vine, 
 and Trebbiano, succeed well when cut 
 perfectly ripe. Lady Downe's Seedling 
 may be cut as late as the end of February, 
 and will keep good until the end of June. 
 It may be asked why late Grapes should 
 be kept so long when early forced Grapes 
 can be cut as early as May ; but it must 
 be remembered that the diff'erence in 
 cost between keeping late and forcing 
 early Grapes is enormous, whether they are intended for the table 
 or market. Late Grapes, too, carry better to market than early 
 forced ones. 
 
 The advantages of setting both Vines and houses free at so early 
 a period will be appreciated by everybody, more especially by 
 those who are still stricken with the bedding-out mania. It also 
 gives the Vines greater strength, and allows them to do fuller 
 justice to the pains bestowed upon them. The conditions of 
 success are simj)le, and easily complied with. First, the Grapes 
 must be thoroughly ripe before being j^laced in the bottles. 
 Secondly, the house must be suitable, i.e., dry and frost-proof, and 
 not liable to unreasonable fluctuations in temperature which induce 
 decay, especially if the Grapes are not fully ripe when bottled. 
 
 .Mr. Dodd's tube fm 
 li 'ater. 
 
 Grape 
 
Chap. XIX.] 
 
 PRESERVING GRAPES. 
 
 321 
 
 On these points hangs the whole matter of good or bad preservation. 
 Complete ripeness is easily secured, but a proper house is a more 
 difficult matter. It should be built with hollow walls, to neutralise 
 the eflects of both heat and cold ; and, though much fire-heat is 
 undesirable, as it causes the fruit to shrivel, provision should be 
 made for its application to expel damp when required — the door 
 
 S 
 
 ^ 
 
 r^ 
 
 h^ 
 
 P 
 
 Kfinfs Crnfif-rail. — A, front 
 
 ' ; P, side 7'ii~!i' of support ; D, end 
 view of trough. 
 
 of trough ; C, suie 
 
 and ventilators being wide open while the heat is being given. 
 The most important point to observe when cutting the Grapes is 
 to see that the whole extent of wood above the bunch be left 
 intact, and not cut oflf as in the illustration of the Thomery and 
 Ferrieres methods of Grape-preserving. The water absorbed by 
 the wood is by this means partially diverted from the fruit into 
 
322 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 the branch beyond it, thus preventing deterioration in flavour. If 
 charcoal is put in the water when the bottles are first filled, 
 changing the water is never required, and in such a room as that 
 described evaporation is so trifling that water need only be added 
 once or twice in the season to keep the bottles full. Given the 
 above conditions, and Grape-rooms would soon become as common 
 as other fruit-rooms, because the Grapes would be certain to keep, 
 and the Vineries would be set free so much sooner. Of course, 
 like most other innovations, it was laughed at when first described 
 as likely to be a useful system in English gardens. I first noticed 
 it in use at Thomery in M. Kose-Charmeux's garden there. 
 
 Interior of Grape- 
 
 at Thomery, 
 
( 323 ) 
 
 CnAPTEPt XX. 
 
 Some Notes on Fruit Gardens. 
 
 
 Permanent tiled coJ>ing to Peach-wall, 
 Bourg-la-Reine. 
 
 Many French nurserymen 
 have, in addition to the ground 
 loYoted to the raising and 
 raining of young trees, a 
 |)rivate garden or "school " of 
 fruit-culture, in which various 
 trees may be seen in a de- 
 veloped state. The garden 
 established by M, F. Jamin 
 is an excellent example of 
 this class of garden, and being 
 near Paris and easily acces- 
 sible, should be visited by the stranger interested in fruit- 
 culture. The walls of stone have a coping of overlapping 
 tiles, which project about nine inches. This is, perhaps, as 
 good a coping as any in use, and its eflect is neat, much 
 more so than that of other tile copings employed here. The 
 walls are all wired closely and eflfectively with the galvanised wire 
 tightened by the raidisseur. Tlie walls with the warmest and 
 best aspects are planted with Peaches and Winter Pears, and 
 herein is an instructive lesson. 
 
 A most experienced fruit-grower here, one who knows England, 
 gives as his experience that it is absolutely useless to attempt the 
 culture of the finer Winter Pears, the most valuable of all, away 
 from walls, and that it is necessary to place such kinds as the 
 Easter Beurre against well-coped walls with a southern exposure, 
 the soil being of the finest description and the climate that of 
 
324 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 Paris. He could grow some of them in the open, but they would 
 be uncertain and worthless ; and he gives an instance — Beurre 
 Kance, which is excellent against walls. The collection of Winter 
 Pears had only been planted a short time, and yet the crop was 
 very good, every young tree bearing as much as one could desire 
 to see upon it. These Pear-trees were destined finally to assume 
 the form known as the Palmetto Verrier ; but the branches were 
 being trained diagonally, so that they might be furnished and 
 formed with less trouble and in a shorter time, the sap rising 
 much more freely and naturally in young branches that ascend 
 obliquely than when they run in an exactly horizontal direction. 
 Beurre Diel is also planted against walls here — not that it may 
 
 iHlfil'; 
 
 V ^'l V % \^ i'^ -u « ^ 
 
 illiliiiil 
 
 vr, 
 
 J^. 
 
 Peach-tree [Catidelabnnn] with the vertical branches in the U form, instead of ascending 
 directly from the jnoiher-braach as ifi opposite illustration. 
 
 not be grown in the open, but its flowers are very liable to be 
 injured by frost in spring, and therefore it is placed on a wall to 
 secure a crop. 
 
 This garden is very instructive, as showing the perfect control 
 under which the energies of the trees are directed to a useful end 
 by the skilful cultivator. Though a nursery-garden where the 
 more promising young trees are often sold, there are nevertheless 
 beautiful specimens of trees in it — the Candelabrum Peach-tree 
 for example. Illustrations of such trees having usually shown the 
 tree when bare of leaves and fruit, it seemed desirable that the 
 public should see some when in full bearing. The fine example of 
 a Peach-tree represented oj)j)osite has been drawn and engraved 
 exactly after a photograph taken when the fruit was approaching 
 
Chat. XX.] 
 
 R0:ME notes on FUUlT-GAimEXS. 
 
 325 
 
 ripeness. It is one of the most interesting examples I have seen 
 of training applied to a good end, that is to say, where all done 
 to the tree, is done with a well-directed aim and with a good 
 result. A good deal of pruning is often done without either. 
 In this garden the plan of adopting three upright shoots from 
 
 I'cach-tree with ao vertical branches {Cauddubrum fv. 
 tardive ; lo years of age, a/cel long, \o feet high ; a; 
 and size. At. Janiin's garden, Bourg-la-Riine. 
 
 lit' in full tearing ; variety, Chevreuse 
 (roge crop, 400 /'caches 0/ the first quality 
 
 one tree, instead of the cordon system, has been carried out. It 
 is applied to the Apricot and the Peach, one kind being worked 
 on each ascending branch, and thus three kinds are borne by each 
 tree. There was no indication of a disposition on the part of any 
 of the trios thus united not to grow agreeably together; indeed, 
 
 z 
 
326 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 they were as equally balanced and as healthy as could he wished. 
 Where it is desired, by nurserymen or private growers, to have a 
 large number of varieties in a restricted space, this is the best 
 plan of all. 
 
 AYestern and southern walls are found to require more protection 
 and wider copings than those with northern and eastern aspects, 
 the abundant rains being more dreaded than the frost ; the 
 
 Pyra^nid Beiirre Dumotit ; \o years old, 
 M. yamin's garden, Bonr 
 
 yfcct Jtigh, lo feet wide. 
 la-Keh,e. 
 
 western walls here have therefore a much deeper coping than the 
 eastern. North walls receive very little coping and sometimes no 
 protection at all in the way of a permanent coping, while east walls 
 have one eight inches deep, south walls ten inches, and west walls 
 twelve inches. Surely nothing can be more suggestive to those 
 who have to grow fruit in Britain, the country of rain. This 
 curious difference in the way of protecting the walls according to 
 their exposure, is based on long observation, and it partly explains 
 
Chap. XX.] 
 
 SOME NOTES ()X FilUI'l'-GAlJDEXS. 
 
 327 
 
 to us why the deep temporary copings recommended in this book 
 are so effective in saving crops. It may be doubted if they could 
 have much influence in protecting the trees from intense cold, but 
 they give complete protection from cold rains, sleet, and snow. 
 
 A winged pyramid figured in this chapter from one of the 
 specimens here, is of a form which commends itself owing to the 
 
 Winged lyraniid, Beurri Hardy; lo years old, i-^ feet high, dk/eet ivide ; average croJ>, 
 400 Pears. M. Jamin's garden, Bourg-la-Reine. 
 
 avoidance of loss from high winds, the branches being firmly 
 placed in position. It is a combination of the espalier and the 
 pyramid, and is as easy to form as any other to those who have 
 learnt the rudiments of fruit-culture as taught in France. 
 The branches are trained in four opposite wings mutually sup- 
 porting each other by the aid of slender rods of willow, or any 
 easily-procured stakes. Such a form must not be classed among 
 
 z 2 
 
J28 
 
 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 the mere curiosities of training ; in addition to the fruit 
 supported firmly, the wood and fruit are more fully exposed to 
 the sun, and the tree has full room for its complete development. 
 On deep and strong soils this is of great importance, excessive 
 repression by the knife producing gross infertile wood. Therefore 
 free large forms of this kind are as valuable in some soils as the 
 small forms like the cordon are in others, especially for kinds of 
 Pear that grow and fare best on the Pear stock. 
 
 The handsome palmette form is also well grown here. One 
 
 Pear Tn'oin/Jie dc Jodoigne, in Pabiiette form ; zo years old, is/eei long, Zijeet high. 
 M. jfamin's garden, Bourg-la-Reine. 
 
 specimen in full bearing was photographed, drawn, and engraved 
 for this work. This is the handsomest of the large forms for trees 
 in strong soils, and many beautiful examples of it may be seen in 
 France. Cordon trees are well grown in this garden, and the 
 horizontal ones forming copings are protected in spring by broom 
 or other twigs woven into light frames of wood about twenty 
 inches wide, and supported a few inches above the cordon in 
 flower. 
 
 M. Durand's garden in this town contains also a good example 
 of a fruit-garden, including a collection of the choicest Grapes 
 
Chap. XX.] SOME NOTES ON FRUIT-GAKDENS. 329 
 
 Soulh 
 
 l&rS.' 
 
 Plan of Fruit garden /or the- Sorth of France, designed hy M. J. Durand, of Bourg-la-Reine, 
 i^o yards long and %o broad. 
 
 References to Plan.— A, Cisterns for water-supply. B, .South 7i-all with Peach-trees tratn.d ,n the 
 fan, palmette, and candelabrum forms. C, Espaiicrs of Pears in the palmette form, ih^ trees 
 eighteen feet apart. D, Lines of Apples trained as /torizontal cordons, planted Huelvejeet apart 
 and a fnu indies within the margin of the beds E, Pear-trees in the columnar form, ten feet 
 apart. F, North wall with Cherry-trees, about sixteen feet apart. C, Push Apples on the Parazltse 
 
330 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 grown in France. The plan of forming a special garden for fully- 
 trained fruit-trees is well worthy of imitation by growers of fruit- 
 trees for sale. 
 
 nun Oy M. C 
 
 r. All the point i oj tlu h 
 by grafting. 
 
 /us have been united 
 
 On mentioning to M. Durand my wish to have a plan of what he 
 would consider a good example of a fruit-garden in Northern 
 
 stock, six feet a/>art. H, East wall with Winter Pears, such as Easter Beurre, Crassane, and St. 
 Germain. I, South zuall of Peach-trees with Jive erect branches, eight feet asunder. J, North 
 wall with Cherries in the filmette form, about sixteen feet apart. K, West wall of Summer and 
 Autninn Pears. LL, Interior walls of the garden. M, Pyramidal Pears, tiuenty feet apart. N, 
 East wall with Apricots — horizontally-trained trees, planted twenty feet apart. O, iFest wall 
 with PluKts, twenty feet apart. P, Gooseberries. Q, Currants. R , Raspberries . S, Boundary 
 trellis, which may be covered ^vith Vines, or Pears if in a cold climate. 
 
Chap. XX.] 
 
 SCEAUX. 
 
 331 
 
 France, he designed one specially for ine, which is given in this 
 chapter. 
 
 ScEAUX. — In the same neighbourhood are nurseries belonging to 
 M. Croux, and a very good school of fruit-culture apart from the 
 large home-nursery. Many of the trees are trained into very 
 curious forms. The cordons here have grown too strongly, and 
 every second stem is severed. They had of course 
 been previously firmly grafted one to the other. 
 Cydonia sinensis against walls has fruit a foot long 
 in favourable seasons, but is simply a curiosity. 
 Several kinds of Eibes, including the Gooseberry, 
 are grafted on the Red Currant. The remarkable 
 specimen of training figured opposite was shown by 
 M. Croux at the Paris Exposition of 18G7, and was 
 
 Pear-tree luith horizontai branclus, supported by slender galvanised 
 wires stretched from a stake at hack oftlte tree to stones in the ground. 
 
 Mode of support- 
 ing stake for trees 
 trained as s/unun 
 in the preceding 
 figure. 
 
 much admired. The plant-nurseries of MM. Thibaut and 
 Keteleer near here are well worth visiting. 
 
 Chatillox, Fontenay aux Eoses. — Visitors to Bourg-la-Reine 
 or Sceaux may on the same day conveniently visit the garden of 
 M. Chardon in this village. The owner is an amateur, and has a 
 most interesting little garden of fruit-trees. In addition to the 
 common and well-known forms, he has many specimens trained 
 
332 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF RARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 over walks and bowers, and altogether the garden would well 
 repay a visit by anybody visiting Paris who wishes to see what 
 
 may be done with fruit-trees 
 by an amateur. 
 
 SuiSNES (Brie-Comte- 
 Kobert). — The nursery of 
 M. Cochet here is an inter- 
 esting one for the fruit- 
 grower. Apples, on the 
 horizontal-cordon system, 
 are planted in large 
 numbers in places formerly 
 only occupied by high box- 
 edgings. They were among 
 the best cordons I have 
 seen in France, some bear- 
 ing as much fruit as they 
 seemed able properly to 
 develop ; yet M. Cochet 
 considered it a very thin 
 crop, and said they fre- 
 quently have them almost 
 
 i 
 
 /'/ii/i o/ Espalier in preceding Jigiii 
 at corner of line. 
 
 as thick as they can stand along the line. Several walks 
 are margined here with two instead of one line of cordons, the 
 inner line being about three inches higher than the outer one. Of 
 
CiiAi-. XX.] 
 
 SUISNES. 
 
 )o3 
 
 course miiuy variations may ho made thus, but the single line, 
 
 well conducted and rather freely developed, is the best of all, 
 
 tliough there are many positions and circumstances in which two 
 
 lines, superimposed cordons or other modifications, will prove 
 
 desirable. M. Cochet has planted almost every good variety of 
 
 Apple on this principle, and finds they all do well on it. All are 
 
 grafted on the true French Paradise stock. Some of his fruit 
 
 from three-year old plants was remarkably 
 
 fine, and nothing could look prettier than 
 
 the handsome Apples along the side of the 
 
 walks. A much more regular and better 
 
 effect could be obtained by lines of one kind 
 
 only, and the training and pruning of them 
 
 also would be more likely to be performed 
 
 in the best manner. In nearly all parts of 
 
 the garden there was abundant evidence 
 
 that the horizontal cordon for Apples is 
 
 the best improvement efl'ected in open-air 
 
 fruit-culture for years. 
 
 A line of Pears trained thus may also 
 lie seen, but it is a failure, although there 
 was a fine crop hanging on one specimen 
 of the Belle Angevine. "When grown in this 
 way the Pear usually manifests a disposition 
 to shoot up " gourmands," or shoots very 
 like those of Willows, from the bend. On 
 walls where the sap has room to spread, 
 this inconvenience is of course not present. 
 The young Pear and other trees here in 
 preparation for wall and espalier culture 
 are neatly trained in line by means of tightly-strained galvanised 
 wires. By this means trees fit to place against walls immedi- 
 ately, may be picked out at any time. A good many handsome 
 palmetto and other trees are to be seen, but particularly 
 remarkable are those trained in what is called the columnar 
 form. This is simply a tree trained to a single stem, or a 
 vertical cordon, the top being allowed to grow as high as it can, 
 and thus close columns of leaves and fruits are formed as much 
 as fifteen feet high. Nothing could exceed the tine condition 
 
 Penr-tri'c in Columnar Jorm, 
 
334 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX, 
 
 of many of these trees, perfectly laden from top to bottom 
 in many cases, and in many more bending arched to the ground 
 with the weight of their fruit. They were not staked, but when 
 they are grown in a regular fruit-garden it is the custom to 
 connect them securely near the top by a line of wire, so that they 
 cannot bend down with the weight of the fruit. Their advantages 
 are that fruit and leaves enjoy abundance of sun and air. The 
 
 Portion of Selfsupporling espalier of Pcar-irees, forjned of horizontal aiid vertically trained trees, 
 the points of the horizontal ly-trained tree grafted ly approach to the outer branches only of the 
 
 vertical ones. 
 
 fruit is said to be better flavoured than from the pyramid tree, 
 in which there is usually a good deal of shade, while they are 
 perhaps the easiest of all forms to conduct, and a great many 
 kinds may be grown on a small space. Their drawback appears 
 to be the great height to which they attain, thus rendering 
 pruning and the gathering of the fruit not so easy as desirable. 
 
 In many French gardens a peculiarly simple and neat way of 
 training espalier Pear-trees may be seen, and there were good 
 examples both here and in the next place 
 described. It consists of a stout stake 
 for the main trunk of the tree, and of 
 wires running from this to stones or 
 pegs buried in the ground. That the 
 roots of the tree may not be hurt by a 
 large stake, this is sometimes supported 
 by the stem. Besides, the support for the 
 wires and younger branches is only required towards the top of the 
 tree ; hence another reason for not fixing the stake in the ground. 
 It is quite easy to project little stakes from the stouter parts to 
 
 stake for fixing the wires 
 the ground. 
 
Chap. XX.] 
 
 BKUXOY. 
 
 535 
 
 the young growing branchlets of the tree, and thus keep the 
 points perfectly trained in the desired direction. On the first of 
 November every year, one of the many professors of fruit-culture 
 in Paris, gives and illustrates here a lecture, which is attended 
 by from three to four hundred gardeners from various parts in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 BituxoY (Seixe-et-M.\une). — There is here a very remarkable 
 fruit-garden belonging to an amateur, M. Nallet — a garden which 
 will repay a visit at any time of the year. It is only a few 
 minutes' walk from Brunoy station, passed on the way to Fou- 
 taiucbleau, and within an easy distance of Paris. It is an oblong 
 piece of ground, walled in and with a straight walk through the 
 centre, bordered by two lines of handsome pyramidal trees, cut 
 
 Espa'.iers of Fear-trees 7vith the branches grafted by approach. 
 
 off from the walk by long horizontal cordons. Lines of tall trellis- 
 work run at right angles with the main walk, and accommo- 
 date a great variety of trees — many fanciful, and many of the 
 best and most useful forms. The owner considered that, taking 
 bad years with good, an average of ten fruit per yard run of each 
 branch of a cordon tree might be calculated upon. The cordons 
 are never protected, and, here as elsewhere, furnish numerous 
 places which would otherwise not be occupied at all. It is im- 
 possible to give the reader an idea of the variety of form to be 
 seen in the fruit-trees, therefore we will confine ourselves to the 
 most remarkable. The garden offers recreation to its amiable 
 owner, and he, while not neglecting the very best forms, also 
 amuses himself occasionally by transforming one or more trees 
 
^^tt 
 
 336 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 into fantastic monograms and letters. The columnar form is 
 very well developed here, some of the specimens approaching 
 eighteen feet in height. They are regularly staked, and high 
 
 lines of wire connect them 
 by the tops, so that they are 
 held firmly together. 
 
 Numerous palmetto trees 
 occur here, and it is notice- 
 able that the lines which the 
 trees are to follow are laid 
 down at first with Willow or 
 other slender flexible rods. 
 This very much simplifies 
 training. The plan is well 
 worth adopting in our gardens 
 even for the simplest vertical 
 forms. There is with this 
 plan no doubt as to the exact 
 course each shoot is to follow. 
 The shoots also make cleaner 
 growth, from being tied to 
 the straight rods when young. 
 Much time is also saved to 
 the men in training by having 
 the lines exactly laid down 
 for the tree at first. Willow- 
 rods do admirably where 
 there are bends of branches. 
 A Plum-tree, trained as a 
 Palmetto Terrier, was very 
 ornamental, the lines of fruit 
 darkening the long, neatly- 
 guided branches. Curtains 
 of Pear and other trees, 
 trained on slender trellises 
 of wire, are very well formed. 
 The Peach is grown to some extent against the walls, and 
 successfully, some of the trees looking almost as well as those 
 
 A large portion 
 
 at Montreuil, though the walls are not so high 
 
CuAV. XX.] 
 
 BRUXOY 
 
 331 
 
 of the wall-space is devoted to oldiqnc cordons of the Easter 
 Beurre, and these were in excellent bearing; they had been 
 planted six years, were about twelve feet long, and bore from ten 
 to fifteen fruit each. Planted twenty inches apart, and confined 
 to one stem, which is never cut back at the point if the wood be 
 ripe, they soon cover the wall, and as the good fruit of this variety 
 commands a high price, a quick return is aftbrded. In several 
 small walled gardens made in connection with the chief one of 
 M. Nallet, the greater portion of the wall-surface is devoted to 
 Easter Beurre, 
 
 The practice of grafting by approach the branches of the Pear- 
 trees is extensively employed here. The figures will better 
 explain the mode of training and the 
 aspect of the trees in the garden than any 
 description. I am much indebted to M. 
 Nallet for his kindness in sending me 
 accurate sketches of some of his most 
 remarkable trees. 
 
 A distinct and apparently useful form 
 of tree I met with here for the first time. 
 It is called the balloon form, and is made 
 l)y taking eight branches from the base 
 of the tree, and bringing them outside a 
 circular hoop, allowing one main stem to 
 ascend erect. The branches, after gi'ow- 
 ing a little above the hoop, which gives 
 a desirable uniformity to the base, ascend 
 at regular intervals to the tcp, where 
 they are neatly united to the erect shoot. The figures will 
 explain this form, but the stake has been made much too 
 large by the engraver. It should be of iron. This figure is in 
 other respects a good representation of a handsome specimen 
 in M. Nallet's garden. Each branch being kept distinct, and 
 the tree being well opened up by this system, the result was 
 very good. A specimen of the Duehesse d'Angouleme trained 
 thus was one of the handsomest-looking trees I have ever seen. 
 The method has more advantages than would appear at first sight 
 — the long fruiting-branches being thoroughly exposed to the 
 sun and light from bottom to top, the branches being held 
 
 I'ear-tree trained in the Balloon 
 form, ten feet high. 
 
THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OE PARTS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 firmly, and the tree being altogether a decided improvement upon 
 the pyramid for important positions in gardens. 
 
 FerriJ:ees. — The fruit-garden here is the finest I have seen in 
 any private place in France. There are many beautifully-formed 
 espalier-trees. They are more than twice as high as those 
 usually seen in our gardens, being about ten feet high ; but not a 
 square foot of the vfhole surface of a 
 trellis several hundred feet long is with- 
 out the portion of branch which the 
 fruit-grower originally intended it to 
 carry. The form mostly emj)loyed is 
 the palmetto, scores of them being as 
 regularly formed as if the shoots pushed 
 and sap flowed at the grower's bidding. 
 Walks, extending the full length and 
 breadth of the garden, are bordered with 
 these high trellises, the eff'ect being very 
 good. Other kinds of espalier-trees, of 
 which the branches do not turn up at 
 the ends, but run obliquely their whole 
 length, are abundant here, and are pre- 
 ferred to the Palmetto Verrier, which. 
 
 Pear-tree in Balloon fo; 
 teen feet high and si 
 diameter. 
 
 feet in 
 
 Plan of Pear-tree 
 fo, 
 
 once formed, does not admit of increase in size. Trellises for 
 espalier-trees are numerous here. The reason is that the autumnal 
 winds are very destructive to large finely grown Pears on pyramidal 
 trees; on trees fixed to espaliers the fruit will withstand the 
 strongest September gale. This is an important consideration for 
 those who wish to grow the finest kinds of keeping Pears. This 
 garden contains hundreds of the finest pyramidal Pear-trees, tall, 
 
CiiAi'. XX.] LYONS. 330 
 
 firmly and regularly set with branches, each in its turn furnished 
 from top to bottom with fertile wood. There remains the objection 
 that fruit grown in this way and in all respects carefully looked 
 after, is liable to be blown off by an autumnal gale ; hence, the 
 grower cannot depend on them as on an espalier. Cordons of the 
 various fruit-trees, mostly simple cordons, are employed, when 
 the aim is to cover the wall quickly and get an early return. 
 Ground-cordons of the Apple form a continuous and frequently 
 inter-grafted line by the side of the walls, and are very useful in 
 the production of tine specimen fruit of the more valuable kinds. 
 There is a deep permanent coping to the walls, and, beneath it, 
 iron stays to support a temporary coping, not less than two feet 
 wade during the spring. A wide coping is placed over the Easter 
 Beurre here, not only when in flower, but throughout the season. 
 It is believed that, in a climate so changeable, and frequently so 
 severe, spotting, cracking, and various other maladies are best 
 guarded against by a deep coping. 
 
 Lyons. — Towards the close of the Paris ]^xhibition of 18G7, a 
 noble Peach-tree was shown by M. Morel, trained as a Palmette 
 Yerrier, and so well trained as to excite the admiration of all who 
 saw it. M. Morel lives at Vaise, a suburb of Lyons, where I had 
 the pleasure of visiting him afterwards. The wall on Avhich his 
 Peach-trees are grown is on an average thirteen feet high, and it 
 is made of very cheap material — the common earth of the garden. 
 A foundation is made, and the wall raised a little above the surface 
 of the ground with stone, to guard the earth-wall above from 
 injury by frost and wet. Then the earth is laid in and well 
 battered down between boards, and un every layer of earth there 
 is deposited about a inch and a half of mortar. The layers in one 
 wall were about one foot deep ; in another — the better wall of the 
 two — they were about two feet deep : and between each layer the 
 thin seam of mortar could be seen. The walls are about eighteen 
 inches thick, and capped with a coping of tiles, under which are 
 inserted iron supports for protection in spring. In this way 
 strong and useful walls are made for fruit-growing and other 
 purposes. The earth-walls cost about a shilling per yard, those 
 of stone about four shillings. The earth-walls, when well made, 
 last for a couple of centuries, A house near at hand, constructed 
 in the same way, has been erected one hundred years. 
 
340 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF EAEIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that while the Peach does very well about 
 here as a standard tree, good cultivators find distinct advantages 
 not alone in growing it against a wall, but also in well protecting 
 it when in flower. M. Morel considered that this is of advantage in 
 three ways — firstly, in securing a crop by preserving the flowers 
 from destruction by frost ; secondly, by saving the trees from the 
 disease caused by frosts and sleety rains falling on the young 
 leaves and shoots ; and thirdly, by the tendency which a wide tem- 
 porary coping has in making the tree push more vigorously in its 
 lower than in its upper parts. A wide mat at the top of the wall 
 in spring obscures the light to a considerable extent from the 
 upper part of the wall, and this prevents the sap from running 
 rapidly to the top as it generally does. However, a good trainer 
 can always prevent that. These things are mentioned to show 
 that, even in a climate much better than that of Paris, protection 
 to the wall is considered a necessity. The trees away from walls 
 are often attacked by gum and the " maladies caused by the cold 
 of spring," to use M. Morel's words. Does not this suggest the 
 true cause of the miserable aspect of many Peach-trees where 
 careful protection in spring is not resorted to ? In numerous large 
 British gardens, with every appliance, the walls are often left ex- 
 posed or with the most meagre protection — so that there is nothing 
 to prevent the cold rains of spring from falling on the young 
 leaves and flowers ; while in many Continental gardens, with but 
 a solitary man to attend to them, careful protection is regularly 
 given. Here, too, each espalier Pear-tree is protected in spring by 
 having a cross-bar fixed over it, by the assistance of which and 
 wires, mats are held over the trees during the season of dangerous 
 frosts. 
 
 The portions of the walls here occupied by the old and esta- 
 blished trees were perfectly covered with the healthiest specimens ; 
 even the bases of the stems and the branches had shoots trained 
 over them. The forms most employed are the Palmetto Verrier 
 and the Candelabrum. The pruning is done in winter, when time 
 and weather permit, and not in spring, as is generally the case. 
 There can be little gained by waiting till streams of sap are 
 ascending through the branches, and but slight discernment 
 suffices to distinguish the various kinds of buds in winter as well 
 as in spring. An important jjoint in M. Morel's culture, is that 
 
CuAP. XX.] L'ECOLE KEGIOXALE UE LA SAULSAIE. 341 
 
 he does not stop the leading shoots, except when one happens to be 
 weak. In all countries there is probably too much cutting in and 
 shortening back. As to the state of fruit-growing about here, it 
 is still much in want of improvement, though a considerable 
 advance has been made during the past generation. Thirty years 
 ago, a dozen Pears of good quality were sold here for eighteen- 
 pence — now worth one-third as much. This good result has 
 been brought about by popularising really good varieties. 
 
 The Eegional School of Saulsaie. — There are many small 
 departmental schools established with a view to spread a know- 
 ledge of rural pursuits in France — this is one of a few establish- 
 ments with a more extended aim. It is situated in the department 
 of Ain, a couple of hours' journey from Lyons, and is principally 
 an extensive school of agriculture. Although Saulsaie is situate 
 much further south than Paris, there can be little doubt that 
 there are mauy'parts of England far more favourable than it to 
 the production of fruit. The original specimens of the Palmetto 
 Yerrier are to be seen here, and very fine some of them are. A 
 marked superiority was observed in the Easter Beurre Pear grown 
 against walls and the same variety grown away from their shelter 
 and protection. Against walls, where the trees had been efficiently 
 protected in spring, the trees and fruit were in perfect condition. 
 This speaks for itself, and proves that it is to well-managed walls 
 we must mainly look for improvements in the culture of our finer 
 and tenderer fruits. Here the French actually find that walls 
 are not only a benefit but a necessity for some kinds of Pear. 
 
 As the place is very much exposed to storms, peculiar ex- 
 pedients have been resorted to for securing the trees against 
 their influence. The practice of training trees with the branches 
 crossed and intertwined by way of mutual support, was illustrated 
 here on a large scale, in the case of both Apples and Pears. Laths 
 and sticks are first used to train the trees into shape, and after 
 the trees have attained their full size, crossing and supporting 
 each other, the supports are removed or allowed to rot away. 
 There were many Apple and Pear trees trained on this principle, 
 and so well and firmly that there could be no doubt whatever that 
 it is perfectly practicable and good, and that the objections which 
 have been urged against it are entirely groundless. It has been 
 said that the branches would destroy each other by friction : there 
 
 2 A 
 

 
 5yi 
 
CifAP. XX.] L'ECOLE REGIOXALE DE LA SAULSAIE. 343 
 
 was ample evidence here that this was not the case, even with the 
 strong winds so frequently blowing. Apple-trees in one fine line of 
 eight feet high, mutually support each other without the slightest 
 injury. There are three stages of branches on each tree, except 
 at the end of the line where they are required to complete it. 
 Having obtained the three tiers of branches, the central stem is 
 retained as a support for the intercrossing branches. It requires 
 eight years to form a series of fine espaliers like those in the 
 Government School at Saulsaic. The shoots at the top are to en- 
 courage the sap to flow freely through each branch, and also to 
 prevent very strong growth on the branches. It is thus clear that 
 wc may not only much improve the appearance of our espaliers by 
 improved trellising, but make the espalier-trees self-supporting. 
 
 In the case of very large pyramids planted here, another ex- 
 pedient to protect them from the wind was adopted. As is 
 frequent in French fruit-gardens, the branches of the pyramids 
 are brought regularly in straight lines from the bole of the tree 
 - — that is, the branches form four, five, or six wings, as the case 
 may be ; five is the most usual number. In the instance I am 
 describing there are four wings to each pyramid ; but the branches, 
 instead of being stopped, as is usually done, are trained in straight 
 lines from one pyramid to the other, so that they cross each other, 
 forming walls of trellis-work, an opening being left at the bottom 
 under which one may pass. In one spot there were regular little 
 squares formed thus between every four trees — in fact, a green 
 wall of from twelve to fourteen feet high enclosed the visitor. I 
 never met with this elsewhere, and it was very well done. 
 
 An expedient to give additional support and strength to the 
 espaliers was, when employing the double trellis, to let the two 
 sides meet at top and lean against each other — thus, /\— instead 
 of placing them vertically, as is the custom. A line of trees 
 trained in the vase-form were united one with the other by a 
 strong arched branch, the branch springing from the top of the 
 vase. The fruit -gardener here, the late M. Verrier, had invented 
 and carried out with mucli skill, forms to suit a garden open to 
 fierce winds which would render such exposed trees insecure 
 without the strongest support. No garden could afibrd a better 
 test of the effect of wind on trained trees. Some that were standing 
 singly looked like neat summer-houses. They were pyramids, 
 
 2 A 2 
 
344 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 with the branches brought out from the main stem in six lines, 
 the branches in each line being of course placed exactly one above 
 the other. Trees are trained thus, so that the air and light may 
 fully benefit all parts of them. The character of a pretty bower 
 was imparted to the space between every two wings of the tree by 
 simply carrying an arched branch from wing to wing overhead. 
 
 There is here a very well-furnished Peach-wall, made of common 
 earth in the same way as by M. Morel at Yaise-Lyon, except that 
 the base of the wall was made of rough stones instead of solid 
 stone. The coping is of tiles, not sloping down on both sides of 
 the wall, but running clean from front to back, the higher side 
 being reserved for the most important crop. Beneath this coping 
 wooden supports project about twenty inches from the wall, to 
 accommodate a neat straw mat in spring. Espaliers are here 
 occasionally protected with these straw mats by simply projecting 
 from the main support of the espalier two little stays of iron 
 or wood, which carry a rude and cheap span of framework, on 
 which the mats are so placed in spring that the wind cannot blow 
 them off. 
 
 There is a School of Dendrology here, with the trees planted 
 in their natural orders, and generally speaking good facilities for 
 teaching young men with a taste for rural pursuits. 
 
 Dijon. — The home-nursery of Leconte here is well kept and 
 instructive. It is an oblong piece of ground, about four acres in 
 extent, and walled in on every side, the walls being coped with 
 overlapping tiles. All the space on both sides of the walls was 
 planted with oblique cordon Pear-trees, trained on single gal- 
 vanised wires, attached to two strong nails in the walls. A wall 
 about fifteen feet high was nearly covered with oblique cordon 
 Pears, and as they had so much room to rise, the position seemed 
 particularly suited to them. Near at hand they were grown to 
 the same height by projecting a trellis above the garden-wall, 
 so as to form a very high screen of cordon Pears above it. This 
 was done by erecting strong uprights of iron to the required 
 height above the wall, and then running galvanised wires from 
 the bottom of the wall to a strong horizontal wire or rod passing 
 from upright to upright at the top. Looking along the walks, 
 cordon Apples could be seen stretching without interruption 
 from one end of the garden to the other, the efiect being very 
 
Chap. XX.] ANGERS. 345 
 
 pretty. They were planted a few inches inside the box edging, 
 and between it and lines of handsome pyramidal Pears, and, 
 as usual, chiefly to fill up neatly and permanently a space that 
 otherwise could not be usefully occupied. 
 
 Angers. — This famous old town is known almost everywhere 
 for its many and large nursery-gardens. It is a fine climate, this 
 of Anjou — so genial as to develop the Tea-plant in perfect health 
 out of doors, and with sun enough to spice the air with the 
 fragrance of that noble evergreen, Magnolia grandiflora, which 
 may be seen used as a promenade-tree in the place immediately 
 outside the main entrance to the nurseries of M. A. Leroy. There 
 arc many large specimens and lines of this plant in these very 
 extensive nurseries. The Camellia does perfectly well in the open 
 air, and is grown to an enormous extent, nearly two acres of 
 ground being devoted to the production of young plants, 25,000 
 being grafted every year. Many other trees and plants are 
 propagated in great quantity — Pears for example. Of one single 
 variety, Easter Beurre, the enormous number of 40,000 plants are 
 grafted annually. Of Duchesse d'Angoulcme, 25,000 are yearly 
 required ; of Williams's Bon Chretien, 25,000 ; that excellent 
 Pear, Louise Bonne d'Avranches, is also required to the extent 
 of 25,000 annually ; and Doyenne d'Alencon to 20,000 plants — 
 so that the number of one kind of Pear grown is alone sufficient to 
 form a nursery of itself. Observe the enormous number of Easter 
 Beurre (Doyenne d'Hiver) required. This is the Pear which we 
 import from France in winter. In the region around Paris tliis 
 kind must be grown against sunny walls. It is folly to attempt 
 its culture in any other fashion in England. Quantities of this 
 fruit arc sent from Paris to Russia, where it commands a very 
 high price. 
 
 Fifty workmen are sometimes employed in budding here. The 
 fruit-trees are budded as we bud Hoses, and those in which the 
 bads fail are grafted in spring. In this way a year is gained. 
 There is a splendid collection of pyramid pears grafted on the 
 Quince stock, many of them of great size and perfect symmetry, 
 the ground being rich and deep, and perfectly suited to the 
 Quince. Every kind of fruit sold or recognised as a variety of 
 any merit is grown here ; Pears to the number of 1,028 varieties; 
 Vines, 550 distinct varieties ; Apples, 800 varieties ; Peaches, 250, 
 
346 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 including 45 of the best American kinds ; and so on. The Apple 
 is planted to a considerable extent as a horizontal cordon, and 
 many varieties bear abundance of fruit, some of the finer Kussian 
 kinds being gathered early in July. The following varieties 
 also bear abundantly as cordons : Joanneting, Astrakan, Winter 
 Pearmain, Archduchess Sophia, Court Pendu Plat, President 
 Dufoy, several kinds of Keinette, several kinds of Caville, Trans- 
 parent, and many others. It is scarcely necessary to enumerate 
 kinds, as nearly every first-rate variety does "well when trained in 
 this way and grafted on the true French Paradise stock, 
 
 EouEN. — This district is so near home, and its climate so very 
 much like our own, that even those who believe the climate of 
 Northern France to be a delightful one will admit the utility 
 of noticing the culture of fruit-trees here. I first visited the 
 nursery of Mr. J. Wood, an English nurseryman, established here 
 fifty years. Speaking of fruit-growing in France and England, 
 these were his words : " For every single fruit-tree sold in 
 England there are one thousand sold in France ! Every cottager 
 with ten square yards of ground buys and plants fruit-trees. If 
 it were not so, you would not get so much French fruit in 
 England." Generally, he said, the culture of wall-fruit was 
 carelessly performed in that district, with the exception of the 
 Pear. Fine old specimens of Pears against the walls of chateaux 
 afi'orded quantities of good fruit. Alpine Strawberries are grown 
 here in considerable quantity, and preferred to the common kind. 
 By covering the ground with a little mulching to prevent evapo- 
 ration, and giving abundance of water in dry weather, they get 
 them to bear from early summer to late autumn, gathering 
 plenty of fruit all through this prolonged season. When gathered 
 fresh from the plants, and used with the usual accompaniments, 
 the best varieties of the Quatre Saisons Strawberry are certainly 
 excellent. Mr. Eoger Leigh of Barham Court has grown them 
 extensively of late years, and finds them a great success. They 
 occupy ground among the fruit-trees. On the occasion of a fete, 
 sixty quarts of this delicate fruit were gathered in his garden on 
 a single morning. Various fine kinds are grown ; some not pro- 
 ducing runners, which is a great advantage. Few things are more 
 worthy of general culture in England than these long-bearing 
 Strawberries : the climate is even more suitable for them than 
 
CiiAP. XX.] ROUEN. 347 
 
 that of France. Their merit is not only in their continuous 
 bearing, but in their flavour, which is better than tliat of many 
 of the larger kinds. 
 
 In a letter from M. Fallot, writing from the Chateau de Main- 
 tenon, published in the ' Bulletin de la Societe d'Horticulture 
 d'Eure-et-Loire,' the writer strongly urges on Strawberry-growers 
 the advisability of cultivating the Four Seasons Strawberry from 
 seed rather than from runners or cuttings, wherever it may be 
 practicable. There is a wide difference between beds of plants 
 grown on the two systems. The robust habit of the seedlings, 
 tlioir greater productiveness, and the superior beauty and size of 
 the fruit, give them almost the appearance of being different 
 varieties of the same plant. M. Fallot has largely experimented 
 on the three usual methods of propagation by division, by runners, 
 and by seeds, with the result that he estimates their merits as 
 being in the inverse direction of the order in which they are 
 named, that is to say, the roots are inferior to runners, and both 
 inferior to seedlings. The comparative ease, however, with which 
 a large plantation may be made from cuttings or runners has 
 great temptations for the cultivator, whose time is taken up with 
 a thousand other cares. Last year being a damp one, M. Fallot's 
 crop was most successful, the fruits being so large and fine that 
 when brought to table they were thought to be a new variety. 
 The following is his method of culture : — " About the middle of 
 June the best fruit on the finest plants are chosen for seed. They 
 are dried in the sun, and the seeds are washed out, rejecting those 
 which remain floating on the surface. They are sown in the 
 beginning of July in a light soil, raked over and covered with 
 straw ; they are shaded until germination has taken place, when 
 more light is admitted gradually day by day. The sowing may 
 bo made in pans, which may be exposed to the sun or placed in 
 the shade, as may be thought desirable ; they should be watered 
 daily. During the last week in August they are pricked out, 
 leaving about 4 in. between each plant, and in March following 
 they are planted out 12 in. or 15 in. apart, advantage being 
 taken of the first fine days for the operation. All runners are 
 diligently nipped off during the whole year, and also flower-buds 
 until the middh- of June. From the end of July the plants are 
 ill full bearing until tlie first frosts set in. The second year's 
 
348 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XX 
 
 crop is found to be much more abundant than the first, and lasts 
 from the 20th of May until the frosts set in, the plants growing 
 much more rapidly and vigorously than if they had been raised 
 from cuttings or runners. From about the middle of June the 
 plants are well watered every day at the rate of a gallon of water 
 to every ten plants. After the third year's crop the plants are 
 pulled up and destroyed, the order of operations being — first year, 
 sowing ; second year, first crop from the end of July only ; third 
 year, a full and abundant crop from May 20 until the first frosts 
 set in. The seedling Four Seasons Strawberry being more 
 vigorous in its growth than the others, continues bearing to a 
 later period, but it is not adapted for forcing, the plants produced 
 from division or runners being preferable for this purpose. It is 
 hardly necessary to remind growers that this variety is the only 
 one that can be reproduced from seed ; the English and American 
 sorts not only do not yield the variety to which they belong, but 
 produce a mixture of as many kinds as there are plants, and 
 must, therefore, necessarily be propagated by means of runners." 
 
 The fruit-garden in the botanic gardens at Eouen contains a 
 good many of what are called model trees, and many cordons ; 
 but on the whole, while there is much that is curious, it afibrds 
 little instruction. Specimens in the U form of trained trees 
 abound. The only noticeable feature was a trifling one — placing 
 Willow-wands in the exact direction in which it is desired to 
 conduct the chief branches. That done, little remains but to tie 
 the young shoots to the Willows as often as necessary. There 
 was one good specimen here of a winged pyramid — i.e., a pyramid 
 having the branches trained in five vertical lines, and with the 
 points united by grafting. 
 
 Tkoyes. — This old town is interesting to the horticulturist 
 from the experienced fruit-growers, MM, Baltet, having exten- 
 sive nurseries in and near it. Their nursery is extensive and 
 rich in advanced specimens of pyramidal and other Pear-trees. 
 Horizontal cordons, where established, bear wonderfully well. 
 Thus the Lady Apple, well established on the Doucin stock, bore 
 fruit almost as thick as the Apples could sit on a cordon not 
 closely pinched in ; but on the Doucin the shoots grow too 
 vigorously, and do not preserve that compact habit which is so 
 desirable in these trees. If the soil were very poor and light and 
 
CiiAi'. XX.] 
 
 TROYES. 
 
 }40 
 
 dry, the tcnclency to over-vigour would be repressed, aud the 
 Doucin prove a desirable stock. 
 
 How fortunate it is that stocks which possess such admirable 
 qualities are known and easily procured ! Suppose the soil 
 to be rich, deep loam, wet, cold, or stiff. By using the French 
 Paradise, we obtain large and 
 beautiful fruit. Plant the same 
 on a very poor, dry, hungry, 
 or calcareous soil, and it is 
 almost useless. Then we have 
 the Doucin, which suits poor soil 
 to perfection, to fall back upon, 
 and thus good results may be 
 produced on soils of very diverse 
 and even very bad qualities. 
 Here, as in every garden, the 
 cultivator considers that cordons 
 " are good, and take up little 
 space." Of course, in a large 
 public nursery like this, little 
 lines of trees under the eye of 
 numerous daily visitors, who may 
 at times buy such of them as they 
 fancy, cannot be exhibited in the 
 perfect state in which they are 
 in private gardens ; besides, a 
 number of kinds are planted, and 
 not those known to be best worth 
 growing, and yet sufficient proof 
 of the excellence of the system 
 was here afforded. 
 
 There was a good crop of Pear, 
 Ik'urre Clairgeau, on a hedge formed of that variety. Several similar 
 hedges are formed beside it, and arranged rather closely together, 
 so that plants may be placed between them for the sake of shade. 
 As clipped hedges of Arbor vitae are frequently employed in France 
 for giving shade to plants in summer, it need scarcely be remarked 
 that the substitution of hedges of good varieties of Pears would be 
 an improvement. The same may be said of many hedges and 
 
 Pear-tree with the branches trained in lines 
 exactly above each other, and all the points 
 united by grafting. 
 
350 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XX. 
 
 dividing lines in gardens and nurseries everywhere. At first stakes 
 are used to support the trees, and indeed, some must he employed 
 till they have attained their perfect development ; hut after- 
 wards, if properly trained, they will support each other perfectly, 
 and they may be pruned and kept to look as neatly as if supported 
 by a costly trellis. Alongside one of the main walks a young 
 specimen of a very carefully and neatly made curtain of this kind 
 may he seen. These hedges hear as freely and well as any other 
 form of Pear-tree whatever. The line of Beurre Clairgeau was 
 grafted on Quince and Pear stocks alternately. The trees on the 
 Quince were little better than dead ; those on the Pear were fine, 
 full of fruit, showing that the variety requires the Pear stock. 
 
 In another part of the town the Normal School of the depart- 
 ment has a garden behind it for the purpose of teaching the 
 pupils fruit-culture. Here double or superimposed cordons of 
 the Lady Apple bore fruit in great abundance. The walls were 
 made of the dried stems of the common Keed, nailed between 
 rough cheap wooden framework, the mass of stems being about 
 two inches thick. A flat board nailed along the top at about 
 seven feet from the ground, afforded about eight inches of coping. 
 The wall of the school for about four feet from the ground was 
 very neatly covered with dwarf Peach-trees which bore a fair 
 crop, and neatly covered a space such as is generally left bare. 
 
 Fniitastk I raining in forming name. 
 
( 351 ) 
 
 A Spiir-pruncd I^cach-trci 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE Peach Gardens of montreuil. 
 
 The finest supplies of Peaches for the Paris market do not come, 
 as perhaps many would suppose, from the sunny south or the 
 balmy west, but from within a few miles of Paris, where they 
 have to be grown on walls furnished with good copings, and 
 receive in every way careful protection and culture. Approaching 
 Montreuil the country is seen covered with good crops of vege- 
 tables and fruit to the tops of the surrounding low hills. But 
 getting nearer still to the village, a great number of white walls, 
 about eight or nine feet high, appear, enclosing rather small squares 
 of land, which are almost entirely devoted to the Peach. As the 
 walls are netted over many acres in some parts, the eftect from a 
 distance is curious. In the squares are small fruit-trees and all sorts 
 of garden-crops. To the visitor who examines the plantations 
 here it is quite apparent that it is not to the climate that the best 
 growers owe their success. Among the two hundred and fifty 
 cultivators having Pcacli-gardens here, there are many with very 
 
352 
 
 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXL 
 
 shabby-looking trees on the walls, while those in some of the best 
 gardens are perfect models of health, fertility, and skilful training. 
 
 The illustrations to this chapter show their mode of pruning, 
 disbudding, covering bare spaces on the stem, and other processes 
 in the French system, and a glance at any garden-wall with a 
 
CiiAP. XXI.] THE PEACH-CTAl{Df]NS OF MONTREUIL. 
 
 Peach-tree will suffice to show the difference between our system 
 
 and the regular and close-pruning under theirs. A principal aim 
 
 with them is at securing straight, well-formed, well-furnished, and 
 
 equi-distant branches, 
 
 and always to spur in the 
 
 shoots rather closely in 
 
 spring. 
 
 The garden of M. Che- 
 vallicr at Montreuil dis- 
 plays examples of culti- 
 vation not anywhere 
 surpassed. The first im- 
 pression is good, for 
 the outer side of the 
 walls is covered with 
 admirable specimens of 
 Peach-trees, the narrow 
 strip forming the border 
 in which they are 
 planted being cut off 
 from the roadside by a 
 fragile fence covered with 
 Vines. This fashion of 
 utilising the outer as 
 well as the inner sides of 
 walls deserves adoption 
 by all interested in wall- 
 fruit culture. There is no 
 aspect whatever of a wall 
 that may not be used to 
 great advantage. Over- 
 head is a permanent 
 coping of plaster, and 
 immediately beneath it, 
 and at intervals of three 
 or four feet, the spokes 
 of old wheels project 
 
 eighteen inches ; on these arc placed the tempurary copings of 
 boards or mats in spring in this very paradisaical climate. In the 
 
354 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OP PAEIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 garden admirable culture everywhere prevails. The walls are 
 white — they are whitewashed every year with a view to the 
 extermination of insects, — and the trees are of the brightest and 
 
 healthiest green. At in- 
 l!i tervals the knuckle-end of 
 
 the leg-bone of a sheep 
 projects from the wall a 
 couple of inches only, and 
 at about a foot and a half 
 from the top of the wall. 
 These are placed so as to 
 firmly fix the temporary 
 coping in spring. The boards 
 I or neat frames of straw are 
 -s placed beneath the perma- 
 I nent coping and on the 
 
 Small Wooden 
 Coping used to 
 protect yo7ing 
 Peach-trees in 
 Spring. 
 
 supports. The space be- 
 tween coping and brackets 
 being very narrow, there 
 is considerable support 
 afforded to the temporary 
 covering at the back part ; by attaching an eye to its under- 
 surface, and firmly tying it with a twig of osier, wire, or strong 
 twine, to the bone projecting firmly below, it is secured from 
 
Chap. XXI.] THE PEACH-GAEDENS OF MONTREUIL. 
 
 355 
 
 danger of removal by winds. The cold rains which occur 
 during the several months while the trees are in bud and flower 
 and the young shoots and newly-formed fruit tender, run off 
 the plaster coping on to the temporary one, and from it quite 
 beyond the trees ; while frost is effectually prevented from doing 
 serious harm by the same means. 
 
 To suppose that this protection is merely necessary for the 
 flowers and to secure fruit, is a 
 fallacy ; a little temporary coping 
 is improvised here even over quite 
 young trees without a fruit on 
 them, simply to guard their 
 leaves in spring from the maladies 
 consequent upon the extreme cold 
 and many vicissitudes of the 
 French climate at that season. 
 This extemporised coping is 
 simply formed by placing little 
 wooden brackets against the wall 
 at about four feet from the ground, 
 and placing thereon a thin rough 
 board. Such a practice is not 
 known in England, where there 
 is of course quite as much 
 necessity for it. The effect of 
 the sun on the stem and larger 
 branches of the tree is also guarded 
 against, pieces of bark or boards 
 being placed before the short bole 
 or base of the tree, the main 
 branches on the upper parts 
 being carefully shaded by train- 
 ing over them the young branches of the current year's wood. 
 
 Black marks are traced on the white walls to show the lines 
 which the main branches of the trees are to follow. In some 
 cases they are quite simple vertical or horizontal lines, according 
 as the form to be attained may require ; in other places they form 
 initial letters, flourishes, and other ornamental sluii)cs ; for though 
 the cultivator generally prefers simple and dotiuitc forms, he is 
 
 Second Pruning of Fruiting Peach-branch. F is 
 cut at D al'ove two wooJ-buds to furnish shoots 
 /or the /ollowing year; B remains to carry 
 the fruit, and the slwot is cut at A . Cut E 
 would only be applied if shoot B did not bear 
 flower buds. 
 
356 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 also proud of his skill in overcoming difficulties of training, and 
 shows it by these curiously and very successfully trained trees 
 against his walls. It is only just to state that these elaborately- 
 trained trees bear freely and well ; but 
 except for curiosity's sake or for show, 
 they should not be attempted. 
 
 Branches of large trees trained nearly 
 in a horizontal position, fifteen feet, were 
 three inches higher at the apex than at 
 the base, a difi'erence which scarcely 
 removed them from the horizontal j)osi- 
 tion, and yet sufficed to give an easy 
 ascent to the sap, and prevent all tendency 
 Mode of preservu,g the Lo%m-r Part of thc branch to shoot vlgorously from 
 
 of the stems from the Sun. . , ,-> -, 
 
 any point near the base, as is sometimes 
 the case with the branches when placed exactly in a horizontal 
 position. Apart from this, the growing-point of each main 
 branch is allowed to push freely a little upwards, so as to en- 
 courage the sap to flow regularly through the branch, and not 
 halt at any one point to the detriment of all. Grafting by 
 approach is practised to cover naked branches. Four to five 
 hundred Peaches are gathered from the best trees, or an average 
 of about ten for every yard in length of fruiting-branch. 
 Cheap and rather thin planks, about twenty inches wide, are 
 preferred for the temporary coping ; walls twelve feet high would 
 be benefited by a few inches more. Cordons of Calville Blanc and 
 other fine Apples are planted plentifully on the spaces between 
 the trees ; no matter how well the walls are covered, there is 
 always space for cordon trees between them, in consequence of 
 the branches having an upward inclination. 
 
 M, Lej)ere's garden here is large, and consists of a series of 
 oblong spaces surrounded by Peach-walls, both walls and ground 
 being well covered and cropped. The Peach is the favourite 
 subject, but neat pyramidal and cordon Pear and Apple trees are 
 also to be seen, and the place is a very interesting one. Outside 
 the entrance of the Peach-grounds there is a small garden, Avhere 
 against a wall may be seen several capital examples of Peach- 
 trees, the finest being trained after what is called the square 
 form. This is much admired by the best cultivators, but they 
 
Chap. XXL] THE TEACH GARDENS OF MOXTREUIL. 
 
 357 
 
 prefer and generally adopt the palm-leaf forms as being the best. 
 The Candelabrum form is also to be seen in fine condition in this 
 out-of-the-way nook ; it is simply trained by raising vertical 
 branches from horizontal ones running along near the bottom of 
 the wall. But as to the form itself, it is not a matter of so much 
 importance — the two chief points arc covering the walls and .the 
 
 I'ruiliiig Branch of Peach submit t id to the third year's firuniiig, I), -which has home the fruit of 
 the past year, is cut at A ; the wood-buds be!o7u F wi'l furnish fruiting shoots for the following 
 year ; and C ivUl bear the fruit of tlu coming summer. 
 
 treatment of the fruiting branch. Yet it is interesting to notice 
 the forms adopted by the most successful growers, who, however, 
 are sure to have several trees most fantastically trained. 
 
 x\n old man, dressed in a blouse, is moving along the walls, 
 nailing in the shoots here and there, and with him a dozen young 
 men, his pupils. This is M. Lepere, who has a class twice a 
 week. The principle of giving a full explanation of their system 
 
 2 B 
 
358 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 of doing anything well, animates all French cultivators more or 
 less. Did anybody ever hear of an unusually successful English 
 market-gardener or fruit-grower calling a class round him at a 
 low fee, or without fee ? The French, though proud of their 
 success in this way, are careful to give it the fullest possible 
 ventilation ; and those attending cannot fail to master the culture 
 of the Peach, if so disposed, following the cultivator as, gliding 
 along the wall, he stops and nails in the shoots, cuts out the 
 foremost branches here and there that are not wanted for next 
 year's work ; and, in short, does and explains everything before 
 
 rrunitig to rcp'acc old friiit-spnr : wood-hiids 
 e deiH-loped at the l>as, ' " " ' ' 
 
 rcjit sharp off, as at A 
 
 I lining lu rij'iiLt um J , •,,i-.,y„, . lie ■...,.. Kcsnlt oj thc prcccdhig opC7-atioii. B is cid nt 
 
 are developed at the base, ntid all the shoots C, produchig E,vhhh hears fruit ; G, ivood- 
 
 ~ ' buds; and thus thi spur is renewed. 
 
 his pupils. M. Lepere has been cultivating Peaches here for a 
 couple of generations, and certainly has reason to be proud of the 
 result. 
 
 The well-made walls all run east and west, and are placed 
 within about ten yards of each other. This proximity of the 
 walls is brought about so that many walls may be accommodated 
 on a comparatively small space ; so arranged, they are also effective 
 in concentrating the heat and for sheltering. The ground is 
 thus divided into very long narrow strips, the white walls 
 covered with the fresh green of healthy Peach-trees, and the 
 ground planted with fruit-trees, Strawberries, and Asparagus. 
 
Chap. XXL] THK PEACH (JAKDENS OF MONTIJEUIL. 
 
 359 
 
 The soil is of a calcareous nature, and the long strips enclosed by 
 the walls are generally about fourteen yards across. The syringe 
 is rarely or never used, sulphur being the remedy for spider. 
 The ground is in all cases mulched near the trees, a wide alley 
 being left ; and for preparation of the border they simply trench 
 and manure the ground a couple of feet deep, and about six feet 
 wide. The trees are pruned on the spur system, and are trained 
 to assume a variety of shapes, words and figures. The Candela- 
 brum shape is one of the handsomest and most useful. To form 
 
 S/iriirg (isfiict of I'ruit Ciiniiii fortncd in North Germany hy M . Lcpi-rc fits, on the same plan as 
 the best gardens at MontreuU. 
 
 it, two Ijranches are taken along to the right and left near the 
 bottom of the wall. From the uppermost, single shoots are 
 taken at regular intervals to the top of the wall — the lower 
 branch simply running along to the end and rising to the top of 
 the wall, or, in other words, forming a great oblong frame for the 
 interior. Then there is the Montreuil fan shape, but with the 
 divisions somewhat far from the base in most cases, and several 
 modifications of the common horizontal mode of training, which 
 we employ so much for the Pear, but never for the Peach. 
 These seem favourite varieties, and by their means the walls are 
 
 2 B 2 
 
360 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 perfectly covered— if indeed one can draw any distinction 
 between the walls here, which are all as fresh-looking as a 
 meadow in May. 
 
 A form jn-esenting the advantage of the cordon, without its too 
 confined and unnatural development, is very common. It is 
 properly termed the U, bearing a considerable resemblance to that 
 letter much elongated. Frequently this is doubled, and a tree 
 with four ascending branches obtained. These forms are excellent 
 for poor ground, or that in which the Peach grows with but little 
 
 Mode of Pruning to cover bare spaces 
 on the branches of Peach-trees, Jirst 
 year. The shoots arising from the 
 buds A, B, C, and D, are allowed to 
 grow freely, and are nailed in during 
 the 
 
 ResiiH of preceding operation, second year. A, B, C, D, 
 are the shoots dezieloped from the buds to which the 
 same letters refer in the preceding fgure. This fgnre 
 shows the appearance of the branches before the 
 pru>ting. 
 
 vigour. The number of fruit borne by the finer examples of trees 
 here range from four to five hundred, and this without in the 
 least injuring the tree. As to the pinching of the summer shoots 
 after they are laid in, it is done according to their strength ; but 
 the greater number are pinched at from six to ten inches, and the 
 lateral branches that spring from these are of course pinched also, 
 while weak shortish branches are allowed to grow to their full 
 extension. The pruning is distinct from ours in this : it is done 
 on the spur, and not on the cutting-out principle. We generally 
 leave the shoots of the past year long, and cut away a good deal 
 
Chap. XXI.] THE TEACII GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 
 
 361 
 
 of the old wood ; here the branches are conducted in straight lines 
 and regularly spurred in every year, fruit and wood-buds being 
 left at the base, according to the judgment of the cultivator. The 
 wood of the current year is laid in against the wall with nails and 
 shreds, just in our own way, only thicker, as of course must be the 
 case when a close array of spurs along each shoot has to be 
 obtained. This system is perfectly suited for our wants, provided 
 we take care to protect the young shoots and flowers in spring, as 
 common-sense directs. In any case, the perfect control exercised 
 over the tree, the equable furnishing of fruit-buds in every part, 
 
 Summer titaiiagciitcnt of the Peach. The slioots 
 above the fniit are retained and stopped, 
 A, A removed, and the two loiver shoots 
 furnish tlu fruiting wood for the following 
 year. 
 
 Shoot of Peach u<ithout Fruil : the branches A, 
 which would have been retained Juid the shoot 
 borne a crop, become useless, and the shoot B 
 is cut at C to favour the development of D, D, 
 which will be the fruiting branches of the 
 following year. 
 
 and the beautiful symmetry of a tree thus managed, have an 
 interest for all students of fruit culture. 
 
 In passing along by the walls, grafting by approach may be 
 seen in operation here and there, with the object of covering 
 naked spots, strengthening shoots, and even adding a young 
 shoot to the base of an old spur that has become too long. An 
 interesting example of its utility was shown by the outer branch 
 of a tree. It is considered very desirable that the lower and 
 outer branch of a Palmette Yerrier should be the strongest and 
 highest of all, so as to secure a flow of sap to the lower parts of 
 the trees, instead of allowing it to flow rai)idly towards the higher 
 
362 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAKDENS OF PAKIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 parts, and thus spoil all. In one case, one of the outer branches 
 was feeble and delicate, and did not seem to push much more 
 
 than to the bend, from, whence it ought to have grown strong to 
 the top of the wall. A healthy and vigorous shoot of a neigh- 
 bouring tree was grafted on it by approach, and in the course of 
 
CnAi>. XXL] THE TEACH GARDENS OF MOXTKEUIL. 
 
 363 
 
 a single season the desired strength was obtained, and the shoot 
 went vigorously to the top of the wall. Not only are the pruner"s 
 best precautions taken to secure abundance of vigour and sap in 
 the lower parts of the specimen, but slow-growing and not very 
 vigorous kinds are grafted a little above the middle of the tree, so 
 as to prevent in the completest manner the tendency which the 
 sap has to rush towards the higher points. ■ To show the differ- 
 ence between cultivators, it is sufficient to mention that M. Lepere 
 considers this precaution indispensable ; while another distin- 
 guished cultivator in the same neighbourhood does not practise 
 it at all, but pinches the upper shoots and deprives them of 
 leaves when too vigorous, and thus preserves the most perfect 
 
 Disbudding of the Peach, second year. C and A 
 are removed ; B, B, furnish the wood for the 
 following year. 
 
 Disbudding of the Peach, second year. If no 
 fruit he home on F., it is cut at F, leaving G 
 to furnish the fruiting wood for the following 
 year. 
 
 health in his trees. This repulsion of the sap to the lower parts 
 of the trees is also effected to some extent by the use of the wide 
 temporary coping, which guards against frost, and keeps the 
 growth down by partly excluding light from the upper part of the 
 wall. When it is removed, and when all danger of frost is past, 
 the sap has flowed so freely into the lower branches that but little 
 trouble is required to keep the tree in a perfectly equable state, all 
 parts of the wall doing a full amount of work. I noticed some 
 walls alongside a road at Montreuil made of blocks of plaster two 
 feet long, one foot high, and live inches thick, forming a strong 
 wall. The blocks are sold at about fifty shillings per hundred. 
 
364 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 The walls are about nine feet high, and have a coping of plaster six 
 inches wide. Plaster is very cheap in the neighbourhood, being dug 
 up in quarries quite near to the gardens, and thus it is easy to form 
 a neat and thin projection from the ridge of plaster which forms 
 the top of the wall, by placing boards underneath till the coping 
 sets. This protection is more necessary at the west and south 
 than at the east, the cold rains being more feared than frost, 
 and more difficult to guard against ; for while a narrow coping 
 will save the trees from frost, it is not so effective against cold 
 driving rains. It is ^particularly noticeable that, no matter 
 what form of tree is adopted, all the fruiting branches are 
 
 Craftuig by approach to furnish bare spaces on the tnain bt-anchcs of the Peach-tree. 'I he second 
 spring after .graft iv^, luheu the Graft has frmiy nnited, the shoot D is cut at C, and B forms a 
 ivell-placed shoot. 
 
 higher at the apes than the base, instead of pursuing the 
 horizontal line, as is the case with us. Perhaps to the passing 
 visitor some of the trees in their full summer dress might appear 
 to have their branches horizontally placed ; but even in cases 
 where there is most room for the supj)osition, the outer ends of 
 the shoots are in fact several inches higher than where they spring 
 from the ascending axis. 
 
 Many cordons are to be seen in abundant bearing in the garden, 
 both against the walls and in the open. The Calvilles against 
 the walls were very good, and were not always confined to a single 
 line, but were superimposed. It is a better plan to confine them 
 
Chap. XXL] THE PEACH GAKDENS OF MOXTREUIL. 365 
 
 to a single stem, allowing that to elongate as much as space will 
 permit, that is, if the space to be covered is a mere narrow strip 
 of wall as is the case under these Peach-trees, and the object be 
 to secure a crop of the finest fruit. Some of the Calville and 
 other Apples to be seen here on cordons have nut-brown scars 
 near the apex, showing where the destructive " worm " has been 
 cut out of the fruit ; by taking it in time the fruit is saved, and 
 this attention, which would be ridiculous in the case of ordinary- 
 fruit, is repaid in the case of the Calville, for the finest speci- 
 mens of which such very high prices are sometimes received by 
 the owner of this garden. It need hardly be added that such 
 prices are for fruit exceptionally fine, both as to appearance and 
 
 Multiple Grafting by approach, to furnish bare spaces on the stems of reach-trees. A, A, A, 
 ligatures of Crafts. 
 
 size. There are specimens of the Peach trained as cordons bearing 
 plenty of fruit, but they present few advantages in this case that 
 should make them be preferred to forms that are more fully 
 developed. It is not with them, as with the Apple on the 
 Paradise stock, a union that induces a very dwarf development, 
 but, on the contrary, being confined to a single stem they are apt 
 to push too vigorously. M. Lcpere had not a word to say in 
 favour of the system. 
 
 The U form is so pretty, successful, and generally adopted, that 
 the following remarks on its formation by M, Lepere can hardly 
 fail to be useful : — 
 
 " This graceful form is very easy to establish, and I strongly 
 recommend it to those amateurs who have but little wall space to 
 
366 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. XXL 
 
 devote to Peach-growmg. Peach-trees planted in tliis way afford 
 the means of growing a number of varieties in a small compass, 
 and of speedily obtaining a well-trained tree in full bearing. 
 After having chosen healthy trees, eighteen months old, full of 
 buds at the base, they are cut down to within eight inches of the 
 graft at the time of planting. When the first leaves begin to 
 appear, two well-placed shoots, situated about six inches above the 
 graft, are chosen, one on each side of the stem. These are intended 
 to form the two main branches that are afterwards to be trained 
 
 in the U shape. The ends of 
 these two branches are then 
 turned directly upwards, care 
 being taken that the extremities 
 are perfectly free, so that their 
 development may not be inter- 
 fered with. 
 
 " The space to be given in 
 planting, when the soil is of the 
 best kind, is about a yard to each 
 tree, which will leave an interval 
 of eighteen inches between each 
 principal vertical branch, thus 
 allowing sufficient room for nail- 
 ing in the summer shoots. When 
 the soil is not so favourable for 
 Peach-growing, the trees can be 
 planted two yards from each other 
 and trained in the form of the 
 double U. In this case, as in the 
 other, the principal branches will 
 be eighteen inches apart. Three years ago I planted on a southern 
 aspect some Peach-trees in the form of the single U. They 
 yield on an average one hundred Peaches each every year. The 
 wall against which they are trained is ten feet high, and they 
 were in full bearing the third year. 
 
 " I give the preference to this form over the oblique cordon, 
 because, the principal branches being trained in a perfectly 
 upright position, the sap is more equally divided amongst the 
 smaller shoots, and if a tree or two happen to die in a fully 
 
 Details of the preceding Figures : C 
 
 bare portion of stem ; £>, preparation of shoot 
 intended to furnish it. 
 
Chap. XXL] THK I'KACII GAllOENS OF MONTKEUIL 
 
 3(3" 
 
 formed plantation, the place tliey occupy on the wall, which thus 
 becomes empty, is not shaded by the 
 branches of the neighbouring trees. 
 The dead trees can therefore be easily 
 replaced by young subjects from the 
 nursery. This is a great advantage for 
 amateurs who have not always full- 
 grown trees to fill up bare spaces. 
 In the oblique form the inclined posi- 
 tion to which each tree is subjected at 
 the time of coming into leaf, causes a 
 disturbance all along the upper edge 
 of the branch, when constant watch- 
 fulness of training is not pursued. 
 Besides, if several trees happen to die, 
 and the only trees available to replace 
 them are those from the nursery, the 
 place they will occupy on the wall will 
 be shaded by the branches of the old 
 trees, and the young ones will be in- 
 jured for want of light and air. As I 
 have already said, the U form is the 
 most easy to train, the most graceful 
 
 to the eye, and more prolific than the _^ ^ _ 
 
 oblique." In many parts of France 
 
 may be seen fine results obtained by 
 
 growing trees on this simple principle. 
 
 Occasionally the points of trees 
 
 trained in the U and double U forms 
 
 are united by grafting by approach. 
 
 This does not in their case seem to be 
 
 any advantage. 
 
 The reason why the Peach is so 
 
 successfully cultivated at Montreuil 
 
 is, that the cultivators pay thorough 
 
 and constant attention to its wants, 
 
 .,, 1 • 1 I'i" 1 • Peach trained in the double U form, ivith 
 
 with which a iite-long experience „^ p„i„t, „y „,, tranches united by 
 
 has made them familiar. The trees /^'■"/'"•e- 
 
 are at all times well attended to. Quite as good and as certain 
 
 Peach-tree in the dou'uL 
 
 One side is left unfurnished to sho^v 
 the practice of marking on the walls 
 the outline -which the tree is to 
 assume. 
 
368 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAKDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 results could be attained with the Peach in many of the southern 
 parts of England and Ireland, particularly if its culture were 
 made a speciality of, as it is in France. Indeed, some of our sea- 
 shore districts would seem to be more favourable for Peach-culture 
 than the neighbourhood of Paris. When cultivators devote them- 
 selves entirely to a subject, they soon learn all its wants, and, more- 
 over, attend to them at the right moment. It is, of course, unfair 
 to expect as much from gardeners concerned with a great variety 
 of subjects, and often without good appliances for the culture of 
 any. ^ 
 
 It is a maiter for regret th... public attention has been to some 
 extent called away from the many uses and advantages of wa^^" 
 in our climate, and that we have made no progress in protecting 
 or managing wall-trees corresponding with our advances in other 
 respects. Some persons have gone so far as to say that garden 
 walls ought to be abolished altogether. One cannot believe that 
 such people can ever have seen the excellent results produced by 
 well-managed garden walls — results as beautiful as profitable. 
 Why, even if we could erect glass-houses by the economical aid of 
 a magic wand, the good fruit-grower would still find uses for a 
 large extent of wall-surface. As things are at present, all should 
 aim at greater success in the protection and management of wall- 
 trees. Our chief want of success now is due to not preserving 
 the flowers and tender young leaves from the sleet, cold rains, and 
 frost, d-.xing the cold and changeable spring common to northern 
 France and-^l^^ British Isles. 
 
( 3G0 ) 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 Fig Culture in the Nii..„HBOURHOOD cf Paris. 
 
 Fig culture, as practised in the neighbourhood of Paris, is very 
 peculiar and interesting, as well as successful, and is well adapted 
 for the southern counties of England. The Fig bearing well as 
 a healthy standard tree at Arundel and elsewhere in Sussex, 
 without any attention, there cannot be a doubt that the Parisian 
 mode is perfectly applicable in sunny spots in England. It 
 might even be carried out on the railway embankments in our 
 southern counties. The system of culture is founded on the habits 
 of the Fig in the climates of Paris and London. In hot countries 
 the Fig is an evergreen tree, growing and bearing almost per- 
 petually. In cold countries the Fig loses its leaves in winter, and 
 becomes, in fact, a deciduous tree. Then the rudimentary Figs 
 borne at the end of each branch, instead of falling oil |rt:-rr?aturely, 
 as most other fruits would do, seem to rest sta^^^onary ; in the 
 spring they recommence their growth, and ripen oi. ^'-^to the 
 large, succulent, and well-flavoured Figs supjb"'^ to the Parib 
 market in summer. The French call those Figs .uab ler '-^. part 
 of two years for their development " figues-fleurs ;" tho&«- .-med 
 in spring and which ripen during warm autumn'^ - - wn as 
 
 " secondes figues," or " figues d'automne." TL ^ely 
 
 in the climate of Paris, and it is to the care of the " li^ -1 .rs," 
 or Figs formed in the preceding year, that all attention i: /en. 
 To protect them and the young branches, the trees are tr 't^ in 
 long sweeping shoots, pretty near the soil, and in such a forn lat 
 they may be readily buried in the ground when the winter and 
 its dangers come. The frosts are often of great severity in the 
 ncighbourliood of Paris ; so great, indeed, that the Fig would have 
 
370 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 little or no chance if left exposed. So in autumn the cultivators 
 train the branches into four bundles, make a little trench for 
 each, and cover, as shown by the figures, with small sloping banks 
 of soil, protecting the crown of the root by means of a little cone 
 of earth, Avhich merges gradually into the four little ridges that 
 cover the branches. When the plantation is made on deeply 
 inclined ground, a somewhat different system is followed, as is 
 also shown by the illustrations. Most of the details of the 
 culture are taken from Du Breuil's " Culture des Arbres et 
 Arbrisseaux," from the publisher of 
 which, copies of the figures were 
 purchased. I am also indebted to 
 M. Godefroy-Lebeuf, Argenteuil, for 
 making my visits to that town and its 
 Fig-plantations pleasant and instruc- 
 tive. In the climate of Paris the Fig- 
 tree is grown as a low shrub, with free 
 sweeping branches arranged in single 
 lines, or planted all together on a 
 piece of ground devoted to the purpose, 
 and which for want of a better name 
 may be called a " figgery." The 
 branches of these tufty trees are not 
 allowed to grow longer than from six 
 to nine feet, so that the tree may be con- 
 veniently buried in the ground during 
 the winter. Those varieties which pro- 
 duce rudimentary Figs in autumn in 
 abundance are the only ones grown, 
 as the Figs of the current year very 
 rarely arrive at maturity. Argenteuil 
 and La Frette are the two most 
 famous localities for the cultivation of the Fig-tree in the 
 neighbourhood of Paris. Before the southern railways were 
 constructed, these two villages used to supply the whole of 
 Paris with all the green Figs that were seen in the markets. The 
 introduction of the Fig-tree into Argenteuil appears to have taken 
 place about two centuries ago. It is cultivated in orchards in 
 deeply dug and richly manured land, the soil of which is of a 
 
 Branch of Fig-tree bearing the Figs 
 formed during the preceding year, D ; 
 tlwse formed during the current year, 
 A ; and rudimentary Figs, C. 
 
CnAP. XXTT.] 
 
 FIG CULTURE NEAR PARIS. 
 
 871 
 
 siliceous, calcareous, and clayey nature, well sheltered from the 
 north and north-west winds, and open to the south and east. 
 The cultivation of the Fig extends over a space of one hundred 
 and thirty acres, the production being somewhere about four 
 hundred thousand Figs per annum. The variety grown in this 
 locality is the Blanquette or White Courcourelle, and the method 
 of growing it is as follows : — 
 
 Layers, raised in baskets or in the ordinary way, are planted in 
 the month of j\[arch in holes about four feet six inches in diameter 
 and one foot eight inches deep, filled with well-manured mould. 
 The planting is performed in snoli a way tliat the roots of the 
 
 F'tg-tree groioiug on h-jel ground, with the branches grouped in four sets. 
 
 layer arc buried from ten inches to one foot deep, and that the 
 stem which springs out of the earth in an oblique direction should 
 be covered with from three to four inches of earth. To form the 
 stool more quickly, two layers may be planted in the same hole 
 instead of only one. In this case the two layers are placed in 
 lines parallel to those of the plantation at eight inches' distance 
 from each other, and in such a way that the stems are opposed to 
 each other in the direction of this line. The surface of the hole 
 should be at least a foot below that of the surrounding soil. The 
 rest of the soil is arranged slantwise round the stem of the layer, 
 so that the rain-water may be easily retained round the roots of 
 the young trees. The trees are planted five or six yards apart, 
 
372 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 the lines being separated by a space of about four yards, so as to 
 form a kind of quincuncial arrangement. These young plants are 
 left to themselves during the whole of the summer, care being 
 taken to keep them from drought by means of frequent watering 
 and careful covering. During the first half of November, when 
 the first cold days set in and the trees are completely bare of 
 leaves, a dry day is chosen when the ground is not too damp, and 
 the young branch is carefully bent downwards until it reaches 
 the bottom of the trench. It is then covered up with a layer of 
 earth a foot deep, to preserve it from the cold. Towards the end 
 of February, as soon as the weather has become mild, the branches 
 are uncovered and the trench is arranged the same as it was 
 before earthing up. The development of the young plant is again 
 allowed to proceed during the summer, to be again earthed up 
 when November sets in. 
 
 The third spring after planting, a fine day is chosen towards 
 
 Fig-tree with the branches trained in two sets. 
 
 the middle of March — the young stem is cut at from six to eight 
 inches from the ground, so as to favour the production of a large 
 crop of shoots, which will afterwards form the principal branches 
 of the tree. These shoots are allowed to grow through the 
 summer, and are earthed up in autumn. This process is performed 
 according to the following directions : — A dry day is chosen 
 when the soil is in a friable condition, so that it will fill the 
 spaces between the branches without leaving any empty places. 
 The soil used should be free from leaves, grass, and straw, which, 
 if they were allowed to come in contact with the buried branches, 
 would cause them to become rotten. It is also necessary to pull 
 off the half-grown autumn Figs, which would rot in the earth, 
 and cause the same mischief as any other decomposing vegetable 
 matter. These precautions having been taken, the branches of 
 
CflAP. XXII.] 
 
 FIG CULTURE NEAll PARIS. 
 
 373 
 
 the tree are divided into four equal bundles, eacli being tied to- 
 gether with string. As many trenches as there are bundles of 
 branches are then dug in the ground. Each trench commences 
 at the foot of the tree, and is made of sufficient depth to contain 
 the bundles of __^ 
 
 branches. They are 
 dug in different 
 directions, accord- 
 ing as the ground 
 is inclined or hori- 
 zontal. In the former 
 case they are dug all 
 in the same upward 
 direction; when, 
 however, the ground 
 is level, they ra- 
 diate equally from 
 the centre. The 
 earthing up of the 
 branches being ac- 
 complished accord- 
 ing to these direc- 
 tions, each bundle is covered with mould to the depth of eight 
 inches, a small cone being piled up exactly over the root. 
 
 Towards the end of February a damp, warm day is chosen for 
 
 uncovering the buried 
 Fig-trees. The sooner 
 this operation is ac- 
 complished the more 
 forward will be the 
 growth of the tree, and 
 the ripening of the 
 fruit ; but the early 
 fruit is often destroyed 
 by the late frosts. For 
 this reason some 
 growers prefer to 
 defer this operation until the end of March, although the trees 
 frequently suffer from being thus suddenly exposed to the heat of 
 
 2 c 
 
 'ihmoiiig the Mode of burying ihe Fig-trees cnltivatea on level 
 ground, to preserve them from beiugdestroyed by frost in Winter. 
 
 Fig-tree planted on sloping earth buried for the H'intei 
 
374 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIL 
 
 
 the sun, and the fruit does not ripen so well. Others uncover one- 
 half their trees at the end of February, and the other half at the 
 
 end of March. By this 
 :ijii„|'i,i; ^ ^_^ means a better average 
 
 crop is insured both in 
 quality and quantity. 
 The branches are sepa- 
 rated from each other by 
 equal distances, so as to 
 avoid confusion, as well 
 as to prevent the leaves 
 from rubbing against the 
 fruit, which would have 
 the effect of blackening 
 them, and render them 
 comparatively worthless. 
 Those branches that are 
 too near the ground are 
 held up by means of forked 
 
 Fig-tree flatitcd on slophig gronvd, ivith Earth Bashi on iiigcga of WOod The SOil 
 
 hrn'cr side to better retain the water. \ 
 
 IS carefully levelled 
 where the ground is horizontal, a little hollow being made round 
 the root of the tree to hold the rain-water. Trees that are 
 planted on sloping 
 ground require 
 hollows to be made in 
 the soil, so that the 
 water which flows 
 from the higher 
 ground may be col- 
 lected at the root 
 of each tree. In 
 this way a proper 
 degree of moisture 
 is insured during the 
 
 whole of the sum- section shmving Fig-tree planted on inclined ground, with Earth 
 T • -I 1 • 1 Basin to retain the water. 
 
 mer, besides which 
 
 the soil is prevented from being cut up by the rains. This plan 
 
 would seem to be peculiarly well suited to plantations on the 
 
Chap. XXII.] 
 
 FIG CULTURE NEAR PARIS. 
 
 375 
 
 year 
 
 steep slopes of railway embankments. Henceforward the young 
 
 shoots growing from the stock arc carefully cut ofl"; otherwise 
 
 they would weaken the larger branches. These 
 
 precautions are taken during the fifth year. 
 In the spring of the sixth year the oldest 
 
 branches are of the form shown in our illustration. 
 
 The operation of nipping-off the buds at the end 
 
 of each branch is performed as soon as the un- 
 covered trees begin to show signs of springing 
 
 into leaf; that is to say, on some fine day the 
 
 bud on the end of each lateral shoot is pinched off 
 
 so as to favour the formation of buds on the wood 
 
 lower down, as well as for the encouragement of 
 
 any young Figs that already show signs of making 
 
 their appearance. About one-half of the buds 
 
 on the side-branches are also pinched off, choosing 
 
 tliose that are nearest to the young Figs. Two, 
 
 however, are always left on near the base of each 
 
 branch, and one towards the tip, in order to 
 
 draw up the sap. The end-shoot of each branch 
 
 is treated in a similar manner, but with this 
 
 difference, that the bud immediately below the 
 
 one at the end is allowed to remain on, as well as one or two 
 
 more for the purpose of producing side-branches, which ought to 
 be left about a foot from each other on 
 each stem. As soon as the young shoots 
 are about two inches long, the shoots on all 
 the lateral branches and on the end-branch 
 are nipped off— a fine day being chosen for 
 the purpose. Of the former only a single 
 shoot — the one nearest the base of the 
 branch — is allowed to remain so as to re- 
 place the one which bears the fruit of the 
 year. The shoot at the end of the terminal 
 branch is allowed to remain, and some of 
 the lateral ones intended to bear fruit 
 in the following year. These last are 
 
 spaced out so that they may receive an equal amount of sunshine 
 
 without being interwoven or rubbing their leaves against the 
 
 2 c 2 
 
 ■>/ Fi^ the sixth 
 after planting. 
 The points of the 
 shoots A, A, A, A, 
 are pinched off in 
 Spring to favour the 
 development of the 
 Figs, and also of 
 luood-buds at the base 
 of the shoots. 
 
 Fig-branch luith young Figs. 
 The lateral side buds A, B, B, 
 B, are pinched in Spring, — t^uo 
 at the base, D, D, and one at 
 the apex, C, being left. 
 
371 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF EAEIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 fruit. As soon as the j^roper number of branches that each stool 
 ought to bear is reached, all new shoots growing on the parent- 
 stem are nipped off. 
 
 Although the Figs which make their appearance during the 
 current year ripen with difficulty, a certain number may be grown 
 in favourable years. Their ripening is hastened in the following 
 manner. Those branches which appear to be most prolific are 
 allowed to retain two shoots at their base instead of only one. 
 The one nearest the base is intended to produce the young Figs 
 for the following year, the other the 
 autumn Figs. In order to force these 
 latter into rapid growth the end of the 
 shoot must be nipped off as soon as it 
 has reached a length of four or five 
 inches. As the process of forcing autumn 
 Figs to ripen makes the trees weaker and 
 less able to produce the buds, or " Fig- 
 flowers," for the next year, only those 
 which are strong and vigorous should be 
 chosen for the j)urpose. 
 
 Should the late frosts destroy the 
 crop of Figs, which may take place before 
 the middle of May, summer-pruning 
 must be resorted to, that is to say, each 
 lateral branch is pruned back to near 
 the stem. This operation causes the sap 
 to flow to the old wood and produce a 
 large crop of shoots. This circumstance 
 is taken advantage of to fill up empty spaces, of course taking care 
 to leave only those shoots growing that are really useful. The 
 shoots are thinned out according to the method already described. 
 Towards the end of August a dry day is chosen for cleaning the 
 figgery. The portions of the shoots which have borne fruit are 
 cut oJ&", and useless shoots are taken away just above the lowest 
 eye. If this eye should develop in the succeeding year, it is 
 disbudded in its turn. Withered branches are also removed quite 
 close to the stem, care being taken to cover the wounds with 
 grafting-wax. Some growers leave this operation until the 
 spring of the following year, but prunings made at that time 
 
 Branch of Fig-lrcc after the gather- 
 ing of the crop. Should the year 
 be nnusitally -warm, some of the 
 lower Figs may ripen ; if not, they 
 are removed. The slioot that has 
 borne Figs is cnt at B. 
 
Chap. XXII.] 
 
 Fia CULTURE XEAll TAIUS. 
 
 cause a much greater loss of sap, and the wounds made in the 
 tree heal up with great difficulty. 
 
 In the spring of the seventh year the lateral branches of each 
 stem are treated like those of the preceding year. The other 
 operations are similar to those already described. The principal 
 branches are allowed to grow longer every year, taking care to 
 allow the fruit-bearing shoots, which are replaced from year to 
 year, like those of the Peach-tree, to re nain at regular intervals. 
 When the branches have grown to the length of from six to nine 
 feet, their growth should be checked, otherwise the sap will 
 desert the fruit-bearing 
 branches at the sides, and so V 
 
 cause them to wither away. 
 When sufficiently long the 
 principal are treated in the 
 same way as directed for the 
 side-branches. 
 
 The earthing-up to which 
 the branches of the Fig-tree 
 are subjected every year causes 
 them to grow in a horizonal 
 direction a foot or eighteen 
 inches from the ground. This 
 is an element of success, for 
 on the one hand the fruit 
 nearest to the ground receives 
 the greater part of the heat 
 
 and ripens readily, on the other Branch o/ l-ig-h^ea/ter the gatherinso/ the crop. 
 
 hand the sap is more evenly ^ ^l"V'!\^''"'^^/i^^-^7 /tT""f ^'"'''f 
 
 1 '' crap ; D IS pinched back to help tlu rtpentng of 
 
 distributed amongst the difter- some o/tlu Figs of the current year; and the 
 
 . T 1 1 rm fruit luis been gathered from the naked shoot, 
 
 ent side-branches. ihe whichiscutat b. 
 Argenteuil Fig-trees begin to 
 
 bear when they are six years old, and are in full perfection at 
 ten years. They live a long time, but it is necessary to renew the 
 long and old stems, which wear out every twelve or fifteen years. 
 For this purpose the requisite number of shoots are allowed to 
 grow on the parent stem to replace those which are cut away in 
 the August following. The soil round the trees should be dug up 
 every year in the spring after having unearthed the branches and 
 
378 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 before covering-in the trenches at the foot of the tree. They 
 should also be well -watered several times during the summer, and 
 manured every three years. The practice of putting a drop of 
 fine oil into the eye of the fruit just as it colours and shows signs 
 of opening, to hasten its maturity, is employed about Paris, 
 especially during cold summers. 
 
 The Culture of the Vine at Thomery. 
 
 As it is certain that the culture of the Grape grown against 
 walls in the open air may be attempted with profit over a large 
 part of the southern and midland counties of England, an account 
 is given of the successful and highly-interesting culture of the 
 
 'J'he Ckasselas de FontaincbL 
 
 Chasselas Grape near Paris, where it must be grown against walls 
 as well as with us. 
 
 Every autumn, quantities of this delicious little Grape may be 
 seen in the Paris markets, packed in small boxes or circular 
 baskets. This variety is not unfrequently grown as an early 
 Grape in this country, under the name of the Royal Muscadine ; 
 
CuAi>. XXII.] CULTURE OF THE VINE AT TIIOMERY. 
 
 :}70 
 
 l)ut it is not so delicious when forced in our hothouses as when 
 ripened under warm sunshine on the whitewashed walls of 
 Thomery and Fontainehleau. There are several varieties of 
 Chasselas grown in French gardens, all of which are of excellent 
 flavour ; hut this is the best of them, and the one most generally 
 grown, as a dessert Grape, for the French markets. The Vine is 
 moderately vigorous in growth, and is easily recognised, even when 
 not in fruit, by its peculiarly blunt-lobed rounded leaves. The 
 bunches are generally small, rarely exceeding a pound in Aveight 
 even when grown indoors in this country, and grown out-of-doors 
 in French ijardens the clusters are smaller still. The berries are 
 
 Wall of Cluxsselas at Tlwmcry, s/unuiii^ the I ' 
 hotk in n firuncd and uu/>r, 
 
 ■s trained , 
 •d condition 
 
 Horizontal Cordons, 
 
 round and of a clear greenish-yellow colour, acquiring a pink or 
 amber tint, on the sunny side, when fully ripe. Being of a 
 peculiarly sweet juicy flavour, and producing a crackling sensation 
 when eaten, it seems singular that this delicious little Grape does 
 not more frequently find its way to our London markets, as it can 
 be imported quite as cheaply as the Spanish Chasselas and Sweet- 
 waters, and it is greatly superior to them in flavour. It bears 
 packing and carriage well, and the only drawback is that it must 
 be used soon after it is ripe. 
 
 When well ripened against walls the French think it tlie best 
 Grape ever grown, and superior to our hothouse Grapes, fine as 
 
380 THE PAllKS AND GAEDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 they are. Here I am simply stating au opinion without en- 
 dorsing it, merely adding that this estimate is not solely confined 
 to those who have no opportunity of judging both sides of the 
 question, but was held by the late Baron Eothschild, who grew all 
 our finest Grapes, and by some other good judges. G-rape-culture 
 is often successful against houses with us when it receives mere 
 chance attention from cottagers and others. By selecting the 
 soil and position, and really paying some attention to protecting 
 and cultivating the Vine, we may grow good Grapes against walls, 
 even in many places where ground- vineries are now resorted to. 
 Should any person doubt the possibility of cultivating the Chasselas 
 and others of our best hardy Grapes in the open air, I have 
 merely to refer him to the horticultural papers for the autumn 
 of 1868. They contain abundant evidence that even with the 
 rough treatment Graj)es now receive in the open air, it is quite 
 possible to grow them of good quality on walls. Grapes are 
 already grown well in the open air in a few places — by Mr. 
 Darkin, at Bury St. Edmunds, for example ; and by Mr. Fenn, in 
 the Eectory Garden at Woodstock ; so that there can be no doubt 
 about the possibility of ripening good Grapes over a considerable 
 portion of England and Ireland. 
 
 It is necessary to observe that the plan is only recommended 
 for warm soils and positions, for gardens not having much glass 
 and yet some wall-space, for covering cottages, out-offices, etc., 
 and not in any way as a substitute for Vine-culture indoors. 
 The Chasselas de Fontainebleau, or Eoyal Muscadine, is far the 
 best for culture in the open air in this country. 
 
 An account of the Grape-growing at Thomery from the pen ot 
 M. Eose-Charmeux is likely to convey the most practical informa- 
 tion on the subject, and the following is translated from his 
 ' Culture du Chasselas :' from the publishers of which the follow- 
 ing illustrations of the subject have been purchased for this 
 work : — 
 
 " At Thomery the soil is of a sandy and clayey nature, and 
 mixed with pebbles in those parts which are near the river. The 
 soil is at all times easy to work. Near the Seine it lacks depth — 
 so much so, indeed, that before cultivation it has to be dug and 
 trenched so as to remove some of the stony subsoil. Everywhere 
 else the layer of vegetable mould measures from four feet six 
 
Chap. XXIL] CULTURE OF THE VINE AT TIIOMERY. 
 
 581 
 
 inches to six feet in thickness. This layer is on a reddish clay 
 of about the same thickness, and beneath the clay is a broken-up 
 stratum of building-stone filled with fissures. This building- 
 stone is easily extracted. 
 The Grapes ripen a fort- 
 night earlier in the flinty 
 districts than in those 
 parts in which the soil is 
 deeper and richer. 
 
 "The gardens at 
 Thomery, taken altogether, 
 present much the appear- 
 ance of those of Montreuil- 
 sur-Bois. There is nothing 
 but walls in all directions, 
 distant from each other 
 
 about forty feet, and ten Low Double Espalier, and Mode of ProU-ctins the Vhus 
 
 feet high. This height has '" ' '^"'^' 
 
 only obtained during the last fifteen years, before which period 
 they were rarely higher than six or seven feet. The change 
 has been advantageous for two reasons ; first, the Grape-growers 
 liave been able to increase the space required for their purpose 
 
 by taking possession of a 
 larger portion of air instead 
 of having to buy fresh ground; 
 and secondly, the high walls 
 are found to improve the ap- 
 pearance and quality of the 
 Grapes. The walls are built 
 of hard stone quarried in the 
 neighbourhood, the stones 
 being laid with mud only. 
 The face of the wall is then 
 covered with a mortar made 
 of lime and sand, and is finally 
 covered with the same material thinned to a creamy consistence. 
 Every wall is topped with a roof of pantiles, surmounted by 
 a row of gutter-tiles. These roofs project about ten inches, and 
 below them are fixed at every yard iron rods, inclined slightly 
 
 : of top of wall at Tliomery, s/unvin£ the 
 f>rojectwn of tlu temporary coping. 
 
382 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 downwards. These supports project about twenty inches beyond 
 the edge of the Jjiles, affording altogether a support of at least 
 two feet six inches wide. Upon this is fixed, when occasion 
 requires ^*- a coping of bitumenised felt, or, where economy is 
 necessary, a piece of thin plank. The bitumenised felt is 
 stretched on frames of wood, about ten feet in length by eighteen 
 inches in width, the felt being fastened to them by means of 
 small nails. These frames are chiefly used when the Grapes are 
 perfectly ripe, which is generally about September 15, or when 
 
 there is danger of the fruit being spoilt by 
 heavy rains. Formerly, before these methods 
 of shelter were employed, large quantities 
 of Grapes were continually lost through 
 
 
 ^A 
 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 § 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 __^_ - 
 
 — 
 
 ^^"^w 
 
 ^'^^'^•~. 
 
 PrHiiiiig to obtain the 
 two arms of the Cordon. 
 
 Sulphur Distributor etu^loycd at Thoniery. 
 
 becoming rotten with the wet ; since their 
 adoption, however, there is no fear of such 
 a result. The size of the temporary 
 copings to be used is always dependent 
 on the aspect and height of the walls. With walls facing 
 the south and ten feet high, frames containing felt at least 
 thirty inches in width ought to be used. With a western 
 aspect, they ought to be even wider, in order to avoid all danger 
 from the heavy rains. With the old low walls, frames twenty- 
 four inches wide for the south, twenty-eight inches for the 
 west, and sixteen inches for the east, were found to be quite 
 sufficient." 
 
 " After selecting a proper position and soil, the most important 
 
CiiAi". XXIL] CULTUKK UF THE VINE AT TIIOMERY. 
 
 383 
 
 point is the sulphuring to prevent the Oidium Sulphur is the 
 effective cure for this pest, and it should be ap;-^ied directly after 
 the first pinching of the shoots, at a temperature below 96" Fahr. 
 in the open air. If the heat is too great, the young 'kin of the 
 Grape is liable to become decomposed. In full sunshine at noon 
 the fruit would be burnt up in an hour's time. Sulphuring may 
 1)6 carried on while the dew is falling. There is no fear in this 
 case of soiling the Grapes. The operation should not l)e deferred 
 until the Oidium has made its ap- 
 pearance. The second sulphuring 
 should be performed when the 
 Grapes are about as large as a pea, 
 or even earlier if the Oidium has 
 appeared at all. It would be pre- 
 
 Layci 
 
 d />la>ited 
 
 Low Espalier of Vines trained vertically, four 
 feet high. 
 
 forablc to sulphur while the Vines 
 are in flower. The operation is 
 performed with sublimated sul- 
 phur, blown upon the Vine with 
 a pair of bellows specially con- 
 trived for the purpose. It may be eflectively done without the 
 operator standing an instant in one spot, but passing quickly along 
 the line. In these latitudes heavy rains destroy in part the effect 
 of the sulphur, and it is nearly always necessary to repeat the 
 operation three or four times. If the Grapes themselves are attacked, 
 it is on them that the flowers of sulphur should be applied. It has 
 been remarked that under sunshine the Oidium may be totally 
 destroyed in one hour, a result that may be attributed to the 
 
384 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIL 
 
 speedier disengagement of sulphurous acid gas by the heat of the 
 sun, but it is dangerous to apply it if the sun is too strong." 
 
 The pruning of the Vine is so well understood in England that 
 it is needless to give it here in the full detail with which it is 
 honoured in M. Eose-Charmeux's book, the 'Culture du Chas- 
 
 selas.' The system as shown 
 in the illustrations is simply 
 the well-known spur-prun- 
 ing practised in nearly 
 every English vinery. There 
 are indeed several modifica- 
 tions of training; but this 
 as everybody knows is of no 
 real importance. In this 
 
 Rose-Charmeux's System of i 'ertical Train- 
 ing. The Vines are planted at sixteen inches 
 apart. 
 
 Vines trained Vertically with alternated 
 sp7irs, wires nine inches apart on wall; 
 Vines about twenty-eight inches apart. 
 
 case, as with the Yine indoors, the selection of a proper medium for 
 the roots is of far greater importance than anything else, while the 
 simplest form and the best system of pruning are without doubt 
 the same as those seen in our vineries— an erect stem with the 
 side-shoots annually pruned in. At Thomery the Vine is fre- 
 
Chap. XXII.] CULTURE OF THE VINE AT TIIOMERY. 385 
 
 quently trained as a horizontal cordon line over line ; but to 
 execute this form well requires time and skill, which only culti- 
 vators who devote themselves specially to it can afibrd, and it 
 may he safely said that letting the Vines run straight up the 
 walls and with their spurs at each side is better than any less- 
 simple mode. The really-important points to bear in mind are — 
 first, the warmer the exposure is, the better for the Grape ; 
 second, that the walls are white, or nearly so, as the Vines get 
 more heat on such walls than they do on dark ones, and are 
 maintained in better health ; third, that wide and efficient 
 copings are used to 
 }iormit the fruit to 
 thoroughly ripen in 
 autumn, and pre- 
 vent its being 
 spoiled by heavy 
 rains ; and that the 
 liigher walls are 
 found to possess an 
 advantage over the 
 lower ones. The 
 plants are fre- 
 quently raised in 
 rough baskets for 
 convenience of re- 
 moval and sale. 
 Several of the ap- 
 pliances here in use 
 are sensible ones, 
 which might be found useful in other ways than that of Vine- 
 culture. For instance, the movable scaffold to facilitate the 
 labours of the women who attend to the walls in summer, the 
 shade to shield them from the sun, and the frame for conveying 
 a number of small baskets laden with Grapes from the walls to 
 the Grape-room. 
 
 Grafting is frequently performed, and chiefly to replace a bad 
 by a good variety, or to hasten the fructification of a new one. 
 The plant is cut down to within nine or ten inches of the soil, 
 and with the gouge an incision is made on the smoothest side, a 
 
 Moval'le Scaffold used Jor thinning the Grapes. 
 
386 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 corresponding cnt being made in a scion or in the stem of a young 
 plant, both of which methods are here shown. The grafting is 
 performed as soon as the sap begins to move in spring, and the 
 grafts are tied and covered with grafting-wax (see illustration). 
 
 A particularly noticeable feature in the cultivation is that the 
 young Yines are as a rule planted at a considerable distance from 
 the wall — say a little more than three feet, and the stem laid 
 into the ground to near the base of the wall. Sometimes the 
 stem is allowed to rise some distance from the wall, and in the 
 following year when it has grown a little it is again lowered and 
 
 Shade to frolect the Grape-thintiers from strovg 
 
 Frame for carrying small baskets 
 Jilledwith Grapes from the walls 
 to the store-rooms : four feet 
 high at hack, thirty-one inches 
 ivide, and ten and a half inches 
 deep. 
 
 taken to the wall. This method, is obviously pursued to secure a 
 number of vigorous roots spread over a large surface. Where the 
 ground is stony and poor it is probably a good plan. 
 
 As regards the forcing of Grapes at Thomery, there is little 
 to note of any importance to the British Grape-grower, who is 
 certainly in advance of all others as regards the indoor-culture 
 of this old and ever-popular fruit. Nevertheless, M. Eose- 
 Charmeux's garden exhibits such an advance on the ordinary 
 style of forcing Grapes around Paris that it deserves a few words. 
 " The walls of the pits are of brick ; the highest, towards the 
 north, measures about five feet in height ; the front wall being 
 
CiiAP. XXII.] CULTURE OF THE VINE AT TIIOMERY. 
 
 387 
 
 only about two feet higli. The width of the hothouse at its base 
 between the walls is about four feet six inches, and the length 
 indefinite. The higher wall is covered on the top with a deal 
 board a foot wide and projecting towards the south ; the lower 
 wall is covered in the same way with a board five inches wide. 
 The walls ought to be rough cast, and kept perfectly white like 
 those of the gardens. Bars of iron serve as supports to the 
 frames, and to keep the walls in their places when the frames 
 
 Affldi- pf Grafting the 
 Vine at T/wmery. 
 
 M.Hi, 
 
 of Crafting lite Vine, ly approacli, 
 firactisei at Thomeiy. 
 
 I 
 
 Gouge used in Graft- 
 ing the Vine : ten 
 incites long. 
 
 are taken away, find rods provided with liolcs are placed in the 
 middle of each frame so that they may be opened to different 
 heights according to circumstances. A copper hot-water pipe, 
 four inches in diameter, serves to warm the structure, and an 
 entrance-door is constructed at each end. Grape-forcing begins 
 from the 15th to the 25th of December, in order to have ripe 
 fruit by the end of April. During the first fortnight the heat is 
 not allowed to rise above 58" F. to G5^ F. In a fortnight 
 
388 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 jj., J., 
 
 it is allowed to rise to 78° F. or 80° F,, from wliicli time until 
 the Grapes are ripe the heat is maintained at from 80° F. to 
 88° F. The time of flowering requires a great deal of attention, 
 for on it depends entirely the success of the result. In order 
 that fecundation should take place under the most favourable 
 
 circumstances, and that the Grapes 
 should be well formed, it is ab- 
 solutely necessary that the tem- 
 perature should be maintained 
 between 78° F. and 88° F. ; also 
 that the Vine should have plenty 
 of light and dry air. 
 
 " The low span-roofed house is 
 constructed in the following man- 
 ner : — On the east and west are 
 built two small brick walls twenty- 
 eight inches high, and in the centre 
 of the enclosed space are placed strong posts about five feet high, 
 and distant from each other about three feet. A plank fourteen 
 inches wide, nailed on the top of these posts, ties them together 
 solidly and forms a sort of coping. This jjlank is covered with 
 sheet-zinc, and bars of iron are carried from it to the walls serving 
 as supports to the 
 lights. At each 
 end a door is con- 
 structed for the 
 attendants to go 
 in and out, and on 
 each side is a 
 thermometer for 
 regulating the 
 temperature. The 
 interior of the 
 hothouse is about smuis/i 
 ten feet wide at 
 the base, so that the rows of Vines are distant from the side- 
 walls about eighteen or twenty inches, and one side gets the 
 effect of the sun in the morning, the other in the afternoon. Two 
 rows of pulleys are attached to the wooden coping for working 
 
 1 ttj > } ! 1,^ fh / uie t II Jc t fi 
 and Jicic feet Jive inches ki^k 
 
 inches iiide. 
 
Chap. XXII.] CULTURE OF TIIK VINE AT TIloMEItY. 
 
 389 
 
 the straw mats, which ought to he taken off every morning and 
 rephacecl in the evening." 
 
 Thus M. Kose-Charmeux speaks of liis forced culture of the 
 Vine. In addition to the houses hero figured and aUuded to, lie 
 employs a well-constructed portahle lean-to house — portahle 
 hecause the French yet helieve in the virtue of the plan of alter- 
 nately forcing and resting their trees, a system which we have 
 long ago proved to he wortliless. 
 
 The following is a French mode of training Vines on walls, and 
 a very good one ; the walls are trellised with split pieces of Oak 
 which last nearly as long as the walls themselves. The Vines 
 are planted against them ahout six feet apart, as there are 
 three tiers of Vines, or cordons as they may he termed. The 
 distance for each Vine to run horizontally is something like nine 
 feet or so; the horizontal shoots are tied to the first har or lath, 
 and the rest of the space is left for the summer-shoots and fruits, 
 only one bunch of Grapes being left on each pair of shoots. The 
 shoot that fruits this year does not bear fruit next, and so on 
 throughout. It is a simple and quick way of covering a wall, 
 and one which in the southern i)art of England might be advan- 
 tageously practised. 
 
 on off' "'"''''• 
 
 2 D 
 
390 THE TARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 Training. 
 
 In France the commonest garden-labourers frequently possess a 
 knowledge of pruning and training trees which we might look for 
 in vain anywhere in this country ; and by way of illustrating 
 their skill in this way, we cannot do better than describe their 
 mode of forming two of the most popular forms of fruit-trees — 
 the Palmette Verrier and the Pyramidal Pear-trees, chiefly after 
 Du Breuil. The Pear will serve to illustrate training and pruning 
 as well as any other tree, and the principles laid down will apply 
 to other fruit-trees. 
 
 The Palmette. — Wherever large wall-trees are grown, the 
 simple and beautiful form known to the French as the Palmette 
 Verrier is sure to obtain a place among them. It is the finest 
 of large forms, and is preferred by many of the best French 
 cultivators to any other, though for quick returns the vertical 
 forms now begin to supplant it in some gardens. The reader 
 may think it impossible to attain such perfect shape as is shown 
 in the illustrations, but there are many trees even more beautiful 
 than those represented. This figure also shows the advantages 
 of the kind of support used in France for espalier-trees as com- 
 pared with our method of using rough wooden or iron posts and 
 strong bolt-like wire. It will be seen that the tree difiers from 
 the form of Pear-tree that we are in the habit of placing against 
 walls ; it is easy to point out its advantages in securing an equal 
 flow of sap to all the branches. In the common horizontal form 
 strength and fertility are apt to desert the lower branches, in 
 consequence of their not possessing a growing-point to draw the 
 sap through^ and particularly when constant care is not taken to 
 
Chap. XXIII.] 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 391 
 
 repress the upper portions of the tree by summer-pinching. The 
 form here figured, in common with all very large wall and espalier 
 
 trees, takes a long time to complete. Given a wall 10 ft. or 
 12 ft. high, and 20 ft. or 24 ft. long, to be covered with a tree 
 
 2 D 2 
 
r,92 
 
 THE TAEKS AND GAEDENS OF PARTS. [Chap. XXIIT. 
 
 of this shape, it would require fifteen or sixteen years to form it. 
 By adopting a more contracted form based upon the same plan, 
 we may cover the wall or trellis more quickly. 
 
 The Palmette Yerrier is named after the fruit-gardener at the 
 Ecole Eegionale de la Saulsaie, with whom it was first observed. 
 To form the tree, we have in the first instance to plant a young 
 tree which, as so much care is about to be exercised upon it, should 
 be of the primest quality. In forming this, as all other fruit- 
 trees, the usual and most economical custom is to choose plants 
 about a year old from the time of grafting, or what are called 
 " maiden plants." Trees more advanced might be bought to 
 make the same form more quickly, but they will be more 
 expensive the further they are advanced beyond what is called 
 the " maiden " stage. The young trees should be allowed to 
 
 The I'almecte Verriei 
 
 Sec^jid pruning. Third pyuni7ig. 
 
 Fourth prufiini^. 
 
 remain a year or so in their positions before being cut, so that 
 they may root well. At the first pruning the young tree is cut 
 down to within a foot or so of the ground, and just above three 
 suitable eyes, one at each side to form the two lowermost 
 branches, the third a little above them and in front to continue 
 the upright axis. Of course all the eyes, except those that are to 
 send forth the first three shoots, must be suppressed in spring. 
 Although the tree in the illustration looks so very exact and 
 regular in its lines that the branches appear as if they had been 
 " bent in the way they should go " at a very early stage, it is not 
 so ; they are at first allowed to grow almost erect, and are after- 
 wards gradually lowered to the horizontal position. During the 
 first year of the young tree possessing three shoots, care must be 
 taken (as at all times) to secure a perfect equilibrium between 
 
Chai'. XX 111.] 
 
 ri!.\i.\i.\(;. 
 
 393 
 
 them. If one grows stronger than the others, it must he loosened, 
 from its position on the wall and lowered. This will divert the 
 sap so as to strengthen the rest. Nothing is more easily 
 conducted than the sap, if a little attention he paid to it; if 
 neglected, it soon rushes towards tlio higher points, and spoils 
 the symmetry of the tree. 
 
 At the second pruning they must he cut at B, and ahout a third of 
 the length of the side-shoots must also be cut at A A, in preceding 
 ligure. If one side-branch happens to be stronger than the other, 
 the stronger one must be cut somewhat shorter. In cutting and 
 pruning wall-trees the cut should be made above a front bud, so 
 that the wound made by the knife may be turned towards the wall, 
 
 Tlu Pahnette terrier. Fifth pruning. 
 
 and away from the eye, from which, of course, it will soon be 
 ellectually hidden by this front bud developing into a shoot, and 
 thickening at its base. Daring the second year no more branches 
 must be permitted to grow, because the trainer desires to throw all 
 the strength he can into the lower branches, which are to be the 
 longest. Sometimes, however, the strength of the lower branches 
 will permit the second stage of branches to be made during the second 
 year of training. At the third pruning the central stem is cut at six 
 inches or so above the previous incision, which is indicated by a 
 slight ring, and a third part of the new growth of the side-branches 
 cut otr, as shown in the illustration. Here, again, we cut above 
 and inside three promising eyes to obtain a new set of branches, 
 and each succeeding year add another series until the tree is formed. 
 
394 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 At the end of the following growing-season the specimen will have 
 advanced sufficiently to allow the lower branches to be bent up 
 towards the top of the wall, and will begin to look shapely. The 
 fifth stage of pruning is well shown in the illustration, which is 
 an exact representation of what the tree ought to be — A, and the 
 cross marks indicating where the incisions are to be made. Above 
 all things it is necessary to keep the growth and flow of sap 
 equal, not only for the sake of symmetry, but also to insure 
 perfect health and fertility ; for if one part be allowed to grow 
 grossly at the expense of another, an awkward state of things will 
 soon take place. Sometimes, when the vegetation is very vigorous, 
 time is gained in the making of this form by pinching the central 
 
 Pabnctte Verrier, with weakly outer Branch completed by Grafting. 
 
 growth at eight inches or so above the highest pair of opposite 
 branches. It then breaks again, and care is taken to secure two 
 side-shoots and an erect one. Thus, with attention, and in good 
 soil, two stages of branches may be secured in the same year, but 
 this must not be attempted till the proper formation of the two 
 lower branches is secured. The dotted lines in the figure showing 
 the fifth pruning indicate the positions that have been successively 
 occupied by the branch E, while in course of formation, and show 
 that it is by no means necessary to train a young branch from the 
 beginning in the exact position it is required to take. In fact, 
 this form is only to be well and easily finished by allowing the 
 young shoots to first grow and gather strength in an erect or 
 oblique position. The branch E was adjacent to the central 
 
Chap. XXIII.] 
 
 THAINING. 
 
 395 
 
 branch when young, and was at B ; then it wa.s lowered to C, next 
 year to D, and finally to it.s 
 horizontal position. Some care 
 is required to make the bend 
 of the shoots equal and gently 
 rounded. If the tree is trained 
 on a wire trellis, it is best 
 before it becomes necessary to 
 bend the shoots, to place two 
 bent rods in the exact position 
 desired. They must be fixed 
 at exactly equal distances from 
 the main stem, and be equal 
 in curvature. It is then an 
 easy matter to attach to them 
 the growing shoot, which will 
 soon harden to the desired 
 bend. Against a wall it may 
 be readily directed with shreds 
 and nails; if the wall be wired, 
 bent twigs may be applied, as 
 on the trellis. Like care should 
 be bestowed upon the other 
 bends, as they require to be 
 made ; but of course the outer 
 and lower one is of the greatest 
 importance. As this form is 
 not at all presentable if the 
 outer branches be^incomplete, 
 grafting by approach is some- 
 times employed to repair any 
 such defect. 
 
 This mode of training is too 
 little practised in our country, 
 and being applicable to 
 
 many forms of training, I can />„,;;....•,,. y, ;,/,,, 
 
 strongly recommend it, having 
 
 frequently witnessed the good ellects produced by carrying it out 
 carefully. 
 
396 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 Pyramidal Training of the Pear-tree. — This culture is, 
 considered from the stand-point of beauty alone, as desirable as 
 any with which amateurs interest themselves. I have seen in 
 very small gardens in France, pyramidal Pear-trees, which if they 
 never afforded a fruit, would be beautiful objects ; and there are 
 few " avenues " prettier than those of Pear-trees in little town- 
 gardens in Paris. In the fully-formed 
 pyramid, in addition to its symmetry 
 will be observed the straight clean 
 growth of each branch, springing at 
 regular intervals from the main stem, 
 
 Top of Young Prar-trcc. B, the lead- 
 ing shoof. A A, shoots requiring to 
 be pinched. 
 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. First 
 priming. 
 
 which is so erect and well furnished. 
 From the summit to the base such a 
 tree ought to be garnished with nothing 
 but branches well set with fruit-spurs. 
 The greatest breadth of the pyramid 
 should equal about one-third of its height. Pyramidal trees may 
 be purchased in all stages ; but trees ready-formed are costly, and 
 as many would prefer training their own, and as those who plant 
 on a large scale will find it economical to begin with trees a year 
 from the graft, we will commence with a " maiden tree," letting it 
 grow one year in the ground before pruning it. The small cut 
 represents the first pruning of this young tree, and its appearance 
 
CiiAi>. XXIII.] 
 
 TUAIXING. 
 
 397 
 
 ^UrAH' 
 
 Pyr.imiJiil Pcar-trcc. 
 prunins. 
 
 one year after being permanently planted, or two years from the 
 graft. B shows the union of stock and scion ; and the 
 terminal bud, A, just below where the shoot is cut 
 should be placed on the side opposite to that on which 
 the scion was inserted, as shown in the figure, so that 
 the stem of the tree may rest perpendicularly on its 
 base. It is by attending to such little points as this 
 that the French get that perfectly equal distribution of 
 sap which is so essential to the satisfactory manage- 
 ment and prolonged fertility of trained fruit-trees. 
 The summer following the first pruning, the young 
 trees push with great vigour, 
 and their shoots should be 
 thinned when a few inches 
 long, removing every shoot 
 from the base of the stem to 
 a height of about one foot, and 
 thinning out those above this 
 point to six, seven, or eight 
 shoots ; reserving of course the 
 best-placed shoots, and taking 
 care to have them arranged 
 as far as possible at regular 
 intervals. Should they in the 
 course of the year assume an 
 irregular development, pinch- 
 ing with the finger and thumb 
 must be resorted to. For 
 instance, in the cut opposite, 
 the shoots, A A, have pushed too much ; and one of them 
 rivals the leading shoot, B ; they therefore are pinched, 
 merely taking off an inch or so. The second pruning 
 has for its object the production of a new set of lateral 
 branches, and the further development of those already "o/'rcarZci 
 obtained. It is evident that to secure a beautiful tree, '!,Zh!a.a!a, 
 the branches must spring forth regularly from the »utdcabcvethe 
 main stem, which they are not likely to do if the tree /" Tr"^* 
 is left to itself. The illustration of "leading shoot '"""'^'y- 
 of Pear-tree " shows the wav in which the careful cultivator 
 
398 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF RARIS. [CnAr. XXIII. 
 
 furnishes his stem, as regularly as could he desired. The eyes 
 which he desires to break strongly have an incision made above 
 them, as shown in the figure. This is particularly desirable as 
 regards the lower part of each successive growth of the erect 
 stem ; the vigour of the rising current of saj) often pushing 
 
 ^, the best position at 
 2vhich to prune for the 
 terminal bud. 
 
 A, part of old leading shoot barked 
 and left to tie the young shoot to. 
 It is cut at B %vhen the shoot has 
 arrived at maturity. 
 
 A, B, C, incisions made above and 
 below branches and buds to check 
 irregularity of growth. 
 
 towards the higher buds, and causing the lower j)art to be jjoorly 
 furnished. These incisions, A, A, A, must be carefully performed 
 on the young branch — deep enough to penetrate the sap-wood, 
 and yet not so deep as to hurt the slender rising point. The top 
 of this shoot, instead of being cut off. has been barked for some 
 
Chap. XXIII.] 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 399 
 
 portion of its length above the bud that has been selected to 
 continue the growth of the coming summer. To this barked 
 portion the young shoot is trained, and a perfectly vertical growth 
 for what we may term the pillar of the tree is thereby secured. 
 The bark is neatly cut round above the upper eye ; the branch is 
 cut off at about four or five inches above that point, and then the 
 bark is taken clean ofi". When the young leading shoot is long 
 enough, it is fastened to the bare portion of the stem. 
 
 In pruning the tree considerable judgment is required, so as 
 to get the base of the specimen well furnished, and secure fer- 
 tility in the fruiting-branches. 
 Several of the figures here given 
 will explain the practice ; which 
 is, to cut them of the greatest 
 length at the base of the tree, 
 and gradually shorten them as 
 the top is reached. The nearer 
 they spring to the soil, the 
 longer they must be left, or, 
 to be more precise, only a third 
 must be cut from the points of 
 the lowest branches ; half the 
 length may be taken from those 
 situated between summit and 
 base ; and lastly, three-quarters 
 may be cut from the most 
 elevated. In cutting-in the 
 lateral branches, the perfectly oblique direction which it is 
 desirable they should take must be borne in mind in the pruning, 
 and the terminal bud of each left as far as possible, as in the 
 figure showing this. In case of a very irregular development 
 among the laterals, incisions are made above a weak branchlet to 
 encourage it, and below a strong one to retard it until the 
 equilibrium of the branches is established. Incisions are also 
 made before a dormant bud that has failed to become developed 
 into a lateral. The weak shoot is not cut, or but very little ; the 
 strong one is cut to below the level of the one it is desired to 
 encourage. These incisions should be performed with a little saw, 
 so that the cuts may not soon heal over. The incisions should 
 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Third pruning. 
 
400 
 
 THE TAIIKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXllI. 
 
 penetrate sufficiently into the layer of yonng wood to well 
 intercept the sap)-vessels. If with all these precautions there are 
 
 ohjectionably-bare spaces on 
 the stem, they may be re- 
 medied by grafting by ap- 
 proach, that is to say, turn- 
 ing back a vigorous branch 
 to the main stem, and graft- 
 ing it on to the bare space ; 
 or if this cannot be done, 
 inserting a short ordinary 
 graft in the stem. This, 
 however, with good manage- 
 ment, will rarely be neces- 
 sary. 
 
 Having trained the branches 
 straight, the next point is to 
 see that they follow the desired 
 oblique line ; and it will be 
 seen by the illustrations that 
 the disposition given them 
 is better than the one they 
 assume under a less careful 
 system. The light enters 
 freely to all parts of the tree ; 
 the more important part of it is under the command of the 
 eye and hand, and the top is prevented from running away. 
 This, however, is more owing to the fine 
 formation of the lower branches than to the 
 position they assume, though certainly such 
 free and straight outlets for the rising sap 
 are very effective in preventing a gross de- 
 velopment above, and consequently in keep- 
 ing the tree in the condition desired. During 
 the summer following the second pruning, 
 the operations for maintaining the lead 
 with the vertical branch, and equality 
 among the lateral shoots of the new growth, must be carried 
 out as before described. In the third pruning the young lateral 
 
 Grafting by approach, to cover ha 
 Pyramidal Trees. 
 
 Grafting by approach as 
 applied to IVail and 
 Espalier Trees. 
 
CiiAi'. XXIIl.] 
 
 THAI XING. 
 
 401 
 
 hranclies of the preceding summer are cut in much shorter tliaii 
 the lower ones to favour the development of these. 
 
 At the fourth pruning the lower branches are not cut nearly so 
 long as in the previous pruning, because they have now attained 
 to almost the desired length and vigour. The new branches of 
 the second series are left somewhat longer, and the pruner looks 
 more to the top-structure, so to speak. The wisdom of forming 
 the base well at first will be apparent. During the summer 
 
 l^yrn»iidal }'ear-trfc. Fourth prunirif;. 
 
 following the fourth pruning before described, attention should 
 be given to the young branches at the top of the pyramid, as well 
 as the side ones. As the lower branches will have nearly reached 
 their full length, a too vigorous growth of the terminal shoot of 
 each must be prevented by pinching. 
 
 The next figure shows the aspect of the tree at the fifth pruning, 
 and how the pruning is performed. As is well seen by glancing from 
 B to A in this figure, the new growth of the lower branches is cut 
 very short, while the higher the remaining superior branches are, 
 
402 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 the longer are the portions cut off. The succeeding prunings 
 differ nothing in principle from the others, future development 
 taking place principally in the middle and higher parts of the 
 tree. Care should be taken to guide in the desired direction by- 
 means of twine, and sometimes slender stakes, any branches that 
 may have deviated from it. Thus the pruning is carried on till 
 
 Pyramidal Pear-tree. Fifth pruning. 
 
 the tree becomes a large and perfect pyramid, the laterals being 
 well j)inched in, and in every case a free terminal shoot being 
 allowed to proceed from each, so that the tree may be kept equally 
 balanced and the sap freely conducted through each branch. 
 They may of course be cut back well every year ; always, however, 
 at a bud likely to furnish a good shoot for the following season. 
 It is very questionable if the mathematically-designed pyramid 
 
Chap. XXIIl.] 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 403 
 
 liore alluded to be so desirable for gardens^ generally as a flatter 
 and less pointed form. For example, the pja-amid as represented 
 
 I'yrainuiiil l\-a 
 
 ivttii arooptng Branches. 
 
 at the time of its fourth or fifth pruning is in outline preferable 
 to the tall cone-like pyramidal trees. 
 
 Occasionally the pyramidal Pear has its branches bent down- 
 wards, some thinking that this induces a more fruitful habit : 
 
404 
 
 THE PArtKS AND GARDENS OF TARTS. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 there is no evidence, however, proving this form to be better than 
 the simple pyramid. 
 
 The excellent practice of cutting in pyramidal and other trees 
 that happen to be worthless varieties, and re-grafting them with 
 superior kinds, is much practised by the French growers and 
 amateurs. This system is quite as applicable to wall-trees as to 
 pyramids or standards. In numbers of our gardens great good 
 
 might be effected by re- 
 i' graftingwith good vari- 
 
 eties, and doing away 
 with the worthless ones 
 so very commonly seen. 
 The columnar mode of 
 training to be seen 
 here and there in 
 France, is considered 
 better than the pyra- 
 midal form, where 
 saving of space is an 
 object, and where too 
 much shading of the 
 crops by the trees is 
 uDdesirable. The 
 woodcut on page 333 
 shows a tree before the 
 winter-pruning takes 
 place, and, as will be 
 seen, it is an erect stem 
 densely furnished 
 with short fruiting- 
 branches. Except on the Quince in suitable soils, it is not likely 
 to present many advantages ; for if on the Pear and confined 
 thus closely to a fastigiate bundle of shoots, it would in all pro- 
 bability run too high to permit of proper annual pruning or of the 
 crop being gathered with convenience. Judging by the strength 
 and thickness displayed by our old horizontal wall-trees grafted 
 on the Pear-stock, we should, if we adopted a contracted form like 
 this with trees worked on the Pear, in a few years have objects 
 more like rustic gate-posts than trees. 
 
 Wall Pear-tree re-grafted. On each of the branches A, B, C, 
 D, a graft has been placed. The graft at C failed, and 
 consequently a shoot, e, is alloTved to ascend ; so that it 7>iny 
 be budded the autumn folLnuing the graftitig. 
 
CiiAi-. XXIII.] 
 
 ti:aixixg 
 
 405 
 
 It is not uncommon in English gardens to train the branches of 
 tl)e pyramidal Pear in a pendulous fashion ; and it is a system 
 
 <ff I 
 
 ■rf 
 
 - i(i n ffc 'f ^-f 
 
 ^^^1 
 
 'k;.:H._x 
 
 admired by some, though somewhat more troublesome to form 
 than the simple pyramid. The figure represents a manner of 
 applying a modification of the same principle to the ordinary 
 
 2 E 
 
406 
 
 TPIE PAEKS AND GAKDENft OF PAKIS. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 horizontally-trained Pear-tree. I do not say that it is as good as 
 it is graceful in appearance, believing in simple, easily-conducted 
 forms, but as these smaller arching branches may be established 
 on kinds that bear better on the young wood, or on trees with 
 the branches thinly placed, it may prove useful. The mode of 
 formation is so simple and so easily established that no further 
 description is needed. It cannot however be said too often 
 that the simple and quickly-formed trees, described elsewhere, 
 are as excellent for walls as for trellises, combining as they 
 do the advantages claimed for the cordons with a not too- 
 contracted, repressed development. 
 
 When the exact system of training described in this chapter is 
 well carried out, well-furnished branches and fruitful spurs are 
 the rule. Should it not be so, the growers frequently resort to 
 grafting fruit-buds on the bare spaces, as shown by the following 
 figures : — 
 
 Grafting to furnish useless luater-sJwots 
 luith fruit-hnds. A , short lateral fruit- 
 shoot ; C, incision to receive A ; D, oper- 
 ation completed {this graft is performed 
 in August, the huds fruiting the follonv- 
 ingycar'); B, terminal fruit-brancli; E, 
 crown-grafting of frui ting-shoots on gross 
 unfruitful ones. 
 
Chap. XXIII.] TRAINING. 407 
 
 The greatest attention is paid to the proper and neat pinching 
 and pruning of the shoots, as shown by the following figures :— 
 
 Proper mode of cutting shoot. Shoot cut too long- 
 
 Shoot cuf too low. 
 
 4<^ 
 
 »i 
 
 j^\ 
 
 r^ 
 
 Vouttg shoot of Pear pro- 
 perly pinched at about 
 four inches from the base. 
 
 Shoot of Pear pitiched too Result of 07'er-pinching. 
 
 short. 
 
 Another result of over- Pinching of the second growth The stipulary sJioots forced into 
 pinching. of the Pear. growth by the removal of the prin- 
 
 cipal shoot. A'. 
 
 2 K 2 
 
408 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 Fruit Culture: How are we to Improve? 
 
 The discussion on French and English fruit-growing which took 
 place in the ' Times ' a few years ago, and afterwards spread through 
 various other journals, was, like most discussions, not calculated to 
 leave much impression on the public mind as to the best course 
 to pursue. For this reason, therefore, in this chapter I propose 
 to enter at some length into the matter. The fruit-question is 
 not one that merely concerns those who can devote time and 
 money to the pleasures that gardening affords ; it is a question 
 for the general public of especial importance when considered in 
 relation to the market-supplies of our cities and towns. 
 
 Considering the hardiness of the Pear, its keeping-qualities, 
 and its great variety, it is the most valuable dessert-fruit that 
 can be grown in northern latitudes. A perfect Peach may be 
 preferred to a first-rate Pear, but by properly selecting varieties 
 of Pears we may have them in perfection during eight or nine 
 months of the year, and the variety in flavour is j)erhaps greater 
 than in the case of any other fruit. "We are quite behind the 
 French growers in its production. Our stocks of Apples are 
 usually good and abundant ; our stocks of Pears are frequently 
 scarce and very poor in quality. In many gardens a really good 
 Pear is almost as rare as a Mangosteen. We can increase the 
 quantity and improve the quality of our Pears in a tenfold degree 
 over the greater part of England and Ireland, and even in time to 
 come make an article of export the fruit that we are now obliged 
 to import so largely. 
 
 No doubt the brighter sun of France is more favourable to the 
 culture of the Pear than our own climate ; but it is equally true 
 that by the aid of walls for some sorts, by judicious selection of 
 
CiiAi'. XXIV.] FlUIIT ClH/rUHE. 409 
 
 grouiul, locality, and kinds, wc may grow it to perfection. The 
 quantity of Pears the French send to our markets is surprising. 
 Messrs. Draper, the salesmen of Covent Garden, showed me by 
 their books that from one importer alone they sold from COZ. to 
 lOOZ. worth of French garden-produce (chiefly Pears) each market- 
 day ; and a fruit-merchant has told me of one dealer in Pears 
 who annually collects in France and sells in our markets 10,000/. 
 worth of that fruit. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that the climate does all this for the 
 French— the winter and spring in many parts of Northern and 
 North-central France being quite as difficult for the fruit-grower 
 as they are in England. The Pear loves a moist, genial climate, 
 and in many parts of England and Ireland our advantage in this 
 respect will be found to compensate in some degree for the 
 difference in sunlight. Some Pears are grown better in England 
 than in France, and it is a curious fact that some which ripen 
 and go ofi" (quickly in the neighbourhood of London remain in an 
 eatable condition much longer and acquire a more delicious 
 flavour in the cooler climate of Yorkshire. Let it be borne in 
 mind that we are talking of the culture of a fruit which grows in 
 a wild state as far north as Southern Sweden, and then we can 
 estimate at their true worth the objections of those who say that 
 our climate prevents any improvement, and who, perhaps, imme- 
 diately afterwards assert the superior quality of British-grown fruit. 
 Nature is our willing handmaid in this matter, and we have it in 
 our power to place this fine fruit within the reach of all, and render 
 ourselves quite independent of foreign growers. I do not say we 
 could grow such big Belle Angevine Pears as are sold for a guinea 
 apiece ; but that is of no consequence, as these are valueless 
 in point of flavour. 
 
 There are various ways in which we may improve the culture 
 of the Pear, and the first and best is by paying more attention to 
 it as a naturally-developed standard tree— in a word, by an 
 improved system of orcharding. Upon orchards we must chiefly 
 depend for the supply of our large cities and towns. This subject, 
 in its commercial aspect, may be left to the growers of fruit for 
 the market, but the country-gentleman and large farmer— in fact, 
 everybody possessing a hedgerow, field, or shrubbery — cannot be 
 too strongly urged to use the great opportunities they have for 
 
410 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 growing Pears. They grow useless shrubs and weedy trees in many 
 places where the finest fruit might be grown with little trouble 
 beyond that of gathering it ; there are numbers of farmers, who 
 hardly ever see a good fruit of this kind, in possession of lines of 
 hedgerow where the trees would grow as healthfully from among 
 the lower brushwood as any subject that now embellishes them ; 
 and there are many owners of gardens, who now go to market for 
 their fruit, who might gather it from places in their little 
 shrubberies at present entirely devoted to miserable bushes of 
 Privet. I know well the kind of objection that is made to some 
 of these suggestions — the boys would gather the fruit, etc. Little 
 blame to the boys for making an occasional raid on the little fruit 
 that comes in their way, but if the fruit were as plentiful as it 
 might be they would not be so troublesome. 
 
 There is another aspect of the question which may also well 
 commend the growth of Pears and other hardy fruits in ground 
 now profitless. It is often thought that Nature is usually 
 sparing of leaf-beauty where the flower is highly ornamental, and 
 stingy with flowers where leaves assume large proportions and 
 elegant outlines ; and, to a smaller extent, that she is apt to 
 bestow her favours in a like way as regards fruit. Nothing can 
 be further from the fact than this supposition. When we 
 consider the flowering charms of the greater portion of our fruit- 
 trees, we ask Why are they not more planted for the sake of their 
 beauty alone ? Take the Apple in its countless varieties, and 
 consider that, if it did not give such crops of fruit, beautiful to 
 look upon, and more delicious in flavour than half the boasted 
 fruits of the tropics, it would be sought after for the sake of its 
 blushing flowers, which turn the orchard into fairyland. But it 
 happens to bear fruit of various colours, sizes, and flavours, and, 
 of course, that is a reason why we have hitherto not employed 
 such a beautiful hardy tree in the pleasure-garden. Then we 
 have the Pear, which comes in earlier, and furnishes snowy masses 
 of bloom ; and with a more picturesque and handsome habit than 
 the apple. From nearly every hardy fruit we may reap a like 
 harvest of floral beauty — Almonds, Apricots, Cherries, Crabs, 
 Medlars, Peaches, Plums, and Quinces, being all more or less 
 ornamental. And as perhaps some curious persons here and 
 there may not object to plant beautiful flowering fruit-trees 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 411 
 
 because they also bear precious and handsome fruit, they have 
 only to place these objects in any open spots, in pleasure-grounds, 
 by wood-walks, in the fences at intervals, instead of the worthless 
 bushes that now too often occupy them — and, in a word, in the 
 numberless positions where trees good for neither timber nor 
 flowers now take up valuable ground. 
 
 Then there is the ornamental orchard. Usually the orchard 
 is, of all spots, the most formal ; but there is no need that it 
 should be so, as anyone with extensive pleasure-grounds can 
 (|uickly prove. At Meudon, where an ornamental orchard was 
 formed, the position was a valley-like hollow, but in an elevated 
 position — ^just the spot to make a compact Pinetum. Instead of 
 planting it with trees and shrubs of the ordinary type, it was 
 resolved to embellish it with well-arranged groups of fruit-trees. 
 On one side a large clump was devoted to handsome pyramidal 
 Pear-trees, on another to Apples, another to Plums, and so on. 
 The grass was not broken up, nor any of the ornamental features 
 of the spot interfered with in the least. It need hardly be 
 pointed out how varied, as well as useful, such an arrangement 
 might be made. There might be mixed groups of new and 
 untried kinds, as well as masses of tried ones ; there might be 
 isolated specimens of various kinds on the grass, from an Apple 
 on the dwarf Paradise-stock to a fully-grown and handsome Pear. 
 Fruits little known or of doubtful utility, like the Eugenia or 
 the Cherry-plum, might be associated with the others with 
 greater propriety than in the fruit-garden proper. Such things 
 as the xVmerican Blackberries — and very fine some of these are — 
 would find a congenial home ; so would the Dewberry and the 
 various Cranberries. The relatives of our common fruit-trees 
 might of course be planted in the near neighbourhood for 
 comparison's sake ; standard Peaches, Figs and Apricots might 
 bo tried with safety if the garden were in the south ; and the 
 whole would prove one of the most interesting features in a 
 country-place. 
 
 It should be remembered that some of our hardy fruits are 
 capable of afi'ording quantities of wholesome food ; but before they 
 do so efliciently we must take them out of the class of things 
 that are carefully walled-in in gardens, overdone with kindness, or 
 injured by unnatural pruning, and recognise the fact that many 
 
412 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 excellent kinds are as liardy and easily grown as the Blackberries 
 and Sloes of the hedges. For the purposes herein suggested 
 thoroughly hardy and free-growing sorts should alone be selected; 
 but it must not be supposed that first-class fruit, even of the 
 continental varieties, cannot be produced in this way. In the 
 gardens at Oak Lodge, Kensington, is a very large and handsome 
 Pear-tree growing among Ehododendrons and other choice shrubs 
 which adorn the margin of a piece of rock-bound water. It is a 
 fine old tree of the Beurre Diel, which, without pruning or 
 attention of any kind, produces abundantly such good fruit, that, 
 of twelve samples of the same variety laid before the Fruit 
 Committee of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, the fruit of this 
 tree was pronounced the best. This is not mentioned as a 
 remarkable instance, but merely to prove that the finest Pears 
 may be grown by the simplest means, and that the tree is worth 
 cultivating for its beauty alone. The garden of Oak Lodge is 
 the best-designed town-garden in London, and Mr. Marnock, who 
 arranged it, left several of these old Pears in conspicuous positions 
 when laying out the place solely for their beauty as trees, apart 
 from their fruiting qualities. Therefore it is clear that we may 
 efi'ect considerable improvement by planting this tree in shrub- 
 beries, pleasure-grounds, and like positions, and in many wild 
 and semi-wild places, both in enclosed private grounds and in the 
 open country. There can be no doubt that enormous quantities 
 of good fruit could be grown upon railway-banks now useless, and 
 from which fruit could be so readily conveyed to market ; on this 
 point, however, we shall have more to say by-and-by. 
 
 The accompanying illustration shows a type of fruit-garden 
 common enough in and near Paris, and which deserves the atten- 
 tion of all interested in the improvement of small properties. A 
 mere sj)ot of ground is planted with carefully-selected and choice 
 fruit-trees well trained, and the result is, even from an ornamental 
 point of view, better than it often is where subjects are planted 
 that have only beauty to recommend them. The view is from a 
 sketch taken in winter by M. Franfois Courtin, of a small garden 
 facing the street leading from Yincennes to Montreuil. Beneath 
 the trees Pansies, Pinks, and other hardy flowers grow: the 
 presence of the trees does not prevent the little garden being 
 made gay with flowers. In winter, the graceful pyramidal Pear- 
 
Chap. XXIV.] 
 
 FRUIT CUL'L'L'HE. 
 
 413 
 
 trees and well and simply-formed Peach and Plum-trees against 
 the walls certainly often look better than little gardens arranged 
 with another aim. In spring there is the beauty of fruit-tree 
 blossoms, and in autumn the crown of trees— good fruit. The 
 art of the engraver, even in its best form, can give but a suggestion 
 of such a garden, but probably this will show how desirable it is 
 to make, more than ever, full use of our opportunities of planting 
 fruit-trees in small gardens. 
 
 1 
 * 
 
 
 y^^ . 
 
 
 The second way in which we may improve the cultivation of the 
 Pear is by planting it to a greater extent as a pyramidal tree, 
 grafting on the Quince where the soil is rich, moist, or deep. On 
 many dry and sandy lauds the Pear must be grown on its own 
 stock, and for orcharding purposes generally that may safely be 
 pronounced the best. We shall never have a good supply for 
 market till we pay more attention to the Pear as a frecly-d('Vfh»})ed 
 standard tree ; we shall never liavf a lirst-rate sujiply <if Winter 
 
414 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV 
 
 Pears till we pay more attention to Pears on walls than we do at 
 present. The French, from whom we have adopted the pyramidal 
 form, employ it to an enormous extent, but do not stop there. It 
 is in planting the pyramid that most of our improvement in this 
 direction has taken place for a good many years hack. Almost 
 every nurseryman has now a stock of the tree in this form, and 
 we cannot employ it too much, provided sorts that ripen well in 
 ordinary seasons are selected ; but there are other ways of equal 
 importance. The pyramid is so pleasing in outline, and indeed 
 in all other respects, that, although so highly suited for the 
 kitchen or fruit-garden, it should by no means be confined to 
 either. Handsome specimens and groups may well be introduced 
 in favourable spots in the pleas are-ground and shrubberies, and 
 thus the owners of those numerous small ornamental gardens 
 near towns may gather fine fruit. 
 
 Another important way towards improvement is re-grafting 
 worthless fruit-trees. Fruits — Pears in particular — are strangely 
 afi'ected by difterent soils, localities, aspects, etc. A fruit may be 
 found to be extremely good in one locality, and worthless in others. 
 Thus, sometimes after taking great care in planting fruit-trees, 
 and after growing them and training them for many years until 
 they have become good specimens, so far as fruit is concerned they 
 have turned out to be but cumberers of the ground. Many, doubt- 
 less, have proved the truth of this assertion, and yet have hesitated 
 to destroy their trees because of the beauty of their appearance 
 and the blank occasioned by so doing, years being required to 
 again fill up the space thus left bare. The plan now recommended, 
 however, obviates all disappointment ; all that is necessary to 
 be done being to re-graft as the illustration indicates. It is easily 
 accomplished, and it is astonishing how soon a tree is thus re- 
 furnished and in full bearing condition after being re-grafted. 
 The advantages of the process may be summed up thus : — 
 1. It enables us within two years or little more, to obtain a full- 
 sized fruitful tree of a new variety, which otherwise could only 
 have been done at the expense of planting and training a young 
 one for ten or twelve years. 2. Double-grafting on a well-seasoned 
 stock assists the fruiting properties of many shy bearers. Many 
 Pears very commonly found in this country ought to be re-grafted, 
 and much good may be effected by the process. 
 
Chap. XXIV.] 
 
 FRUIT CULTURE. 
 
 415 
 
 Let us now turn to the third way of improving the culture of the 
 Pear, and one that has been comparatively neglected for some years 
 
 ryramU.,1 I\ 
 
 |,;xst — that is, the Pear on walls. Here we are certainly behind- 
 hand, and do not appear to have made much progress for a very long 
 time. Perhaps it may be thought that the French might dispense 
 
416 THE TAEKS AND GArvDP]NS OF TAEIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 with walls ; but no siicli thing. They find them indispensable for 
 the perfect culture of the finer Winter Pears ; and were they not 
 to use them, they could never obtain such a stock of these as they 
 have. Yet we have for a long time past been paying attention to 
 almost every kind of garden-imj^rovement except this important 
 one. It is true that walls are expensive, but once reared it is a 
 great pity to neglect them ; and, apart even from garden-walls, 
 there are numerous places with as much wall-surface naked and 
 useless as, properly covered, would yield a good supply of fruit. 
 Few things combine beauty and utility more than a well-covered 
 wall of Pear-trees ; and the creation of such is not a matter of 
 difficulty. With walls it may safely be said that our climate is as 
 good as that of Northern France. Most large gardens would be 
 benefited by having a much greater proportion of wall-surface 
 than they have at present ; to many small ones they would also 
 prove a desirable addition. 
 
 Of whatever material the wall be made, it will be desirable to 
 whiten its surface and keep it white. Black and dark-coloured 
 surfaces absorb heat in the daytime, and give it out again during 
 the night in the form of radiant heat ; from which facts we might 
 perhaps conclude that walls for training fruit-trees should be 
 black, or at any rate of a dark colour. Direct experiment was, 
 however, necessary to settle this question, and M. Yuitry, who 
 employs his leisure in arboriculture, communicated the results of his 
 experiments in this direction to M. du Breuil, leaving no doubt as 
 to the proper colour to be chosen for walls against which fruit-trees 
 are to be trained. He has proved— 1st. That a thermometer 
 hung during the day with its face turned towards a white wall, at a 
 distance from it equal to that of a fruit-tree trained against it — 
 i.e., about an inch and a quarter — always showed a mean tempera- 
 ture of nearly 6 deg, Fahr. higher than one hung against a black 
 wall under precisely similar circumstances. 2nd. That during 
 the night the difi'erence of temperature shown by these two ther- 
 mometers was inappreciable. Contrary therefore to the opinions 
 entertained by many persons, it seems evident that the walls 
 must be whitened when we wish to give the trees trained against 
 them the maximum amount of heat to be obtained in the par- 
 ticular climate and aspect. Indeed, it is precisely the plan that has 
 already been pursued by the fruit-growers at Montreuil for Peach- 
 
CiiAf. XX rv.] Fiu'iT cui/ruiiE. 417 
 
 trees, and at Thomery for tlieir Vines, it having been frequently 
 remarked that trees trained against white walls were healthier 
 than those nailed to more or less dark-coloured ones. This result 
 is easily explained, for not only does the lighter colour reflect 
 more heat back to the trees, but by this means they receive a 
 greater quantity of light ; and it is well known how greatly 
 vegetation is stimulated by these agencies. "Walls of a light tint 
 are advantageous in another way, for they not only reflect light 
 and heat on the particular trees trained against. them, but also on 
 the others in their immediate neighbourhood. By abundantly 
 planting the finer Winter Pears against walls with a warm exposure 
 and whitewashed surface, we may within half-a-dozen years gather 
 such crops of the really valuable Winter Pears as have never before 
 been grown in this country. 
 
 Another improvement must of necessity accompany this, and 
 that is, the French method of wiring garden-walls. We cannot 
 use nails with concrete and earth walls, and even if we could the 
 deliverance from nails would be a great point gained ; the French 
 mode of employing a little raidisseur or tightener on each wire, 
 and using very slender galvanised wire, is perfect in its way. It 
 will be found to save much time and greatly improve the appear- 
 ance of garden-walls. We must also adojjt the improved kind of 
 espalier elsewhere described. 
 
 The upright mode of training wall and espalier trees, of which 
 some of the best examples in France have been photographed and 
 engraved for this book, must also commend itself to anyone in- 
 terested in fruit-cultnre. 
 
 The U form, or double cordon, is best suited for a very high 
 wall or fence, and if the trees are i^lanted three feet apart, and 
 the side laterals regularly pinched in, the wall becomes quickly 
 furnished, which is the great merit of the system ; another also 
 being the large variety of fruit that can be had from a given 
 space, and the ease with which a failing plant or bad variety can 
 be replaced. The first cost for so many plants is necessarily great 
 if the grower does not graft his own trees ; but quicker returns 
 soon make up the deficiency in this respect. The same kind of 
 tree may also be trained obliquely, many preferring this to the 
 vertical mode, on the supposition that the flow of sap is less rapid, 
 and that, consequently, the trees are more disposed to form fruit- 
 
418 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ r^Tff^ 
 
 -»^^^^^ 
 
 ^L^^^^^ 
 
 
 ;l -5 
 
 — ^^^^^ 
 
 buds than they other- 
 wise wonkl he. The 
 tree with three erect 
 branches is suitable for 
 the same purpose as 
 that with two, but can 
 be planted on propor- 
 tionately lower walls or 
 trellises, and, if deemed 
 advisable, the middle 
 branch may be formed 
 by another variety 
 being grafted on the 
 stock. The four- 
 branched tree is well 
 adapted for strained- 
 wire fences, round vege- 
 table quarters, sides of 
 walks, and other boun- 
 dary lines, and being 
 as easily formed as the 
 old-fashioned espalier, 
 should be adopted in 
 lieu of that mode of 
 training for choice kinds 
 of Apples and the 
 hardier Pears. Strong 
 "maiden "trees, planted 
 five feet aj)art, and cut 
 back to form the two 
 outer and central 
 branches, will in two 
 years present the ap- 
 pearance represented 
 by the woodcuts — that 
 is if summer-pinching 
 and tying have been 
 attended to. The double 
 U form is one of the 
 
('HAl'. XXIV.] 
 
 FIR'IT CULTURE. 
 
 419 
 
 handsomest modes of training yet adopted, and being very- 
 simple, and therefore readily put into practice, should be carried 
 out largely, even in the most conspicuous positions. The 
 woodcut fully explains all that is wanted as to the best mode 
 of forming the tree, care being required to have all the branches 
 equi-distant. All the above modes of training are calculated to 
 supersede the ordinary espalier, which is often an eye-sore in 
 many otherwise good gardens. The vertical and horizontal style 
 combined, the Palmetto of 
 the French, is well suited 
 for the formation of large 
 trees. 
 
 The accompanying wood- 
 cut represents one of the 
 simplest and best forms of 
 tree for rapidly covering 
 walls with choice Pears. Be- 
 fore this and like forms the 
 old horizontal pattern, which 
 took so many years to form, 
 must give way. Among the 
 many advantages that belong 
 to the upright form may be 
 mentioned that of simple 
 training. To establish such 
 trees, all that need be done 
 is to take a young tree of 
 from three to seven branches, 
 and place the branches as 
 nearly as may be in the desired position. It is not even necessary 
 to have the branches exactly opposite, as without that the wall 
 may be perfectly covered. With trees of this kind a very few 
 years' growth will suffice to cover a wall that would not be 
 covered in sixteen years by the old method. Trees on this 
 plan may be five-branched or seven-branched. There is no 
 trouble in training. Young trees may be taken from the nursery, 
 and their branches placed in the desired direction against the 
 wall. The above specimen was sketched in M. Godefroy- 
 
 Vprigkt Pear-tree for Walt {Argenteuil). 
 
420 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 Lebeufs garden at Argenteuil, where there is a wall beautifully 
 covered with fertile trees in this form. 
 
 As regards trials made with a fruit- garden after the French 
 method in England, thanks to the spirited and judicious plan- 
 tings made by Mr. Leigh, of Barham Court, we have now in 
 Kent a fruit-garden made after French models, and of the highest 
 interest to growers of hardy fruit everywhere. Not content with 
 trying modes of training more in fashion abroad than with us, 
 or plantations of approved kinds of fruit on the cordon system, 
 Mr. Leigh has formed several new fruit-gardens ; and these 
 are replete with interest. There is a very large number of 
 trees planted, and several acres of ground devoted to fruit- 
 culture, all the walls being white as in a neatly-ordered French 
 fruit-garden. The first plantations were made in 1872, and in 
 three years the walls were covered with bearing fruit-trees ; 
 particularly noticeable being a wall covered with the finer kinds 
 of "Winter Pears, trained as single oblique cordons, and bearing 
 very fine fruit. This form is well suited for covering high 
 walls very rapidly, and for the production of the finest Winter 
 Pears, such as Doyenne d'Hiver. Those having high south, or, 
 still better, high east walls, could hardly do better than plant 
 them thus with this fine fruit, so seldom seen in perfection in 
 our gardens. The worthless specimens usually grown give no 
 idea of the quality of this unsurpassed Winter Pear, which, 
 throughout Europe, is rarely worth eating except under careful 
 wall-culture. Equally numerous at Barham Court are the erect- 
 trained five or seven-branched trees, which quickly run to the 
 top of the walls, and are very easily managed. They are a 
 marked improvement on the old horizontally-trained Pear-tree, 
 which took so long to form ; Plums, Pears, Peaches and Apricots 
 are thus trained here, and, so far, they promise a very good result. 
 There are several walled gardens facing pleasantly to the sun, on 
 a gentle slope, and there is plenty of wall-space, some of which is 
 of whitened felt, as in the Paris Municipal Garden, in the Bois de 
 Vincennes. This, however, is not a desirable material to use, 
 brick or concrete walls being far preferable. Most of the walls 
 here are neatly wired. Throughout each garden run lines of light 
 but strong trellis-work for Pears — a great improvement on the 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 421 
 
 " fixings " for the old espalier. The espaliers here are, in many- 
 cases, ten feet high. Trees with erect branches soon cover these 
 to the top, and the effect is better than that of the old-fashioned 
 espalier, while the great height prevents the need of repressing 
 the trees over much. The amount of galvanised wire used in the 
 garden is very great, but the expense will be justified by the 
 security afforded to heavy fruit during autumnal gales. Much 
 destruction to the finest fruit arises in that way. Probably in no 
 garden in England have so many of the little horizontal cordons 
 been tried as here. They do admirably, and, though many of 
 them were only recently planted, the lines are now dotted with 
 large fruit, some of which is the finest of its kind to be seen. 
 Here are also Eibstone Pippins trained in this manner, and the 
 fruit is much larger than that grown in the ordinary way. The 
 Ribston is one of the fruits which would well repay culture in 
 this way. Popular and excellent in quality, as it is, everybody 
 would admire extra fine samples of it, and in our markets they 
 would fetch a very high price. It is, of course, needless to grow 
 kinds of fruit in this way that may be had as good as we require 
 them by more simple modes of culture. The little cordons are 
 nearly all grafted on the true Paradise stock, liivers' Nonesuch 
 is also found to bo good on a dry bottom, but grows stronger than 
 the true Paradise. Where any other stock is used the growth is 
 too rampant for this mode of training. The Lady Apple bears 
 well here, and ripens satisfactorily on cordon trees ; so does the 
 White Calville. A mode of training . these and other tender 
 Apples on very low wooden walls formed of one or two boards is 
 recommended by Mr. Leigh to his cottagers as a substitute for 
 brick walls. The quantity of fruit already borne by the young 
 trees is surprising. Horticulture is much indebted to IMr. Leigh 
 for thus testing, in a thoroughly practical, intelligent way, 
 questions of much importance. 
 
 Of all our wants in connection with the Pear, that of the 
 spread of good varieties is perhaps the greatest. Naturally, or 
 rather I should say in a wild state, the Pear is a poor fruit about 
 an inch and a half long ; and from this has been gradually deve- 
 loped the splendid race we now possess. Scattered through our 
 gardens and orchards in all parts of this kingdom, there are scores 
 of kinds which are practically of little more use than the wild 
 
 2 F 
 
422 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 fruit-trees of the woods and hedgerows. But apart from all these 
 worthless varieties, named and unnamed, that occupy valuable 
 ground, there are numbers which are regularly sold in our 
 nurseries, possessing fine names, and which yet are practically 
 useless to the cultivator. Let us suppose the case of a person 
 wishing to commence Pear-culture — he has some slight knowledge 
 of other branches of horticulture, and expects that the long list of 
 the varieties of Pears which he finds in his nurseryman's catalogue 
 will resemble each other pretty much as his Verbenas or Pansies 
 do. Taken by the different names and descriptions, he seeks 
 variety, only however to find disappointment. A wide selection 
 of varieties is an evil in every way. It requires much skill on the 
 part of men who have studied gardening all their lives to know 
 what to avoid in these lists ; how very dangerous, then, for the 
 amateur, or for those who have only slight knowledge of the 
 matter, to make a selection ! Let us glance for a moment into 
 some of the fruit-catalogues. It is needless to state how very 
 much the Pear varies. Here is a catalogue naming, describing, 
 and numbering nearly 400 kinds. People suppose that giving 
 long lists of this kind is for the sake of selling a great number 
 of varieties ; but that course would be so clearly a mistaken one, 
 that one cannot suppose an intelligent person persisting in it. 
 The presence of bad and unsuitable Pears everywhere throughout 
 the country simply tends to retard the culture of this noble fruit ; 
 whereas the distribution of the really good kinds in abundance 
 would create such a demand for them as would cause the trade in 
 young trees to increase tenfold. 
 
 The compilers of the catalogues alluded to do not follow tlie 
 example of the famous M, de la Quintinye, chief gardener to 
 Louis XIV, at Versailles, whose list was lengthy, although pub- 
 lished so very long ago, but who conscientiously divided it into 
 several sections — viz., " good Pears," " indiff'erent Pears," and 
 " bad Pears ! " This was honest in M. de la Quintinye, and would 
 be admirable in a nurseryman. The spirit of expurgation was 
 strong in this old gardener, and he follows the bad list with 
 another — a long one — heading it — " Besides the Pears which I 
 know not, here is a particular list of those which I know to be so 
 bad that I counsel nobody to plant any of them." This, observe, 
 was in France, where a greater number of kinds arrive at per- 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FKUIT CUL'I'UilE. 423 
 
 fection than is the case with ns, and where a greater number of 
 varieties are grown. Although our nurseryman-friend, with his 
 king list, is somewhat of an exception, the lists of others of our 
 fruit-tree raisers are much too long to be any real guidance to 
 the amateur. There is less general craving for novelty in fruits 
 in France than in England. At Angers, in one of the largest 
 fruit-tree nurseries in France, the following seven sorts only are 
 raised in large quantities : — Williams's Bon Chretien, Duchesse 
 d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre, Louise Bonne, Beurre d'Amanlis, 
 Beurrc Diel, and Beurre d'Aremburg. On an average, from 
 30,000 to 40,000 trees of each of the first two are sold every year, 
 and about 20,000 of the other five put together. Even the best 
 of the new varieties find scarcely any sale. 
 
 The following may be taken as the best Pears for culture in the 
 British Isles of the many hundred kinds known : — Doyenne d'Ete, 
 Jargonelle, Williams's Bon Chretien, Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
 Jersey Gratioli, Urbaniste, Fondante d'Automne, Beurre d'Amanlis, 
 Suflblk Thorn, Seckel, Comte de Lamy, Flemish Beauty, Desire 
 Cornelis, Marie Louise, Baronne de Mello, Thompson's, Beurre 
 Bosc, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Beurre Diel, Beurre Hardy, Marechal 
 de la Cour, B. Superfin, Doyenne du Comice, Glou Morceau, 
 Winter Nelis, Beurre Bance, B. Sterckmans, Josephine de Malines, 
 Bergamotte Esperen, Easter Beurre. 
 
 Of these, Beurre Bosc, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Beurre Diel, 
 Doyenne du Comice, Glou Morceau, Beurre Kance, Josephine de 
 Malines, Bergamotte Esperen, Easter Beurre, Beurre Sterckmans, 
 Desire Cornelis, and Winter Nelis, should be grown against walls. 
 In some cases they may afford a satisfactory result away from 
 them, but if grown against white walls they will in all cases be 
 highly improved, and some of the very best of them are only to be 
 had in perfection when thus grown. As wall-space is often 
 limited, and as it is necessary to have the warmest walls to perfect 
 the finest Winter Pears, it is desirable to be very particular in- 
 deed when selecting Pears for wall-culture ; and Easter Beurr^, 
 Doyenne du Comice, Glou ]\Iorceau, Beurre liance, Josephine de 
 Malines, and Bergamotte Esperen, should be abundantly planted 
 against walls wherever a supply of first-rate Winter Pears is a 
 want. 
 
 Some of our authorities on fruit-growing give the Easter Beurre 
 
 2 F 2 
 
424 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 as one which should be planted as a bush or pyramid, and say it 
 is " mealy and insipid from walls." But the fine Easter Beurres 
 which adorn our tables in winter and spring are grown on walls 
 in France. All of the same variety are grown in like manner in 
 the school of horticulture at Versailles ; and as soon as a wall is 
 cleared of other varieties of Pear-trees there, it is immediately 
 planted with the Easter Beurre — so much is this fine variety 
 esteemed. The quantity of its fruits sold in the markets of 
 Europe during the winter-season is something incredible. It is 
 perhaps the most valuable of all Winter Pears ; and the chief, or 
 almost the whole supply comes from France. The climate does 
 it, some will say, but such is not the case ; for if left to the 
 climate unaided, we should have few fine Easter Beurre Pears in 
 Covent Garden in winter. And the same remark applies to other 
 varieties of Winter Pears. The flavour is said to be inferior when 
 grown against walls. Let us try them against white walls as the 
 French do, and see if we cannot nearly or quite equal their Pears 
 in size, and quite equal them in flavour. We have been for years 
 planting them as bushes and pyramids, and paying little or no 
 attention to their culture against walls ; hence our deficiency of 
 good AVinter Pears — those which are by far the most valuable 
 of all. 
 
 Having taken suflScient care to select the very best varieties, 
 and to place them in positions where they are likely to succeed, 
 there is more to be done in getting rid of the bad ones. They 
 abound in every part of the country, and take up space in which 
 the best kinds might and should be growing. This prevalence 
 of bad kinds not only results from the greater scarcity of the 
 good varieties in bygone days, but also from the large number 
 of inferior kinds that are still offered for sale. In very many 
 cases the tree is worthless, because it has not been planted in a 
 position to ensure success. It frequently happens, for example, 
 that the finer kinds of Winter Pears, and those which the French 
 grow against walls around Paris, are in Britain sent out as suit- 
 able for pyramids. All worthless Pear-trees should be destroyed, 
 and good kinds planted or (happily there is an alternative) the 
 others re-grafted with good sorts. Another point would be gained 
 if the custom of growing inferior kinds from pips — which is 
 common among farmers in some fruit-growing districts with 
 
CiiAi-. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 425 
 
 Pears as well as other hardy fruits— were abandoned, and only 
 first-rate and hardy kinds planted or grafted. 
 
 As to Apples, it is well to hear in mind that a good hardy kind 
 on a well-managed standard or naturally-developed tree is the 
 best for the supply of the markets with all but the very best 
 fruits, and for all ordinary purposes ; and that the system of 
 orcharding in the London market-gardens is on the whole a good 
 and safe one. Generally speaking our Apple-culture is not to be 
 complained of, though it may certainly be improved. There is 
 in this country a large demand for fruit of the finest quality that 
 can be obtained, both in the case of those who buy all they use 
 and those Avho grow their own. In these islands it is also gene- 
 rally admitted that to keep the sun from the general contents of 
 our gardens by shading them with Apple-trees is anything but 
 desirable, and therefore the cordon trained as an edging is recom- 
 mended. It has been proved that where well managed these will, 
 if placed alongside the walks in the kitchen and fruit gardens, 
 furnish abundance of fruit of the finest quality. In many places 
 the positions in which the cordon-plantation may be made are 
 unoccupied. The system will have to encounter prejudice and bad 
 management — but as soon as well-managed specimens arc seen 
 in our gardens it will spread rapidly, and prove a boon wherever 
 perfect fruit is desired. In Northern England and in Scotland, 
 where every ray of sun is required, many gardens are shaded and 
 half destroyed by old standard Apple-trees. 
 
 The Peach attains the finest possible condition when well 
 grown against walls in England. In other countries it may be 
 grown freely as a standard tree ; in none can they produce finer 
 or better fruit than may be gathered from walls in England and 
 Ireland. France has very diverse climates — some in which the 
 Peach grows well as a standard — but the best Peaches grown in 
 France are gathered from walls in those parts where the climate 
 is most like our own. Good specimens of Crawford's Early Peach 
 have been gathered from pyramid trees standing in the open 
 quarters of the Picv. Mr. Benyon's garden in Suffolk ; therefore 
 it is certain that in the midland and southern parts of the British 
 Isles the Peach may be grown against walls to the highest degree 
 of perfection ; and in favourable parts of the south, early Peaches 
 may be grown with success as a standard or bush tree, away from 
 
426 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 all protection. There can be no doubt whatever that if we pay 
 as much attention to the Peach as the cultivators of Montreuil 
 do, we can attain quite as good a result. Our good fruit- 
 growers understand its culture well enough ; but of late years 
 public attention has, by various means which need not be detailed 
 here, been called away from the fact that, with walls, we can 
 produce the finest fruit in the world, and without them do little 
 or nothing with the choicer fruits. The " power of the climate " 
 in Paris may be very wonderful, but there is one thing it cannot 
 do better than our own — it cannot produce a better Peach than 
 is often gathered from walls both in England and Ireland. It 
 would be thought, perhaps, that with their climate, the French 
 would be able to dispense with j^rotection to the trees in spring, 
 and altogether leave their trees more to nature than the British 
 gardener ; but exactly the reverse is the case. The French Peach- 
 grower takes care to have a good protecting coping to his wall. 
 With us it is not uncommon to see the culture of the Peach and 
 Nectarine attempted without any coping at all. Of course we 
 want this protection as much as the French, or more so. Over 
 the greater part of the country, without question, the Peach may 
 be grown to the highest degree of perfection, and yet, though few 
 Englishmen could manage, as Dr. Johnson did, " seven or eight 
 large Peaches of a morning before breakfast began," they may well 
 say with him that getting " enough " of them is indeed a rarity. 
 To succeed with the Peach in the open air, we must remove it 
 altogether from the chance culture now bestowed upon it ; give 
 it full attention in spring and early summer ; select suitable soil 
 in the first instance, and thus avoid expense for what is called 
 made ground. We must take care to protect the trees in spring, 
 as the careful French cultivators do ; and take advantage of the 
 new and cheap ways of erecting walls. No chance culture on any 
 walls that may happen to surround the place will alter matters 
 much. 
 
 We may do a good deal more than at present with our unoc- 
 cupied walls. Probably many readers who live near Oxford can 
 testify to the beauty and profit that result from the villagers 
 covering their walls with Apricot-trees. The same may be done 
 in many parts of England where such a thing is not now to be 
 seen ; but in the case of cottagers and others the only thing likely 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 427 
 
 to do good is example. If they see a specimen of successful fruit- 
 culture in small gardens like their own, they need no other en- 
 couragement. And perhaps a present of a few good kinds of trees 
 and a few minutes' advice from the gardener, would be more pro- 
 ductive of benefit to cottagers than many other things now given 
 them in a charitable way. 
 
 As to our various other hardy fruits, including the Apple and 
 Pear, there can be little doubt that it is to good orchard-culture 
 we must look for the increase of our supplies. The word orchard 
 is familiar enough in our ears, but a really good orchard is as rare 
 round country seats as if it were not a British institution. There 
 are farmers and market-gardeners and fruit-growers who have the 
 finest orchards ; but at the country seat, with generally every 
 opportunity to select a good site, it is surprising how rarely even 
 a presentable thing of the kind is attempted. Indeed, in some 
 parts of the country it is never thought of — the ordinary type of 
 kitchen-garden being considered sufficient for all attempts at fruit- 
 growing. The surface cannot of course be devoted to standard 
 trees, as they hide the light from the necessary crops, and the 
 walls and dwarf trees, if such there be, are those upon which we 
 depend. Now good culture of trees on walls is far from being 
 as common as might be desired. But supposing that the wall- 
 culture is good, and that the most is made of the space, it is 
 hardly sufficient to yield a crop of fruit for all purposes. If 
 the walls supply a good dessert for a reasonable length of time, 
 it is as much as is expected of them, and more than they generally 
 do. They who secure a good crop of Winter Pears, who can com- 
 mand really eatable specimens of this fruit during the winter and 
 spring months, are few in number. The walls can only supply a 
 portion of the choicest fruit — chiefly of those kinds which require 
 the additional heat of a wall for their perfect development and 
 flavour. Standards we see are not much grown ; they shade the 
 ground too much, and the ground-crops are better when fully 
 exposed to sun and air. In some places the culture of bush and 
 dwarf pyramidal trees is carried on successfully, but in general 
 it is so backward that nothing like a good crop is gathered. Be- 
 sides, all dwarf closely-pruned and accurately-trained trees involve 
 considerable expense and time, which it would be unwise to liestow 
 on kinds producing as good a result when grown as standard 
 
428 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 trees, requiring hardly any attention, and actually permitting of 
 as good a crop of vegetables being gathered from under them as 
 if the trees did not exist. Perhaps there may be a few espaliers 
 in the garden ; but they are usually so very few and so badly 
 managed that little fruit is got from them. It follows, then, that 
 in private grounds there is as a rule no source from which an abun- 
 dant stock of the better kinds of hardy fruit may be gathered. 
 The wisest way to increase the supply of good fruit in any given 
 locality is to plant an orchard, carefully choosing the site, and, 
 above all things, selecting the very best kinds, all perfectly hardy, 
 and such as ripen their fruit every year, be the season what it 
 may. Such an orchard would be very convenient near the garden, 
 in fact might form part and parcel of it ; as however the care 
 required is nearly none, except the pleasant one of gathering the 
 fruit, it would not matter much about its position. The first 
 consideration should be the selection of the most suitable soil 
 available. Not an inch of space of the whole need be lost. All 
 the trees should be allowed to grow as standards, and the crops 
 gathered from them would soon put to shame the crop on the wall 
 or dwarf tree. All the wall, dwarf, and espalier trees might then 
 be exclusively kinds that require some additional heat or atten- 
 tion, or to which the shelter and support of the espalier and the 
 cordon systems are an advantage. As jD^otection of some kind 
 might be provided for most of these carefully-trained trees, it 
 would of course be wise to include among them all the sorts 
 most liable to injury by spring frosts ; and such kinds are so 
 abundant that all the walls and espaliers might well be devoted 
 to them. 
 
 Great improvement in fruit-culture may be effected by the 
 judicious thinning of the branchlets of standard orchard and 
 garden trees. The natural tendency of trees of the Apple order, 
 to which most of our fruits belong, from the HawtJiorn of our 
 hedges to the showy-flowered Chinese Pear, is to produce a dense 
 profusion of bloom, and consequently of fruit. Sheets of white 
 or pink blossoms in spring, and showers of pretty fruit in 
 autumn, usually adorn them. And the tendency is as apparent 
 in the newest and largest Apple and Pear as in one of those 
 American Thorns laden with crowds of bright scarlet haws. For 
 ages and ages man has raised our hardy fruits, until they so vary 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FliUIT CULTUKE. 429 
 
 in flavour, size, and beauty of colour that tliey puzzle system, 
 and until some of the varieties have no more likeness to the 
 aboriginal native than a Life Guardsman has to a chimpanzee. 
 Yet in one point they still inherit their marked native trait — 
 profuseness in bud and fruit. It is true that by selection the 
 fruits have become so large that the improvement to be had by 
 judicious thinning is not likely to present itself to many cul- 
 tivators ; but one trial of the system will convert the most 
 sceptical. Nature's tendency is to the production of myriads of 
 individuals, whereas in the case of our fruits we require size and 
 perfection of the individual rather than mere quantity. Let it 
 be duly considered that the total weight of finely-developed fruits 
 may equal, or nearly equal, an unthinned and half-starved crop, 
 and perhaps be worth three or four times more in money 
 value. 
 
 Generally the practice is to leave the crop as much to nature 
 as regards thinning of the branchlets as we do that of the Ash or 
 Blackberry. One year the tree bears a great crop of fruit, and 
 the whole of its vigour is so drawn up by the many hungry 
 feeders that little remains to form fruit-spurs for the following 
 year, and such as are formed may lack vigour to set. Then 
 comes a year of efibrt in the production of wood and spurs, and 
 perhaps by the end of autumn there will be a score, or even two 
 score, fruit-buds on one fruit-spur, where one, two, or at most 
 three, would be sufficient. Now, if all be allowed to set, the 
 result will be a dense crop of poor fruit, which, if submitted in 
 the market-test, will prove of little value. But if these spurs be 
 thinned so as to concentrate the energies of the tree in fine and 
 succulent fruit, there will also rest sufficient strength in it to 
 form at the same time a medium crop of fruit-buds likely to 
 afl'ord a crop the following year, and to induce a more regularly- 
 fertile habit in the tree. By following this thinning-system we 
 may, in fact, get good and valuable crops every year ; and by the 
 other the alternate and useless profusion before alluded to. The 
 Pear requires this attention as much as the Apple when grown as 
 a standard or freely-developed tree ; but, in consequence of being 
 much more grown in a dwarf and contracted form, on espaliers, 
 walls, etc., and much pruned, the want of thinning is not so often 
 seen as in the case of the Apple. 
 
430 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 No metliod of growing these trees in the open air is better 
 than the freely-developed standard tree, if the thinning-process 
 be well carried out. The tree should be opened up in the usual 
 way as regards its main branches, but equal attention should be 
 given to the regular and bold thinning of the fruit-bearing 
 branchlets ; and even to the thinning of the spurs, where there 
 is plenty of time to do so. In one large orchard-plantation of 
 Pears to the west of London the fruit has brought more than 
 double the amount of money during the last few years, since the 
 careful pruning and thinning of the trees, than it did when left 
 to nature. The thinning of the branchlets should not be 
 performed till they have begun to bear fruit-buds in too great 
 abundance. 
 
 The following are the names of the kinds of hardy fruit that do 
 best as standard orchard-trees : — 
 
 Pears. 
 
 Jersey Gratioli 
 
 Louise Bonne of Jersey 
 
 Doyenne d'Ete 
 
 Doyenne du Cornice 
 
 Suffolk Tliorn 
 
 Comte de Lamy 
 
 Citron des Carmes 
 
 Thompson's Pear 
 
 Knight's Monarch 
 
 Jargonelle 
 
 Beurre' d'Amanlis 
 
 Althorpe Crassane 
 
 Williams's Bon Chretien 
 
 Swan's Egg 
 
 Marie Louise 
 
 Aston Town 
 
 Croft Castle 
 
 Beurre Superfin. 
 
 Beurre de Capiaumont 
 
 A2}ples. 
 
 
 Borovit=ky 
 
 Cox's Orange Pippin 
 
 Court Peudu Plat 
 
 Early Harvest 
 
 Early Nonpareil 
 
 Golden Harvey 
 
 Irish Peach 
 
 Golden Pippin 
 
 Sam Young 
 
 Joanneting 
 
 Ribstou Pippin 
 
 Sturmer Pippin 
 
 Summer Golden Pippin 
 
 Sykehouse Kusset 
 
 Beauty of Kent 
 
 Lord Suffield 
 
 Bedfordshire Foundling 
 
 Dumelow's Seedling 
 
 Keswick Codlin 
 
 Hawthornden 
 
 Royal Pearmain 
 
 Adams's Pearmain 
 
 Yorkshire Greening 
 
 Tower of Glammis 
 
 Blenheim Pippin 
 
 Golden Noble 
 Plums. 
 
 Pitmaston Nonpareil. 
 
 Pond's Seedling 
 
 Giaborne's 
 
 Prince Eugelbert 
 
 Early Eivers 
 
 Victoria 
 
 Damson. 
 
 Orleans 
 
 Cherries. 
 
 
 May Duke 
 
 Late Duke 
 
 Rival 
 
 Early Prolific 
 
 Knight's Early Black 
 
 Mammoth. 
 
 Bigarreau 
 
 Belle Agathe 
 
 
 Breda 
 
 Apricots. 
 For Standard Trees iu tlie Southern Counties. 
 Brussels Turkey 
 
 Moorpark. 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 431 
 
 For the Southern Couiitica. 
 IMufk Iseliia Urown Itscliiii Brown Turkey Coureourcellc IJliuichc. 
 
 Medlars. 
 
 Tlio Nottin^'lmni is tlic best kiiiJ. 
 
 Nutf. 
 
 Lambert's Filbert (Kentish cob) is the best. 
 
 ruiple Filbert Pearsou's Prolific Co^ford (also goo.l). 
 
 Of the Quinces the Portugal is the best. 
 
 Of the various waste spaces where good fruit might be grown 
 the most conspicuous are the railway-embankmeuts. Here we 
 liave a space quite unused, and on which for hundreds of miles 
 fruit-trees may be planted, that will after a few years yield 
 profit, and continue to do so for a long time with but little 
 attention. I am not aware that any attempt has been made to 
 cultivate fruit-trees on these places in England ; but learning 
 that one had been instituted in France, I went to see the 
 experiment which has been made for a distance of eight leagues 
 or so along the line from Gretz to Colommiers — Chemin de fer 
 do I'Est, The French see the great advantage of utilising, in this 
 way, spots at present worthless, and they are beginning to work 
 iit it. 
 
 A cheap fence of galvanised wire runs on each side of the line, 
 and on this Pear-trees are trained so that their branches cross 
 each other ; and, though only in their fourth year, they are at 
 the top of the fence. In some parts they are trained in like 
 manner on the slender but very cheap and slight kind of wooden 
 fence, so common in France. By training them in a way to 
 cross and support each other, before the time the fence decays 
 the trees are perfectly self-supporting, and form a very neat 
 fence themselves. This is a plan well worth adopting in many 
 gardens where neat dividing-lines are desired. 
 
 Those who have travelled by day from Brussels to Louvaiu, or 
 from Leopoldsdorf to Soleman, on the Belgrad, Gratz, and Vienna 
 line, cannot fail to have remarked that the railway is flanked at 
 intervals on both sides by Apple and Pear trees, either growing 
 naturally or trained as espaliers. 
 
 Accordin;;!; to Dr. Morren's report in the ' Belgique Ilorticolc ' of February 18G9, 
 the trees planted three years previimsly between tlie first-uamcd towns had so 
 
432 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARTS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 far thriven exceedingly well, their branches already reaching up so as to form a 
 third and fourth stage, and in the sprin'j; of 1868 the majority of them blossomed. 
 They are placed seven feet apart, and trained on a fence of posts, thin horizontal 
 iron bars, and cross rails, the posts being five feet in height by three inches or 
 four inches in diameter, and the Avooden rails one inch broad by two-fifths of an 
 inch in thickness. The fence costs about threepence the running foot, and the 
 wear and tear is estimated at one penny. When iron wire is used— and old 
 telegraph wires come in most usefully for the purpose — it may be attached every 
 ten feet to a four feet high oaken post, the lowest wire being one foot and a 
 half, the second two feet and three quarters, and the third nearly four feet above 
 the ground. One tree may be planted close to a post, and one midway between 
 post and post — the trees will in that cnse be five feet ajiart ; and if the plan of 
 alternating a horizontal espalier with the columnar pyramidal form be adopted, 
 the fence will in a few years assume the appearance indicated by the accompany- 
 ing sketch. 
 
 If preferred, smaller intermediate posts may he used as supports for the 
 
 Fruit-trees a'.ong Railway. 
 
 espalier trees, and to facilitate training of the branches, the wires extending 
 from them to the large posts may be made to slope upwards. As regards the 
 method of training and managing a horizontal espalier fence, the following details 
 may be of service : — A strong, well-rooted Pear or Apple tree, one year from the 
 graft, is planted without being cut, at the place intended for it in the row, and 
 about the middle of the ensuing May, when the sap is in full movement, is bent 
 down and fastened in a horizontal position to the lowest wire. To encourage the 
 putting forth of fruitful side-shoots along its whole length, incisions are made 
 before all the dormant eyes, while too-vigorous shoots are pinched in. A good 
 even growth of fruit-wood will shortly be the result. Owing to the accumula- 
 tion of sap) at the point where the young tree is tied down, the shoot there 
 thrown out will be stronger than any of the others ; it must be allowed to grow 
 freely, and be attached in an almost upright direction. In the following year it 
 will require to be bent down and fastened in the opposite direction to the stem from 
 which it sprang, and it then forms the second arm of the tree. To form the 
 
Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 433 
 
 second stage of branches, which is the next operation, a shoot must be taken 
 from arm No. 2, and, after beint; carried up as far as the second wire, be bent 
 down and fixed horizontally. From this third branch, by repeating the opera- 
 tions of the stage below, a fourtli leading branch is formed, and the second stage 
 is then complete. As regards tlie uj.per or third stage, it may either be formed 
 in the same or in a slightly-dilVerent manner from the first and second, and in the 
 sixth year the extremities of the two lower branches will require to be drawn up, 
 and either grafted by a; proach or otherwise attached to the two uppermost. If the 
 tree push forth very vigimnisly at first, its two hading shoots may be allowed to 
 grow in an ujiright directiun in the same year, and afterwards be attached 
 horizontally to the wire. 
 
 Respecting the cultivation of columnar-pyramidal trees — a form to be preferred 
 where, on account of the corn-crops, much shade is undesirable — a good plan is 
 to jiut in strong, healthy plants two years from the graft, and the first operation 
 will consist in pruning away all side-brancties above the union of scion and stock. 
 Incisions are afterwards made above the eyes, with a view to cause tliem to break 
 out strongly, and in the following spring, the lateral shoots thus developed must 
 
 Section 0/ Railway-embankment and Terraces /or Fruit-trees. 
 
 be cut short back. During the second year, the same mode of jjroceeding as 
 regards incisions and cutting back of side-shoots (to about one inch in length) 
 should be continued, and the point of the main stem will require to be honiewhat 
 shortened. Later on, as the tree shoots upwards — and it will, if permitted, attain 
 a height of fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five feet — the topmost lateral 
 branches must be pinched, whilst the lower ones are regularly cut back and not 
 allowed to extend beyond one foot from the main stem. If incisions liave been 
 made in the latter as above directed, and successive prunings properly attended 
 to, the tree will be clothed from summit to base with short fruiting-branclies, and 
 in five to seven years from the time of planting will begin to yield. 
 
 When it is projwsed to utilise the slopes and embankments of railways for 
 fruit-growing, the system of planting the trees, whether esjialier or free-growing, 
 ou terraces some two or three feet in width, will be found in many cases a very 
 advantageous one; and not only Apjjles and Pears, but Cherries, Plums, 
 Gooseberries, Currants. Strawberries, Filbert.^, Walnuts, and other kinds of 
 fruit and wood suitable to the localit}^ may also be successfully cultivatetl. 
 
 On some of the State railways of Sweden the plan is found to work well of 
 
434 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIV. 
 
 engaging a competent man to superintend the cultivation of a certain number of 
 station orchards and gardens, and perhaps it might answer to make some similar 
 arrangement in connection with the planting, pruning, training, etc., of fruit-trees 
 grown on the sides of the line. Railway employes in those localities where the 
 traffic is small, would thus be enabled to make a profitable use of their spare time, 
 and, under the direction of an efficient staff of pomologists, be the means of 
 turning to good account thousands of acres of what is now waste, unproductive 
 land. — S., in ' FieJd.^ 
 
 In France and Belgium it is often the case that, instead of the 
 trees being in the form of standards, they are trained as is 
 represented in the accompanying engravings, so as to form a 
 hedge. Established trees crossed in this way should not be 
 allowed to get into a rough hedge-like condition, but, on the 
 contrary, should be trained as neatly and perfectly as trees on a 
 
 trellis or wall. No fraying of the branches, resulting from their 
 being interlaced, need take place. A shoot should be taken 
 along the top so as to act as a finish and tend to hold all tightly 
 together, and, thus constructed, the whole will look much firmer 
 and neater than the ill-trained espaliers that one too often sees. 
 These fruit-hedges might well replace useless hedges and other 
 fences in many gardens and country-places. 
 
 A correspondent well conversant with fruit and fruit-culture in 
 England, sent me the following note with sketches : — 
 
 " During a recent journey through a part of Belgium I was 
 struck with what appeared to me to be a very excellent method 
 of turning railway-fences to good account. For miles along the 
 road between Aix-la-Chapelle and Brussels the fences on either 
 side of the railroad consist of wooden posts 4 inches square and 
 
Chap. XXIV.] 
 
 FRUIT CULTURE. 
 
 435 
 
 4.V feet out of the ground, with four pieces of straight wire nailed 
 to the outer side ; between the posts four long, thin sticks are 
 tied diagonally ; the fencing is then covered with cordon Apples 
 and Pears of the most suitable kinds for market and. other 
 purposes, the Apples being worked upon the Paradise stock. 
 They arc planted in front of and between each post, and trained 
 
 obliquely to the sticks fastened to the wires. The trees appeared 
 healthy, short-jointed, well-trained, and likely to be very pro- 
 ductive. I could not help thinking of the thousands of once 
 fruitful acres which the railways in this country have thrown out 
 of cultivation and the desirability of devising some plan for 
 reclaiming and turning to profitable account some part of this 
 lost inheritance. I know there are great difficulties in the way ; 
 these may be thought too formidable to be surmounted, but 
 wliero tlio iron road passes through a flat country, and one 
 
 
 Railway Fence furnished with Fruit-trees. 
 
 suitable for fruit-cultivation, there are always portions of land on 
 each side, and often corners and triangular pieces hitherto left 
 waste, and I cannot help thinking they might be made useful in 
 helping to furnish some of the food required for the support of 
 our people. — W. N." 
 
 Ornamental Pear-trees. — As this book was going througli the 
 
436 TPIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap, XXIV. 
 
 press, the following notes, by M. C. Baltet, of Troyes, were 
 published in the ' Eevue Horticole ': as they are so interesting, and 
 so likely to be useful to all who care for fruit-trees for their beauty, 
 they are given here— 
 
 "A group of prolific, large-fruited varieties, sucli as Beurre de I'Assomption, 
 Williams' Bon Chretien, Van Marum, and others, will always be a source of 
 delight to the lover of fruit, but the artist will look for effect from the natural 
 appearance of the trees. If he wishes for luxuriant growth, he will find it in the 
 branches of the Pear known as the Cure, Louise Bonne d'Avranches, Conseiller de 
 la Cour, and others. The Beurre Hardy, Vauquelin, and Dnc de Nemours have 
 long ujiright branches, while those of the Beurre d'Amanlis, Bon Chretien, and 
 Triomphe de Jodoigne spread out more or less horizontally, or even curve down- 
 wards. The latter tree is the type of hardiness and vigour, Arbre courbe, 
 Nouvelle Fulvie, and Marie Louise would not be out of place as drooping trees ; 
 while to rival the pyramidal varieties of the Robinia, the Oak, the Birch, and 
 the Elm, we may admit a group of Pear-trees which grow naturally in this 
 shape, such as Fondante du Panisel, Beurre' de Nantes, Fondantede Noel, Beurre 
 d'Angletcrre, and a number of others, including Charles Ernest, a new and excel- 
 lent variety. The 'curious,' as they were called in the days of La Quintinie 
 have already borrowed from the domains of pomology such subjects as the 
 Weeping Pear, the Mount Sinai Pear, the Sage, Willow, and Almond-leaved 
 Pears, etc. ; but their fruit is insignificant. The" beautiful foliage of the Sucrdede 
 Montlufon, Delpierre, Triomjihe de Jodoigne, etc, is rivalled by that of the 
 Mikado and Daimyo varieties, which are of Japanese origin, with large, thick, 
 and somewhat cottony leaves, China furnishes us with two sorts, the tliick, 
 shining, and ciliated leaves of which change to amaranth red in the autumn, like 
 certain Maples and Sumachs. Amongst our own sorts, we have the German 
 Kopertscher, the Belgian Delices de Jodoigne, the American Philadelphia, and 
 Gile-6-Gile, which present the same cliaracter. The observer who takes notice of 
 the particular characters of each variety will know that Marie Guisse,Monseigneur 
 des Hons, and Royale d'Hiver are the first to show their buds in the spring, while 
 Martin sec, Madame Loriol de Barny, and Herbin seem loth to shed their leafy 
 clothing in the autumn. Bonne d'Ezfe and Doyenne' d'Alen9on are the earliest 
 to flower, and Alexandrine Douiliard, Sylvange, and Nouvelle Fulvie protect their 
 clusters of flowers with a sheltering rosette of leaves as soon as they open. If 
 we wish for Pear-trees with double flowers, we may gratify our desire with 
 Comte Lelieur and Beurre de Naghin, with their regular corolla, or the double- 
 flowered Berganiotte and Calebasse Oberdieck, with their drooping petals, will 
 satisfy us. Without being able to compete with the coloured barks of the Birch, 
 the Golden Ash, the s-carlet Dogberry, or the veined Maple, we may content our- 
 selves for the present with the Ash-coloured bark of the Be'si Dr.bost, the ochrey 
 Passe Colmar, the violet Beurre Giffard, the puiple Doyenne' Flon aine', the daric 
 brown Bon Chretien de Bruxelles, the bright-barked Fondante Thirriot, the 
 sombre Rousselet, and the yellow-green and sepia-veined and variegated varieties 
 Beurre d'Hardenpont and d'Amanlis, Verte longue, Saint-Germain, &c. Amongst 
 our ornamental shrubs we have examples which have their bark curiously split, 
 crannied, and gabled, but we can match them with Van Mons, Deux-ScBurs, 
 Angdlique Leclerc, Beurrd Lebrun, and others, the latter having a vigorous stem, 
 which looks as if it had been sprinkled with carmine. Wildinus will furnish us 
 with piicldy varieties, and the study of local fruit has provided us with the 
 Poirier de Fosse, which, in the department of the Aube, is as large and tall as an 
 Oak," 
 
( 43'i 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Concerning certain Implements and Appliances 
 USED IN French Gardens. 
 
 The Cloche. — This is simply a large and cheap hell-glass, 
 ^Yhich is used in every French garden. It is the cloche which 
 enables the French market-gardeners to excel all others in the 
 production of winter and spring salads. Acres may be seen 
 covered with them round Paris, and private places have them in 
 proportion to their extent— from the small garden of the amateur 
 with a few dozen or score, to the large one where several hundreds 
 are required. They are about sixteen 
 inches high, and the same in diameter 
 at the base, and cost in France about 
 a franc a-picce, or a little less if 
 bought in quantity. The advantages 
 of the cloches are — they never require 
 any repairs ; they are easy of carriage 
 when carefully packed ; with ordinary 'i'"^ <-'<'<■-'" "^ ''^'•"' '« i^intfr- 
 
 , ,, , , 1 Lettuce culture. 
 
 care they are seldom broken ; they are 
 
 easily cleaned ; are useful for many purposes besides salad-grow- 
 ing ; for example, in advancing various crops in spring, raising 
 seedlings, and striking cuttings. Every garden should be 
 furnished with them according to its size; and when we get 
 used to them and learn how very useful they are for many 
 things, from the developing of a Christmas Kose to the forward- 
 ing of early crops in spring, they will be much in demand. It is 
 not only in winter that they are useful, but at all seasons, both for 
 indoor and outdoor propagation and seed-sowing. In France, 
 
 2 G 
 
438 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 seedlings of garden-crops likely to be destroyed by birds or insects 
 are frequently raised under the cloche. 
 
 In a recent number of the ' Comptes Kendus,' M. Th. Schlosing 
 points out that the power of absorbing mineral ingredients in 
 solution from the soil is diminished by cultivating plants under 
 glass, and thus lessening the amount of evaporation from their 
 surface. A Tobacco-plant so grown absorbed 17 per cent, of 
 mineral matter, instead of 20 per cent., as it would do under 
 ordinary circumstances. The production of vegetable acids was 
 diminished by one-half— that of resin and cellulose to a less 
 extent; while the nitrogenous ingredients were not materially 
 decreased. Starch was present to the extent of 20 per cent., 
 instead of to 100th per cent. only. Thus when evaporation is 
 reduced in amount, a portion of the starch remains unused, and 
 consequently accumulates in the plant. Assuming the correctness 
 of M. Schlosing's conclusions, the immense 
 importance to cultivators is obvious ; as 
 the two staple food-ingredients, the nitro- 
 genous matters and the starchy ones, 
 can be augmented by limiting evapora- 
 tion. 
 
 Usually the cloche is made without a 
 knob, as that appendage renders their 
 '^lS?:;/;.Z//^;:„.f' P^^^age ^ ^^^h greater difficulty and 
 increases the cost, so that practical men 
 use only the one without the knob. When not in use the 
 cultivator puts his cloches in some by-place, in little piles of 
 half a dozen each, small pieces of wood being placed on the 
 top of each to prevent them from settling down firmly on each 
 other. Workmen used to them carry two or three in each hand 
 in conveying them from place to place, by putting a finger 
 between each. In commencing to use them in our gardens 
 it would be well to see that they are placed in some spot where 
 they will not be in danger of breakage. The cloche must not be 
 confounded with the dark and very large bell-glass that was in 
 common use many years ago in our market-gardens, and which 
 may yet be seen here and there. These were even dearer than 
 the hand-glasses which superseded them. The French cloche 
 does not cost one-fourth so much as a hand-li<?ht — and, moreover. 
 
Chap. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS T^SED IN FRENCn GARDENS. 439 
 
 does not require painter, plumber and glazier for keeping it in 
 repair. 
 
 How to procure these cloches has hitherto been a difficulty. 
 Many have been deterred from employing them by the trouble, 
 expense, and loss consequent on ordering them from France. 
 Messrs E. Breffit and Co., proprietors of the Aire and Calder 
 Glass-bottle Company's Works in Yorkshire, well known for its 
 productions, now produce them on an extensive scale. It is well 
 that the manufacture of tlie cloche has been taken up by a firm 
 with every means of carrying it on in the best manner, and with 
 stores in the North and in Liverpool, as well as in London. Messrs. 
 Breffit and Co.'s offices are at 83, Ll^pper Thames Street, E.G. ; 
 their stores at Free Trade Wharf, Broad Street, liatcliH", E., and at 
 
 The Cloche as used in the PtofHigativg hous 
 
 120, Duke Street, Liverpool — and their manufactory at Ccastleford, 
 near Normanton, Yorkshire, at any of which addresses orders will 
 be taken and executed as soon as possible. They can also, of 
 course, be obtained through various retail glass-houses. 
 
 Carriage for transporting Orange-trees.— Tlie fashion of 
 growing large Orange-trees in tubs is so general in France that 
 some efficient means of moving them from place to place is 
 necessary. Many contrivances have been tried, and several are 
 in use, but the best and handiest is that employed for the carriage 
 of the large specimens in the gardens of the Tuileries. For 
 the following notice of it I am indebted to the late Mr. John 
 Gibson : " The machine used in the gardens of the Tuileries for 
 removing large Orange-trees in tubs, of which a longitudinal 
 representation is here given, is the most useful contrivance I have 
 
 2 G 2 
 
440 
 
 THE PARKS AND GAEUENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 seen in use for this purpose. Its simplicity and the facility with 
 which the tubs are lifted for transit are its chief recommendations ; 
 no taking to pieces or removal of the side-beams, prior to loading, 
 is necessary, beyond the removal of the hind axle, which consists 
 of a strong wrought-iron bar with a hook at each end, the hooks 
 fitting into eyes fixed on the inside of the stock 
 of the hind wheels. They are made fast with a 
 pin through each hook ; when this bar is removed the machine 
 is backed to the tub, one of the hind wheels passing it on each 
 side until the tub is midway between the fore and hind wheels 
 
 where the lifting ap- 
 paratus is fixed. This 
 being done the axle- 
 bar is fixed and the 
 machine is ready for 
 loading. 
 
 " The stirrups 
 attached to the lower 
 end of the upright 
 lifting-rods are now 
 lowered to the bottom 
 of the tub by means of 
 the rack and pinion 
 machinery until the two iron bars, which are previously pushed 
 
 Carriage for transporting Orange-trees. 
 
 Fore carriage. 2. Side-beams. 3. Lifting-screw. 
 
 4. Stirrups for carrying Tub. 5. Pins. 
 
 this being 
 position by 
 
 under the tub, can be placed in the four stirrups 
 done, all is ready for lifting the tub in an upright 
 the rack and 
 pinions, which are 
 worked by a man 
 on each side. When 
 the tub is high 
 enough for travel- 
 ling it is secured 
 
 by means of a pin Truck for moving Plants in Tubs and large Pots. 
 
 through the four 
 
 upright lifting-rods inserted at 5 in the illustration; the tub 
 being lowered on to the pins for travelling. The whole operation 
 does not occupy the three men required to work it more than two 
 or three minutes. The machine is drawn by one horse, and it will 
 
CiiAi'. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED IN FRENCH GARDENS. 441 
 
 be seen how easily and quickly the superb Orange-trees 
 alluded to are brought from their hibernatory in the spring to 
 their summer-quarters, and as easily taken back in the autumn. 
 The fore part of the machine is made to ' lock ' so that it turns 
 in little more than its own length. It is in every respect a 
 nu)st complete apparatus for this and for like purposes." 
 
 Tkuck fou Tubs or very large Pots. — This very handy little 
 truck is what the French use for moving large plants in tubs and 
 large pots. It would bo dilHcult to find anything more useful in 
 its way. Large specimen plants are quickly and easily moved by 
 this means. The pot or tub is caught by the little iron feet, 
 then thrown on its side and tied firmly if a long distance has to 
 be traversed. 
 
 Grafting Mastic. — The thorough knowledge of grafting pos- 
 sessed by the French led them long ago to invent various kinds 
 of grafting-wax or mastic, which greatly facilitate grafting. 
 Tliese, while distinct improvements for propagators and practical 
 gardeners having much grafting to do, render grafting on a small 
 scale by amateurs a pleasant operation. The mixture commonly 
 employed for grafting in this country is not such as many amateurs 
 care to make, and now that grafting-mastic is readily procurable 
 it is scarcely worth while making our old-fashioned unpleasant 
 preparation for the sake of a graft or two. The best of the French 
 compositions for grafting is that called Mastic T Homme Lefort— 
 an awkward name for an excellent article now procurable through, 
 seedsmen. 
 
 Imi'uovkd Fruit-shelves. — In the Pear-room at Baron Koth- 
 schild's at Ferrieres there is an excellent plan for arranging the 
 fruit — the successive shelves of fine Pears being so formed that 
 every individual pear can be examined without touching it. In 
 the case of a fruit requiring so much care as the Pear does, from 
 those who desire to have each variety, or even each perfect speci- 
 men, used at the right moment, this is an important improvement. 
 In the Pear-room at the Versailles School of Horticulture the old 
 tlat form of bench is in use, and all the slielves are closed in by 
 wooden doors, so as to exclude the light from the fruit. 
 
 Plough-hoe. — This is used for cleaning the numerous long 
 straight avenues in national and other large parks. A few men, 
 each £!;uidin<; one of these, clean the weeds from an avenue almost 
 
442 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 as quickly as they can walk along it, but the texture of many 
 walks would not permit of its use at all. At St. Cloud and other 
 places where it is used, the surface is quite sandy, and wherever 
 
 Portion of Pear-stand at Fcrriercs. 
 
 End I'ifiv of Pear-stand. 
 
 this is the case it may be used with advantage, particularly in 
 places where many wood-walks and drives have to be kept in 
 order. They could not be used on such firm walks as we have 
 about London. 
 
 Frames for Forcing. — The French market-gardeners use a 
 great number of frames, and it is by their 
 aid they procure most of the tender and 
 excellent forced vegetables sent to the 
 markets in early spring. These frames are 
 made of very rough wood ; are narrow — 
 not exceeding four feet in width ; and 
 arranged in close lines completely immersed 
 in the heating-material. They are usually 
 about twenty inches high at the back 
 and fourteen in front. Undoubtedly the 
 principle is better and cheaper than our 
 own. We employ large and well-made 
 frames in private gardens, and for the most part place them so 
 that all but the base is exposed to the influence of the weather 
 
 '1 
 
Chap. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED IX FRENCH GARDENS. 443 
 
 Narrow Frames used for Forcing. 
 
 unci the plants therein are more liable to clianges of temperature 
 and cold. By having the frames narrow, all the sidework rough 
 and cheap, and the frames placed in close lines, the greatest 
 amount of heat is obtained at the smallest cost. By having 
 nothing but the surface of the glass exposed, little heat is 
 lost, and when the frames are covered by the neat, warm, and 
 flexible straw mats, they are as snug as could be desired. When 
 it is only desired to pre- 
 serve half-hardy plants 
 through the winter, the 
 spaces between the rough- 
 sided frames are merely 
 filled up with leaves and 
 slightly-heating materials. A space of about two feet is left 
 between each frame, or just enough for the convenience of the 
 workmen. Generally the frames are made by the workmen of 
 the market-gardens : two stout posts being driven firmly in at 
 one cud, and an end-board nailed to them. Then at every four 
 feet or so minor posts are driven 
 down, and the rough front and back 
 boards nailed to them. Numbers of 
 them are also made on a plan by which 
 they can be readily taken to pieces 
 and stored in a small space while not 
 in use. By this means the ground 
 covered by forcing-frames in winter 
 is rapidly cleared for ordinary open-air 
 crops in summer. 
 
 Mats for Covering Pits and 
 'kames. — In our cold and variable 
 innate, the winter-covering for many 
 
 iramejor ,nak,,^ ^.Iru.. Mu!.. j^i^Q^ gl^sg strUCturCS iS Of thc 
 
 greatest importance. It is a thing generally managed in a 
 very expensive and by no means satisfactory way. The French 
 mode of doing it is much cheaper, neater, and more eflcctive ; and 
 in passing through their market-gardens and forcing-grounds in 
 winter, it is one of the first things that seems worthy of imitation 
 by the English horticulturist. The covering used consists of 
 straw mats about an inch thick, the sides as neat as if cut in a 
 
444 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 machine, the mat knit together by twine, and its texture such 
 that it may be rolled up closely. These mats are not only much 
 better as a protection than a bast mat, but cost much less than 
 that, while, in point of appearance and amount of protection given, 
 the advantage is all in their favour. The preceding figure 
 represents a simple frame used for making these mats in the 
 nurseries of M, Jamin, the celebrated cultivator of Orange-trees, 
 who thus describes it : — " Get two pieces of timber (1) about three 
 inches thick, four inches wide, and as long as required. Pierce 
 these timbers, as shown in the figure, and introduce the bar A in 
 the holes to maintain the same width between the sides, and 
 support the nails or screw. These nails are to keep the string 
 
 tight (5). The bar 
 may be shifted from 
 hole to hole so as to 
 make mats of any 
 desired length. The 
 length of the string 
 must be about three 
 times that of the straw 
 mat, and rolled round 
 a little reel, shown at 
 E. The straw must 
 be placed on the ma- 
 chine so as to have 
 all its cut or lower ends close- against each side, the tops 
 meeting in the middle, and so as not to have the mat thicker 
 than three-quarters of an inch when finished. The stitches must 
 not be wider than three-quarters of an inch', and are worked as 
 follows (see F in the figure). Take a little of the straw with the 
 left hand, and work the reel with the right, first over the straw, 
 then over the looped string, coming back underneath, and swiftly 
 passing it between the two strings, puUing tightly and pressing 
 the straw, so as to have a flat stitch, and not thicker than three- 
 quarters of an inch at the most. The same operation is repeated 
 until the mat is finished. The machine described has been at 
 work for the last twenty years in our nursery at Paris, and is 
 still as good as new. An ordinary workman may make daily from 
 thirty to forty yards' run of these straw mats with it." There are 
 
 Stra-zu Mat (^]^,iil/iisso>i) used /or covering Frames. 
 
CuAP. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED IX FRENCH GARDENS. 445 
 
 several frames for this purpose, aud also a machine for making 
 the mats so indispensable in the French garden ; hut the 
 one just described is the simplest for private use. Most innova- 
 tions of this sort are adopted slowly ; but that people would 
 immediately use this, if they had an opportunity of seeing it 
 in working order, there can be little doubt. In France they are 
 found so useful that they are employed for many purposes besides 
 that of covering frames, and they form an efficient temporary 
 coping for walls in some cases. In all gardens where men are 
 regularly employed they may be made during bad weather in 
 winter ; and as there is often difficulty in procuring enough useful 
 indoor work for men at such times, the making of the mats will 
 be a gain from that point of view alone. In country-places, where 
 straw is abundant, their cost would be trifling. 
 
 S^CATEUii. — This is an instrument that all who prune should 
 possess. It is seen in the hands of every French fruit-grower, 
 and by its means he cuts as clean as with the best knife and much 
 quicker. Men cut stakes with them almost as fast as one could 
 count them ; they have recently made some large ones for cutting 
 stronger plants — such as the strong awkward roots of the Briars 
 collected by the Hose-growers. Of these secateurs there are 
 many forms. First we have the Secateur Vauthier, a strong aud 
 handy instrument. Its sloping semi-cylindrical handles have 
 their outer side rough, which gives a firm hold ; the springs, 
 though strong, resist the action of the hand gently ; the curvature 
 of the blade and the adjustment are perfect; and lastly, the 
 l)rincipal thing, the action is so easy as never to hurt the hand. 
 " During the many years of my experience," observes M. Lachaume, 
 a fruit-grower who describes this implement in the ' llevue Ilorti- 
 cole,' " I have used tools of all kinds, and the tools have also used 
 me a little ; but I have never met with anything which gave me 
 tio much satisfaction as the Secateur Vauthier. Every desirable 
 (Quality is combined in it, and I recommend it with perfect confi- 
 dence. The strongest branch will not resist its cutting, nor a 
 single branch, however hard to get at, be inaccessible to it. 
 Another great advantage this secateur possesses is a double notch 
 on the back of the blade and hook, which enables the operator, 
 when employed at his trellises, to cut every wire without using 
 the pincers." The Secateur Lecointe is another variety much 
 
446 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 recommended. It is said that this form of spring secures an easy 
 and gentle action of the instrument, and has the advantage of 
 lasting longer than others, from not being so liable to break, 
 while it secures a firmness and evenness in working which is not 
 otherwise attained. A further imi^rovement is pointed out in the 
 fastening, which consists of a stop that catches when the two 
 handles meet, a projecting portion on the outside acting as a 
 spring which is to be pressed when the instrument is required 
 to be opened. Then there is the secateur of older date than the 
 preceding, the one more generally used. It is much employed at 
 Montreuil. There can be no doubt that where much pruning 
 of any kind is done, and particularly pruning of a rather rough 
 
 The Secateur Lccointe. 
 
 The CoDimoH Sccate 
 
 nature, the secateur is a valuable implement. For pruning in 
 which great nicety of cutting is required a good and properly- 
 shaped knife is best. The secateur was invented by M. Bertrand 
 of Molleville. 
 
 The Eaidisseur. — This is the name for the little wire-straining 
 
 implement which plays such 
 a very important part in 
 wiring garden - walls, or 
 erecting trellises for fruit- 
 growing in France. It is 
 an implement which, though insignificant in itself, is calcu- 
 lated to make a vast improvement in our gardens and on our 
 
 The Raidisseiir. 
 
CnAi'. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED IX FRENCH GARDENS. 447 
 
 walls. It will save mncli labour, and make walls or permanent 
 trellises for fruit-growing far more agreeable to the eye and useful 
 to the cultivator than ever they were before. There are various 
 
 Key Of Raidisicur. 
 
 forms which need hardly be described, as they are so well shown 
 in the accompanying cuts. The first is a reduced figure of one 
 about three inches long. The engraver has placed it in the best 
 position to show its 
 structure. The wire 
 that passes in through 
 one end is slipped 
 through a hole in the 
 axle ; the other end is 
 attached to the tongue, as shown in the engraving, and then by 
 the aid of a key, placed on the square end of the axle, the whole 
 is wound much as a violin-string is wound round its peg. The 
 
 first form figured is 
 
 CoUignons Raidisscur. 
 
 Side V'iew of CoUignon's RaidUse 
 
 M^ '1;^^^ ^®^y much used in 
 
 j'^J i^ — " ^^^® ^®^^ gardens, and 
 
 seems to do its work 
 
 effectively. The next 
 
 liaidisseur here figured is that invented by M. Collignon and 
 
 recommended by M. Du Breuil. It does not differ much from 
 
 the preceding. D shows the point of insertion of the wire that 
 
 has to be tightened; B the 
 
 fastening of the other end of 
 
 the wire ; and A the head on 
 
 which the key is placed. The 
 
 foregoing kinds are, like the 
 
 wire, galvanised. The best 
 
 of these tighteners cost but a 
 
 few pence ; but even if they 
 
 were not cheap, it would still 
 
 in view of the jrreat savin'' thi 
 
 I hoiiicry Raidisseiii 
 
 profitable to employ them, 
 L'fl'ect, by allowing the use 
 
448 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 BorcVs Rnidisseitr. 
 
 of a very thin wire, which besides being quite as efficient is in- 
 finitely neater than the bolt-like wire employed here. They 
 have a still better and simpler raidisseur in use at Thomery. It 
 is simply a small piece of cast-iron costing little more than a 
 garden-nail — so small that its presence on wall or trellis does not 
 look awkward as some of the larger kinds do, but for all that, it 
 is a very effective tightener. The walls at Thomery are very 
 
 neatly wired by its 
 help, and it is equally 
 useful for espaliers. I 
 have indeed never 
 visited a garden in 
 which the walls and 
 trellises were so neatly 
 done, and all by means 
 of this simple strainer 
 and the galvanised 
 wire. 
 
 Mr. Palmer of Ver- 
 sailles writing in the ' Garden ' on this subject says : " Among the 
 numerous ' raidisseurs ' manfactured in France there is none, 
 perhaps, more effective and simple, and certainly none cheaper 
 than the tightener made by Borel, of 10, Quai du Louvre. It 
 consists of a small iron bolt with a flat head, of the exact 
 size here given. The hole in the flat head B is used for winding 
 up the bolt by means of a nail or round piece of iron. The 
 hole at C is for introducing the end of the wire to be wound 
 up, which coils away between the flanges (d d). The bolt revolves 
 between the coils of the stirrup-shaped wire loop X, which is 
 itself fastened by a wire to the end-post or hook of the espaliers. 
 The whole affair, with the wire loop ready mounted, is sold for 
 three-halfpence. Before this last raidisseur was invented, I had 
 successfully used for many years the following plan of tightening 
 wires. I made a loop somewhere about the middle of my wire by 
 twisting it round a cylindrical piece of iron or bolt, which I left 
 in it to prevent its closing, while I stretched the wire by hand 
 and fastened the two ends. This done, I gave the bolt as many 
 turns as were necessary to obtain the required degree of tension, 
 and then withdrew it. I could at any future time give an addi- 
 
CnAi'. XXV.] IMrr.EMENTS USED IN FKEXCTI rJAlJDEXS. 449 
 
 tional turn or two ^Yllcn required. If the wire l)e very long, 
 several loops may be made at equal distances apart. This method 
 of tightening has this advantage over almost all others, that if the 
 power applied be too great for the strength of the wire it will 
 always give way at A, never at or beyond B ; thus the loop alone 
 comes off, without at all affecting the tightened wire." IM. Jean 
 Sisley, of Lyons writes : " A fruit-grower of our city — M. Kavet 
 
 open Loop. 
 
 Loop after three turns. 
 
 — uses the following simple and effective mode of tightening 
 wires. On the wire to be tightened he makes a loop A (as in the 
 figure), through which he passes a piece of wire (B), which he 
 turns round the pole C, to which the wire is to be fixed, and with 
 pincers he twists the two ends (D) till the wire is tightened. 
 l^Iany persons who use the raidisseurs hitherto employed, have 
 
 complained that it is sometimes difficult to tighten the wire pro- 
 perly with them. The raidisseur has been turned up to a certain 
 point, and the wire is still rather loose, but another turn of the 
 raidisseur will break it, and to avoid this the wire is allowed to 
 remain slack, which is very unfavourable to effective training, 
 and moreover has a very slovenly appearance. The screw and 
 bolt tightener obviates this difiiculty. A glance at the next cut 
 will show how it is used. One end of the wire having been made 
 
450 THE PARKS AND GAEDENS OP PARIS. [Chaf. XXV. 
 
 fast to the upright (as at A), and the other end secured to the 
 head of the raidisseur (as shown at C), the nut B is then screwed 
 off, and the screw end having been passed through the upright (as 
 
 at D), the nut is again 
 screwed on and 
 tightened with a pair 
 of pincers or a bolt- 
 wrench, until the wire 
 is brought to a proper 
 degree of tension. It 
 will be seen at once 
 that the screw allows of great nicety of adjustment, without 
 involving too much straining or any slackening of the wire." These 
 contrivances, and numerous improvements and modifications of 
 them, are now sold by various English houses who make a 
 speciality of galvanised wire-work. 
 
 Material for Tying Plants.- — The tying of plants, fruit-trees, 
 and many things in gardens, occupies a great deal of time, even 
 in small places. The material usually employed is bast matting, 
 and in most large gardens a number of bast mats are annually cut 
 up and used for this purpose. Of late years they have trebled in 
 price. This expense may be done away with, and a much better 
 material secured, by simply planting a few tufts of the common 
 glaucous Eush (Juncus glaucus) in some moist spot ; where much 
 tying is to be done, a few dozen tufts may be planted. The 
 stems of this plant are smooth and ready for use at any moment, 
 and are suited for tying everything except the strong or " mother 
 branches " of fruit-trees (for which twigs of the Yellow Osier are 
 best fitted) and the finest and youngest shoots of hothouse-plants. 
 The Kush may be cut green and used at once, or it may be cut 
 soon after flowering and stored for winter-use in a dried state. 
 "When wanted in winter it is desirable to steep it in water a couple 
 of hours before it is used, to insure the requisite flexibility. It 
 forms a neat and lasting tie, and is not knotted like the matting, 
 but simply twisted, then pinched off" with the nail or cut with the 
 knife, and one of the ends turned back a little. For tying the 
 young shoots of fruit-trees to an espalier it is admirable, as it is 
 for most other purposes of training. "When men are accustomed 
 to it, they work with greater facility with it than with any other 
 
Chap. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED I\ FREXCII GAIJDEXS. 4r)l 
 
 tying-material. The dried grass of Lygeuin Spartum is also used in 
 France to a great extent for garden-tying. It is a Spanish grass, 
 and will grow on any warm soil. It is suitable for very strong 
 and durable tying. Thus the two best materials for this purpose may 
 be grown in any garden without cost. Even if the bast matting 
 were as cheaply got as these, the fact that the Rush and Grass are 
 ready found in twine-like fashion, should make us prefer them. In 
 tying carefully it is necessary to twist the matting, and thus a good 
 deal of time is lost. In addition to the above hardy plants, the 
 
 
 " Grass " of which may be directly used for tying, the leaves of the 
 New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax) are very largely employed for 
 that purpose about Paris. This plant is grown everywhere for 
 room-decoration. The long leaves being produced in great abun- 
 dance, the old leaves that are cut away should be preserved, thus 
 securing a strong and excellent material for tying. 
 
 IMaterial for Tying Grafts and P)UI)S. — The dried stems of 
 Sparganium ramosum, the Bur-reed, have replaced woollen thread 
 for budding-purposes in France. In texture they are peculiarly 
 suited to this purpose, being soft, dense, elastic, and tough, so as 
 
452 THE PAEKS AND GAEDENS OF EAEIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 to enable the operator to secure an effective tie. The plant is a 
 common Water- weed about three feet high, growing everywhere 
 in Britain along the margins of ponds, streams, and ditches. It 
 is therefore a very cheap material, and may be cut and stored in 
 any quantity for budding and grafting purposes. It is in exten- 
 sive use in some of the largest and best nurseries in France. The 
 stems of the common Eeed-mace (Typha latifolia) are used for 
 like purposes, but not so extensively. By means of these, many 
 French grafters have been enabled to do away with all expense 
 for woollen and cotton thread. The Sparganium is gathered in 
 summer when fully grown ; the leaves, which are united at the 
 base, are separated, and then hung up in bundles to dry in a shed 
 or barn. "When required for use they are cut to the necessary 
 length, from fourteen to twenty inches, steeped in water for a few 
 hours, and then slightly dried by pressure or wringing. In large 
 field-nurseries, where there is no water, bundles of the Bur-reed 
 are kept moist and flexible by being buried in the earth, and they 
 may also be kept so by placing them in a cellar. It must not be 
 used very wet, and if too dry it is more liable to crack. It is found 
 to bend best when applied edgeways to the body which it is to 
 envelope, and slightly twisted. For all kinds of budding and 
 grafting, except large cleft-grafting and the like, it is as good a 
 material as can be found. 
 
 Pkotection for Wall and Espalier Trees. — Having several 
 times spoken of the deep temporary copings the careful French 
 cultivator uses for his fruit-wall, I here give a rough figure show- 
 ing a section of the tile-coped wall, and projecting from beneath 
 it the supports for the temporary protection. The French take a 
 good deal of trouble with temporary copings, and find them of the 
 greatest value in getting regular crops ; for the frosts are severe 
 in the northern parts and all around Paris, and, in fact, over 
 nearly all the region north of the river Loire — the most important 
 fruit-growing districts of France. The best appliance of this 
 kind consists of narrow lengths of bitumenised felt nailed on light 
 frames from six feet to eight feet long, and about eighteen inches 
 wide. The use of these on walls devoted to the culture of choice 
 Pears, Peaches, etc., results in a marked improvement. The 
 temporary coping has a great advantage in being removable, so 
 that the trees may get the full benefit of the summer-rains when 
 
("iiAP. XXV.] IMri.KMKXTS I'SKD IX FKKXCIl (lAliDFA'S. 4")8 
 
 all clangor is past, and not suffer from \Yant of light near the top 
 of the wall, as they would if such a wide protection were perma- 
 nent, I believe that similar copings would be much more effective 
 than any of the netting and canvas protections now in use in 
 English gardens. The commonest temporary coping seen in 
 France is made of straw nailed between laths ; it seems to answer 
 its purpose very well, but it is not so neat as that made of bitu- 
 menised felt. Whatever kind of protection may be employed, 
 care is taken that 
 
 it shall throw |W^ 
 
 11 /.. r "Ti 
 
 the wet well off 
 the wall ; the jj^', 
 
 slightest experi- 
 ence of the effects 
 of frost on vege- / 
 tation will show 
 
 ^ryr-™^'^ 
 
 WTT7 
 
 the wisdom of 
 this course. Of 
 
 what does it avail Modeo/ Protecting Walls. A, Straw Mai, t7uo feet wide, held 
 to place a net or hetween latlu, for placing beneath the pertnanent copings while 
 
 f there is daiigir of Frost. 
 
 a few branchlots 
 
 of trees before a fruit-wall, if we allow the cold rains and sleet 
 
 to fall on every tender brush of stamens ? 
 
 Wiring Garden-walls. — The one practice among French hor- 
 ticulturists most worthy of adoption by the English fruit-grower 
 is tlieir improved way of placing galvanised wires on walls, or 
 in any position in which it may be desired to train fruit-trees 
 neatly. Several strong iron spikes are driven into the brick- 
 work at the ends — in the right angle formed by two walls — 
 nails with eyes in them being driven in in straight lines, 
 exactly in the line of direction in which the wire is wanted to 
 pass. The wires are placed at about ten inches apart on the 
 walls, and the little hooks for their support, also galvanised, are 
 fixed at about ten feet apart along each wire. The exact distance 
 between the wires must, however, be determined by the kind of 
 tree and the form to be given to it. If horizontal training of the 
 branches be adopted, the wires had better be placed to form the 
 lines which we wish the branches to follow ; if the branches are 
 vertical, we need not be so exact. The wire -about as thick as 
 
 2 II 
 
454 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 strong twine- -is passed through the little hooks, fastened at hoth 
 ends of the wall into the strong iron nails, and then made tight 
 with the raidisseur. The wires remain at about the distance of 
 half an inch or three quarters from the wall. If we consider the 
 expense of the shreds and nails ; the destroying of the surface of 
 the walls by the nails, and the leaving of numerous holes for 
 vermin to take refuge in ; the great annual labour of nailing, and 
 the miserable work it is in our cold winters, it will be admitted 
 that a change is wanted badly. This system of wiring a wall 
 above described is simple, cheap, almost everlasting, and excellent 
 
 I 
 
 ^ I 
 
 I 
 
 Mode of arrangbig Wires on Walls for training F^-uit-trces with Vertical or Horizontal Branches. 
 A, Position of Raidisseur ; B, Nails with eyes, thro7Jgh which the Wire is passed. 
 
 in every particular ; and before many years elapse these advan- 
 tages must force it into universal adoption in our fruit-gardens. 
 A man may do as much work in one day along a wall wired 
 thus as he could do in six days with the nail and shred. Since 
 the publication of the first edition of this book various houses 
 took up the idea and have wired many garden-walls in the 
 way above described, in many cases effecting improvements in 
 details. Given a concrete wall (as described elsewhere in this 
 book), smoothly plastered, and wired thus, fruit-trees could 
 not, in a northern country, be in a more excellent position. The 
 temporary coping taken off after all danger from frost had past, 
 every leaf would be under the refreshing influence of the summer- 
 
CiiAP. XXV.] IMPr.EMKNTS USED IN FRENCH GARDENS. 455 
 
 H'a/i Wired for Obliqm Cordon Training. 
 
 rains, all the atlvautagcs of walls as regards beat would be obtained, 
 and the syringing-engine would not bo defeated by countless little 
 dens offering comfortable breeding-places to the enemies of the 
 friiit-tree, while the 
 appearance of the 
 wall would be all 
 that could be de- 
 sired. 
 
 The wire and the 
 raidisseur are also 
 efficiently used in 
 doing away with 
 any necessity for 
 nailing in training 
 the Peach and other 
 trees, when trained 
 as cordons, as shown 
 in the accompanying figure. When the lines which the wires are 
 to follow are fixed upon, bolts and eyes are driven in the wall, the 
 wire being fixed to and passed through them, and then made firm. 
 The French apply the term " espalier " to their wall-trees, and 
 in adopting the word from them we have transferred it to trees 
 standing in the open, but trained in a similar manner. They 
 
 term our espalier 
 "contre-espalier," 
 but the terms wall- 
 tree and espalier are 
 distinctly and 
 generally understood 
 among us, and there- 
 fore it is better to 
 employ them in their 
 usual sense. The 
 simplicity and ex- 
 cellence of their 
 mode of making sup- 
 ports for espaliers will be better shown by the figures in the account 
 of the Versailles School of Horticulture than by verbal description. 
 The mode of making trellises for espalier-trees now extensively 
 
 2 II 2 
 
 Trt-Uis for Young Trees in Ki 
 
 Page 456. 
 
456 THE TAEKS AND GARDENS OF PAEIS. [Chap. XXV. 
 
 adopted in France is far superior to our own mode, and owes its 
 excellence to tlie abundant use of slender galvanised wire and the 
 little tightening implements, or raidisseurs. The wire is sold in 
 twenty-three different sizes. Of this an intermediate size, 12, 13, 
 or 14, is that best suited and usually selected for strong and 
 permanent garden-work, albeit a mere thread to the costly thick 
 iron ware we use. The sizes appropriate for cordons, trellises, etc., 
 are sold at from 30s. to 44.s. per mile, so that the material is cheap 
 enough. It is sold by weight, No. 12 size being 31s. per cwt of 
 1241 yards, and a smaller size 34s. per cwt. of 2031 yards. Of course 
 smaller quantities are readily obtainable. 
 
 In some of the nurseries a simple kind of trellising is used for 
 training young wall and espalier trees. It is useful in enabling the 
 French to keep in stock trees for these purposes to a greater age than 
 is the case in our nurseries, and for various purposes should prove 
 useful to the grower of young fruit-trees. A larger and modified 
 application of the same plan would do well for large espalier-trees ; 
 indeed it is applied with good effect and perfectly suits a method, 
 not uncommon in France, of keeping the upper branches of trees, 
 trained horizontally, shorter than the low^er ones so as to secure 
 greater vigour in the lower branches. This trellis may be established 
 at a trifling cost by using light posts of rough wood, or, if perma- 
 nence and greater strength be desired, of T-iron. In either case 
 the posts must be firmly fixed. The wire should be passed through 
 a hole or strong eye in the top of the pole, and fixed with stones or 
 irons in the ground. In order to train the shoots straight, their 
 rods may be extended from the post to the wires with but little 
 trouble. Other illustrations of the neatest and best trellises in 
 use in French gardens occur in several parts of this book. 
 
 Edgings for Parks, Public Gardens, Squares, Drives, etc. — 
 The edgings in gardens have a very important bearing on their 
 general aspect, and often on their cleanliness. An edging much 
 in use in the public gardens of Paris is made of rustic rods of 
 cast-iron, in imitation of the little edgings of bent branchlets that 
 many are familiar with. They are evidently cast from the model 
 of a bent branchlet, generally about as thick as the thumb, but 
 they are of various sizes. These irons are placed in the ground 
 firmly, and are very easily fixed. The fact that they are not 
 stift', ugly, and tile-like prevents their offending the eye if one 
 
ciiAi'. XXV.] imimj:mi:xts used ix FiiKXcii iiakdexs. 457 
 
 or two should fall a little out of the line here and there; this 
 is nearly impossible, as they are tied by a scrap of common wire 
 at the place where every two sticks cross each other. They are 
 so plunged in the walk, or by the side of the walk, that about six 
 inches of the little fence appears above ground. This, however, 
 may be varied with the size of the subjects which they are used 
 to margin ; six or seven inches is the usual height for edges for 
 ordinary purposes. In parks and pleasure-grounds, however, wo 
 usually have edgings of grass, so it may be thought that iron 
 edgings are useless therein; but the little fences of bent wood 
 which furnished the idea for these iron edgings were generally 
 used to prevent grass near drives and walks from being trodden 
 upon, for which purpose those now recommended will answer 
 better. In much-frecjuented places along drives, and in pul>lic 
 gardens, parks, and scj[uares, their chief merit will be found. 
 
 The Skcateuii. — As this edition was going through tlie press, 
 the following note as to the utility of the secateur (already 
 described) came to hand : 
 
 " I have used this useful French pruner for several years. 
 Last season I had occasion to lower two old thorn hedges, which 
 had been shorn for more than forty years. I fixed up a number 
 of stakes, stretched a line the required height, and employed a 
 good workman to cut off the top in an even manner with the 
 secateur, lowering it 18 inches in order to bring a beautiful 
 landscape into view. The work was done in a very even way, 
 and in less than half the time the shears and saw would have 
 taken, the stem being the size of a man's thumb. When such are 
 bent by the hand the cut is then made much more easily, by one 
 edge chiefly. I find the secateur most useful for all kinds of shrub 
 pruning. I have three in use, two of the largest 9 inches long, 
 Avhich I find the most useful, and which cost Gs. (jd. I have never 
 found the spring of the large size get out of order. The rivet 
 should be kept oiled, and then the shears readily spring open.'" — 
 J. Garland. 
 
458 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVI. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 The Market Gardens of Paris. 
 
 It has frequently been said that the minute division of property 
 in land retards the improvement of agriculture in France. It 
 may be so with farming, but it certainly does not hold good with 
 market-gardens. These in and around Paris are very small, but 
 they are the best and most thoroughly-cultivated patches of 
 ground in Europe. Every foot of earth is at work ; and cleanli- 
 ness, rapid rotation, deep culture, abundant food and water to the 
 crops — in a word, every virtue of good cultivation — are there 
 to be seen. It is doubtful if such good results could be obtained 
 from large market-gardens, and certainly in no part of Britain is 
 the ground, whether garden or farm, so thoroughly cultivated as 
 in these little family gardens, as they may be called, for they are 
 usually no larger than admits of the owner seeing every crop in 
 the garden at one glance. The Paris market-gardeners as a class 
 keep to themselves, and each seems content with about as much 
 ground as gives occupation to his family. They are as a rule a 
 prosperous class. The gardens vary in size from one to two, and 
 occasionally three acres, are usually walled-in, and contain a 
 cottage, a few sheds, and a well. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of our English cities the price of ground 
 is high — according to our scale that around Paris is very high 
 indeed, the rent varying from £24 to £33 per acre. On entering 
 upon a market-garden the tenant has to pay in addition to his 
 rent from £200 to £600 for stock, fixtures, etc. Manure forms 
 a very considerable item in the expenses of these gardens. One 
 market-gardener paid £20 a month for manure. His garden was 
 about three English acres in extent, which is much larger than 
 
CiiAi'. XXVI.] TIIK MAliKKT CAIiDKNS OF FAIMS. -i^id 
 
 usual. Manure would appear to be dearer than in London, and 
 it is used very profusely, some of the crops being grown in almost 
 nothing else. From the beginning of May to the end of November 
 the market-gardeners have no use for hotbeds, still every day 
 arrive loads of stable-manure, which piled meanwhile into rick- 
 like heaps, will be used chiefly in winter and spring. In Novem- 
 ber they commence to make the hotbeds, and as stable-manure 
 continues to arrive every day it is mixed with that which has 
 been gathered during the summer — this making beds giving a 
 moderate degree of heat. 
 
 But a more important and expensive item is the watering. 
 The Parisian market-gardener, if not a " scientific " man, would 
 appear to be fully aware of the fact that by far the most important 
 constituent of vegetables is water. It is mainly owing to the 
 abundant watering of these gardens, that the Paris markets are 
 tliroughout the hot season better supplied with crisp, tender, fresh 
 vegetables than any other capital in Europe. Almost every 
 market-garden has its pump worked by the horse of the establish- 
 ment — the Naudin system being generally preferred. The water 
 is thence conducted into barrels plunged nearly to their rims 
 in the ground at regular intervals over the garden, and from 
 these distributed by copper watering-pots made to discharge the 
 water very quickly. This constant watering involves a consider- 
 able expenditure for labour, one or two men being nearly always 
 employed at it in each little garden during the sunny months. 
 The system of watering with the hose, generally adopted in the 
 city of Paris, could not fail to attract the attention of the market- 
 gardeners : it is already used by several of them In these cases 
 the pump is employed to elevate the water to a cistern placed a 
 few yards above the highest point of the garden. I examined 
 a garden thus arranged, and found the system very satisfactory. 
 Twenty-seven outlets for the water were established over the 
 surface of a garden about two acres in extent. To these a hose 
 of india-rubber is attached, with a few feet of copper tubing and 
 a large much-perforated copper rose or distributor at its other 
 end. From this, when the water is on, it flows in a gentle but 
 copious shower ; and the apparatus may be managed by a boy. 
 
 Nobody could pass suddenly from our own markets and market- 
 gardens to those of Paris in the middle of a drv summer without 
 
460 THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF PAWS. [Chap. XXVI. 
 
 being forcibly taught how advantageous would be a good supply 
 of water in our gardens. It is the custom to grumble about our 
 climate — the " dull," " cloudy," " changeable " climate of Britain ; 
 to speak of that of other countries as paradisaical, and to attribute 
 all our failures to " want of sun," but if we have a warm and 
 sunny season our market-supplies immediately run short, owing 
 to the absence of any preparation for watering garden-crops. In 
 some dry seasons market-gardeners who are accustomed to realise 
 hundreds of pounds for a crop, gather barely as much of it as 
 would make it worth while sending to the market ; while the 
 private growers are quite as badly off. Often in hot summer 
 when Cauliflowers in British gardens have almost disappeared 
 owing to the drought, they may be measured in the market- 
 gardens of Paris a foot in diameter and of the finest quality. We 
 have vegetables, salads and the like when the weather is dewy 
 and favourable, and where the climate is moist ; but a few weeks 
 of drought puts an end to their goodness, and should it continue, 
 everything becomes worthless. Are we in a position to boast of 
 our horticulture while this is the case ? Does the routine work, 
 which merely waits upon the seasons thus, deserve the name of 
 skill ? It is instructive to note that the very things which our 
 watery and cloudy clime is supposed to be most favourable to, are 
 to be found in greatest perfection with the French, in the drier 
 and, for vegetables, less favourable climate of Paris ! The secret 
 of it all is that the French market-gardener, in addition to tilling 
 and enriching his ground in the best manner, waters thoroughly 
 and repeatedly every crop requiring water for its perfect develop- 
 ment. Few need be reminded of the many things of which water 
 is almost the life. Extract the water from a juicy Lettuce, or 
 any other garden vegetable, and what remains ? Our soils are 
 of course saturated with water in winter, while in summer the 
 need of it leaves the vegetables mere accumulations of tough fibre. 
 I am not sanguine enough to hope that any words of mine can 
 induce cultivators to adopt plans for watering gardens effectively ; 
 but there can be no doubt whatever that it would be a decided 
 advantage to mark off in every large kitchen-garden a portion of 
 ground near the best supply of water, to make it rich and light, 
 and keep it thoroughly moist during the dry warm months ; so that 
 a few crisp delicate salads and vegetables may not during a dry 
 
Chap. XXVI.] 'rUK MAKKE'L' CJAUDEXS OF PARIS. 4G1 
 
 season be as impossible with us as in the Sahara. This small 
 division might be established in most places at a trifling cost ; 
 while the result would be so satisfactory that it would probably- 
 soon lead the grower to adopt the same plan on a larger scale. 
 It need hardly be added that it would not be necessary to take 
 such precautions in very moist districts in the British Isles ; but 
 there are many districts where a modification of the Parisian plan 
 would prove a decided advantage. 
 
 Noticeable in these market-gardens is their rich verdure at 
 nearly all seasons. In the ordinary kitchen-garden there is often 
 as much space wasted in needless walks and alleys as goes to 
 form one of these little gardens which occupy and support a 
 family. Custom, time, and authority are all arrayed in favour of 
 a series of walks in the kitchen-garden, and yet they are as 
 wrong as they can be. For the following reasons there should 
 not be any walks in a perfect kitchen-garden : — ■ 
 
 First. Convenience of Watering and Irrigation. — Even in our 
 moist country good vegetable culture is not everywhere possible 
 without watering or irrigation. As gardens are at present 
 arranged, watering is diihcult, and irrigation impossible, without 
 spoiling all the walks, gravel, and edgings. In many parts of the 
 country, especially in Scotland and the moist parts of Ireland, the 
 need of thorough watering or irrigation is not known ; but in 
 England it is seriously felt. Three warm days in July show their 
 cli'ect in Covent Garden, inconvenience the housekeeper, and 
 injure and reduce the supplies of vegetable food at a time when 
 these are more than ever important for health. It cannot be said 
 that either our kitchen- or market-gardening is what it should be 
 so long as we are unable to reap benefit instead of loss from the 
 sunny weather. In a garden properly irrigated, a few wrecks of 
 warmth w'ould give us a better result than we should obtain 
 during a similar number of cold or cloudy days. Therefore we 
 shall never have a good system of kitchen-gardening till all crops 
 liable to sufi'er from drought are as promptly and eftectually 
 watered as a small plant growing in a pot. 
 
 Second. To Secure Good Culture. — To get the best result from 
 a piece of ground devoted to vegetable-culture, it is necessary that 
 the whole of it be thoroughly turned up, and enriched from time 
 to time. Walks and hard alleys, gravel, etc., prevent this from 
 
462 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVI. 
 
 being done with ease and tlioroiighness. The whole surface of a 
 perfect kitchen-garden should be as freely open to the labours of 
 man, or horse, or spade, as a heap of loam lying in a compost- 
 yard. In the orthodox kitchen-garden, the men may frequently 
 be seen carefully scraping their boots, just as if they were going 
 into a drawing-room or a Turkish bath. Half the ground tho- 
 roughly cultivated would be better than the large areas we fre- 
 quently see bare or badly cultivated. As regards the convenience 
 of moving composts and the like, that is more easily secured in a 
 garden free from all obstructions in the way of well-gravelled 
 walks and neatly-kept edgings. In a very large garden, a firm 
 cart-way might in some cases be desirable, but the fact is that 
 the space really necessary for the kitchen-garden proper, under a 
 good system of culture, is of a size that a walk or cart-way leading 
 to it is all that is required. The best system for the kitchen- 
 garden is a thorough trenching and annual enriching ; afterwards, 
 and throughout the seasons of greatest growth, such cropping of 
 the surface as never allows the ground to be idle ; this system is 
 most easily pursued where there is nothing needlessly in the 
 cultivator's way. 
 
 Third. Because Walks are Needless as a Convenience among 
 Kitchen-garden Crops. — Permanent walks may be a convenience 
 among choice dwarf fruit-trees, small fruits, plantations of herbs, 
 etc., but nobody who considers the matter fully will say that they 
 are needed among succulent crops, such as Cauliflowers, Kidney- 
 beans, and the like. A walk in itself is ugly, and a few lines of 
 a useful well-grown crop are far preferable in appearance ; as to 
 inconvenience from mud, &c., there is none, because in any case 
 the cultivator or gatherer has to get on the ground, and in the 
 usual style of elaborately laid-out gardens he has always the 
 needless trouble of taking care not to soil the walks. In a well- 
 drained garden there is little fear of mud. In case one of the 
 main lines of walk passes through or near a kitchen-garden, we 
 need not consider it, because that is a question concerning the 
 general convenience of the place. It has nothing to do with the 
 present question — the need of walks in the kitchen-garden itself. 
 
 Fourth. Cleanliness and Neatness. — It is much easier to keep 
 clean a garden, the whole surface of which is devoted to crops, 
 than one where a large area is bare, and continually offering in 
 
CuAi-. XXVI.] THE ^lAUKET (IA1{|)I-:NS (jF I'AKIS. 4(io 
 
 edgings and in gravelled surfaces sunny welcome to the seeds of 
 weeds. Under a better system, all tlie trouble of cleaning the 
 walks, and keeping edgings, etc., in order, would be saved. As to 
 appearance, there is nothing nearly so beautiful in the ordinary 
 kitchen-garden as may be seen in a garden where the whole 
 surface throughout the growing season is covered with healthy 
 green vegetation. 
 
 Fifth. Because of Modern Wants. — The kitchen-garden is 
 now planned as it used to be when most of the flowers, fruits, 
 etc., were grown within its walls. In those days there was 
 absolute need of walks in the kitchen-garden, from the season 
 of the Golden Crocus to that of the Christmas Rose. But we have 
 changed all that. There has long been a desire to separate fruit- 
 gardening from kitchen-gardening : the wisdom of this view need 
 not be discussed here, but there can be no doubt that in most 
 gardens flowers— hardy as well as tender — have left the kitchen- 
 garden for good. 
 
 Sixth. Economy. — In many kitchen-gardens there is quite a 
 mile of broad, gravelled walks, mainly for the " convenience " of 
 those who have to perform the pretty frequent labour of cleaning 
 them and the edgings, etc. Space may not be very precious in the 
 places spoken of, but it is none the less true that the ground often 
 wasted in walks would be sufficient to grow vegetables for a large 
 family. It is obvious that a market-gardener who tried to do his 
 work in a paradise of walks would soon be heard of in the Bank- 
 ruptcy Court. None of them however are simple enough to go to 
 work in this manner. But it must not be thought that their 
 gardens are always untidy because of the absence of walks. In 
 most countries, the better class of market-gardens are models 
 which the private gardeners might well study, even from the 
 point of view of neatness and appearance. Is it needful to speak 
 of the absurd waste of means in the making and keeping of walks, 
 edgings, etc., not merely useless, but the source of perpetual loss 
 of time and means ? 
 
 Various other reasons against the common practice could be 
 given, but they are not needed. The present system is so firmly 
 rooted that few will be able to change to a better plan soon, but, 
 nevertheless, the opening of the question will probably do good. 
 In the present state of horticulture, where so much remains to be 
 
464 THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF PAIUS. [Chap. XXVI. 
 
 done, we can ill aflbrd to spend means and energy in tlie wrong 
 places. Frequently it will be expedient to leave things as they 
 are in the case of fairly well -formed gardens ; bnfc in the case of 
 laying-out a new garden, it would certainly be better to separate 
 the fruits— large and small — ^wholly from the kitchen -garden ; 
 also, all such plants as herbs which do not require deep or frequent 
 culture, all store or nursery beds which are often visited, frame- 
 ground, and plunging-beds, should be removed from it altogether. 
 Such walks as convenience demands might be made in the fruit 
 and other departments. The kitchen-garden itself might be 
 formed or sheltered in whatever way the needs of the place might 
 suggest. No walks should be seen in it ; it would, in fact, be 
 treated as one plot of ground in the highest state of culture to 
 which drainage, trenching, manure and water could bring it. 
 
 A great deal of the success of the Parisian market-gardeners is 
 due to a close system of rotation, eight crops per year being 
 frequently gathered from the ground. Were it not so the culti- 
 vators could not succeed, so very limited is the ground each pos- 
 sesses. A considerable portion of the surface in one garden 
 I visited was devoted to Cos Lettuce, and very fine specimens 
 they were ; but beneath them there was a dark green carpet of 
 leaves very close to the ground — the leaves of the Scarolle, which 
 forms such an excellent salad. The young plants have room to grow 
 now amongst the closely-tied-up Cos Lettuce; but the moment 
 the Cos is cut for market, the Scarolle has fuller liberty, and with 
 abundance of water soon itself covers the ground. Then perhaps 
 some young plants of another vegetable are put in at regular 
 intervals in the angles between four plants of Scarolle, the new 
 croj) being vigorous and halfway towards perfection when the 
 great smooth Endive is ready for the market. As an illustration 
 of the cropping, the cultivator described to me that of a portion 
 of his ground for the past year. In the earliest spring the ground 
 was occupied by Cos Lettuce, and from between them a crop of 
 Eadishes was gathered. Cauliflowers v;ere planted early among 
 the Cos, and as they approached maturity the ground was of course 
 wholly occupied by them, as one could not well put anything 
 beneath a crop of well -grown Cauliflowers. When they were cut 
 in May and June, an opportunity occurred of giving the ground 
 that thorough culture and preparation which such a course of 
 
CiiAi-. XXVI.] TIJK MAliKF/r (iAliDKXS (»F I'AIMS. 40,") 
 
 lioavy croppiiifij demands. Then a crop of Spinach was sown, and 
 in the Spinach Cos Lettuce. As soon as the Spinach was cleared 
 off, a crop of Endive was placed alternately with the Cos. Then 
 small Cauliflower-plants were put in, yielding a fine crop in the 
 autumn, and after them a small quick crop like Corn Salad, and 
 afterwards the ground was covered with frames. 
 
 Like everything else in Paris, and in France generally, the condi- 
 tion of these market-gardeners has much improved during the past 
 generation. Some of the crops, and particularly the forced crops, 
 are now brought to invariable perfection in low narrow wooden 
 frames. Eighty or ninety years ago, however, the market-gardening 
 of Paris was much less perfect ; fewer crops were gathered during 
 the year, the art of forcing early vegetables and salads was in its 
 infancy, and the most advanced market-gardeners had not got 
 beyond the use of the cloche to force their vegetables. The work- 
 men employed in these market-gardens work, like their masters, 
 hard, but are better paid than men of similar occupation in 
 England. From inquiries made of different cultivators, it seems 
 wages are from £2 to £3 per month with board and lodging. 
 They have no fixed hours for work as with us, but in summer 
 begin with the dawn and in winter hours before it. The men 
 board at their master's table. M. Courtois Gerard said that to 
 cultivate a garden of two and a half acres devoted to forcing in 
 frames, and open-air culture, it is necessary to have five or six 
 persons — that is to say, the master and mistress, two men, a girl 
 and a boy. As to the masters, I was informed that many of them 
 could not read or write ; but I noticed notwithstanding a good 
 barometer in each house. They well know the value of this in- 
 strument, and consider it of the greatest use in cultivation, by 
 helping them to take precautionary measures and to adapt work 
 to weather. 
 
 These men have their vicissitudes notwithstanding the vigorous 
 industry and excellent system of culture which is general with 
 them. Some that I visited devote a considerable portion of space 
 to a difficult crop — Cauliflower-seed. This takes a long time — 
 more than a year — to bring to perfection ; one market-gardener in 
 the habit of growing large quantities of it for Messrs. Yilmorin, 
 Audrieux and Co., had scarcely gathered two pounds of it one 
 year in consequence of the great heat of the season. There is a 
 
466 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. XXVI. 
 
 Mutual Aid Society among these market-gardeners. To give an 
 example of the way they work, I have merely to state that when 
 a body of provincial cultivators were almost ruined by inunda- 
 tions, the Paris society sent them more than 1200 lbs. weight of 
 seeds to begin again with. Generally they seem independent, 
 and are said to accumulate money, and often to retire compara- 
 tively early in life from active work. Few will doubt that it is 
 better to have a large class of small proprietors in a thrifty and 
 independent, though humble condition, than one individual with 
 many acres, and every soul employed by him without anything to 
 call his own. 
 
 The opinion prevails widely in England that the smaller the 
 holding the worse the culture. It may be so in some cases ; 
 very small holdings and very high culture are the rule around 
 Paris. The owners are certainly as hard-working and, apparently, 
 as poor as any independent workers can well be, but they appear 
 to gain, at least, as good a livelihood as the farmers who try to cul- 
 tivate a hundred or more acres in the best parts of Canada. This 
 Paris market-gardening is, however, so essentially peculiar and 
 special that it would be unsafe to deduce any broad conclusions 
 from it alone. The culture in the open fields round Paris is far 
 inferior, and very imperfect. Hence, the vegetables raised in that 
 way are inferior to those seen in the London market. In and 
 near Paris one rarely sees much variety in one garden ; the ten- 
 dency is to special culture. Thus, one whole town and its environs 
 is devoted to Asparagus, another district to Garden-turnip culture. 
 Mushrooms form a speciality, and even the forcing of Asparagus 
 is sometimes made the main effort of a life. One may look in 
 vain in any of these gardens for either Ehubarb or Seakale. It is 
 odd to reflect how slowly and curiously ideas sometimes travel. 
 In the deserts of Utah, in the garden of a Mormon elder ; or, 
 farther still, away on the coast range of the Pacific in a Californian 
 garden, Pie-plant (Ehubarb) and Seakale are as well known as the 
 Potato. Cross the English Channel, and we find a land where 
 they are seen no more, except, perhaps, in very rare cases as 
 curiosities. 
 
 According to some figures quoted by M. Joly before the Central 
 Horticultural Society of France, and taken from the records of their 
 Custom House, the total quantity of fruits exported to England, 
 
CiiAi-. XXVL] TIIK ISIAliKF/r ClAliDEXS OF I'APilS. 
 
 407 
 
 Belgium and Germany amounted in 1874 to nearly 80,000 tons, 
 or more than double that in 1873. Of dried vegetables over 
 23,000 tons were exported in 1874, Chestnuts GOOO tons, and of 
 Potatoes the enormous quantity of nearly 175,000 tons. The 
 amount of money we now pay to the French for garden produce is 
 considerable. The weights are surprising enough in themselves, 
 but when it is considered that a great deal of the produce is of 
 the very choicest description, fetching high prices (as in the case 
 of Early Asparagus, choice fruit, Winter Lettuce, etc.), then the 
 meaning of these figures may be better understood. Our growers, 
 and, perhaps, our politicians too, would do well to bear such 
 facts in mind, for there must be some points worth studying in 
 the conditions which give rise to such a state of things. 
 
 Gourd of the Paris Market. 
 
408 
 
 THE TARES AND GARDEKS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXYII. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Asparagus Culture. 
 
 Asparagus is grown much more 
 abundantly and to a much larger 
 size in France than it is in 
 England. The country is half 
 covered with it in some places 
 near Paris; farmers grow it abun- 
 dantly, cottagers grow it — every- 
 body grows it, and everybody 
 eats it. Near Paris it is chiefly 
 grown for market in the valley 
 of Montmorency and at Argen- 
 teuil, and it is cultivated exten- 
 sively for market in many other 
 places. About Argenteuil 3000 
 j)ersons are employed in the 
 culture of Asparagus. It is 
 grown to a large extent among 
 the Yines as well as alone. The 
 Vine under field-culture is cut down to near the old stool every year, 
 and allowed to make a few growths, which are tied erect to a stake : 
 they do not overtop the Asparagus, but on the other hand, it, 
 when strong, shows well above the Yines. It is not in distinct 
 lines among the Yines, but in tufts widely and irregularly sepa- 
 rated. One plant is put in each open spot, and given every 
 chance of forming a large specimen, and this it generally does. 
 When the stems get large and a little top-heavy in early summer, 
 a string is put round all, so as to hold them slightly together (the 
 
Chap. XXYII.] ASPARAGUS CULTUHK. 469 
 
 careful cultivator uses a stake), and the mutual support thus 
 given prevents the plant from being injured by winds. It is 
 liable to be twisted oft' at the " collar " by strong winds, especially 
 in wet weather, when the drops on every tiny leaf make the 
 foliage heavy. The growing of Asparagus among the Vines is a 
 very usual mode, and a vast space is thus covered with it about 
 here. It is grown in other and more special ways, though not 
 one like our way of growing it, which is decidedly much inferior 
 to the French methods. 
 
 Perhaps the simplest and most worthy of adoption is to grow 
 it in shallow trenches. Extensive plantings look much as a Celery 
 ground does soon after being planted, the young Asparagus plants 
 being in a shallow trench, and a little ridge of soil being thrown 
 up between the lines of Asparagus. These trenches are generally 
 about four feet apart. The soil generally is a rather stiff" sandy 
 loam with calcareous matter in some parts, but the soil has not 
 all to do with the peculiar excellence of the vegetable. Soils on 
 which it would flourish equally well are common in England. It 
 is the careful attention to the wants of the plant that produces 
 such a good result. Here, for instance, is a young plantation 
 planted in March, and from the little ridges of soil between the 
 shallow trenches have just been dug a crop of small early Potatoes. 
 In England, the Asparagus would be left to the free action of the 
 breeze, but the French cultivators never leave a young plant of 
 Asparagus to the wind's mercy whilst they can find a stake of oak 
 about a yard long. When staking these young plants they do 
 not insert the support close at the bottom, as we are too apt to do 
 in other instances, but at a little distance off', so as to avoid the 
 possibility of injuring a root ; each stake leans over its plant at 
 an angle of 45'^, and when the shoots are big enough to touch 
 it or be caught by the wind, they are tied to the stake. The 
 ground in which this system is pursued being entirely devoted to 
 Asparagus, the stools are placed very much closer together than 
 they are when grown among the Vines, say at a distance of 
 about a yard apart. The little trenches are about a foot wide 
 and eight inches below the level of the ground. 
 
 The young plants are placed in these trenches very carefully. 
 A little mound is made with the hand in each spot where a plant 
 is to be placed, so as to elevate the crown a little and permit of 
 
 2 I 
 
470 
 
 THE PAIIKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXYII. 
 
 the spreading-out of the roots in a perfectly safe manner. The 
 planting-season at Argenteuil lasts from the first week in March 
 to about the 20th of April. The best Asparagus in France is 
 grown here, and by one system mainly. The plants, one-year 
 seedlings (never older), are planted in shallow trenches 7 in. or 
 8 in. deep, the plants a little more than one yard apart, and the 
 
 lines 4 ft. apart ; no manure is given 
 '4u,ih> '"^ , at planting; no trenching, or any 
 f ^ preparation of the ground (beyond 
 
 digging the shallow trench) takes 
 
 place In subsequent years a little 
 ^'■ \ ^ manure is given over the roots in 
 
 autumn : the soil, thrown out of the 
 
 This Figure shows the depth of the SHCces- i n i> • • 1 1 4. 
 
 sive annual earthings given to the trouches and lormiug a ridgc betwceu 
 ,1-r.T^X: .fr^ri.lf :r.i: them, is planted with a light crop 
 highest points of the ground are tiiose in spriug. In all subsequeut years 
 
 over tlie crowns of the roots. . ii • i n ,-\ 
 
 the earth is placed over the crowns 
 in spring and removed in autumn. The culture is for the 
 most part conducted by peasants on their own ground. Under 
 this system good results are obtained in various soils, the only 
 difference being that on cold clay soils the planting is not quite 
 so deep. Every winter the growers notice the state of the young 
 roots, and any spot in which one has perished they mark with a 
 stick, to replace the j^lant the following March. Early every 
 spring they pile up a little heap of fine earth over each crown. 
 When the plantation arrives at its third year they increase the 
 size of the little mound, or, in other words, a heap of finely-pul- 
 
 Planting Asparagus ; Trenches at Planting-time and after a Season's growth. 
 
 verized earth is placed over the stool, from which some, but not 
 much. Asparagus is cut the same year, taking care to leave the 
 weak plants, and those which have replaced others, untouched for 
 another year. 
 
 The process of gathering is interesting to the stranger. 
 Asparagus-knives of various forms are described in both French 
 
('iiAP. XXVIl.] ASl'AI!A(irs CULTrUK. 471 
 
 and Enfi;lish l)Ooks, but one is confiilontially told by the growers 
 that they are only fitted for amateurs who do not care to soil their 
 fingers. The cultivators here never use a knife. Each crown or 
 root is covered with a little mound of loose earth ; through the 
 top of this the tips of the strong, thick shoots are seen appearing. 
 In the light the young shoot first assumes a delicate rose-purple 
 liue. For gathering it is not enough for the shoot to be visible 
 on the surface ; it must be one inch above it, so as to show the 
 slightly-rosy tip. Gatherings are made every second day about 
 the end of April, but in May, when the growth is more active, 
 the stools are gathered from every day. Given a shoot emerging 
 from the earth ready to gather : the slightly-hardened crust 
 around the emerging bud and on top of the little mound is pushed 
 aside, the fore and middle finger separated arc then thrust deeply 
 into the soft mould, pushing the earth outwards. If a rising 
 shoot be met with on the way down, it is carefully avoided. A 
 second plunge of the two fingers and pushing out of the earth 
 usually brings them to the hardened ground about the crest of the 
 root ; the forefinger is then slipped behind the base of the shoot 
 fit to gather, and pushed gently outwards, when the shoot at once 
 snaps clean off" at its base. This plan has the advantages of 
 leaving no mutilated shoots or decaying matter in the ground. 
 
 Once gathered, care is taken that the shoot is not exposed to 
 the light, but placed at once in a covered basket. As soon as the 
 stalk is gathered, the earth is loosely and gently raked up with 
 the hand so as to leave the surface of the mound as it was before, 
 not pressing the earth in any way, but keeping it quite free. 
 The shoots are not rubbed or cleaned in any way — it would dis- 
 figure them, and they do not require it. Asparagus in a green 
 state is only cut here for soup, etc., and for that only inferior 
 shoots. We sometimes see observations as to the great superiority 
 of the green-cut Asparagus over that blanched in the above 
 manner ; but they are invariably written by persons who know 
 the ordinary green form only, or the withered blanched stalks 
 eaten long after being gathered. But those who know what good 
 Asparagus really is — and we speak now of good judges in Covent 
 Garden as well as in France— know well that in flavour green 
 and properly-blanched Asparagus are very difi'erent things, and 
 that the blanched is the better and more delicate. Let us on the 
 
 2 I 2 
 
472 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVII. 
 
 question of gathering hear the French side : — " In certain localities 
 they do not yet value the distinction between blanched and green 
 Asparagus, and occasionally prefer the last. That is an error 
 very prejudicial to the consumer's interests. Properly-blanched 
 Asparagus is infinitely more tender and delicate. All Asparagus 
 cut when it is green is not fit to be eaten in the ordinary way, but 
 may be used cut up small as an accompaniment to other dishes. 
 To serve up green Asparagus is to dishonour the table ! In the 
 markets of Paris the green Asparagus is worth one franc a bunch, 
 when the blanched is worth three francs ; they do not eat it (the 
 green Asparagus) — it serves for the manufacture of syrup of 
 Asparagus. — V. F. Lebeuf " of Argenteuil. 
 
 There was originally but one single variety of edible Asparagus 
 (Asparagus officinalis), from which have come the commonly-grown 
 sort and larger variety (A. major) ; the former of which has 
 given birth to the early kinds known as Hative rose d'Ulm, de 
 Hollande, at d'Argenteuil, and the latter to the late kinds of the 
 same names. Culture and selection has so great an influence 
 upon vegetation, that it improves the constitution, habit, and 
 even the flavour. It is by dint of observation, care, and patience, 
 that the growers at Argenteuil have been able to improve Aspa- 
 ragus, have created the two varieties " early " and " late," and have 
 settled or established them in a manner to render them superior 
 to the original type in size and quality. The favourite is the Argen- 
 teuil Early Asparagus (Hative d'Argenteuil), because it gives 
 heavier crops and is ready ten days earlier than the earliest other 
 sorts known. Under good culture the late Argenteuil Asparagus 
 measures from 3 to 6 in. in circumference at 8 in. below the 
 tips ; and is better than the early sort where there is not much 
 depth of soil. Although the crops are lighter for the first few 
 years than the early variety, it remains productive much longer, 
 the stems, in some xisparagus-grounds 27 years old, being found 
 to measure from 2^ to 3 in. round. The early Argenteuil 
 Asparagus gives stems of 2f to 6 in. round at 8 in. from the tips. 
 It grows higher than the late sort, sometimes attaining a length 
 of 10 ft. It is very vigorous and cares little for richness of soil, 
 which should, however, be at least 10 in. or a foot deep, as the 
 roots rise nearly half an inch every year. It begins to yield in 
 the tliird year, and gives large crops from its sixth to its four- 
 
I'liAi-. XXVI I.] ASPAKAGUS CULTURE. 473 
 
 teenth or tifteeuth year, after which the stems, thongli plentiful, 
 are rather smaller. In good cultivation it lasts from 18 to 20 
 years. The Dutch Asparagus has stems from 1 to 3i in. round at 
 8 in. from the tops, and attains a height of about 4 ft. It is not 
 so tine in any respect as the Argenteuil kinds, and requires a 
 richer and deeper soil, so its culture is generally aliandoned. 
 Among its other defects, it gro\YS hard very quickly, opens out at 
 its points, and becomes green in 24 hours. At the Halles at Paris 
 it fetches 10 J. per box, while the Argenteuil Asparagus realises 
 2s. GcZ. or 3s. This statement as to the varieties is on the authority 
 of M. Godefroy-Lebeuf, of Argenteuil. It is commonly believed 
 in England that there is no real distinction between the different 
 varieties of Asparagus. In conversation, however, with trust- 
 worthy growers at Argenteuil, and from what I saw there, I think 
 there can be no doubt that there are at least two distinct kinds, 
 an early and a late. 
 
 The French mode of cultivating Asparagus differs from our 
 own in giving each plant abundant room to develop into a large 
 healthy specimen ; in paying thoughtful attention to the plants 
 at all times ; and in planting in a trench instead of a raised bed. 
 They do not, as we do, go to great expense in forming a mass of 
 the richest soil far beneath the roots, but rather give it at the 
 surface, and only when the roots have begun to grow strongly. 
 
 The following from a French gentleman well acquainted with 
 the culture may be useful here : — 
 
 " In Ft'bniarj', should the weather he favourable, form the ground into ridges 
 4 ft. wide and 1 ft. high, and in March or April, according to the weather, 
 make a trench between each lidge a few inches deep, and plant on little hills 
 or elevations 3 ft. apart, cautiously spreading out the roots, and covering 
 them with 1 in. of good compost; then add an inch of fine soil. A stick should 
 be inserted obliquely to jirotect the roots and to which the small stems can be 
 fastened when they require support. Keep the ground clear of weeds and destroy 
 all slugs, snails, and Asparagus beetles ; the latter lays its eggs on the stems, and 
 when the larvaj are liatched, they destroy the young plants. Water two or three 
 times during the summer with litiuid manure if needed. In the autumn, when 
 the stems have withered, cut them down to 1 in. or 2 in. in height, and remove 
 the soil from the roots, leaving only about 1 in. or so of covering, and put a light 
 layer of old manure or compost from 2 in. to 3 in. in depth over the roots. Thus 
 coven d, the roots will never get injured by frost and the groun<l will be enriched. 
 
 "Second Year. — In February or March fork up the lx;d, making small hillocks 
 .5 in. or 6 in. high over each plant. Make good any plants that may have failed, 
 
474 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chai-. XXVII. 
 
 and cover the whole bed with a layer of rotten manure ; this will keep the soil in 
 good heart and in an equable state as to moisture, therefore no more watering 
 will be required ; destroy weeds and insects, and tie the stems to their sticks in 
 order to prevent the wind shaking the roots. In autumn cut down the dry stems 
 to a few inches above the ground; again make up the ridges between the lines, 
 leaving the roots 1 in. or l^in. deep. 
 
 " Third Year. — In February level the ground as in the preceding spring, and 
 remove what was left of the stems ; over each plant put a little hill of soil. A few 
 heads may this year be cut for use from each plant, but cutting must not be con- 
 tinued later than the 15th of June. Every year in autumn and in spring the 
 same operations must be gone through as in the preceding season. 
 
 " Fourth Year. — The heads may now be cut for use, but be careful to dis« 
 continue cutting by June 25 ; after that allow all the stems which appear, to run 
 up. The roots having now attained full development, must be kept during spring 
 under a hill of soil 10 inches deep. The cutting-time being over, the bed may be 
 levelled if preferred ; every autumn apply plenty of manure, and every spring 
 mulch between the hills Avitli fresh manure to prevent the soil becoming hard. 
 Salt dissolved in water and applied in spring will be found advantageous. All 
 seeds should be jjicked off as early as can be done ; do not let them fall on the 
 ground in aiitumn, otherwise a quantity of useless young plants will appear 
 to the detriment of the bed. 
 
 " The distances at which the plants stand apart may appear too great, but wide 
 planting is the great secret as regards getting fine Asparagus; besides, the number 
 of heads produced is double, and their size three or four times larger, than they 
 would be in crowded masses, thus showing a large balance in favour of plenty of 
 room. The celebrated Argenteuil Asparagus, so largely imported to Covent 
 Garden, is grown in a way similar to this. It is a practice in some provinces in 
 France to plant Asparagus in vineyards between the lines of Vines. In this case 
 the roots stand at 3 ft., 6 ft., and even 9 ft. apart, and though the ground may 
 not receive any manure for twenty years, the produce is large and the quality 
 excellent. Planting among Vines is much practised in Burgundy. Immense 
 quantities of Asparagus have been planted in several parts of France and Germany 
 for market-purposes ; they are for the most part cultivated with the plough, and 
 supplied with chemical manure ; the result is generally good. In order to insure 
 success, take up the plants from their seed-bed with every possible care ; throw 
 away every one cut or broken, and use only such roots as have a healthy 
 appearance, and strong, well-developed buds ; do not expose them to the air ; on 
 the contrary, put them into a basket in wet Moss immediately they are taken up, 
 and keep them there until they are planted. " D. Guiheseuf." 
 
 The forcing alone of Asparagus throughont the autumn, winter, 
 and early spring, is an inditstry of considerable extent. In one 
 of the most recently-organised and active of these gardens about 
 half an acre of glass is devoted solely to the forcing of Asparagus, 
 and a supply is obtained from early in September to the end of 
 
CjiAi-. XXVJI.] 
 
 ASI'AKAGITS Cl'LTUHE. 
 
 475 
 
 April. It is forced in three ways— in houses heated with hot 
 water; in frames sunk in the ground and heated in tlie same 
 way ; and histly, in frames plunged in warm stable-manure. It 
 appeared to be forced with equal success in each case, though the 
 stable-manure seemed to otler the simplest means. As usual here 
 the frames are small— about 4 ft, wide ; the roots are placed 
 directly on the manure, not flat as they would be in the open 
 
 Frames uscti for Forcing Asparagus. 
 
 ground, but packed as closely as possible, from 500 to 2000 roots 
 — according to size —going under one light; a mere sprinkling 
 of soil is placed over them. As a result, the shoots come up very 
 thickly. The roots employed are strong fine ones three years from 
 the seed ; as many as five crops of roots follow each other through- 
 out the autumn, winter, and spring in the same frame. The 
 universal straw mat is used to cover the frames at night. A 
 
 
 dozen persons were employed solely in gathering and " bundling " 
 the Asparagus for market, so that the quantities gathered for 
 use are very considerable. All is done in the simplest and 
 rudest manner, the securing of good crops being the only thing 
 considered. 
 
 The old mode of forcing Asparagus, still practised to some 
 extent, chiefly consists in digging deep trenches between beds 
 planted for the purpose, covering the beds with the soil and with 
 
476 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVII. 
 
 frames, filling in the trenches between the beds with stable- 
 manure, and protecting the frames with straw mats and litter to 
 keep in the heat. In the beginning of November the pathways 
 between the beds of Asparagus are dug up about two feet in depth 
 and width. The soil coming from the pathway is divided very 
 carefully, and put about eight inches thick on the surface of the 
 bed. The trench is filled up with new stable-manure, not litter, 
 and frames placed on the bed. The manure should rise as high as 
 
 the top of the frames, 
 and the lights be en- 
 tirely covered with 
 mats and litter to pre- 
 vent the heat accumu- 
 
 PreparatzonforForctvS Asparagus Ihctyjies are dug out 1^^^^^ " ^^ ^J^g ^^^^^ f^.^j^ 
 and Jilltdiuith stable-manure, the eat th bung heaped on the 
 
 beds. These arc covered ivithrough/tanus, up to the edge of eSCapiug. In abouta 
 
 luhich the heating-material is piled. o i • t i ii 
 
 lortnight or three 
 weeks, the Asparagus begins to show itself on the surface of the 
 bed. Many market-gardeners cover the whole of the bed inside 
 the frame to a thickness of three or four inches Avith manure to force 
 the vegetation more quickly, but in this case the manure must be 
 removed when the Asparagus begins to shoot. When the shoots 
 are about three inches out of the ground they may be cut. The 
 mats must be taken off in the daytime, but the heat must be well 
 kept up or the roots and buds will fail to push. The beds are 
 forced every second year only. The gathering of the Asparagus 
 may continue for about two months, but no longer, or the planta- 
 tion would be injured. AVhen the gathering is over, the frames 
 and linings are taken away, and the soil which has been dug up 
 from the alleys is put back again. 
 
 The preceding note applies to the forcing of the better qualities 
 of Asparagus chiefly. There is a garden at Clichy in which quite 
 a speciality is made of forcing the smaller-sized Asparagus for 
 soups, stews, etc. It contains a number of iron houses, on the 
 same plan as those in the Jardin Fleuriste, already described. 
 There are frames within each house, just as in propagating-houses, 
 and beneath them the Asparagus is forced for the markets, in 
 large quantities. The houses are heated with hot water, and the 
 culture in other respects resembles that practised in forcing- 
 that is, when the plants are taken up to be 
 
Chap. XXVII.] 
 
 ASl'AHAGUS CULTURE. 
 
 477 
 
 forced indoors or in pits. The very large table Asparagus is 
 never forced. 
 
 "Where so mucli Asparagus is grown both for home consumption 
 and exportation, the need for effective bunching-inn)lenients has 
 led to various improvements in these, some of which are figured 
 here — after tlie ' llevue Horticole.' 
 
478 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cuaf. XXVIII. 
 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVIII. 
 Salads in Paris. 
 
 The market-gardens immediately round Paris are, in spring, for 
 the most part covered with ghiss — large clear bell-glasses, about 
 18 inches high, and small shallow frames. In each large glass a 
 huge Cos Lettuce rises nearly to the top, while at its feet — pigmies 
 round a giant — there is a ring of those dwarf tender Lettuces so 
 much sought after in winter and early spring. The icy breath 
 of the north is probably blowing over the garden ; but the plants 
 are well screened from it, sitting in the sun within their glass 
 homes. We have all laughed at Sydney Smith's " bottled sun- 
 beams ;" but we literally have them here. Sometimes these glasses 
 are thickly placed on shallow hot-beds, when used for winter and 
 early-spring crops ; sometimes on slightly-sloping beds of rich 
 light soil. The bell-glasses are used, for the most part, for the 
 production of Cos Lettuces ; the shallow frames for the Noire 
 Lettuce, so much in demand in winter. The culture of Salads in 
 the suburbs of Paris for the supply of its markets and the markets 
 of many other cities, is one of the most interesting examples of 
 successful cultivation it would be possible to name. The sugges- 
 tion that climate is the cause of the superiority of the French in 
 this respect, will no doubt occur to some. It is not so, however. 
 By the adoption of the methods to be presently described, as good 
 
("IIAI-. XXVIII.] 
 
 ALAI>S IN I'AKIS. 
 
 IT!I 
 
 salad as ever wont to the Paris markets may he i^a-owu in Eii^lauil 
 and Ireland during the coldest months of winter and sprinji;. The 
 winters in Northern France are severer than our own, and there 
 are many spots in Ent^land and Ireland which are preferahle to 
 the neighbourhood of Paris for this culture. Near that city may 
 often be seen Cos and Cabbage Lettuces looking as fresh under 
 their coverings in the middle 
 of winter, when the earth is 
 frostbound, as Lilac-buds in 
 May : had they been treated 
 as ours usually are, they would 
 have presented a very ditierent 
 appearance. As ordinary cul- 
 tivation suffices to grow them -^-' 
 with us in summer, and as 
 
 in winter and early spring our tables are supplied from France, 
 it is only as regards these supplies that we want improvement. 
 
 The first and chief thing towards it is to procure some of the 
 large bell-glasses or cloches used for this purpose. They are clieap, 
 require no repairs, and are easily cleaned and stored when not 
 required. The troublesome task of giving air is done away with 
 in their case. Without air on " every possible occasion " the 
 liritish gardener attempts nothing under glass. By adopting 
 this simple protector, he may forego that ceaseless trouble in 
 Lettuce-growing throughout the winter 
 and early spring. In the hotter weeks 
 of autumn, these glasses are tilted up 
 on one side for an inch or so, with a 
 bit of stone placed underneath; but 
 when once winter comes they are 
 placed down quite close, and are all 
 through the winter in the same con- 
 dition as Wardian cases. By the way, 
 tlie French recognised this principle of the Wardian case 
 long before v.'e did, and what is more, have made a far more 
 practical use of it. For all sorts of winter Salad-growing this 
 liuge bell-glass is infinitely superior to anything that we use 
 for like purposes. The plants get full light at all times, and are 
 not in the least '' drawn " or injured by the confinement, the light 
 
 Plants of the Lettuce Petite Koirc 
 umitr the Cloche in October. 
 
480 THE PARKS AND GAKUENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 coming in so freely at all points. The glasses are nearly sixteen 
 inches in diameter, and about as much in height. For the winter- 
 work they are sometimes placed on sloping beds with a sunny 
 aspect ; the beds being wide enough to accommodate three or 
 four lines of glasses. In early autumn these beds are made and 
 the plants placed upon them, so that they can be readily covered 
 by the bell-glasses when the time comes at which growth is 
 checked in the open air. It should be added that the ground 
 chosen is very rich and light, and the Lettuces are sown at 
 intervals of a fortnight or so, to secure a succession. The plants 
 put out in September for the early and mid-autumn supply may 
 not require to be covered if the weather be fine ; and if they 
 should happen to require it, the glasses are tilted up a little as 
 before described. But when the sun begins to fail and the cold 
 rains to check growth, about the end of October, then the crop to 
 be cut in the following month must be covered ; and when towards 
 Christmas the frost begins to enter the ground, the glasses must 
 be firmly pressed down, and a deposit of leaves and litter j)laced 
 around and between them. 
 
 Thus, while everything else is at rest in the grip of ice, the 
 plants will be kept perfectly free from frost, receiving abundant 
 light from above, and growing as fresh as early summer leaves. 
 A deeper layer of the surrounding litter will be necessary in case 
 of severe frost. Covering the glasses a little more than half-way 
 up with a rather compact body of leaves and litter, effectually 
 secures the contents from sharp frosts. When very severe winters 
 occur, mats made of straw are spread over the tops of the glasses ; 
 and should heavy falls of snow occur while these mats are on, 
 they will enable the cultivator to carry it away bodily ; it should 
 on no account be allowed to melt on the beds or in the alleys 
 between. In late spring the cloche is not required, nor is it used 
 for any except those crops that require artificial assistance. Thus 
 the March and April supply is planted in October on a bed of 
 light soil, with a surfacing of an inch or so of thoroughly-rotten 
 manure or leaf-mould. These little plants are allowed to remain 
 all through the winter unprotected ; and when in spring the most 
 forward Cloche Lettuces are cut, the glasses are immediately 
 placed over the most advanced of the little ones that have remained 
 exposed. By that time they have begun to start up, encouraged 
 
CiiAr. XXVni.] SALADS IN TAIUS. 481 
 
 by the early spring sun. antl from the moment they receive 
 the additional warmth and steady temperature of the cloche they 
 commence to unfold their fresh and juicy leaves, and finish l)y 
 becoming great-hearted and tender products. In the first instance 
 three or five little plants may be put under each glass, and these 
 thinned out and used as they grow, so that eventually only one is 
 left, which often grows almost too big for the glass. No water 
 is required, as the ground possesses sufficient moisture in winter 
 and spring, and evaporation is prevented by the glasses and the 
 protecting litter that covers the little spaces between them. 
 Thus a suitable moisture is kept up at all times, and the con- 
 ditions that best suit Lettuces are preserved by the simplest 
 means. 
 
 With the same glasses the various small saladings may be 
 grown to perfection. Thus, for instance, if Corn Salad be desired 
 perfectly clean and fresh in mid-winter, it may be obtained by 
 sowing it between the smaller Lettuces grown under these 
 glasses ; and so with any other small salad or seedlings that may 
 be gathered before the more important crop requires all the 
 room. These bell-glasses will be found of quite as much advantage 
 in the British garden as they are in France ; they will render 
 possible the production of as fine winter salads in our gardens as 
 ever the French grew ; they will enable us to supply our own 
 markets with a commodity for which a good deal of money now 
 leaves the country ; hence their adoption is important for all who 
 care for delicate winter salads. At present the home-grown produce 
 is so inferior at that season, that it is generally avoided, and 
 rightly so ; for Lettuces when hard and wiry from alternations 
 of frost, sleet, and rains — slug-eaten and half-covered with the 
 splashings of the ground, above which they hardly rise — are not 
 worth gathering. And though they may be grown well in frames 
 and pits, the method herein described is, when properly carried 
 out, better and simpler than that. To understand the cloche and 
 its use will not suffice ; it is well to observe the culture of the 
 varieties suited for each season. 
 
 Culture of the Lettuce Petite NoinE.— This kind is grown to 
 an enormous extent; these are the Lettuces sent from Paris 
 to Covent Garden throughout the autumn and winter. Few, 
 however, sow it before the first days of September. It is sown 
 
482 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXYIII. 
 
 on light, rich grouDtl, well and deeply stirred, and covered with 
 an inch, or a little more, of thoroughly-decomposed fine stable- 
 manure. The surface is made level and somewhat firm, and the 
 impressions of the number of cloches it is intended to use made 
 upon it. One cloche will prove sufficient for a private garden at 
 one sowing ; a few suffice for the wants of a market-garden. The 
 Lettuce-seed is then regularly sown within the ring formed by the 
 impression of the large bell-glass, and covered with a very slight 
 
 _ coat of fine rich soil. Then the cloche is put on, 
 
 the rim being gently pressed into the light rotten 
 mould. Shade is given when the sun shines 
 strongly in early autumn, but air is never given. 
 A peculiarity of this excellent Lettuce is that 
 it grows best without air. 
 
 As soon as the seedlings are strong enough to 
 transplant, they are pricked out, about thirty 
 under each cloche. This transplantation is done 
 at a much earlier stage than is the case with 
 us. The plants are not allowed to get crowded, 
 but are taken up gently and without disturbing 
 the roots; soon after the cotyledons are developed 
 and when the first leaves are beginning to 
 appear. In transplanting, a surfacing of very fine 
 and thoroughly rotten manure is placed over the 
 earth to the depth of an inch, and the earth is 
 often thrown into beds sloping to the south, so 
 that the cloches may enjoy the full sun. Whether 
 the beds are flat or sloping, they are wide enough 
 for three ranges of cloches placed in an alternate 
 manner, so that very little space is lost between 
 transplanting, the ground is marked by the 
 impression of a cloche, and the little seedlings are inserted by the 
 finger in the soft mould. Instead of getting drawn, as would be 
 the case if they were left together for a longer period, the plants 
 spread out into neat firm little rosettes, their leaves lying close to 
 the ground, for the light comes freely through the clear cloche, 
 and there is not a sign of ill-health or speck of dust to be seen on 
 the leaves. The strongest batch of those that in September were 
 in the rosette stage, under the cloches, are transplanted into their 
 
 Diagram showing tlic 
 several stages of Let- 
 tnce-adture utider 
 the Cloche. The 
 
 mitiute dots repre- 
 sent the seedlings, 
 which are pricked off 
 token very small, as 
 sliowti in the circle 
 with twenty -Jour 
 asterisks. The central 
 ring is the plan of a 
 Cloche with one Paris 
 Cos Lettuce in the 
 middle, and five 
 Cabbage Lettuces 
 
 around it; above it, 
 one with four plants 
 of a M' inter Cabbage 
 Lettuce; and beneath 
 it, one luilh three 
 plants of the Cos. 
 
 them. Before 
 
Chap. XXVIII.] SALADS IN PAKIS. 4S3 
 
 final places hofore the loth of October, plantinf:^ four uiulor each 
 cloche. Thoy supply a great want, coming in in perfect condition 
 towards the middle of winter. 
 
 Sometimes the crop is planted out in the narrow frames common 
 to Paris market-gardens, turning over the old beds before planting. 
 The frames being shallow the plants are near the glass, and as 
 soon as planted the lights are put on, but, instead of giving air 
 by the aid of these lights, the greatest care is taken to keep it out. 
 No matter whether under cloche or frame, the Petite Noire must 
 never get any air. Should severe frost occur, the glasses may be 
 protected with straw mats. It must be observed that when the 
 ])lants are transferred into the places where they are to attain 
 their fullest size they are removed wuth good balls, and with some 
 care to check their growth as little as possible. The plants 
 pricked out in October are ready to cut at the end of November 
 or beginning of December, when this Lettuce begins to come 
 into general use. In addition to the crop put out during the 
 first half of November, another is sown at that season, in the 
 way before described. Should very severe weather render the 
 Lettuces liable to suffer, dry litter is placed between the cloches, 
 and higher up at their north side, so as to prevent the frost from 
 entering the ground, and the contents of the cloches are daily 
 exposed to the light and sun, except when they are frozen, when 
 the covering is kept on or increased. The forced culture in the 
 small narrow frames usually begins about the end of November. 
 At that period a hotbed is prepared, sixteen inches thick, and 
 about 5;")" F. in temperature, spreading on it some of the never- 
 failing, thoroughly-rotten manure, and on it are planted seven 
 lines of Petite Noire. This plantation requires greater care than 
 those placed under the cloche, in consequence of the warmth and 
 humidity ; decaying or spotted leaves have to be picked ofl" when 
 tliey occur, and the plants must -be protected with the mats more 
 than those not excited by heat. The frames are surrounded by 
 fermenting manure, which also fills up the alleys between the 
 little frames to the upper edge of each. 
 
 At the end of January or beginning of February the last forced 
 crop of Petite Noire is planted, under cloches placed on a gentle 
 hotbed a foot deep, and covered with about four inches of the 
 same mould-like manure, the l)ell-glasses as usual being placed 
 
484 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXYIII. 
 
 in three ranks. The bed for them may be made wide enough for 
 six (three lines on each side of a narrow alley), or for three only. 
 In this January or February planting, four plants of Petite Noire 
 are planted under each cloche, and one Cos in the middle. The 
 tender Petites Noires are gathered in February and March ; the 
 Cos remains a little later, nearly filling up the glass and forming 
 one of those superb Lettuces to be seen in all our great towns 
 in early spring, and which are usually supposed to come from 
 some paradisaical climate, instead of the ungenial winter-climate 
 of Paris. Certainly the climate that would produce them without 
 protection at the period spoken of should be mild indeed. 
 
 Lettuce Yerte MaraIchere. — This Lettuce is sown about the 
 first fortnight in October in the open air, or on a sloping bed under 
 a cloche. It is pricked out, and twenty or thirty are generally 
 placed under one glass, which is taken off every time the weather 
 permits. As it often happens that, in spite of the care taken 
 with it, this Lettuce will grow too tall, it is generally taken up, 
 and transplanted some time in November. For this purpose a 
 new sloping bed is prepared and the plants are pricked into it 
 immediately, only eighteen or twenty being put under each glass. 
 From this moment they receive the same care as the other 
 Lettuces sown at the same time. Towards the end of December 
 or the beginning of January planting in frames and under cloches 
 is begun. In each frame eight roAvs are placed, each consisting 
 of twenty-five plants, so arranged that there is a Petite Noire 
 and a Cos Lettuce alternately. Under the cloches they are 
 arranged so that there are four of the former to one of the latter. 
 The Cos Lettuces thus grown may be gathered at the beginning 
 of February, after which the beds are planted a second time, 
 towards the end of February or the beginning of March ; that is 
 to say, when the severe cold is no longer to be dreaded, a single 
 plant is pricked out in the little spaces between the cloches. As 
 soon as the Cos and the Petite Noire Lettuces planted beneath the 
 bell-glass are gathered, the glass is used for the second crop. By 
 this method the crop may be gathered about three weeks after. 
 At the same time warm borders on the south side of walls are 
 also planted with Cos Lettuces. Ten or twelve rows are drawn, 
 according to the size of the border, and planted with Cos Lettuces 
 about twelve or fourteen inches apart. After this crop has been 
 
CiiAT-. XXYIII.] 
 
 SALADS IN PAKIS. 
 
 485 
 
 f.ilfuce—Crossi- Prim,- Paresscuse {Summer). 
 
 Lettuce— Crific {Spring). 
 
 ralaline (Aii/umu). 
 
 Lettuec—I'atav:>x blonde {Summer). 
 
 Lettuce— Komaine vert.- ifhiver. Lettuce -Romniiie hlonde viarahhe 
 
 Some Lettuces of the Paris Market ( \ 'ihnorin'). 
 
 2 K 
 
480 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 planted out, a few Eadishes, Leeks, or Carrots are sown between 
 the Lettuces. Generally speaking, these Cos Lettuces are fit to 
 gather towards the end of April or the beginning of May. Some 
 market-gardeners also sow Cos during the month of August, 
 which, planted out in hotbeds under bell-glasses, are generally fit 
 for gathering in December and January. 
 
 GoTTE Lettuce. — This Lettuce cannot be raised in the same 
 way as the Petite Noire, because it will not come to perfection 
 without plenty of air. It is not so early as the Petite Noire, but 
 is much esteemed, growing larger and more perfect than that 
 variety. The Gotte Lettuce is sown from the 20th to the 25th 
 of October on a sloping bed, and the 
 same method of after-treatment is adopted 
 as in forcing the Petite Noire, although 
 it is less damaged by frost. Being a later 
 kind, it may be left in the bed until the 
 Lettuce Gotte. Petito Noirc is all gathered, when it may 
 
 be used to fill the vacant places in the hotbeds. The manure of 
 the hotbeds should be left undisturbed, but the soil in the frames 
 should be well forked and made even. Towards the end of 
 January or beginning of February the Gotte should be planted in 
 the frames. It should have plenty of air, whenever the weather 
 will allow it, by propping up the back of the light. If the 
 Lettuce does not heart early when protected, the light should be 
 removed as soon as the fine weather makes its appearance, so as to 
 allow it to come to perfection in the open air. Instead of planting 
 the Gotte Lettuce in a frame, it may be planted on a hotbed under 
 cloches arranged in three rows, three plants being placed under 
 each, taking care to preserve them from frost in the usual way, 
 and to give them air whenever the weather will permit. It may 
 also be planted in the open ground under a cloche. The earth is 
 well dug and raked, and an inch and a half of well-decomposed 
 stable-manure thrown over it, smoothed and flattened. The 
 cloches are then placed in alternate lines, with three plants under 
 each. When the plants have struck, air should be given them 
 whenever possible. This variety when planted in frames at the 
 end of January, arrives at perfection by the end of March ; when 
 planted under cloches in February, at the beginning of April ; 
 
CuAr. XXVIII.] SALADS IN PARIS. 487 
 
 and when planted under cloclies or in frames at tlie end of 
 February, towards the middle of April. 
 
 The Passion Lettuce — Laitue de la Passion, as it is called — is 
 the only Winter Lettuce grown in the neighbourhood of Paris in 
 the open air. It is sown from the 15th of August to the 15th 
 of September, according to the soil which is to receive it, and is 
 pricked out rather thinly in October. It is generally left unpro- 
 tected through the winter ; however, it is prudent to defend it 
 against severe frosts by covering it with long litter, which is taken 
 off and put on again as often as necessary. This Lettuce is 
 generally fit for gathering towards Passion Week, from which 
 circumstance it derives its name. As regards the best varieties of 
 Lettuce of the Paris gardens for the different seasons, I am indebted 
 for the following note to M, Henri Yilmorin of Paris. "Forcing 
 kinds : Crepe a Graine Noire (Petite Noire) and Gotte ; for spring 
 use, Gotte a Bord Rouge and ]>londe d'Ete ; for summer use, Blonde 
 de Versailles and l^atavia IMonde ; for autumn, Palatine ; for 
 winter and early spring. Passion and Morine ; and for all the year 
 round, White Paris Cos, 
 
 The Bakbe de Capucix is the most conunon of all salads in Paris 
 
 Harhr (if (Snp. 
 
 in the winter and early spring. It is perhaps too bitter for some 
 tastes, but is well worthy of culture in small gardens, being so 
 very easily forced when other salads are scarce. This salad 
 may be had with the least amount of trouble in a cellar, or 
 
 2 K 2 
 
488 TPIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 any dark place where a little beat might be used to start the 
 blanched leaves in winter. Should the taste be too bitter to those 
 unaccustomed to it, or who do not like bitter salads, the addition 
 of Corn Salad, Celery, or Beetroot, improves and modifies the 
 flavour, and makes it a very distinct and agreeable salad. The 
 gardeners of the commune of Montr euil sow every year in spring 
 a large quantity of common Chicory for the purpose of forcing 
 the Barbe de Capucin. In autumn the roots are taken up with 
 the fork, care being taken not to break them. They are then laid 
 by the heels so as to have them always ready for use ; and in 
 October, the season when such work is usually commenced, a hot- 
 bed about sixteen inches deep is prepared, the heat of which is 
 from 65° to 80' Fahr. The most favourable position for such a 
 hotbed is in a cave or in a deep cellar without light or air. When 
 the heat of the bed has somewhat abated, the plants are tied up in 
 bundles after carefully removing all the dead leaves and other 
 portions liable to produce mouldiness, after which they are placed 
 upright on the bed and watered. From the time the Barbe begins 
 to grow, these waterings must be given with judgment, so as to 
 prevent the interior of the bundles from rotting. At the end of 
 fifteen or eighteen days, the salad is long enough to be gathered. 
 The Chicory can be blanched from autumn up to March and April ; 
 after every gathering, however, the spent heating- material should 
 be removed, and replaced by a fresh suj)ply, so as always to keep 
 the bed at the same degree of warmth. Chicory possesses many 
 excellent qualities, which should recommend it to more general 
 attention than it now enjoys. It is of easy culture, is not at all 
 fastidious as to soil, and may, therefore, be grown largely by those 
 who cannot devote much time or attention to the culture of choice 
 salading. Even where Lettuces and Endive are extensively grown. 
 Chicory should find a place, as its addition to the salad-bowl 
 imparts a piquancy which cannot well be obtained by any other 
 ingredient. It is largely used and much esteemed as a winter 
 salad in many parts of France, and, in common with the Dandelion, 
 it there enjoys the reputation of possessing peculiar blood-purifying 
 principles. 
 
 ScAROLE (Broad-leaved Batavian Endive).— This fine salad 
 occupies a considerable space in the culture of the Paris market- 
 gardens. It ought to be more generally grown in England, being 
 
( iiAi'. XXVIIL] SALADS IN I'AHIS. 48! » 
 
 easy of cultivation, very largo, and forming an excellent salad ; 
 indeed, it is on the whole perhaps the hest we have. The mode 
 of hlanching is very simple : the leaves of the plant are gathered 
 up, and a single straw tied around them. This is only done five 
 days hefore the Scarole is ready for market. A crop of this 
 nearly ready to blanch in September, was the second crop of the 
 same plant that had been on the ground — the first and best having 
 been gathered a few weeks before. Some of the finer specimens 
 of this second unblauched crop measured twenty and twenty-one 
 inches in diameter on the 7th of September. 
 
 Corn Salad or Mache. — This plant is very much used in 
 Paris, and is excellent as a salad. It is peculiarly agreeable 
 wlien mixed with a sprinkling of Celery. The culture is of the 
 simplest kind, the seeds being often sown amongst other crops. 
 The Ivonde variety is sown about the 15th of August, and at 
 intervals till the end of October. That sown in August comes in 
 for the autumn consumption ; that sown in September for winter 
 use ; and that sown in October is used in spring. During hard 
 frost the crops to be gathered during winter arc covered! with 
 long litter. Mache llegence is sown in October, and is sown more 
 thinly than the preceding; it is considered the best variety. It 
 may also be raised in the spare places between the plants, under 
 cloches, in any open surface between plants in frames, or any cool 
 light garden-structure. 
 
490 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIX. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 SOME VEGETABLES OF THE PARIS MARKET. 
 
 A VISIT to the markets of Paris is sufficient to interest many in 
 the vegetable culture of that capital. There is so much difference 
 in the supplies to that market and the London one that there is 
 much to be learnt on both sides. That so great a diiference 
 should exist in the market-produce of cities so near each other 
 is remarkable. The Parisians make as much use of the Seakale 
 or Ehubarb as we in England do of the Breadfruit-tree ; and 
 one who leaves London in a hot and dry July, having failed to get 
 a salad at dinner, arrives in Paris next morning, and finds the 
 markets full of every variety of salading as tender as if the 
 climate were a perpetual May. Although abundant intercourse 
 has long existed between the two countries, yet from the fact 
 that the visitors are rarely men capable of appreciating differ- 
 ences and their value and causes, and the difficulty of getting 
 information about the subjects, noticeable improvements have 
 not been exchanged from side to side. 
 
 The Carrots of the Paris Market. — ^Every visitor to the 
 Halles of Paris or the streets near them during the earlier hours 
 of the day, must have noticed vast quantities of dwarf, tender 
 little Carrots. These indeed, sent from Paris, are seen in many 
 other cities. They are always fresh, always to be had, and 
 contain none of the tissue which makes the coarser Carrots so 
 much less valuable. Even when we do grow the best varieties 
 of dwarf Carrots in this country, they never present the cleanly 
 appearance of those of the Paris market-gardens, nor are they so 
 tender and good. The French, who are difficult to please in 
 respect to this vegetable, never make use of field varieties for 
 
Chap. XXIX.] SOME VEGETABLES OF TJIE TAUIS ^rARKET. 491 
 
 cooking, except in cases of necessity. In France, also, wliere its 
 cultivation is most extensive and the best carried out, all the 
 known varieties are more or less made use of according to their 
 value ; but the choice small kinds are grown everywhere, even by 
 the poorest people. The varieties grown in this country are not 
 so numerous, are in- 
 ferior in quality, and 
 badly grown, com- 
 pared with French 
 kinds. In gardens 
 this is most observ- 
 able, and the conse- 
 quence is the London 
 markets are stocked 
 chiefly with the 
 Surrey Carrot, a 
 tough variety, with- 
 out flavour, and with 
 a heart like a walk- 
 ing-stick. It is, 
 moreover, difficult to 
 cultivate, on account 
 of the deep soil it re- 
 quires ; while, on the 
 other hand, tlie finer 
 cooking varieties 
 accommodate them- 
 selves thoroughly to 
 soils oH m e d i u m 
 depth. 
 
 Erencu F()utiN(i Cau- 
 BOT (Garotte trts-courte 
 ii chassis). — This variety 
 is the smallest and earliest 
 Carrot, chieflj- used for 
 forcing. It U a great favourite among the Parisian market-gardeners on account 
 of its extreme earliness. The root is from 1 i to 2 inches in size, nearly round, and 
 terminates in a very fine fai>o-like fibre. It is jkiIo straw-coloured wiien grown 
 under glass during the winter, but scarlet when rai.sed in o\<m ground. The flesh is 
 very tender and finely flavoured ; and it has scarcely any fibry " heart " in the centre. 
 
 Early French Forcing Larrot oj tlu I'arit Market. 
 
492 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GAKDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIX. 
 
 The top is greenish and hollow-crowned ; the leaves few and small. This affords 
 a fair supply of fresh Carrots all the year ronnd. Recently, bunches of this variety 
 have made their appearance in Covent Garden Market, but the freshness of such 
 tender roots is sijoiled by their journey from Paris to London. The preceding cut 
 shows the true shape and natural size ; but inferior stocks, producing conical roots 
 neither so succulent nor so early, are often met with. This valuable Carrot 
 ought to be used only for forcing. Sowings should be made on hotbeds having 
 a medium temperature, from November to February, for use from February until 
 May. For early crops sown in warm borders, the Scarlet Horn will be found to 
 be far better adapted. Market-gardenci-s sow the Early French Forcing Carrot 
 in August and September, and after protecting it in winter, sell it in the spring 
 for newly-forced Carrots, to which they bear some similarity after a sharp brushing 
 before they are sent to market, but the difference may be easily detected by their 
 deep scarlet colour, and the leaves being cut off the roots. In addition to this, 
 the skin is rough and the flavour much inferior, whilst newly-forced Carrots are 
 smaller, of a straw colour, with a shining skin, and are always tied up in bunches 
 by tlieir long thin leaves ; both kinds may sometimes be seen at Covent Garden. 
 Special attention should be paid to this variety, which really deserves general 
 cultivation. The following ai-e its synonyms — French Forcing Carrot, French 
 Forcing Horn Carrot, Very Early Forcing Carrot, Very Early Scarlet Horn 
 Carrot, Very Early Short Horn Carrot, Early Forcing Horn Carrot, Very Early 
 French Carrot, etc. In France its synonyms are Carotte grelot, Carotte tr^s- 
 courtc a forcer, Carotte Carlinc, Carotte toupie, Carotte a chassis. 
 
 Scarlet Horn (Carotte rouge courte). — A popular early variety, the most 
 generally cultivated for the first crop in the 
 open ground. The root is deep scarlet, 2^ to 
 3 inches long, and 1 to la inches thick. It 
 is nearly cylindrical, slightly tajjering, and 
 terminates abruptly. The flesh is very tender, 
 and highly flavoured. 'J'he top is greenish, 
 and hollow-crowned; and the leaves of a 
 medium size. It can be used for forcing 
 exactly like the preceding kind, but being of 
 a larger size it is not quite so early, there- 
 fore the best time for sowing is in February, 
 on a warm exposed border ; and, if well pro- 
 tected, in case of severe weather, a fair crop 
 of new Carrots may be expected by the be- 
 ginning of May. Sowings made subsequently 
 from March to May will afford a fair supply 
 during the whole summer where large roots 
 are objected to. On account of its small size it is not suitable for winter storing. 
 This kind is often mistaken or sold for the Frencli Forcing Carrot, although the 
 two plants differ much, both in size and earliness. The following are its 
 synonyms : — Early Horn Carrot, Early Scarlet Horn Carrot, English Horn Carrot, 
 Dutch Horn Carrot, Carotte rouge courte halive, Carotte rouge courte 
 d'Hollande, etc. 
 
 Ikteemediate Scaklet (Carotte rouge demi-louguc ijoiutuc). — This is the 
 
 ] iiterinedinte 
 Scarlet. 
 
CiiAi'. XXIX.] SOME VKGETAHLES OF THE I'AKIS MAUKET. 4!i:> 
 
 best variety for <^eii oral use; it lias beautiful scarlet rcxits, o inches loii-: and fnuu 
 2 to 2i incites thick, taiierinp; and shari)-[)ointed. The flesh is highly flavoured 
 and of the best quality. The top is greenish, hollow-crowned, with a few 
 vigorous medium-sized leaves. 1'liis excellent kind ou^ht to be grown for the 
 main croj) in every garden, lus it is very hardy and gives large crops. Jt is the 
 best and the most useful kind for winter storing; it grows in almost every kind 
 of soil, and, provided the plants are keitt sufllcient distance apart, it will resist 
 drought better than any other garden kind, besides losing little or nothing of its 
 valuable proi)crties. Sown from March until June, in rows from 9 to 12 inches 
 distant, the plants are thinned as soon as jwssible, and kept from 4 to 5 inches 
 apart, according to the quality of the soil, as soon as they attain the size of a 
 pencil. Hoeing and waterin-:, in case of extreme dryness, 
 will aitl develoj)ment and ensure a good crop of excellent 
 (.'arrots. It is known under a great many names, 
 according to the country in which it is grown; and, on 
 account of its productive qualities, it has been cultivated 
 sometimes in the field, yielding as much as 1-i to 15 tons 
 to the acre. 
 
 Inteumediatk Scaulet Stump-booteu (Carotte rouge 
 demi-iongue obtuse). — This is a French variety, similar 
 to the last described in its (piality and uses. The root 
 is deep scarlet, from 4 to 4i inches long, from U to 2 
 inches thick, and almost cylindrical in shape. The root 
 is stumpy, the top greenish in cohmr and hollow-crowned, 
 it is an improvement on the preceding kind, which it 
 li;iK supplanted in many gardens, though less hardy and 
 occasionally more aflected by drought. It is a valuable 
 variety for autumn and winter storing. It has enjoyed a popularity in France 
 extending over thirty years, and is now much used in 
 America, Germany, and Uelgium ; but its intruduction 
 into English gardens has been very gradual and partial. 
 It requires the same culture as (he Intermediate Scarlet 
 Carrot, and is an exceedingly valuable kind that should, 
 if possible, be always found in the list of winter- vege- 
 tables, 
 
 Intekmediate Nantes Scaui.et (Carotte rouge denii- 
 longue Nantaise). — This is of recent French introtluction, 
 having a close analogy to the two jireceding varieties. 
 The root is a deep red in colour, 4i inches long, from li 
 to 2 inches thick, and bluntly-cylindrical in fonn ; the 
 top is greenish in colour, with a hollow crown. The 
 leaves arc of medium size ; the flesh is very sui)erior in 
 tlavour and cpiality, the heart lx;ing less develoi)od and 
 more tender than in other varieties, and both for sauces 
 and stews it is a most desirable kind. It is a valuable 
 acquisition to the kitchen-garden. Although it i> an earlier variety than the two 
 preceding ones, it is not suflicieutly so for forcing. Sown from March to June, it 
 
 1 ntcrmedtatc Scnrlct 
 Stiimp-iootcd. 
 
 hiltriiiciiiatf Xuntcs 
 Scirlft. 
 
494 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIX. 
 
 will produce au excellent crop in the autumn and throughout the winter. On 
 account of the delicacy of this Carrot, considorahle attention and care must be 
 devoted to it during growth, which however will be amply repaid by the results. 
 It is sometimes called " Garotte sans coeur." 
 
 Forcing Carrots. — The French Forcing and the Scarlet Horn Carrots are the 
 best for this purpose, but the first is to be preferred. The foi'cing is thus con- 
 ducted: — Prepare mild liotbeds 2i feet thick in November or December, and I3 
 or 2 feet in January or Februaiy ; put on the frames, cover the bed with 5 or 6 
 inches of rich soil or mould, and as soon as the whole is sufficiently heated, sow 
 the seed broadcast, cover with half-an-inch of mould, smooth the surface, and 
 place mats over the glass until the seed comes up. Should the interior get dry, 
 give a slight watering, but damp must be guarded against. 'J'he plants must be 
 thinned to half-an-inch apart as soon as they have four or five leaves. Air must 
 be admitted as often as the temperature will allow of it; this will give strength to 
 the seedlings. The heat mus-t not exceed 60° during the day and 50° at night ; 
 this may be easily regulated by tilting the glass. In the case of sharp frost, 
 covering with mats is preferable to artificial heat. Shading, if needed, must not 
 be omitted. A November sowing, if well managed, will produce fine young 
 Carrots at the end of February, and through March and April. Subsequent 
 sowings — in December for March to April, in January for April to May, 
 and, lastly, in February for April to June— are required by market-gardeners; 
 but, in private gardens, the first bed should be made in November and the second 
 in January ; these will afford an ample supply until new open-ground Carrots are 
 fit for use. Where frames are not available, prepare at the beginning of February, 
 in some warm corner, a bed of hot material mixed with leaves, covered with 4 or 
 5 inches of mould ; sow the seed and protect with mats supported with sticks or 
 other apparatus. As soon as the seed comes up remove the covering every day 
 as frequently as the weather will ijermit, and the crop will be ready by the end 
 of April and through May. Parisian market-gardeners mix seeds of Radish and 
 Lettuce with those of Carrots, they being ready for use before the Carrots, which 
 are then left to produce a second crop ; a jjractice not advisable, nor is that of 
 planting Cauliflowers among forced Carrots. 
 
 D. GUIHENEUF. 
 
 Culture in the Open-air. — The first sowings are made in the 
 open-air in the month of September. During frost care is taken 
 to cover the young crop with straw, which is removed whenever 
 the weather is fine enough. When this sowing is successful 
 the crop may be gathered towards the month of May. Other 
 sowings are made in February and March, from which time they 
 may be continued regularly until July. But at whatever time 
 the sowing takes place, the ground ought to be well prepared, 
 and the seed sown broadcast. After the seed is sown the ground 
 is slightly covered, then trodden down with the feet, and a layer 
 of fine and thoroughly-rotted manure spread over the whole ; the 
 
CiiAi'. XXIX.] SOME VEGETABLES OF THE I'AIHS MAKKET. 405 
 
 ground is then raked lightly, and watered whenever it i.s neces- 
 sary. As soon as the young plants make their appearance, the 
 crop is carefully thinned out. Three mouths after the sowing, 
 the more forward Carrots may l)e gathered, the results of the 
 later sowings being left until November. 
 
 Mr. Cornhill writes to the ' Garden ' : " I should like to see the 
 French Early Horn Carrot more extensively grown than it appears 
 to be. I would especially recommend a trial of it to the owners 
 of small gardens. I venture to assert that those who have 
 habituated themselves to a supply of this root during the spring 
 and summer months will not easily make up their minds to forego 
 the luxury. In all French kitchens this little Carrot is almost 
 indispensable, and this is not to be wondered at, for botli its 
 appearance and flavour are good. The first crop, where it is 
 possible, should be sown on a moderate hotbed in January, taking 
 care that the soil employed is tolerably rich and well sweetened — 
 the best material I have found for this purpose is the clearings of 
 old hotbeds which have been turned over and over for several 
 years, and have become reduced to the consistency of mould. 
 Where a supply of this does not exist, any kind of free well-worked 
 soil may be taken. When the seed is up, thin out to about four 
 inches, and care must afterwards be taken to admit plenty of air 
 on all favourable occasions, so as to prevent drawing and to cover 
 up in cold weather. The first sowing in the open ground should 
 be made about the middle of February, choosing a well-sheltered 
 and rather dry spot. Thoroughly break and pulverise the soil, 
 which should be fairly rich ;. it is well to fork-in a good dressing 
 of soot and lime, which give substance to the tops and will free 
 them in a great measure from the ravages of grubs. The seed 
 may either be sown in a four-feet bed or in drills ; if the latter 
 be preferred they should be drawn with a good broad hoe, making 
 them as wide as possible. It is advisable to sow the seed mode- 
 rately thick to ensure a plant, thinning very early. By leaving 
 them thus they may be drawn as soon as the flavour is well 
 defined. By thinning out methodically and regularly over the 
 whole bed in this manner, a small piece of ground will yield a 
 continuous supply ; in fact, it is surprising what a quantity can 
 he grown on the space ; by leaving them rather thick they can be 
 pulled early, which forwards the season, and as the crop advances 
 
496 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cjiap. XXIX. 
 
 in size, so, from the constant thinning, they acquire the room 
 necessary to their development. It is, however, preferable not to 
 depend upon one crop, and successional sowings should be made 
 in the beginning and latter end of March, and again in April." 
 
 Turnip-rooted Celenj. 
 
 The root, which is the only valuable portion of this Celery, is a 
 stout tuber, irregularly rounded, frequently exceeding the size of 
 one's fist. This Celery is sown in the neighbourhood of Paris 
 in February, on a hotbed ; but in the open-air, during the second 
 
 fortnight in Ajiril, or even later. 
 The plants are pricked out in 
 nursery rows, and are transferred 
 to their permanent quarters during 
 the second fortnight in June. The 
 roots are fit for use in September, 
 October, and November, according 
 to the progress they have made. 
 Cultivators are in the habit of 
 cutting ofi' several of the large 
 leaves of the plant, besides ofi"- 
 shoots, and then of earthing-up 
 the plant — a practice which tends 
 to increase the size of the tuber. 
 Though generally eaten cooked, it 
 is sometimes used, cut in slices, in a 
 raw state in salads. There are two 
 or three varieties of this Celery, the 
 largest being the common Parisian 
 variety ; the Erfurt has a smaller 
 root, but is at the same time earlier 
 and more delicate. Well grown 
 and properly cooked, this is an excellent vegetable — quite distinct 
 from our ordinary Celery, which is never so well grown in France as 
 in England or America. 
 
 The Cardoon. 
 
 The Cardoon is much more grown and eaten in France than 
 in England, and its culture is well understood. There are several 
 
 Turnip-rooted Celery. 
 
Cii.vr. XXIX.] SOME VKGF/PABf.ES OF Till-: I'Alirs MARKET. 407 
 
 varieties, some of which arc spiny, whilst others are destitute of 
 prickles, or nearly so. The principal varieties are, the Cardoon of 
 Tours, a spiny variety which Parisian gardeners prefer to all 
 others ; the Spanish Cardoon, which is more cultivated in the 
 south than in the north of France ; the Cardoon Plein Inerme, 
 which is almost as fine as the Cardoon of Tours, and Avhich has 
 the advantage of being free from prickles ; and finally, the Cardoon 
 Puvis, much sought after in La Bresse and in the neighhourhood 
 of Lyons. The Cardoon Puvis is an almost spineless variety, 
 readily distinguished from those already named ; the leaves are 
 larger and shorter than those of other Cardoon s, which has given 
 rise to the name it bears in some localities — the Artichoke-leaved 
 Cardoon. The way the fine Cardoons of the Paris market arc 
 raised is as follows. Tlie ground requires well pulverising and a 
 rest from heavy cropping ; it matters little how poor or stiff the 
 soil, so that the bottom be dry. The exposure must be an open 
 one, as they require a free circulation of air and all the sun 
 possible. Having marked off the spaces for the trenches and 
 ridges, allowing six feet for each, those marked out for the ridges 
 are manured well and dug, for the improving of the ground for 
 other crops, as well as providing for the Cardoon, must be kept 
 in mind. The trenches are next dug out one foot deep, laying 
 the soil right and left on the ridges, and breaking the lumps well 
 as the work proceeds. The sides of the ridges should be well 
 sloped off, and beaten smooth with the back of the spade. A 
 compost, previously prepared, must now be wheeled into thv. 
 trenches to a depth of four to six inches, consisting of about equal 
 parts of chopped turfy soil, good, solid, half-rotted manure, and 
 road-drift or fine ashes, and if at hand some burnt clay. This is 
 forked into the trench in such a manner as to keep the compost 
 merely covered, while the ground below is loosened to the depth 
 of a foot at least. The trench ought to lie uncropped until the 
 season for planting out the Cardoons has arrived, l)y which time 
 the ground will be in fine order to receive them. Two rows of Dwarf 
 Peas are generally sown upon the ridges, and a row of Si)inach 
 between; these will l>e oft' before the Cardoons require earthing-up. 
 In the first week in ]\Iay sow the seeds in thumb-pots, placing 
 two sound seeds at opposite sides of the pots, and plunge the 
 pots in a cold frame, which must be kept close until the plants 
 
498 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXTX. 
 
 appear, when plenty of air is admitted, to prevent tliem drawing 
 up weakly. In a fortnight after the plants are up, they will be 
 strong enough to plant out in this order — one row up the centre 
 of each trench, 18 inches apart, and a row two feet from it in 
 quincunx fashion on each side. Planting two plants together is 
 to guard against losses by insects, and when all danger from this 
 is over, the weakest can be destroyed. Eaising them in pots, 
 instead of sowing them in the ground, is to prevent gaps in the 
 rows, and to give the opportunity of having all the plants in the 
 ridge of equal size, so that when earthed-up, the plants being 
 alike in strength, the same quantity of soil will be required for 
 all. The weakest plants may be kept in the cold frame ten days 
 longer, which, with a second sowing, will give a succession. 
 Water the newly turned-out plants, and loosen-up the soil between 
 them. If dry weather succeeds this operation, the plants will 
 require watering once or twice, until they get established, after 
 which they will only require to be kept clear of weeds till October. 
 This will be most advantageously done by forking among them 
 occasionally, and thus keep the weeds in check, and promote the 
 growth of the plants better than by using the hoe. In the 
 beginning of October, the most forward trench of plants will 
 have attained their full growth, and a sufficient number of well- 
 twisted hay-bands must be provided for winding round them. 
 Taking advantage of a fine dry day, commence by carefully 
 bringing all the leaves into an upright position, in which they 
 should be held by one person while another fastens the hay-band 
 round the bottom of the plant, and winds away tightly until the 
 whole of the stalk is bound round, and the end of the rope secured. 
 When each row is completed, earth-up till the bands are covered 
 with the soil, which should be pressed very tightly round the 
 plant at the top, to exclude air and moisture as effectually as 
 possible. Hay-bands are said to rot the plants ; but, by deferring 
 the earthing-up till October, and by twisting the bands well, and 
 fastening them tightly round the plants, very few failures occur. 
 Some have tried blanching by fastening the leaves closely together 
 with string and matting, and putting an earthen drain-pipe over 
 the plants, and filling up with sand. This plan answers ad- 
 mirably ; the whole of the leaf-stalks becoming perfectly blanched, 
 quite crisj), and fit for use. The adoption of this plan prevents 
 
Chai'. XXIX.] SOME VE(iI-:TABLES OF THE PARIS MAItKE'l". 4!l!) 
 
 !\ 
 
 % 
 
 Mj 
 
 
 Afn,/i- oj ryiii^-u/> the C. 
 /or B!ancliing. 
 
 the loss of room occupied by the ridges, as no soil wouhl bo wanted 
 for earthing ; but it takes a pipe seven or eight inches in diameter 
 for a well-grown plant, and these, if many are required, are 
 expensive. 
 
 The finest Cardoons can only be obtained by frequent and 
 copious watering, the quantity being increased 
 as they grow larger. If the weather is warm 
 and dry, at least a potful of water should be 
 given to each plant every other day. The 
 Cardoon is so fiercely armed that it requires a 
 little care to get at the great plants to tie 
 them up, etc., without being severely pricked. 
 To obviate this, three sticks are used — one of 
 them short, and con- 
 nected with the other 
 two by strong twine. 
 The illustration will 
 show this simple con- 
 trivance and the mode 
 of using it. The work- 
 man standing at a safe 
 distance pushes the 
 two handles under the 
 plant, and then going 
 to the other side and seizing them, soon 
 gathers up the prickly leaves. Another work- 
 man then ties it up in three places, and 
 then straw is placed round and tied so as 
 quite to exclude the light. In three weeks the 
 vegetable is as well blanched and as tender as 
 could be desired. To l)lanch the Cardoon pro- 
 perly and render the leaves perfectly tender, 
 it should be deprived of light and air for at 
 least three weeks. It is then cut just below the surface of the 
 earth, and divested of its straw covering; the withered leaves are 
 sliced off and the root trimmed up neatly. If it is desirable to 
 preserve the Cardoon for winter use it should be simply tied up, 
 as before directed, in the month of November, and uprooted care- 
 fully with a ball of earth attached to it, and plunged in fine rotten 
 
 Blanched Cardoon. 
 
500 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GAKDENS OF PAETR. [Chap. XXTX. 
 
 manure or leaf-mould in a dark cellar. The decayed leaves should 
 be removed every week or so. Under this treatment they become 
 sufficiently blanched in a fortnight, and may be preserved in a 
 good condition for at least two months. 
 
 Globe Artichokes. — Artichoke-culture is of more importance 
 in France than with us, and there is considerable difference 
 among the kinds grown. The Artichoke is extensively cultivated 
 in all parts of France — in the north as well as in the south, in the 
 east as well as in the west ; but it does not prosper equally well 
 everywhere, and each province has its variety, to which it gives 
 preference or which thrives better than other kinds. Amongst 
 these varieties ought to be mentioned the large green Artichaut 
 de Laon, the heads of which have scales more fleshy at the base 
 than the ordinary kind, and not placed very close one to the other. 
 This is one of the best varieties known, and one that is most 
 
 commonly cultivated in the 
 
 n 
 
 /Yt^^ 
 
 /^ 
 
 X, 
 
 neighbourhood of Paris, espe- 
 cially at Aubervilliers. "Varieties 
 ^^^^ are apt not to come true from 
 seed, and they require, besides, 
 more time than offsets before 
 they are fit for consumption ; 
 the latter mode of proj)agation 
 is, therefore, that most generally 
 adopted. Near Paris the offsets 
 are taken off in spring ; in other 
 districts the operation is deferred 
 till autumn, as this is thought 
 to produce better and earlier 
 returns. The process is as 
 follows : — After stripping off the 
 soil from the base of the plants, 
 without pulling them up, the suckers, which grow at the collar, 
 are removed with a heel, or portion of the stem, attached to 
 them ; and from amongst these offsets the strongest should 
 be chosen for planting. The soil which is destined to receive 
 them having been well prepared, the offsets should at once 
 be planted in lines, at a distance apart of about two feet six 
 inches each way, taking care to heap up the earth round the 
 
 Zh' Laon Artichoke 
 
Seme Xnrvts of the Paris Market (V'ilmoriti). 
 
 2 L 
 
502 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIX, 
 
 stalks and to water if the weather be dry. Some prefer planting 
 in pots until the offsets have fairly rooted, after which they may 
 he planted out with a hall. Artichokes thus treated are fit for 
 use sooner than under the ordinary method. In all cases, if the 
 planting has been properly conducted, a large number put in in 
 April will be fit for use in the autumn of the same year. Frequent 
 planting of this kind encourages a succession of good heads, 
 whereas leaving the plantations long in one place causes all the 
 heads to come in at nearly the same time. The De Laon variety 
 is considered the best ; Camus de Bretagne is the kind that is 
 used raw. 
 
 Navets. — The long white Turnip, of which siich large quantities 
 are now being brought from Paris to the London market, is 
 the Long Early White Navet des Vertus. The only district 
 about Paris that will grow this very early Turnip is the valley 
 on the banks of the Seine, opposite le Pecq de St. Germain and 
 Marly, between Le Yesinet Chatou and the river. The principal 
 villages where the cultivation of this Turnip is carried on are 
 Croissy and Montesson, especially the former, hence this Turnip 
 is known in the Paris market as the Navet de Croissy. It is 
 almost impossible to grow good early Turnips in the spring and 
 summer on a large scale in the open ground ; either they do not 
 form well or else they flower without forming at all — that is to 
 say, when they escape the ravages of the grub or beetle. In the 
 Croissy district the soil is sandy, the climate somewhat cold, and 
 the air saturated with moisture, conditions all of which are 
 favourable to the cultivation of this Turnip, which elsewhere can 
 only be grown from seed sown in July and August. The Croissy 
 cultivators also produce large quantities of the early round 
 Parsnip and half-long early round scarlet Carrot, of both of 
 which varieties enormous quantities are seen in the Halles and 
 other Paris markets. 
 
 The Melons grown about Paris are quite different in race and 
 flavour to ours, being nearly always of the Cantaloup race. All 
 the Cantaloup Melons resemble each other, but vary greatly 
 under different kinds of treatment. In France, as is often 
 the case in England, almost every gardener has a so-called 
 variety of Melon, Their flavour depends entirely on the 
 time when the fruits are removed from the plant — not too 
 
Cjiap. XXIX.] ROME VI'XJETABLES OF THE PARIS MAP.KET. 503 
 
 y are ripe. French 
 
 soon Let'ore ami not too late after tht 
 
 gardeners never leave a 
 
 Melon to ripen on the plant. 
 
 There is no doubt that in 
 
 this country Melons arc left 
 
 too long on the vines after 
 
 being ripe, and hence their 
 
 occasional bad flavour. In 
 
 fruit -shops, too, they are 
 
 exposed in windows, and 
 
 their flavour is destroyed in 
 
 a short time. The Cantaloup 
 
 Prescott is a fine Melon when 
 
 well grown and gathered at 
 
 tlic proper time. It is re- 
 
 nijirkably refreshing without being too sweet and sickly, as 
 
 some of the varieties in this country are. 
 
 Laiitaloup Melon of the Paris Markets. 
 
 SOME VEGETABLES GROW 
 (1). GUIH 
 Artichoke, greeu, purple and large 
 Laon (raw or Ixjiled); the young white 
 liavcs for salad. 
 
 Hasklla, alba, and rubra. 
 Peaks (Broad), Seville long poil, 
 jiurple seeded, purple flowered ; dos 
 Marais. 
 
 (Buitners), larjje Soissons, 
 
 Pice, Aspara:.;us; black algcrian, purple 
 [Kxldeil (both these latter are edible 
 IKidded) ; niont d'or butter. 
 
 (fhvarf or French), choco- 
 late; >whitc flageolet; green flageolet; 
 early wrinkled-leaf flageolet ; dwarf 
 Soissons; black algerian, white butter, 
 Sjiottetl white-jKHlded (all three edible 
 podded), and many othei-s; Duiichos, 
 several varieties. 
 
 Beet-root, rough bark, or crapau- 
 dine ; early flat Bassano. 
 Beniscasa cerifera. 
 Borecole, or Kale, Palm-kale. 
 P>rake (young shoot-*). 
 
 'N OB USED JX FBANCE. 
 eneuk.) 
 
 Burnet, in salad. 
 
 Cabbage, Baccalan, early and late ; 
 St. Denis ; Vaugirard, for winter ; Savoy, 
 long-headed ; Norwegian (very hardy) ; 
 Tronchouda, curled ; Russian ; Chinese. 
 
 Cardoox, several sorts. 
 
 Carrot, earliest French forcing, or 
 grelot ; Nantes ; pale red Flanders ; 
 white transparent ; puqile. 
 
 Cauliflower, dwarf Lciiormand. 
 
 Celerl\c, common, Erfurt, curled. 
 
 Chervil, sweet-scented ; tulierouH- 
 rooted. 
 
 Chick Pea, 
 
 Chicory, large ro<>t<<l ; Witloef; 
 common (Uarlie de Capucin); si)otted. 
 
 CHEXoi'oriiu.M, Good King Henry ; 
 quinoa (as Sjiinach). 
 
 Claytoxia cubexsis, s;ilad. 
 
 CoHCHORUS OLiTOHius, sala«i. 
 
 Corn Salad, large seeded : Italian ; 
 variegatetl. 
 
 Cucumber, large white, green, yel- 
 
 2 L 2 
 
504 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIX. 
 
 low ; Russian ; Grecian or Athenian ; 
 snake ; Arada. 
 
 Dandelion, improved. 
 
 Egg-plant, long and round purple, 
 long white, striped, black. 
 
 Endive, Italian, Ruffec, Rouen ; 
 Batavian en cornet, for winter. 
 
 Evening Primrose, salad. 
 
 Fedia cornucopia, salad. 
 
 Fennel, sweet (in the south). 
 
 Gourd, potiron jaune. 
 
 Holy Thistle (young leaves for 
 salad). 
 
 Hops (young shoots like Asparagus). 
 
 Ice-plant, salad 
 
 Kohl Rabi, Artichoke-leaved. 
 
 Leek, yellow Poitou. 
 
 Lentil. 
 
 Lettuce, early Paris market (for 
 forcing only) ; yellow Berlin ; brown 
 Genoa ; blonde Versailles ; Bossin ; 
 Perpignan ; spotted ; winter, large 
 white cabbage. 
 
 (Cos), spotted ; blood-red for 
 
 winter ; Artichoke-leaved. 
 
 (for cutting young), Oak- 
 leaved ; yellow Dutch ; curled ; Lactuca 
 perennis ; Lactuca augustana. 
 
 Lotus tetragonolobus. 
 
 Martynia proboscidea, pickling. 
 
 Melon (Open ground), cavaillon, 
 maraicher, and de Tours. 
 
 (Cantalou]}), uoir des 
 
 Carnies, prescott a chassis, fond blanc 
 (these three chiefly for Paris market). 
 
 Nettle (young and tender leaves 
 for salad). 
 
 Nigella aromatica (seasoning). 
 
 Okra, long and short (for pickling 
 and sauce). 
 
 Onions, pale red Niort ; Pear-shaped ; 
 Trdbons ; Catawissa. 
 
 OxALis, yellow, white, and red 
 (roots and leaves). 
 
 Patience Dock (like Sorrel and 
 Spinach). 
 
 Peas, clamart, early and late ; purple 
 podded, Sabel, Leopold 11. 
 
 (Sugar), tall ; giant grey- 
 seeded ; grey seeded ; white podded ; 
 yellow podded; very dwarf; dwarf 
 white wrinkled. 
 
 Pepper or Capsicum, all the varieties, 
 chiefly in the south for pickling, also 
 roasted with oil and vinegar. 
 
 Physalis pubescens (yellow Alke- 
 kengi). 
 
 Picridium vulgare, salad. 
 
 Plantago coronopus, salad. 
 
 Potato, Marjolin (the earliest) ; 
 Saucisse ; Reine blanche ; Vitelotte 
 (salad). 
 
 Purslane, yellow, for salad ; green, 
 for boiling. 
 
 Radish, early rose turnip ; exti'a 
 early white turnip ; purple turnip ; 
 black turnip ; large Gournay ; long 
 white green top ; long purple ; long 
 Rave tortille'e du Mans. 
 
 Rampion, salad. 
 
 Raphanus caudatus. 
 
 Rocket (Brassica eruca), salad. 
 
 Rush Nut (roots). 
 
 Salsify (leaves blanched for salad). 
 
 ScoLYMus hispanicus (like Salsify). 
 
 Shallot (the true kind, not that 
 now used in London). 
 
 Skirret, for the roots. 
 
 Sorrel (daily in Paris). 
 
 Spinach, Lettuce-leaved ; large 
 Viroflay. 
 
 Sweet Potato (in sorts). 
 
 Swiss chard, curled. 
 
 Turnip, des vertus marteau ; de 
 Means ; de Teltau ; long black ; early 
 white strap leaf; de Bortsl'eld. 
 
 Water Chestnut, boiled. 
 
 Yams (in varieties). 
 
CuAi'. XXX.] MUSHUOOM-CULTUIIE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 505 
 
 Mouth cf Mushroom-cave at Montrougc. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Mushroom-culture in Caves under Paris. 
 
 MusHROOM-CriiowiXG {IS Carried on beneath Paris and its environs 
 is the most interesting example of cultivation under difficulties 
 of which we have any knowledge ! To get a fair idea of it it is 
 necessary to visit one of the " Mushroom-caves " at Montrouge, 
 just outside the fortifications, on the southern side of Paris. 
 The surface of the ground is mostly cropped with Wheat ; but 
 liere and there lie blocks of white stone, which have recently 
 been brought to the surface through well-like openings, the 
 stone being mined like coal. We find a Mushroom-grower after 
 some trouble, and he accompanies us across some fields to the 
 entrance of his subterranean garden. Through the circular 
 opening or mouth of the pit protrudes the head of a thick pole 
 with sticks thrust through it. This pole, the base of which rests 
 in darkness sixty feet below, is the only road into the cavern. 
 Down the shaky pole we creep, and soon reach the bottom, from 
 which narrow passages radiate. A few small lamps fixed on 
 pointed sticks are placed below, and, arming ourselves with one 
 each, we commence slowly exploring tortuous passages dark as 
 night and perfectly still. The passages are so low that frequently 
 we have to stoop to avoid the pointed stones in the roof. On 
 each hand there are little narrow beds of liulf-decomposed stable- 
 
506 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 manure running along the wall. These have been formed quite 
 recently, and have not yet been spawned. Presently we arrive 
 at others in which the spawn has been placed and is " taking " 
 freely. The grower pointed with pride to the way in which the 
 flakes of spawn had begun to spread through the beds, and passed 
 on to where the beds were in a more advanced state. Here we 
 saw small, smooth ridges running along the sides of the passages, 
 and wherever the rocky subway was more than a few feet wide 
 two or three little beds were placed parallel to each other. These 
 were nearly new, dotted all over with Mushrooms no bigger 
 
 than Sweet-pea seeds, 
 
 ~ ~-'-^^^^^^^^^^^-''^- and affording an excel- 
 
 ^ ^-- '^'~ ' lent prospect of a crop. 
 
 They contain a much 
 smaller body of material 
 than we employ for 
 Mushroom-beds. They 
 are not more than 
 twenty inches high, and 
 about the same width 
 at the base ; while 
 the beds against the 
 sides of the passages are 
 not so large as those 
 placed in the open 
 spaces. The soil with 
 which they are covered 
 to the depth of about 
 an inch is nearly white ; it is simply sifted from the rubbish of 
 the stone-cutters above-ground, and gives the recently-made bed, 
 when moistened, the appearance of being covered with putty. 
 
 Although we are from sixty to eighty feet below the surface 
 of the ground, everything looks trim and scrupulously clean. A 
 certain length of Mushroom-bed is made every day in the year, 
 and as the men finish one gallery or series of galleries at a time, 
 the beds in each are equally forward. As we proceed to those 
 in full bearing, creeping up and down narrow passages, winding 
 always between the two little narrow beds against the wall on 
 each side, and passing now and then through wider nooks filled 
 
 Passag^es in Miishrooin-cave. 
 
508 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 with two or three lines of heds, daylight is again seen, this time 
 coming through another well-like shaft, formerly used for getting 
 up the stone, but now for throwing down the materials for the 
 Mushroom-beds. At the bottom lies a large heap of the white 
 earth before alluded to, and a barrel of water — for gentle waterings 
 are required in the cool, black stillness of these caves. 
 
 We find but little unpleasant smell, for the galleries are all 
 thoroughly ventilated, not only for the sake of the labourers, but 
 of the Mushrooms, which would not thrive in confined air. If 
 the air were not frequently changed, the workmen, the lamps, 
 and the gases given off by the slow fermentation of the material 
 would soon render the quarries unfit for the culture. The 
 ventilation is accomplished by means of small shafts here and 
 there, surmounted by wooden chimneys, with the upper end cut 
 at an angle. The top of the chimneys is above the level of the 
 mouth of the principal shaft, and the bevelled edge turned towards 
 the north. The number of ventilating-shafts and their distances 
 apart must be regulated by the special wants of each mine. Fre - 
 quently the Mushroom-growers content themselves with using the 
 ventilating-shafts constructed by the former owners of the pit, 
 seeing that the construction of each shaft costs from £8 to £40, 
 according to its depth. It sometimes happens that two quarries 
 communicate, in which case the ventilation is an easy matter ; it 
 is, however, necessary to guard against strong draughts and 
 sudden changes of temperature, which would interfere with the 
 well-being of both the men and the Mushrooms. For this 
 purpose the usual means employed for the ventilation of coal- 
 mines, such as fires and trapdoors, is adopted. When the entrance 
 to the quarry is by a horizontal gallery, as at Mery, level with 
 the road, the ventilation is comparatively simple, and the work of 
 cultivation much easier. The caves are let at from £6 to £16 per 
 month, according to the extent and height of their galleries, and 
 the facilities for ventilating them. Atmospheric variations, both 
 inside and out, must be narrowly watched, so that the temperature 
 of the quarry may not rise or fall too far above or below the 
 average, and that the ventilating-currents may always be kept in 
 the same direction and of the same strength. If the beds are in 
 a cavern, the draughts should be in the direction from north to 
 south, and the ventilating-shafts and their dampers should be so 
 
Chap. XXX.] MURIIROOM-CULTURP] IN CAVES UNDER RARIS. 509 
 
 constructed that the quantity of air necessary for the proper 
 growth of the Mushrooms may be obtained at will. Proper 
 watering plays a great part in Mushroom -culture ; means must, 
 therefore, be taken for obtaining a sufficient supply of water in 
 the quarry itself. It often happens, however, that the opening 
 of the quarry and the locality of the beds are far away from any 
 dwelling or well, in which case the water is conveyed to the 
 mouth of the shaft in large barrels holding about 130 gallons. 
 By means of a sail-cloth hose, which is attached to the tap of the 
 barrel, the water is lowered to the bottom of the shaft, where it 
 is stored in large tubs or tanks. In some quarries sufficient water 
 filters through the rock for the supply of the beds. 
 
 Once more we enter a narrow passage, and find ourselves be- 
 tween tw^o lines of beds in full bearing, the white " button " 
 Mushrooms appearing everywhere in profusion along the sides 
 of the diminutive beds. As the proprietor goes along he removes 
 sundry bunches that are in perfection, and leaves them on the 
 spot, so that they may be collected with the rest for the morrow's 
 market. He gathers largely every day, occasionally sending away 
 more than 400 lbs. weight, the daily average being about 300 lbs. 
 We are now in an open space, a sort of chamber, say 20 feet 
 by 15, and here the little beds are arranged in parallel lines, an 
 alley of not more than four inches separating them, the sides 
 of the beds being literally blistered all over with Mushrooms. 
 Frequently the Mushrooms grow in bunches or " rocks," as they 
 are called, and in such cases those that compose the little mass 
 are lifted all together. 
 
 The sides of one bed here had been almost stripped by the 
 taking away of such bunches, and it is worthy of note that they 
 are not only taken out, root and all, when being gathered, but the 
 spot in which they grew is scraped out, so as to get rid of 
 every trace of the old bunch, the space being covered with a little 
 earth from the bottom of the heap. It is the practice to do this 
 in every case, and when the gatherer leaves a small hole from 
 which he has pulled even a solitary Mushroom, he fills it with 
 some of the white earth from the base. The Mushrooms look very 
 white, and are of prime quality. The daily gatherings, and the 
 absence of all littery coverings and dust, secure them in spotless 
 condition. 
 
510 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 These caves not only supply the wants of Paris, but greatly 
 those of England and other countries, large quantities of preserved 
 Mushrooms being exported, one house alone sending to our own 
 country no less than 14,000 boxes annually. To traverse the 
 passages any further is needless — there is nothing to be seen but 
 
 TS 7?C 
 
 ^Jifj ca?, 
 
 Plan oj large Subterranean Quarry at Fortes Terres, FreJ>illon. S, S,S, represent the plan 
 of the bases of the huge supporting pillars, and the dotted lines their union ivith the roof. 
 D, C, shozus the line of the section shown in the folloiuing act, and P, place for preparing 
 the p' aster. 
 
 a repetition of the culture above described, every available inch 
 of the cave being occupied. We find our way to the bottom of 
 the shaft, carefully mount the rather shaky pole one by one, and 
 are glad to find ourselves in the hot sun in the midst of the 
 ripe Wheat. In traversing the fields, two things relating to 
 
CiiAi'. XXX.] MUSHROOM-CULTURE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 511 
 
 Mushroom-culture are to be observed — heaps of white gritty 
 earth, sifted from the debris of the white stone, and large heaps 
 of stable-manure undergoing preparation for ]\[ushroom-bcds. 
 That preparation is different from what it receives in England. 
 It is ordinary stable-manure thrown into heaps four or five feet 
 high, and perhaps thirty feet wide. The men were employed 
 turning this over, the mass being afterwards stamped down with 
 their feet, a water-cart and pots being used to thoroughly water 
 the manure where dry and white. This cave is but a sample of 
 a number in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris. In the 
 Department of the Seine alone there are 3000 stone quarries ; 
 those which have been abandoned as such and which are situated 
 close to Paris, at Montrouge, Bagneux, Vaugirard, IMery, Chatilloii, 
 
 .^MMMpimii tgggggigr^^yg 
 
 ,M 
 
 ■Be 
 
 ..,..,,,//,...,.,,,<, ,,,, ,,«,■ C, D, in preceding figure. 
 
 Vitry, Ilouilles, and St. Denis, are used by the 250 IMushroom- 
 growers of the Department. 
 
 We will next visit a Mushroom-cave of quite another type at 
 some little distance from Paris. It is situated near Frc'pillon, 
 Mery-sur-Oise — a place which may be reached in an hour or so 
 by the Chemiu de fer du Nord, passing by Enghien, the valley of 
 ]\[ontmorency and Pontoise, and alighting at Auvers. There are 
 vast quarries in the neighbourhood, both for the building-stone 
 and plaster so largely used in Paris. As many as 3000 lbs. 
 weight of Mushrooms were at the time of my visit sent daily from 
 Mery to the Paris market. The ^lushroom has rather mysterious 
 habits, for after a time the great quarries seem to become tired of 
 their occupants, or the Mushrooms become tired of the air ; the 
 
512 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 quarries are then well cleaned out, the very soil where the beds 
 rested being scraped away, and the place left to " rest " for 
 a year or two. 
 
 The distant view of the entrance to these quarries has much the 
 appearance of an English chalk-pit. But there is a great rude 
 arch cut into the rock, and through this we enter, meeting pre- 
 sently a waggon coming forth with a load of stones, the waggoner 
 with lamp in hand. To one who has seen the low-roofed Mush- 
 room-caves near Paris, the surprise is great on getting a little way 
 into this one. At least it is so as soon as one can see ; the dark- 
 ness is so profound that a few candles or lamps merely make 
 darkness visible. The tunnel we traverse is nearly regularly 
 arched, masonry being used here and there, so as to render the 
 support secure and symmetrical, the arches being flat at the top 
 for six feet or so across, and about twenty-five to thirty feet 
 high. 
 
 Presently we turn to the right, and a scene like a vast subter- 
 ranean rock-temple presents itself. At one end are several of us 
 with lamps, admiring the young Mushrooms budding all over the 
 lines of beds which, serpent-like, long and slim, stretch away to 
 some 150 feet distance where a group of men is at work at the 
 beds. From both sides of this gloomy temple start the dark 
 openings of avenues at short intervals, and the floor of all is 
 covered with Mushroom-beds. These beds are about twenty-two 
 inches high and as much wide, and are covered with silver sand 
 and whitish clay in about equal proportions. In some parts of 
 the cave the work of ripping out the stone by powder and 
 simple machinery continually goes on. The arches follow the 
 veining of the stone, so to speak ; their lower parts are of hard 
 stone, the upper ones of soft, except the very top, which is again 
 hard. There is but a slight crust of stone above the apex of each 
 arch, and above that the earth and trees. Kunning in parallel 
 lines, and disappearing from view in the darkness, one knows not 
 what to compare the beds to, unless it be to barked Pine-trees 
 in the hold of a ship. 
 
 As the beds are regularly gathered from every day, no very 
 large Mushrooms are seen. They are preferred at about the size 
 of a Chestnut. If the old superstition that a Mushroom never 
 grows after being seen by human eyes were true, the trade of 
 
CiiAP. XXX.] MUSHROOM-CULTURE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 513 
 
 a Mushroom-grower would never answer here, as the little bud- 
 cling *' buttons " are watched every day. The average daily 
 gathering from this cave is about 880 lbs. weight, and some- 
 times that is nearly doubled. Even when the crops reach their 
 lowest ebb, about 400 lbs. per day are sent to market. The 
 proprietors of the larger quarries are coming to the conclusion 
 that culture on a more limited scale gives the best return in pro- 
 portion to expense, the care and supervision required by so many 
 miles of beds being too great. 
 
 All the manure employed is brought from Paris by rail, as the 
 place is twenty-five miles from that city by road. In the first 
 place, so much per horse per month is paid in Paris for the 
 manure ; then it has to be carted to the railway station and 
 loaded in the waggons ; next it is brought to the station of 
 Auvers, and afterwards carted a couple of miles to the quarries, 
 paying a toll for a bridge over the Oise on the way. One grower 
 at Mc'ry-sur-Oise uses as much as 300 tons per month. It is 
 placed in large flat heaps a yard deep by about thirty long and 
 ten wide, not far removed from the mouth of the cave, and here 
 it is prepared, turned over and well mixed three times, and as a 
 rule watered twice. About five or six weeks are occupied in the 
 preparation, long manure requiring more time than short. The 
 watering is usually limited to parts where it is dry and overheated. 
 Every day stable-manure is brought from Paris ; every day new 
 beds are made and old ones cleared out — the spent manure, useless 
 in Mushroom-culture, is much in demand by farmers and gardeners, 
 it being very useful for garden-purposes, particularly in surfacing 
 or mulching. The advantage the cultivator has in these caves as 
 compared with the mine-caverns near Paris, is the taking his 
 materials in or out in carts, as easily as if the beds were made in 
 the open air. Many men are employed in the culture here, the 
 daily examination of so large an extent of beds being a consider- 
 able item in itself. Here and there a barrier in the form of straw 
 nailed between laths may be seen blocking up the great arch- 
 ways to a height of six feet or so. This is to prevent currents 
 of cold air wandering through the vast passages. 
 
 The mode of preparing the spawn here is entirely different to 
 ours. The French growers prefer virgin spawn— that is to say, 
 s}»u\vu found naturally in a heap of manure. But as this material 
 
514 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 cannot be obtained in sufficient quantity to meet the wants of 
 such extensive cultivation, tliey frequently put a small portion 
 of it into a freshly made Mushroom bed to spread, and instead of 
 allowing this bed to produce Mushrooms it is all used as spawn. 
 In this case the small bed devoted to the j)ropagation of spawn 
 is placed in the open air, and covered with straw, and as soon as 
 it is permeated with the spawn it is carried into the caves and 
 used. As the making and spawning of beds is a process continu- 
 ally going on, spawning-beds of this sort must be ready at all 
 times. It is never made into bricks as with us, but spreads 
 through short, partly-decomposed manure. 
 
 A bed in the open air, which is exposed to all the accidents of 
 the weather, may be spawned with dry old spawn, such as may be 
 taken from the stock kept for sale. Experience, however, has 
 shown that, for Mushroom-beds in cellars or quarries, it is better 
 to allow the spawn to become damp, and undergo a kind of 
 stratification before being used. For this purpose, the cakes are 
 placed in rows on the floor of the cellar or cavern, and allowed to 
 remain for about eight or ten days, until the dampness of the 
 atmosphere has caused the filaments of spawn to swell up and 
 resume their normal roundish form, whitish colour, and felted 
 appearance. It is of importance only to expose a sufficient 
 quantity of spawn to the damp for immediate use, for it will not 
 bear being dried and damped again. It must also be remembered 
 that the spawn must be exposed at such a time that it will be 
 ready for use when the Mushroom-bed is at the proper temperature. 
 If the spawn remains too long in this preliminary damping its 
 sporules become swollen with the damp, and, not finding a 
 suitable temperature for their development, they wither away. 
 The stratification of the spawn advances the gathering of the first 
 crop of Mushrooms by eight or ten days. It is for this reason, 
 amongst others, that the Mushroom-growers in the Paris quarries 
 often take their fresh spawn from beds already in work, except 
 when they desire to obtain an entirely new " strain." When the 
 bed has reached the proper temperature, the Mushroom-grower 
 chooses from among the beds already in bearing the one which 
 appears in the healthiest condition, that, in fact, in which the 
 spawn-filaments are most numerous, thickest, and cling most 
 closely to the particles of the manure. The best time for taking 
 
I'icw. Ofc rat ions lu 
 
Chai-. XXX.] MrSHllOoM-CUITLKI-: IN CAVES UXDKI! I'AIMS. Al? 
 
 the spawn from a young bearing-bed is just when the young 
 Mushrooms are first appearing. The bed thus selected is 
 broken up, and the cakes of spawn removed, and broken into 
 lumps of about the size already described. This kind of spawn 
 is in the best condition for yielding an early and abundant crop 
 of Mushrooms, which may be gathered at least twenty days 
 sooner than if dry spawn had been used. 
 
 To soil a mushroom-bed, the Paris growers use the chips and 
 powder of the stone which has been taken out of the quarry, and 
 which may be procured in large quantities either on the floor of the 
 quarry or on the surface of the ground around the shaft. This 
 rubbish is passed through a sieve, and the finer portions mixed 
 with light, dry earth, in the proportions of three of the former 
 to one of the latter. The mixture is then watered so as to form 
 a dry putty-like paste, in which the fingers will leave an im- 
 pression. The addition of the earth to the powdered stone favours 
 the development of the Mushroom. Great care must be taken in 
 selecting the cakes of spawn, only those flakes being chosen which 
 show an abundance of bluish-white filaments well knitted to- 
 gether and having a characteristic odour of Mushrooms. 
 
 Among the spawn may sometimes be found a spurious kind, 
 which must be avoided. Such patches are a kind of fungoid 
 growth which spreads very fast, an almost imperceptible spot being 
 sufficient to infect and kill a large quantity of healthy Mushrooms. 
 This disease the French growers call la inolle, or la mole. As 
 will be seen by the illustration, the Mushroom when attacked by 
 this disease loses its shape, and forms a spongy mass full of 
 granules. The skin which covers this shapeless cottony mass is 
 pure white at first, but speedily changes to a yellowish -brown as 
 it rots away. It emits a disgusting odour, and the inside becomes 
 filled with brown threads, which are sure signs of decomposition. 
 Sometimes the edges of the cap turn upwards instead of down- 
 wards, and the gills become united into a spongy mass which 
 sticks to the edges of the cap. As soon as the diseased Mushroom 
 comes into contact with the air it turns brown, and exhales an 
 odour like that of putrifying meat. When the disease shows 
 itself in only a few isolated cases, the Mushrooms attacked are 
 promptly removed from the beds and quarry ; but if it has 
 been allowed to spread, the whole of the bad and diseased spawn 
 
 2 M 
 
518 
 
 TEIE PARKS AND GARDENS OF TAlilS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 must be removed and carried away to a distance. The cause of 
 this disease is at present uncertain, the opinions of practical 
 Mushroom-growers being divided on the matter. Some at- 
 tribute it to lack of cleanliness when the beds are being 
 broken up. Others say that the remains of old manure mixed 
 with the soil of the quarry generate dampness underneath the 
 beds, and as this moisture cannot be absorbed by the stone surface 
 beneath, it gives rise to the " molle." According to this 
 hypothesis, the remedy would be to thoroughly scrape the surface 
 of the ground on which the bed rests. Others say that the 
 
 attacked by the " 7!wlie.'' — (^Lac/u 
 
 " molle " is the consequence of the beds being too much crowded 
 together in a confined space. According to them, the vapours 
 produced by the fermentation of the manure become condensed 
 on the walls, and, mixing with the natural infiltrations, fall upon 
 the beds, and bring about the decomposition of the manure. 
 They base their opinions upon the fact that it is in the summer, 
 when the heat is great, that the " molle "makes its appearance in 
 quarries with low roofs, and tliat it is much more rare in quarries 
 which have high roofs and strong currents of air circulating 
 through them. But in any case, no matter what may be the 
 
CiiAi-. XXX.] Mrsiii;(>(».M-ccj/ri;i;j-: i\ cavks indki; i'aims. :>J!) 
 
 cause, the remedy is the same, that is to say, to thoroii,L,'hly break 
 up and remove the surface upon which the beds are built. Another 
 disease which sometimes attacks the spawn is known to the Paris 
 growers under the name of verdigris. It makes its appearance 
 in the form of very small greenish granules of the colour of 
 verdigris, and having a peculiar smell resembling chloride of lime. 
 The same remedy is used as in the case of the " molle." It is 
 supposed to be the result of the decomposition of foreign sub- 
 stances which have become accidentally mixed with the spawn. 
 Mushrooms grown from sjmwn attacked by verdigris are poor and 
 sickly, and probably possess poisonous properties. The smallest 
 particle of iron in the beds of maniue is avoided by the spawn, a 
 circle around remaining inert. 
 
 The gatherings are made in the quarries at a very early hour. 
 At one o'clock in the morning the Mushrooms are gathered which 
 at a later hour are sold in the open market. The Mushroom- 
 gatherers are each provided with two large baskets, which they 
 carry on their backs knapsack fashion — one to receive the Mush- 
 rooms, the other containing the soil with which to fill up the gaps 
 left in the beds after the gathering. The proper way of gathering 
 a Mushroom is to seize it in one hand by the cap, at the same 
 time giving it a slight twist and pulling it gently upwards, so as 
 to detach it from its roots without disturbing the little Mush- 
 rooms that are growing round its base. The gathered Mushroom 
 is dropped into the empty basket, and the hole which it has left 
 behind it is filled up with a pinch or two of soil from the other. 
 In some quarries the gatherers pick the Mushrooms and leave 
 them in little piles on the pathways, or on the beds themselves. 
 They are followed by women, who pack them into baskets, and by 
 men who fill up the gaps left in the beds. The beds are then 
 smoothed down with the hand, and if they appear to be too dry 
 they are watered. The baskets should be covered over with a 
 cloth, to avoid all contact with thu air, which is apt to turn the 
 Mushrooms brown. The contents of the smaller baskets are then 
 packed into larger ones holding from 23 lbs. to 35 lbs. and 
 sent to market. Mushrooms of good quality are sold wholesale 
 at 8d. to 10(7. per pound according to the season. The 
 gatherings are continued daily, but do not yield the same quantities 
 regularly. The time that beds will continue to bear depends 
 
 2 M 2 
 
520 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 on the materials employed, and the manipulation to Avhich they 
 have been subjected. The inside and outside temperature have 
 also a great influence. In quarries with a low roof the temperature 
 is always high, and vegetation is consequently more rapid. The 
 duration of the crop is from forty to sixty days, and the yield 
 rapidly diminishes towards the end of that time. In quarries 
 with high roofs, or which open on to the road, the temperature 
 is lower, the vegetation is less active, and the bed lasts longer. 
 In some high-roofed quarries the beds will bear for three or four 
 months. 
 
 A useful contrivance for facilitating the watering of the beds 
 has lately been invented ; it consists of a portable water-cistern 
 
 I'lcni in old Subterranean Onarrics devoted to .M uslu-ooin-ctdiure, and in the oeciipation 
 of M. Renandot- 
 
 to be strapped to the back and fitted with a rose and tubing, so 
 that a workman may carry a larger quantity of water, and apply 
 it more regularly and gently than with the old-fashioned watering- 
 pots — while one hand is left free to carry the lamp. Ati iron 
 frame was also invented, in which the bed was first compressed 
 and shaped, the frame being then reversed and the bed placed 
 in position. This method of forming the beds was afterwards 
 abandoned, owing to its being impossible to avoid fissures between 
 the lengths. On an average 2500 yards of beds are made here every 
 month. Simple mechanical contrivances to facilitate the operation 
 would, therefore, prove of the greatest advantage to the cultivator. 
 In addition to the caves in the localities above alluded to, there 
 
CiiAi'. XXX.] MIISIIKOOM-CULTUKK IX CAVES UXDKU I'AKIS. 521 
 
 are other places near Paris where the culture is carried on — 
 notably at Moulin de la Roche, Sous Bicetre, near St. Germain, 
 and also at Bagneux. The equability of temperature in the caves 
 renders the culture of the Mushroom possible at all seasons ; but 
 the best crops are gathered in winter, and consequently that is 
 the best time to see them. I, however, saw abundant crops 
 in the hottest part of a very hot season. These Mushroom- 
 caves are under government supervision, and are regularly in- 
 spected like any other mines in which work is going on. As 
 regards the depth at which the culture is carried on, it varies 
 from twenty to one hundred feet, sometimes reaching 150 and 
 160 feet from the surface of the earth. The caves are so large 
 that sometimes people are lost in them. In one instance the 
 proprietor of a large one lost himself, and it was three days 
 before he was discovered, although soldiers and volunteers in 
 numbers were sent down. 
 
 The Mushroom reared in the Paris quarries is always much 
 smaller than that which grows naturally in meadows. The earth 
 for " soiling " is very poor, and contains but little humus ; but 
 this comparatively slow growth is advantageous from a com- 
 mercial point of view, medium-sized Mushrooms selling better 
 than very large ones in the Paris market. The French growers, 
 according to M. Lachaume, divide the edible Cave-mushroom into 
 the following varieties : — 
 
 1. The Small White Mushroom, whose cap is from | in. to 
 li in. in diameter ; the stem is 2 in. in length, and its flesh is 
 more spongy than that of the cap. This Mushroom is greatly 
 esteemed, and it is always eaten whole. 
 
 2. The Large White Mushroom. The cap sometimes measures 
 as much as 3i- in. in diameter without the edges of the cap 
 ceasing to turn inwards, the stem is relatively short, measuring 
 about an inch in diameter, and is milk-white ; the skin of the 
 cap, which is firm and fleshy, is slightly torn, and the gills are 
 light pink. 
 
 3. The Cream-coloured Musliroom. The stem is 2 in, in 
 length, and -i- in. in diameter, and milky white. The cap is from 
 2^;^ in. to 2^ in. in diameter. The skin is torn and clouded with 
 cream-coloured spots on a white ground, and the gills are of a 
 beautiful light pink. 
 
522 THE L'AKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Cuav. XXX. 
 
 4. The Grey Mushroom. This variety attains the largest 
 l^roportions of any. Its cap sometimes measures ISf in. in 
 diameter, the open portion near the stem being as much as 4^ in. 
 across. The skin of the cap is greyish buff, and is generally torn 
 into silky filaments. The stem is about 2 in. high, and 1| in. in 
 diameter ; the ring is highly developed, and conceals the gills 
 when the edges of the cap are open. The flesh is very firm, 
 remarkably white, and emits a rich odour. In spite of these good 
 qualities, this kind is less sought after than the others. 
 
 These varieties are pretty constant when grown under the same 
 conditions, but I have seen spawn of the cream-coloured variety, 
 when sown in a quarry, yield Mushrooms of the pure white 
 variety, which would seem to indicate that the conditions under 
 which they grow have a great influence. To be certain of the 
 variety we are cultivating, we must grow successively two crops 
 from virgin spawn, so as to leave the soil and the nature of the 
 manure suflicient time to exercise their influence. For instance, 
 virgin spawn grown on pigeons' guano may, when a bed is first 
 sown with this spawn, give a white or cream-coloured Mushroom, 
 but the virgin spawn, grown on the same bed, having been 
 influenced by the horse-manure, may produce a variety at the 
 second crop. 
 
 In his little work on the ' Culture of the Mushroom,' M. La- 
 chaume gives a description of a method of growing Mushrooms 
 without manure, which he has adopted with great success. He 
 takes a cubic yard of old lime-rubbish, and reduces it to frag- 
 ments the size of a Hazel-nut. The mass is then moistened and 
 transferred to a dark cellar. This mass, from containing large 
 quantities of nitrous salts, greatly favours the development of the 
 Mushroom. Against the wall a sloping bed is made with the lime- 
 rubbish about two feet three inches wide, and two feet high, the 
 lower edge being kept in its proper place by means of thin boards. 
 The surface is then smoothed with the hand, and pieces of spawn 
 are inserted all over the bed, at eight inches apart. The sowing 
 being completed, the whole is covered with river-sand or fine 
 stone-dust to the depth of an inch and a half. The sand should 
 be fresh, and not too damp, but as soon as the surface of the bed 
 becomes dry it should be lightly watered with a solution of salt- 
 petre, two ounces to the gallon. The beds must be watered with 
 
riiAi-. xxx.] MisiiKooM-cii/ri'iM-: ix cavks rxDKi: pakis. .Vj.") 
 
 great moderation, for any excess of moisture would rot tlie spiiwn. 
 At the end of about six weeks the Mushrooms ought to begin to 
 make their appearance. By following this inexpensive process, 
 and by renewing the bed from time to time in a different part of 
 the cellar, we may, according to this writer, obtain a plentiful 
 supply of j\Iushrooms all the year round. 
 
 ]\[ushrooms are subject to the attacks of mice, rats, snails, 
 woodlice, beetles, flies, and mites. The remedies used for these 
 are as follows:— For rats and mice, ordinary traps; for the grey 
 snail, placing here and there little heaps of damp bran or ])its of 
 Cabbage-leaf, and examining these at night ; for woodlice, placing 
 hollowed halves of Potato, and in the morning plunging thes(! 
 into boiling water ; for beetles, perseveringly hunting them out, 
 taking care, however, not to damage the spawned portions of the 
 bed ; for flies, by placing a number of pans of water with a few 
 drops of oil of turpentine or soapy water added, or by a floating 
 light ; for mites (a parasite of the beetles, found in crowds upon 
 the scraps of straw litter), by watering the spot with water in 
 which fresh lime is held in suspension. 
 
 In old times the market-gardeners of Paris used to grow the 
 Mushroom in the open air to a large extent, but not so much so 
 since it has been grown in the caves. Nevertheless there may 
 still be seen a good deal of space in the open air covered with 
 beds, especially in winter. They begin with the preparation of 
 the manure, and collect that of the horse for a month or six weeks 
 before they make the beds ; this they prepare in some firm spot 
 of the martet-garden, and take from it all rubbish, particles of 
 wood, and miscellaneous matters. After sorting it, they place 
 it in beds two feet thick, or a little more, pressing it with 
 the fork. When this is done the mass or bed is well stamped, 
 then thoroughly watered, and finally again pressed down by 
 stamping. It is left in this state for eight or ten days, by which 
 time it has begun to ferment, after which the bed ought to be 
 well turned over and re-made on the same place, care being 
 taken to place the manure that was near the sides of the first- 
 made bed towards the centre in the turning and re-making. The 
 mass is now left for another ten days or so, at the end of which 
 time the manure is about in proper condition for making the 
 beds, llidge-shaped beds — about tweuty-six inches wide and the 
 
524 
 
 THE PAKKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 same iu height — are then formed in parallel lines at a distance of 
 twenty inches one from the other. The beds once made of a firm, 
 close-fitting texture, the manure soon begins to warm again, but 
 does not become dangerously hot for the spread of the spawn. 
 When the beds have been made some days, the cultivator spawns 
 them, having of course ascertained beforehand that the heat is 
 suitable. Generally the spawn is inserted within a few inches of 
 the base, and at about thirteen inches apart in the line. Some culti- 
 vators insert two lines, the second about seven inches above the 
 first. In doing so it would of course be well to make the holes for 
 the spawn in an alternate manner. The spawn is inserted in flakes 
 about the size of three fingers, and then the manure is closed in 
 
 over and press- 
 ed firmly a- 
 round it. This 
 done, the beds 
 are covered 
 with about six 
 inches of clean 
 litter. Ten or 
 twelve days 
 afterwards the 
 growers visit 
 the beds, to see 
 if the spawn 
 has taken well. 
 
 When they see the white filaments spreading in the bed they 
 know that the spawn has taken ; if not, they take away the 
 spawn they suppose to be bad and replace it with fresh. But 
 using good spawn, and being practised hands at the work, they 
 rarely fail in this particular ; and when the spawn is seen 
 spreading well through the bed, then, and not before, they cover 
 the beds with fresh sweet soil to the depth of about an inch or so. 
 For cover, the little pathway between the beds is simply loosened 
 up, and the rich soil of the market-garden applied equally, firmly, 
 and smoothly with a shovel. With these open-air beds they 
 succeed in getting fine Mushrooms in winter. A covering of 
 abundance of litter is put on immediately after the beds are 
 earthed, and kept there as a protection. 
 
 {January^ 
 
CiiAi'. XXX.] MUSHROOM-CULTURE IN CAVES UNDER PARIS. 525 
 
 The daily production of Mushrooms iu and. around Paris is 
 estimated at ahout twenty-five tons, -worth about £1000, or close 
 upon £400,000 per annum. This goes either to the market, to 
 the preserved-provision manufacturer, or to the provinces. One 
 preserved-vegetable factory takes no less than two hundred tons 
 of Mushrooms a year. Growers make special arrangements with 
 large consumers at an all-round price of about £2 10s. per 
 hundredweight. One of the largest growers is M. Gerard of 
 Houilles and the quarries near St. Denis. He employs nineteen 
 horses and fifty men, and his daily expenses amount to £20. 
 He has over four miles' length of beds in his different quarries. 
 M. Renaudot, of Mery-sur-Oise, sends eighteen tons of Mushrooms 
 to market every month. There are in Paris about fifty agents 
 who have the monopoly of the trade, and who supply the shops 
 and restaurants, the stalls in the markets, the manufacturers of 
 preserved vegetables, and, to a certain extent, the provinces. In 
 addition to those eaten fresh. Mushrooms are preserved in large 
 quantities in a variety of ways, by drying, by desiccation, by 
 grating to powder, by bottling in butter or oil, and also in tins. 
 
 Cave-niHshrooiHS tu gailured. 
 
526 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXXI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Lilacs of the Paris Gardens, 
 
 Lilacs, like Ivy, are of more importance in France than with us. 
 After the sweet Violet — sold by millions of bunches — perhaps 
 the most welcome plant in the flower-shops of Paris in winter 
 and spring is the white Lilac. It has for a good many years 
 been popular in Paris and other continental cities, and more 
 recently has been frequently seen in Covent Garden, invariably 
 imported from Paris. The production of this white Lilac has 
 long been a source of interest to cultivators. On seeing snowy 
 fragrant masses of it in the shops so early as October, many 
 persons have supposed it to be a white variety of Lilac, but this 
 is not so ; it is the common kind forced into bloom in the dark, 
 and, though the blossoms are of as pure a white as most white 
 flowers, they are simply blanched, just as the shoots of Seakale 
 are. At first, the white variety of the common Lilac would seem 
 to be the most suitable for forcing in this manner, but those who 
 have tried it found it much less so. In the dark it does not make 
 such a vigorous growth as the common Lilac, and, oddly enough, 
 the flowers do not come of so pure a white. The French force 
 the common Lilac in great quantities for yielding these white 
 blossoms, both in pots, and planted out in beds under glass. The 
 plants intended to be forced are cut round with a spade in early 
 autumn to induce them to form flower-buds more abundantly, 
 and this also facilitates their removal in a compactly-rooted 
 manner at a later period of the same year. On being taken up 
 and placed in the house in which they are to be forced, they are 
 at first kept somewhat .cool, but soon the heat is increased till it 
 reaches from 80^ to nearly 90^, and abundance of moisture is 
 
CiiAi'. XXXI.] LILACS OF TIIK I'AKIS (JAllDENS. 527 
 
 supplied at the same time, both at tlie roots and over the tops ; 
 in the latter case by syringing with tepid water. The chief point, 
 however, is, that from the day the plants are placed under glass 
 they are not allowed to receive any light, the glass being completely 
 covered with straw mats. Thus they gather white Lilac blooms 
 before the leaves show themselves much. The heat and moisture 
 and complete darkness effect all that is desired. The Paris 
 growers commence to cut the white Lilac at the end of October, 
 and continue to do so till it comes into flower in the open ground. 
 For many years, the forcing of Lilacs in France was confined to 
 one or two Parisian nurserymen, who kept the process a secret, 
 and to whom it proved a source of income, as the flowers, which 
 were pure white, were eagerly sought after, and as the growers 
 of them had no rivals in the trade, they were enabled to ask 
 almost any price they pleased for them. The white Lilac blossoms 
 have rarely been seen in England except when imported ; but 
 since the appearance of the first edition of this book the 
 production of white Lilac from the common kind has been tried 
 with success. Mr. Howard of Bedford Hill, Balham, has produced 
 it abundantly, and in a simple manner. In autumn and at various 
 periods throughout the winter, he dug up some bushes of the 
 common Lilac and placed them in a darkened shed used for 
 forcing Seakale, etc. This structure is heated by a hot-water 
 pipe which passes through it, but not to so high a temperature as 
 that used by the Paris growers. From this shed, in which the 
 bushes flowered abundantly through the winter, Mr. Howard has 
 gathered quantities of pure white Lilac, with its fragrance perfect. 
 Thus it is proved that the production of this addition to our 
 winter forced flowers may be effected with little trouble. 
 
 Recently some careful observers in France have ascertained 
 that darkness is not essential to the production of white flowers 
 from red varieties. The harsh treatment Lilacs often receive 
 out-of-doors, should turn the attention of indoor gardeners 
 to their culture in pots now that it has been proved that they 
 may be flowered easily in a room without the aid of a forcing- 
 house. In this way the season of these sweet flowers may be 
 greatly prolonged, and the flowers are often better indoors in 
 March than in the garden in a harsh ^lay. The French sometimes 
 graft them on a dwarfing-stock, one of the Privets. Enterprising 
 
528 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX L 
 
 nurserymen could scarcely confer a greater benefit on all who care 
 for flowers in the house, than preparing Lilac-bushes for flowering 
 in windows in town and country. It would prolong so delightfully 
 the season of this too short-lived flower. I look forward to seeing 
 them plentiful in London houses, where the absence of strong light 
 would tend to subdue the reddish pigment and give us the pale 
 but sweet flowers. The subject is a very interesting one, so both 
 sides of the question are here given; but I am glad to find that 
 experiments by M. Lavallee and others in France j^lace the 
 matter beyond all doubt as to the facility of their production in 
 the light. 
 
 I extract the following particulars respecting the production of 
 the white variety of the coloured Lilac from an interesting article 
 by M. A. Lavallee, Secretary-General of the Societe Centrale 
 d'Horticulture de France, published in a recent number of the 
 Society's journal: — In December, 1876, M. Lavallee laid before 
 the Society several branches of the Ked Marly Lilac with perfectly 
 white flowers, and at several subsequent meetings he exhibited 
 similar specimens, all of them produced upon a system difi'ering 
 from that generally adopted. The most usual method of obtaining 
 the artificial white Lilac is to grow the plants in a greenhouse 
 from which every ray of light has been carefully excluded, but M. 
 Lavallee has proved, by repeated experiments, that absolute 
 darkness is not essential for producing the white flowers. The 
 efiect of darkness, perfect or partial, on the plants is due to the 
 well-known principle of vegetable physiology, according to which 
 the colouring-matter of leaves known to chemists as chlorophyl — 
 itself, by the way, being a mixture of variously-coloured con- 
 stituents — can only be perfectly developed under the influence of 
 light. This principle has long received valuable applications in 
 the blanching of Seakale, Celery, Endive, Asparagus, etc., but it 
 is only lately that it has been applied to the bleaching of flowers, 
 and, as far _as I know, in the case of the Lilac only. M. Lavallee 
 goes on to point out the needlessness of growing the plants in 
 l^erfect darkness, and observes that the mistake w^hich horti- 
 culturists have made has arisen from the fact of their having 
 confounded two distinct notions, the one being that leaves grown 
 in darkness are pale or colourless — the other, the absence of colour 
 in flowers in which the colourless principle has never been 
 
C'liAi'. XXXI.] LILACS OF rilK I'AIMS (JARDENS. iViO 
 
 developed, and wliicli therefore remain white. According to M. 
 Lavallee, specimens of the artificial white Lilac were first exhibited 
 to the Society by M. Laurent in 1860. These specimens excited 
 a great deal of interest and surprise amongst the members of the 
 Society at the time, and a commission was appointed to investigate 
 the means by which M. Laurent succeeded in obtaining such 
 beautiful results. M. Laurent's mode of procedure was found to 
 be very simple. It consisted in forcing the plants in a hothouse 
 heated to 80" Fahr., and kept in a perfect state of darkness. M. 
 Laurent, however, allowed that it was not impossible now and 
 then to obtain white flowers on plants grown in broad daylight. 
 
 At the same time the commission reported on the results ob- 
 tained by another Paris grower, M. Berthelot, who, also engaged 
 in forcing Lilacs, produced the same eff'ect in the full light of day, 
 using for the purpose a well-lighted house, heated to a high 
 temperature. From this fact M, Duchartre, who acted as 
 reporter to the commission, concluded that heat as well as absence 
 of light was capable of preventing the formation of the colouring- 
 matter in the petals of the Lilac. M. Lavallee has thoroughly 
 tested both these totally-different methods of arriving at the same 
 result, and has succeeded in obtaining perfectly-white flowers in 
 both cases. He is decidedly of opinion, however, that white 
 Lilacs, grown in an ordinary well-lighted house, give thicker and 
 larger bunches of flowers, and which last a longer time than when 
 M. Laurent's method is employed, and finally, that the open- 
 daylight mode of culture requires much less care and attention. 
 Some 9 ft. or 10 ft. of a frame in a Dutch greenhouse were 
 devoted by M. Lavallee to this experiment, the Lilac-plants being 
 planted so that their buds were within from 8 in. to 1 ft. of the 
 glass. They were then left to themselves for nearly three weeks, 
 the house being kept at a temperature of from 68'' to I"/". At the 
 end of tliis time the Marly Lilac was in full bloom, while the 
 Charles X. variety did not blossom until four or live days after. 
 It has been stated that the last-named beautiful variety could not 
 be forced, but ]\[. Lavallee has proved this to be a mistake. It 
 seems, however, that in the early part of the season it does not 
 always come to perfection, the plants placed in the forcing-house 
 by M. Lavallee in November having failed to flower ; but after the 
 beginning of Decemlier it is the best variety for forcing. Two 
 
530 THE PAllKS AND GARDENS OF TARIS. [Chap. XXXI. 
 
 specimens of the Charles X. variety were shown by M. Lavalle'e, 
 both of which were grown in the light, but under different 
 conditions of temperature. The first one, which had pale lilac 
 flowers, was placed in a house heated to a temperature of 68' Falir. 
 on December 23, 1876, to force its growth. At the end of four or 
 five days the flower-buds began to make their appearance, and it 
 was transferred to a cool house, the mean temperature of which 
 was 40° Fahr. The flowers began to open about January 10, and 
 were of a pale lilac. The shade of colour having been carefully 
 noted, M. Lavallee replaced the plant in the forcing-house, which 
 was now at a temperature of TO"* Fahr., in order to see if the heat 
 would have the effect of destroying the small amount of colouring- 
 matter already formed ; but not the slightest change took place, 
 the flowers preserving exactly the same tint. The second specimen 
 had perfectly- wdiite flowers, and was put in a well-lighted forcing- 
 house on December 30, where it remained until it was exhibited 
 to the Society. Two specimens of the Marly Lilac, with equally 
 white flowers, were also shown. They were grown in a well-lighted 
 forcing-house at a temperature of 72° Fahr. To vary the experi- 
 ment, several plants which had produced pale lilac blossoms in a cool 
 house were transferred to a perfectly-dark forcing house, but 
 without the slightest change taking place in their colour. 
 
 From these experiments we may draw the conclusions — that a 
 prolonged heat of from 68° to 72° Fahr. prevents the formation of 
 the colouring-matter in the petals of the Lilac, but that when once 
 it has been formed, this temperature is incapable of destroying it, 
 and that a temperature of 40° Fahr. has no influence on the 
 colouring-matter of the flowers of these plants. M. Lavallee 
 therefore supposes that it is on account of the rapidity of their 
 growth in the forcing-houses that these Lilacs produce colourless 
 flowers, and that darkness has nothing whatever to do with the 
 phenomenon ; also that when the Lilac is forced into blossom in 
 fourteen, fifteen, or even twenty days, the colouring-principle has 
 not sufficient time to develop itself. Whenever, therefore, we 
 wish to obtain Lilac with white flowers, all we have to do is to 
 place the plants in a forcing-house, the temperature of which is 
 kept at 68° Fahr., without seeking the aid of darkness. This 
 method of producing artificial white Lilac is extensively practised 
 by the country people in the neighbourhood of Antwerp. They 
 
CiiAi-. XXXI.] Lir.A<'S OF Till': I'AIIIS CAKDFAS. 501 
 
 simply plant the common Lilac in tubs at the proper season, and 
 place them in their living-rooms, close by their stoves, which 
 are never allowed to go out. The plants flower well, the flowers 
 being always perfectly white. The same result is obtained by 
 cutting oft" the flowering-branches at an early stage, placing their 
 extremities in a bottle of water, and keeping them in a forcing- 
 house or in a well-warmed room. 
 
 It has been said that when the Persian Lilac is grown in a 
 forcing-house it will not yield colourless flowers like its con- 
 geners, but M. Lavallee has obtained identical results with this 
 species. He attributes the want of success hitherto to the fact 
 that this Lilac is of very rapid growth, and that a lower tempera- 
 ture, say from GO' to C4' Fahr., is suflicient to make it produce 
 colourless flowers, which would not resist a greater degree of heat. 
 These experiments have been repeated by several members of the 
 Society, who have endorsed the correctness of M. Lavallee's 
 conclusions. 
 
 Lilacs in the open air.— About the first day of May the Lilacs 
 are in full beauty in many of the public gardens of Paris, and 
 form at that season the principal attraction. The bushes are 
 pruned closely for two reasons — to insure a strong bloom, and 
 to keep them about the same size every year. They are in lines, 
 as a rule, like soldiers, only more regular. With us this lovely 
 shrub is often left to perish and starve from overcrowding. It is 
 something even to train a common shrub ; for so much we have 
 to be grateful in Paris, where the State gardens are virtually in 
 the hands of architects, engineers, and other persons who know 
 little about gardening, and have no sympathy with right cff'orts 
 therein. The true way to grow Lilacs is not that used in Paris. 
 One ought, perhaps, to apologise for wasting words about a subject 
 that apparently never has excited the least attention. The right 
 method would be to group Lilacs naturally on the Grass, or on 
 mounds or slopes, allowing each bush room enough for its full 
 development. It should not be starved above or below ground ; 
 it should not be tortured into anything like a broomstick and 
 balloon-head as in Paris, or contorted by neglect as with us. It 
 should be allowed to assume a natural form, and be pruned so that 
 form is never interfered with ; moderate thinning of the branches 
 to seciire a vigorous bloom would be desirable. There are now so 
 
532 
 
 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXX. 
 
 many fine varieties of Lilac that varied and most beautiful small 
 groups or groves could be formed of them alone. To have a Lilac 
 group, or several, or a small grove, or even a few thoroughly well- 
 grown specimens, would be infinitely better than the common 
 plan of scattering a number of plants through the shrubberies to 
 dwindle or to perish. 
 
 As regards Lilacs in the open garden we appear to be satisfied 
 ■with the common variety. It is to be regretted that such 
 excellent kinds as Dr. Lindley and Charles X. are not planted in 
 preference to, or at least to an equal extent with, the commoner 
 kinds. These are limited to three : Syringa vulgaris, S. dubia 
 (or rothomagensis), and S. persica, with a few of their varieties ; 
 and it is one or other of these kinds we are sure to see in our 
 gardens or pleasure-grounds. In France, however, there is no 
 such poverty of selection. There Lilacs are grown more fre- 
 quently as specimens both in public and private gardens, and are 
 often carefully pruned with a view of securing finer trusses of 
 blossom. Many accustomed to the one kind so often half-starved 
 in London shrubberies, and like so many other fine hardy shrubs 
 treated as if unworthy of culture or attention, might be surprised 
 to see such a list as the following from a French catalogue of 
 handsome kinds more or less distinct. 
 
 Alba Docteur Nobbe 
 
 Laciiiiata Ekenholm 
 
 Kubra Flore pleno 
 
 *AIiue Mocqiieris Ge'ant des Batailles 
 
 Ambroise Verschaifelt General Schmidt 
 
 Amoena Gloire de la Kochelle 
 
 Be'ranger *Gloire de Moulins 
 
 *Blanc Virginal Goliath 
 *Carne a Grande Fleiir James Booth 
 
 Charlemagne Justii 
 
 Croix de Brahy Karlsruhensis 
 
 *De Croncels Konig Johann 
 
 *De Laval Langius 
 
 *De Trianon Lovaniensis 
 
 Delepine *Madame Kreuter 
 Doctor Lindley 
 
 As regards the best kinds of Lilac, M. C. Baltet, who has had excellent op- 
 portunities of judging, recommends those in the above list with an asterisk affixed 
 as the kinds most worthy of culture among the varieties raised in recent years. 
 He has observed more than fifty kinds growing in his garden, and among them 
 he considers there are twenty good ones. 
 
 Moritz Eichler 
 
 *Phile'mon 
 
 Pre'sideiit Massart 
 
 Prince Imperial 
 
 Princesse Camille de Rohan 
 
 Princesse Marie 
 
 Professor Stoeckhard 
 
 Purpurea 
 
 Kubra insignia 
 
 Charles X. 
 
 *Sauge' 
 
 Spectabilis 
 
 Triomphe d'Orleans 
 
 Vallettiana 
 
 *Ville de Troyes. 
 
( 533 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 " Went out at early morning, when tlie air 
 Is delicate with some last starry touch. 
 To wander through the Market-place of Flowers 
 (The prettiest haunt in Paris), and make sure 
 At worst that there were roses in the world." 
 
 E. B. Browning. 
 
 Flower, Fruit, and Vegetable markets. 
 
 No garden in existence possesses half the variety of the flower, 
 fruit, and vegetable departments of the Halles Centrales, and it is 
 a variety that is perpetual, for every day brings fresh materials, 
 every week changes of supply. About twelve o'clock at niglit, 
 before Paris has gone to bed, the growers have already arrived on 
 the spot and begin to expose their freshly-gathered produce in the 
 market or on the wide footways of the streets around, and for 
 eighteen hours after that time the whole scene is one of animation. 
 With its merry clatter of ten thousand tongues, the Central 
 j\[arket of Paris oflers, particularly in the early morning, a never- 
 failing source of interest, even to those who confine themselves to 
 the study of the human species. But we who love Violets and 
 those little fresh Eose-buds that look as if born in May and 
 gathered before they were kissed by the sun, and on whom, 
 perhaps, the brightness of some of the faces set in the white 
 
 2 N 
 
534 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXXII. 
 
 caps is not, in consequence, wholly lost, may find much to 
 interest ns here. Many who see this market in perfection in 
 summer and autumn do not know it in early spring. The bitter 
 cold of the early spring morning has no noticeable effect in 
 reducing the numbers who usually throng the market, though it 
 certainly must mar their comfort. The large extent of the Great 
 Hall, however, saves them from such drenchings as the people 
 sufi'er in Covent Garden on a wet morning. The piles of Mush- 
 rooms are among the most interesting of the things to be seen.. 
 These are thrown out on wide benches, and heaped up as any 
 common roots might be. As to quality, these Mushrooms are 
 excellent indeed ; nearly round, on an average about the size of a 
 Horse Chestnut, perfectly white, fresh and delicate in texture and 
 flavour, they look as if each was selected by an epicure from the 
 myriads often seen on a hill-pasture on an autumn morning. These 
 Mushrooms all come from the depths of the old stone-mines 
 beneath Paris and its environs. Almost equally round, and 
 chubby, and tender, are the little Carrots. Piles of large Pumpkins 
 strew the ground ; these have been kept through the winter, and 
 form, when green vegetables are scarce, an important article of 
 food. 
 
 In the United States, long-keeping Gourds are quite as im- 
 portant a crop as the Turnip is with us, if not more so. It would, 
 therefore, seem desirable that their value should be better known in 
 England, where they are as easily grown as the Vegetable Marrow, 
 the only Gourd now popular with us. As compared with the 
 large Gourd of the Paris market and the best Squashes of the 
 Americans, the Vegetable Marrow is of little importance as a food- 
 supply. The common garden Turnips are seen here, but are not 
 so abundant as the Navet, which many think better, and which 
 is pretty regularly supplied to Covent Garden from the Paris 
 gardens. But there is another curious Turuij) here — the Navet 
 de Meaux. This is a singlar-looking kind, usually more than a 
 foot long, frequently curled in form, and only as thick as a 
 Cucumber. These are sent to market in a peculiar manner. The 
 top is cut clean ofi*, a hole pierced an inch below the cut, through 
 which a few straws are passed, which permit of a dozen roots or so 
 being strung in a bundle together. These Turnips remind one of 
 the huge white Piadishes that are seen iu the Chinese quarter of 
 
CnAP. XXXII.] FLOWER, VWVIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 03.") 
 
 San Francisco, but are not so large as the snowy ones of the careful 
 Chinese gardeners. Passing by many vegetables common to 
 London and Paris markets, we observe that the Shallot offered 
 everywhere here is the true kind, a distinct species with a slender 
 bulb and a grey coat, whereas the Shallot now commonly sold in 
 London, and evidently a small variety of the common Onion, is a 
 roundish bulb, with a shining dark brown coat. Some not very 
 important vegetables, almost out of date with us, are here yet 
 seen in abundance, such, for example, as the Eampion, with its 
 long and slender creamy-white roots, which are grown to per- 
 fection in the light rich soil of the market-gardens. Quantities of 
 Green Peas, from the south, and piles of Globe Artichokes, do not 
 interest us much in early spring, because they are obviously pro- 
 ducts of a fairer clime; but the great feature of the market is the 
 quantity of excellent saladings of every kind, from the long tufts 
 of Chicory (blanched in caves), to the fresh green rosettes of the 
 tender Lettuce, which Paris is never without. Those sent from 
 Paris to the London market, however good in quality, are never 
 seen there to such advantage; their freshness is tarnished by 
 packing and the journey. Though the whole process of growing 
 these saladings is carried on within the very walls of Paris, there 
 are many who suppose them to be (like the Green Peas and the 
 Artichokes from Africa) the produce of a much warmer climate. 
 There is no market where business is more expeditiously done 
 than here; but what interest us most are the provisions made 
 for the retail trade — for the purchases of the general public. In 
 Paris far more than in London it is the custom to send to the 
 market daily from every class of home. The buyer goes where 
 numbers of competitors are side by side, and where the majority 
 of vegetables exposed are fresh from the gardens. 
 
 In London as regards the quality of the products when de- 
 livered by the grower, there is rarely anything to complain of, 
 for the market-gardener is usually an excellent cultivator ; but 
 the bruising and filth and delay they encounter, owing to im- 
 perfect market-arrangements, before reaching the customer in 
 London, often render them barely edible, while the very poor, 
 in buying the cheapest, often get that which is al)Solutely 
 unfit for human food. 
 
 There is no country in the world where vegetables can be 
 
 2 N 2 
 
536 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXXIT, 
 
 grown more abundantly and cheaply than in the country round 
 London, which can pour its produce into the great centre in an 
 hour or two by rail, and yet for the want of spacious markets, and 
 proper regulations, the London public is to a great extent de- 
 prived of advantages enjoyed by most cities and towns in Europe. 
 As for our chief fruit and vegetable market, it is a disgrace to 
 civilisation. So long as the largest and richest city in the world 
 depends upon Covent Garden as at present arranged, for its fruits 
 and vegetables, so long must it find them very deficient. The 
 want of room alone is sufficient to frequently make important 
 dififerences in the prices, not to speak of the treatment the produce 
 gets at all times, especially in wet weather. What a contrast to 
 the central market in Paris ! 
 
 Can we not secure a good wide market accessible to river, rail, and 
 streets somewhere on the Thames Embankment, and leave Covent 
 Garden to one or two branches of the trade ? Can nothing be done 
 to remedy a state of things which is not only a strong evidence of 
 the want of orderly rule in the management of London, but which 
 must have a bad efi'ect on the supplies of almost every family. 
 The cattle-market at Islington and the meat and poultry market 
 in the City are excellent ; they, like the Thames Embankment, 
 are really worthy of London ; but as yet we do not seem to have 
 moved a step towards the establishment of a garden-market worthy 
 of the town. Were this done with as broad an aim as has been 
 shown in the other markets just named, we should have a feature 
 added to London which would assuredly be of the greatest utility 
 and benefit to the public at large. We should also have an 
 exhibition of the garden-produce of the country around London, 
 presenting new objects of interest every day as the seasons 
 changed. A market fitted to accommodate, from the point of 
 view of buyers and the public as well as the trade, the produce 
 of the market- and fruit-gardens, would be one of the greatest 
 improvements that could be effected in London. 
 
 In the Paris market, in addition to ample provision for whole- 
 sale trade, there are streets of stalls containing everything the 
 purchaser requires, classified so that the market-women who vend 
 the same sorts of produce are brought into proximity and com- 
 petition with one another. The advantages gained by the public 
 are obvious — the housewife has not only the opportunity of pur- 
 
CiiAi-. XXXII.] FLOWER, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 537 
 
 chasing everything good and at its fair price ; she also has a great 
 variety to choose from. But it is needless to enumerate all the 
 advantages that a good retail and wholesale market confers upon 
 its neighbourhood. In those little avenues of neatly-arranged 
 stalls in all the Paris markets the name and number of the occu- 
 pant is plainly printed ; there is usually a free passage between 
 each two rows, along which the purcliaser can walk free from such 
 crowding as must occur in badly-arranged markets. In fact there 
 is every convenience for both purchaser and seller. The adoption 
 of the same system of stalls in the new fruit and vegetable market, 
 to which we may look forward, would be a great improvement. 
 London is, however, now so vast in extent that little less than a 
 series of well-managed markets will ever supply its population so 
 well as Paris is supplied. Nevertheless one large central well- 
 ordered market to begin with, would be a great boon to Londoners. 
 
 The history of the Halles Centrales illustrates to some extent 
 the essentially-practical turn changes and improvements have 
 taken in Paris of recent years. At one time the site was occupied 
 by a vast graveyard, where the greater portion of the dead of Paris 
 were gathered for centuries. At one time it lay outside the 
 walls, but it gradually became surrounded by narrow streets, and 
 eventually the place became a horrible nuisance. Then the 
 government caused the vast accumulation of human remains to be 
 removed by night in covered carts, escorted by chanting, torch- 
 bearing priests, to the subterranean quarries that lie under Paris, 
 and which, now filled with the piled bones of millions of men, are 
 known as the Catacombs. 
 
 The most noticeable and admirable features of this great 
 covered market are the neat stalls for retail dealers before alluded 
 to, the lightness of design and good ventilation, and the roomy, 
 airy character of the whole. It is constructed so as to be a pro- 
 tection against extremes of weather at all seasons ; it is cool and 
 shady in summer, the system of cellars underneath roomy and 
 good, and with many useful arrangements for storing away the 
 provisions, both alive and dead. The roof is of zinc, the flooring 
 partly asphalte, partly flags, and, like every new building, or 
 avenue, or wide street in Paris, trees adorn the margin of the 
 wide footways around it, shading the scene of almost ceaseless 
 animation beneath. There are many other markets in Paris, but 
 
538 
 
 THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXXII. 
 
 all of them are smaller than the Halles, which offer most interest 
 to the stranger. A good deal of the choicer produce is, however, 
 taken to the Marche St. Honore, after having been sold wholesale 
 in the central market. 
 
 There are thousands of Parisians whose garden is the window, 
 or a basket mossed over in the room, or a glazed case, and to most 
 of them the flower-market is a nursery ; an excellent nursery too, 
 
 -jnarkel and City-square in one. The new Central Floiuer-inarket, with Plantation oj 
 Paulowiiias for shade: — {early vioryiiiig z'icit'-) 
 
 for there they can get numerous pretty plants in the best of 
 health for a trifling sum. Considering that a few miles of sea 
 have for ages separated many marked customs of both peoples, 
 and that thousands of miles of sea have not prevented English 
 habits, that have never crossed the Channel, from spreading to 
 the Antipodes, it is perhaps vain to hope for the adoption of such 
 a feature as the flower-markets of Paris in our great towns ; yet 
 few could be more agreeable and useful. In Paris the larger 
 
Chap. XXXII.] CLIMATE. 539 
 
 flower-markets are not in permanent buildings, but occupy spaces 
 which may be compared to that in Trafalgar-square — the plants 
 being placed in groups on the gravel or flags, and the flowers and 
 choicer plants under temporary tents. When the market is over, 
 the space is cleared. In the great central market and in the 
 minor markets there are also rows of stalls for flowers ; shops 
 vending them are numerous, and occasionally a solitary stand with 
 abundance of them is seen here and there in the streets. 
 
 To the already well-known flower-markets, that against the 
 new Hotel Dieu is an important addition made since the war. It 
 is well Avortli the attention of all interested in city-markets, from 
 its simplicity of plan and fitness for the end in view. Beneath a 
 young and healthy plantation of Paulownia-trees are arranged 
 neat, permanent stands with cast-iron supports and zinc roofs j 
 the paths and roads between are of asphalte and perfectly clean. 
 In spring and summer, when the weather will permit, quantities 
 of flowers are exposed in the uncovered spaces, and the roads and 
 quays near are on market-days covered with whole nurseries of 
 plants, shrubs, and young trees. As the market is a largo and 
 well-supplied one, the scene is a pleasant one on market-mornings. 
 Wlien it is over, the market-place forms a desirable open space kept 
 in perfect order, and as it is cooled in summer by the shade of the 
 large leaves of the Paulownia, it is probably as useful to the sur- 
 rounding inhabitants as a square would be. The regular flower- 
 markets are held at the Place de la Madeleine, the Chateau d'Eau, 
 the Quai aux Fleurs, and in the Place St. Sulpice — twice weekly 
 in each place. 
 
 The Climates of Paris and London compared. — Devoted to his 
 institutions, the Briton is generally very hard on his climate. If 
 anything remarkable in the way of vegetable-produce comes out 
 of other lands, the merit is not sought in the system or the culti- 
 vator, but in the fine climate, while all our own shortcomings are 
 accounted for by climate, so that even those who heap most abuse 
 upon it should be grateful to it for settling so many questions. 
 But those who have lived in Paris during the winter or spring 
 will not be under any such illusion, and will probal)ly begin to 
 suspect that there is at least one other climate in the world as 
 little like that of Paradise as is our own. Even of those who have 
 visited Paris many are under the impression that for clearness, 
 
540 THE PAEKS AND GAKDENS OF PAKIS. [Chap. XXXIL 
 
 salubrity, dryness, and heat, the climate of that city is incompar- 
 ably superior to that of London. The idea has no doubt arisen 
 from the fact that most visitors to the French capital choose either 
 summer or autumn for their trip. At these periods even our own 
 smoky metropolis is at its best ; but the Londoner who for the 
 first time finds himself walking down the boulevards or the Eue 
 Eoyale upon a lovely June or August afternoon, sees the Paris 
 climate in its fullest perfection. The air is free from smoke, the 
 buildings and houses are either dazzlingly white or of a delicate 
 cream colour, and even the mud itself is of a clearer and brighter 
 hue than the greasy, metallic-looking paste with which we are so 
 familiar here. Let him, however, choose November or December 
 for his excursion, and he will soon discover that Paris can be as 
 cold and cloudy, and even as foggy, as our own city. A few 
 figures from various unimpeachable sources, both French and 
 English, will perhaps do something to dispel the prevailing notion 
 of the great superiority of the climate of Paris over that of 
 London. 
 
 The climate of Paris may be taken as being typical of that of 
 the whole of the north-west of France, its changeableness, how- 
 ever, being somewhat less than that of the districts bordering on 
 the sea. In general characteristics it may be said to stand mid- 
 way between the climates of the north-eastern portions of the 
 country and the channel-shores. It is less cold in winter than the 
 former, being warmed by the breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, but 
 is colder than the south and west. In summer it is more temperate 
 than the south and east, but hotter than the extreme west. The 
 mean temperature of Paris, taken from a series of official and 
 private observations running over thirty-six years, may be taken 
 at 51*55° F. The lowest temperature observed during fifty-two 
 years was 2° below zero F. ; the highest during the same time 
 was within a fraction of 99° F, 
 
 These figures deserve a little consideration. For a similar 
 period the averages of the observations taken in London by the 
 officers of the Eoyal Society are as follows : Mean temperature 
 50-50° F. ; highest temperature, 97° F. ; the lowest, 5° below zero 
 F. The mean temperature of Paris is therefore one-twentieth of 
 a degree over 1° F. higher than our own, while the highest 
 temperature only exceeds ours by something less than 2° F. 
 
Chap. XXXII.] CLIMATE. 541 
 
 It will also be instructive to compare the mean temperature of 
 the four seasons in both places. 
 
 Paris. London. 
 
 Fahr. Fahr. 
 
 Mean TcmiTcraturc, Spring 50-0 . . . 49-0 
 
 Ruinnicr G4-8 . . . G2-5 
 
 „ Autuiiiii 52-0 . . . 51-0 
 
 Winter 3'J-5 . . . 39-0 
 
 It must, however, be borne in mind that in the suburbs of 
 London the mean temperature is 2^ F. below that of the city, and 
 that on winter nights, when Jack Frost is striving his hardest to 
 destroy all the vegetation within his reach, there is often as 
 much as 4^ F. between the thermometers of the city and the 
 suburbs. The cause of this variation is twofold. In the summer 
 a large quantity of heat is radiated by the masses of brickwork in 
 the city, to say nothing of the amount of solar heat absorbed by 
 day and given off again during the night ; while in the winter 
 the city is obviously warmer than the suburbs during both day 
 and night, on account of the extra heat caused by the numerous 
 fires, both industrial and domestic. Paris, as a city, being under 
 precisely similar conditions, we may feel safe in assuming that 
 the same difference exists between the mean temperature of the 
 Observatory and Montreuil as between that of Somerset House 
 and Tottenham for instance. Luke Howard, one of our most 
 acute British meteorologists, on the strength of many thousands 
 of observations made at Plaistow, Stratford, and Tottenham, gives 
 the difference between the mean temperature of London and the 
 country as 2^ F. exactly, and a careful examination of his data 
 has proved his figures to be correct within a fraction. This 
 difference sinks to less than half a degree in spring ; it increases 
 in summer and autumn, and often rises on winter nights to as 
 much as 4i" F. It is a singular fact that towards the end of 
 spring, when the fires are being discontinued, and the sun has 
 not yet reached his full power, it sometimes happens that the day 
 temperature is somewhat greater in the country. This is 
 doubtless to be attributed to the veil of smoke and cloud that is 
 hanging over the metropolis which intercepts the action of the 
 sun. The effects of the higher mean winter-temperature in the 
 city are singularly apparent in the earlier budding and blooming 
 of the trees, which frequently begin their spring life several days 
 
542 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXXII. 
 
 before their suburban cousins — a fact whicb may easily be verified 
 by a walk from the suburbs into tlie city, just as the Elms are 
 beginning to bud, or when the Pear-trees are putting on their 
 early spring livery. 
 
 The amount of annual rainfall in London only slightly exceeds 
 that of Paris, although any unprejudiced person would feel 
 inclined to give it as his opinion that the number of rainy days 
 in London greatly exceeded those in Paris. The French authorities 
 who have been consulted differ somewhat in their calculations, 
 owing possibly to having collected the rain with dissimilar instru- 
 ments. The English figures are from Luke Howard, the French 
 from Gasparin and Bouvard. 
 
 Gasparin. Bouvard. Howard. 
 Inches. Inches. Inches. 
 
 ];ainfall in Spring STj . . 4-0 . . S'O 
 
 „ Summer 6'8 . . 6'0 . . fi*5 
 
 Autumn 5-3 . . 6--i . . 7-5 
 
 Winter 4-6 . . 4-8 . . G'O 
 
 22"3 2V2 2.'i*0 
 
 M 
 
 
 "fl- 
 
 D. H. HILL LIBRARY 
 
 Nrtrth rarolina State Collee« 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Acanthus for dwelling-rooms, 248; iu | 
 pul)lic s<iiiares, Hi) I 
 
 Accliiuatisutioii iSociety's Gardens, Hi, 18, | 
 '228 j 
 
 American cemeteries, 176 I 
 
 Auf^ers, friiit-uotes at, 3-15 ; Pears raised ] 
 at, 423 . 
 
 Aimtuils beneath siib-tmpical plants, 34 ! 
 
 Antwerp, forced white Lilac, 531 
 
 Apartniints, i)hvnt decoration of, 244 
 
 Apple on the I'aradise-stock. culture iu | 
 nurseries, 28G; a great succcs-s, 281) | 
 
 A|iiile-cuUure, improvement in, 425 | 
 
 Api)le stocks, 30tj ; experience at Troves, 348 
 
 Apj)le-trees, training for windy situation, 
 341 
 
 Apricots on cottage-walls, 426 ; three kinds 
 on one tree, 325 
 
 A<iu:itic i)lants in public squares, 114 
 
 Arciiiticts as gardeu-maua'j:ers, dl 
 
 Architectural gardening, li)'J 
 
 Ar;,'enteuil, Asparagus cidture at, 468; 
 (ig-ru!ture at, 370 
 
 Aiti.hoke, (;lobe, .^00 
 
 Artilici il wat r, in IJoiiS de Boulogne, 1,1); 
 in IJiittes Chaumont, 66 ; iu gardens, 
 254 ; ol.j.rtionable, 42 
 
 Annn, Iropicul, in Pare Monceau, 25 
 
 Arundo on margin of lake, 108 
 
 Asparagus culture, 468, 473 ; among vines, 
 46S ; in trenches, 46!) ; "Early Argeu- 
 teuil," 472; forcing. 474; at Clichy, 
 476 ; old mode, 475 ; frames for forcing, \ 
 475; green inferior to blanciied, 471; | 
 how gathere<l, 470, 474 ; implements for ; 
 buuciiing, 477; jdantingof, 46'.>; jiiough 
 cultivation of, 474 ; varieties of, 472 
 
 AsjMiragus, hardy climbing, 61 
 
 Asphalte paving, 144 ; jwwdereil, 147 ; 
 r.>ad-i>avinir, 143 
 
 Avenue des Champs Klysccs, 136 ; du B lis 
 de Boulogne, 136 
 
 Avenue-gardens in cities, 136 
 
 Avenues, 14, 131, 221 
 
 Bamboos in Paris, 22, 113, 114, 167 
 I tanks, false curves to, 12, 104 
 Marl).' de Capucin. 487 
 Bariiam Court, fruit-garden at, 420 
 Barnes on Cordons, 2;i2 
 
 Batliing-sheds used as work-shids, 140 
 
 Batignolles, Square des, 110, 114 
 
 Bay-trees iu tubs, 85 
 
 Bedford Sijuare, improvements in, 130 
 
 Belgium, Railway fruit culture in, 431 
 
 Bois de Boulogne, 1 
 
 Bois de Vincennes, 102 
 
 Bosquet des Bains d'Apollou. 206 
 
 Bosquet du Roi, Versailles, 205 
 
 Botanical and zoological gardens combined, 
 
 17 
 Botanists and garden-management, 48, 50, 
 
 56 
 Boulevard Richard Lenoir, 135 
 Boulevards, 131 ; available iu London, 137, 
 
 138 ; recent in Paris, 131 ; widtii of, 135 
 Boulogne, Baroness Rothschild's ganlen 
 
 at, 258 
 Bridges, 7, 103 
 Brunoy, 335 
 
 Buildings and trees, contrast, 80, 81 
 Buildings, needless cost of, 70 
 Burial, systems iu Paris, 173 ; in America, 
 
 176 ; in England, 171) 
 Burr-reed, for tying, 451 
 Buttes Chaumont, (M 
 
 Cafks in public gardens, 70. 137 
 
 Calville Apple, at Montreuii. 365 
 
 Cannas, how preserved in Taris, 169 
 
 Canloon, 496 ; blanciiing, 498; culture of, 
 497; cartliing-up, 4!t8 ; varieties of, 497 
 
 Carrot, crops trrown witii, 494; culture iu 
 o|)en air, 494; culture of varieties of, 
 490 ; forcing, 494 ; French caily horn, 
 495 ; French forciug, 491, 494 
 
 Cascades, 9, 12, 67 
 
 Castor-oil plant, 23, 30 
 
 Cives for storing plants in winter, 169, 
 171 ; stalactite, 67, 73 
 
 Cedrela Sinensis (new tree), 53, 59 
 
 Celery, Turnip-rooted, 496 
 
 Cemeteries of Paris, 173 
 
 Cemetery-gardening, 181 
 
 Champs Elyse'es, 136, 137 
 
 Change or variety, want of, 2, 3 
 
 Cbasselas de Fontainebleau, 378 
 
 Ciiasselas grape-culture, 379 
 
 Chateau-gardens, 251 
 
 Chatillon, Fonteuay aux Hoses, 331 
 
544 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chestnuts, moving in full leaf, 96 
 
 Chicory, 488 
 
 Church -gardens, 179 
 
 Churchyard, trees suitable for, 179 
 
 Churchyards, flowers in the grass, 181 
 
 Clematis on trees, 40, 41 
 
 Climate of London and Pnris, 151, 539 
 
 Climbing-plants on trees, 39, 40 
 
 Cloche, the, 437, 438, 481 ; for Lettuce- 
 culture, 478 ; where obtainable, 439 
 
 Coloured-cotton-handkercbief pattern gar- 
 dens, 114 
 
 Colouring of walls for fruit-culture, experi- 
 ments in, 416 
 
 Cimservatory, cool, planted out, 241 ; sub- 
 tropical plants in, 26, 28 
 
 Copings fur vines in open air, 381 ; on wall, 
 276 ; over Pear-trees at Ferrieres, 339 
 
 Cordon, the, 280, 417; Apples, pruning, 
 288 ; at Versailles, 271 ; bilateral, 281 ; 
 horizontal, 281 ; oblique for Peaches, 
 304; ditto for Pears, 298 ; i^roper defi- 
 nition of term, 280 ; size of crops, 293 ; 
 summary of advantages, 291 
 
 Cordon-Peaches, 302 
 
 Cordon-Pears at Holme Lacj', 295 
 
 Cordon-training, kinds of Apple suitable 
 for, 285 ; " pinching-in " the shoots, 
 284; wiring walls for, 455 
 
 Cordon-trees, how grown, 284; pruning, 285 
 
 Cordon, vertical or double, for Pears, 300 
 
 Cordons at Montreuil, 356, 365 ; at Troyes, 
 349 ; at Vincennes, 276 
 
 Cordons, horizontal, at Suisnes, 332 
 
 Cordons of Vines, 385 
 
 Cordons, supports for, 295 
 
 Corn Salad, 489 
 
 Covent-garden, 536 
 
 Crab-stock, 306, 309 
 
 Crystal Palace, 74 
 
 Crystal Palace and Versailles, 195 
 
 Dijon, fruit notes at, 344 
 Doucin stock, 306 
 
 Diacaena in dwelling-rooms, 245, 2^6 
 Dwelling-rooms, plants suitable for, 245, 
 246 
 
 Easter Betjrke, better on white walls than 
 as a bush or pyramid, 424 
 
 Edgings, improved, 456 
 
 Elms in Paris and London, 158 
 
 Elyse'e, Gardens of the, 88 
 
 Endive, 488 
 
 English Paradise stock, 306 
 
 Espalier- fences on railways, 432 
 
 Espalier Pear cidture, needed in Euglaml, 
 262 
 
 Espalier training at Montreuil, 353 ; cande- 
 labrum form, 357, 359 
 
 Espalier-trees, protection for, 270 
 Espaliers, 417; self-supporting, 341 ; train- 
 ing in stormy position, 344 
 Evergreens in tubs, 205 
 
 Fan-Palms, old, 62 
 
 Felt, bitumen ised, as a coping for, 452 
 
 Ferrieres, Baron Rothschild's garden at, 
 257; fruit garden at, 338; improved 
 fruit-shelves at, 441, 442 
 
 Fig cultivation in France, extent of, 371 ; 
 at Argenteuil and La Frette, 370 ; near 
 Paris, 369 
 
 Fig-planting on railway embankments, 374 
 
 Fig-trees, renewal of, 377 
 
 Fine-leaved plants associated with flowers, 
 31 
 
 Fire-shovel patterns, 38 
 
 Fleuriste, the, in the Little Trianon, 211 
 
 Flower beds, objectionable, 43, 44 
 
 Flower-markets in Paris, 539 
 
 Flowering shrubs, groups of, 6 
 
 Forcing-frames, 442 
 
 Formal "figures'" or beds, objectionable, 
 88 ; and unnecessary, 90 
 
 Formality, in banks, 12; in bedding, 38; 
 in border planting, 68 
 
 Forsythias on rocky banks, 10 
 
 Fosse commune, 174 
 
 Fountains in gardens, 92, 95 
 
 Fountains, Versailles, 197 
 
 French Paradise Apple stock, 306 : Ameri- 
 can experiences of, 310, 311; ditticulties 
 in procuring the true, 313 ; English ex- 
 periences of, 311, 313, 314 ; merits of, 
 309 
 
 Fruit-culture, lectures at Suisnes, 835; 
 means of improvement in, 408 ; on rail- 
 way embankments, 431 ; School of, 274 
 
 Fruit garden, at the Luxembourg, 97 ; plan 
 of a, 275, 329 ; trials of French systems 
 made in England, 420 
 
 Fruit gardens in France, 323; notes on 
 M. Jandn's, 323 
 
 Fruit-shelves, improvements in, 441 
 
 Fruit teiTaces on railway banks, 433 
 
 Fruit trees, advantages of regrafting over 
 new-planting, 414; as gifts to cottage 
 tenants, 427 ; grown for their beauty, 6, 
 410; in front gardens in towns and 
 cities, 412; in Jardin des Plantes, 57; 
 kinds grown at Angers, 345; need for 
 judicious thinning, 428 ; on railway em- 
 bankments, 412 ; on Widls and borders, 
 protection of, 295 ; re-grafting old, 414 
 
 Fruit walls, copings to, 323 ; copings neces- 
 sary in England, 326 
 
 Gaeden-aetists, 78 
 Garden-cemeteries, 175 
 
INDEX. 
 
 545 
 
 Garden, chnnictoristics of a trno, 20, 21 
 GnrdcnKlcsipn, igiioraiico of,72, 73, 78, 80; 
 
 the Grund Triniion, 210 
 Garden-hedges of Pear-trees instead of 
 
 Arbor vitro, 349 
 Garden implements in France, 437 
 Garden-iniiirnvenient in France, 250 
 Garden, N:itional, for France, 52, 53 
 Garden of Plants, objectionable features in, 
 
 45,54 
 Garden of the Elyse'e, 88 
 Garden-seats, 87 
 Garden-walln, wiring, 417, 453 
 Gardeners, training-school for, 272 
 Gardens of the Louvre, 79, 83 ; defects, 
 
 83 ; of the Tuileries, 83 ; wall-paper 
 
 pattern, 252 
 Geometrical gardening, Versailles, 194 
 Gleditschia Bojoti. (new tree) 49, 59. 259 
 Grafting mastic, 441 
 Grafting by approach, 288, 337, 356, 3G1, 
 
 304, 400 
 Grand Trianon, 214, 21G 
 Grape-keeping at Thomerv, saving to 
 
 growiTS, 318; system, tried in England, 
 
 320 
 Grape-rooms, 317 
 Grapes, best kinds for open-air culture 
 
 in England, .380; preserving through 
 
 winter, 314; how cut for, 31 G 
 Grass, seed-mixtures for forming Paris 
 
 lawns, 128, 129; watered repeatedly in 
 
 Paris, 83 
 Gravels, coloured, 75, 80 
 
 Hai.les Centhales of Paris, 534 
 
 Hardy flowers, Nursery for, 170 
 
 I)lant8, natural grouping of, G 
 
 8ub-troi)ical plants, 27 
 
 trees and shrubs affording finer effect 
 
 than tender subjects, 33, 34 
 
 Hollow wall, flowers growing in, 92, 93 
 
 Holme Lacy, Cordon-Pears at, 295; weight 
 of crops, 298 
 
 Honeysuckle on Birch-tree, .39 ; on Plane- 
 trees; 114; standards, 9G 
 
 Houses in Zoological Gard< ns, opportuni- 
 ties for gurdenmg in, IG, 17 
 
 IxNOCENTs, Square des, 127 
 
 Islands, in Bois de Boulogne, 2, .3, 7, 8 
 
 Lslets in lakes, 105 
 
 Isolating plants, 35, 93 
 
 Italian garden, 8G 
 
 Ivy, Algerian, 51, .'iO 
 
 Ivy and Wistaria, 190 
 
 Ivy. bands of, 87, 18G ; bowers, 186; 
 edgings, 79, 8G, 172, 1S7, 189, 191 ; for 
 covering objectionable wall-surfaces, 88 ; 
 in courtyards, 18G; curtains on rock 
 
 walls, G8; in dwelling-rooms, 245; in 
 Piiris, 184; in S(]nares, 112, 115; Irish, 
 18G; on banks, 10; on church walls, 
 180 ; on rocks, 10 ; on rocky grottoes, 5, 
 187 ; on stakes or pyramids, 59 ; on 
 trunks of trees, 188; propagation of, 
 190 ; trained in wreaths, 92, 94. 95, 184 
 Ivy-screens for rooms, 189; on high walls, 
 190 
 
 Jaruin des Plantes, a typo of all that is 
 stujiid and harmful, in botanic gardens, 
 45, 62, described, 56, merits, 57 ; not 
 suflBciently endowed, 62 ; open all day, 
 62 
 
 Jardin Fleuriste, 165 
 
 Jujube tree, 55 
 
 Kew, gardens at, 63, 61, 72 ; closed during 
 
 forenoon, 63, 64 
 Kitchen-garden, needless walks in, 461 
 Knotweed in Pare Monceau, 24 
 
 Lac des Minimes, 104, 106 
 
 Lachaumc on Mushroom culture in lime- 
 rubbish, 522 
 
 Lake, Saint Mande, 102. 103 
 
 Land in France, effect of subdivision of, 
 458 
 
 Landscape-gardening, 199, 203, 207; tho 
 Bois de Boulogne, 10; Acclimatisation 
 Society's Gardens in, IS ; dogma by 
 Allison, 38 ; instances of false, 74 ; tho 
 Louvre, 80 
 
 Lavallee's experiments in forcing white 
 Lilac, 528 
 
 Lawns, forming, 128 : how maintained, 129 
 
 Lectures on gardening, common in France, 
 97 
 
 Leicester Square, improvementsand defects 
 in, 126. 127 
 
 Lepere's mode of Peach Cordon-training, 
 303 
 
 Lettuce culture under frames, 483 ; Gotte, 
 culture of, 486 ; Petite Noire, culture of, 
 481 ; the Passion, culture of, 487 ; Verte 
 Maraichere, culture of, 484 
 
 I^ettuces, 478 
 
 Lilac, 87, 96. 526 ; in open air, 531 ; best 
 sorts, 532 ; proper treatment of, 531 ; 
 varieties of, 532 
 
 Lilac forcing in France and England, 527 
 
 Lilac, white, how grown, 526 ; in dwelling- 
 rooms, 527 ; darkness unnecessary in 
 forcing, 527; forcing at Antwerp, 531 ; 
 Lavalle'e's experiments, 528; stems in 
 water for forcing, 531 ; temperature for 
 forcing, 530 
 
 Lilacs, dwarf, 527 ; in Paris, 526 
 
 Lime-trees unsuitable for street planting, 
 157 
 
546 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Locust-tree for clnirch-pardeiisi, 180 
 Lombard y Poplars near the Little Trianon, 
 
 215, 219 
 Lonpcliamps race-course, 10, 14 
 Louvre gardens, 79 
 Luxembourg garden, the, 84, 91 
 Lyueum Spartum, grown for tying plants, 
 
 451 
 Lyons, fruit garden at, 339 
 
 Margins to water, 12, 13, 14 : at Ferrieres, 
 258 
 
 Market-gardeners in Paris, 458 ; improve- 
 ment in condition of, 4G5 
 
 Market-gardening near Paris, expenses of, 
 458 
 
 Market-gardens of Paris, 458 ; culture of 
 Carrots, 490 ; rapid rotation of crops in, 
 4G4 ; wnges of workmen in, 465 
 
 Markets, need for spacious, 536 
 
 Markets in Paris, 533 ; advantages of, 536 
 
 Mastic I'Homme Lefort, 441 
 
 Mats for covering pits and frames, how 
 made, 443 
 
 Melon, Cantaloup. 502 
 
 Melopospei mum, 58, 61 
 
 Medicinal plants, 58 
 
 Mirror-globes in gardens, 254, 260 
 
 Montagnaja Heraclei folia. Pare Monceau, 
 26 
 
 Montreuil, 98 ; Peach gardens at, 351 
 
 Montrouge Square, 112. 113, 122 
 
 Municipal gardens in Paris, 165 
 
 Musa, Abyssinian, 112 
 
 Musa Ensete in Pare Monceau, 27 
 
 Mushroom caves at Fre'pillon, visit to, 511 ; 
 at Montrouge, visit to, 505 ; rental, 508 ; 
 ventilation of, 508 ; water supply, 509 ; 
 spawning the beds, 514 
 
 Mushroom-culture in caves, 505; cost of, 
 525; daily crops, 511 ; duration of crops, 
 520; gathering, 509, 519; preparing 
 material for, 511, 513; preparing spawn 
 for, 513; soiling, 517; varieties, 521, 
 522 
 
 Mushroom-culture in lime-rubbish, 522 ; 
 in open air, 523 ; near Paris, average 
 produce, 525 
 
 Mushroom, diseases of the, 517; enemies 
 of the, 523 
 
 National botanic garden, objects of a, 54 
 Natural style of laying out grounds, 12. 
 
 13 
 Navets, 501, 502 ; de Meaux, 534 
 New Zealand Flax, 28; in vases, 259; 
 
 leaves for tying plants, 451 
 Normal school with garden for teaching 
 
 fruit-culture, 350 
 Nurseries, public, 165 
 
 OiDiiTM, cure for, at Thomery, 383 
 Oleander, 85, 98 ; culture in France, 100; 
 
 in tubs, and in small pots, 99 
 Orange trees, carriage for removing, 4.39 ; 
 
 in tubs, 83, 99 
 Orangery at Ferriijres, 257 ; at Versailles, 
 
 205 
 Orchard, the ornamental, 411 
 Orchard culture, improvements in, 427 ; 
 
 result of pruning and thinning, 430 
 Orchard-trees, list of best hardy kinds, 430 
 Orchards, rarity of good, 427 
 Orchids in dwelling-rooms, 248 ; in winter 
 
 gardens, case for, 244 
 
 Palmette form of training, 328, 336, 341 ; 
 Verrier, how formed, 390 
 
 Palms, 19, 24, 26 ; for cool winter-garden, 
 240; for dwelling-rooms, 245, 246 ; treat- 
 ment for cool winter-garden, 243 
 
 Paradise and Doucin stocks compared, 308 
 
 Paradise-stock, kinds of Apple for grafting 
 on, 286 ; origin of, 307 
 
 Pare Monceau, 20 
 
 Paris and London, rainfall, 542; tempera- 
 tures compared, 540 ; temperature of 
 town and suburbs, 541 
 
 Paris, city fruit-garden and herbaceous 
 nursery of, 106; market- gardens, rota- 
 tion of crops, 464 ; system of burial in 
 cemeteries, 173 
 
 Parks in cities, how to plant, 107-109 
 
 Parsnip, 502 
 
 Paulo wnia imperial is, 32, 33 
 
 Peach as a cordon, :;02 ; as a pyramid in 
 Suffolk, 425 ; gardens at Montreuil de- 
 scribed, 359 ; is best grown on walls in 
 England, 425 
 
 Peach-growing at Versailles, 271 
 
 Peach-trees horizontally trained, 362 ; in 
 full bearing, 325; protecting, 340; 
 pruning, 357 ; training, Montreuil fan- 
 siiape, 359 ; other forms, 360 
 
 Peach walls should be white, 354 
 
 Pear as a cordon, 294 
 
 Pear-culture, by fountry gentlemen, by 
 farmers, and in private gardens, 410 ; 
 climate of France not better than England 
 for, 409 ; improved system of orcharding, 
 409 ; in shrubberies, pleasure-grounds, 
 ami open country, 412; on the Quince 
 .stock, 413; on walls, 415 
 
 Pear-trees, worthless kinds destroyed or 
 re-graftefl, 424 ; columnar form, 404 ; 
 inferior kinds from pips, 424; fruitful 
 without pruning, 412; grown for their 
 beauty, 436 ; numbers grafted at Angers 
 annually, 345 : Palmette Verrier form, 
 328 ; protecting, 340 ; pyramidal, 326, 
 .327, 395, 396 ; re-grafting, 404 
 
INDEX. 
 
 547 
 
 Peftrs, best kinds for wall-culture, 423 ; 
 
 best varieties known, •^2'^^, hedges of, 
 
 278, 349 : quantities iuiportecl from 
 
 France, 409; suitable as oblique cordons, 
 
 298 
 Pctre la Chaise, 174, 178 
 Petit Trianon, 207 
 
 Pinchinp-in severely, a bad practice, 297 
 Place de I'Etoiie, 137 
 Plane-trees, 92; in squares, 114; not tlie 
 
 only trees suitable for cities, 124 
 Planes— in Paris and London, 154 ; movine; 
 
 in full leaf, 9G ; on Purls quays, 155 ; 
 
 on Tliamos Embnnkment, 155 
 Plants — in dwelling-rooms, 244 ; raiiterial 
 
 for tying, 450 ; suitable for conservatories, 
 
 22G 
 Play greunds in cities, 125 
 Plou-h-hoe. 441 
 Private gardens — in France, features in, 
 
 253; in Paris, 250; of the Tuileries, 
 
 86 
 Professorship of Hoiti'ulture, 72 
 Propngating house, 172 
 I'runing — at Montreuil, 3G1 ; ill effects 
 
 upon trees, 153; p^raniidiil Pear-trtes, 
 
 390 
 Public bathing places, 140 
 Public garden management should be by 
 
 trained gnrden-artists, 42, 45 
 Pumpkin, 534 
 
 QuiNTiNTE on varieties of Pears, 422 
 
 Race-cocrses in public parks, 14 
 
 Ilaidisseur, tlie, 447 
 
 Kailway, fruit-culture on banks of, 431; 
 Trees suitable for, 433 
 
 Reed-mace, for tying graft", 452 
 
 Restaurants in gardens, 70, 106 
 
 Roads and walks by water-margins, 109; 
 needless in parks and gardens, 43 ; tf)0 
 many in Pare Monci an, 43 
 
 Riick-plants on islets, 105 
 
 Roek-sbrubs. 10, 103, 105 ; ditto and trail- 
 ing evergeens, 75, 77 
 
 Rock work, formation of, 214 
 
 Rose-Charmeux on open air grape-culture, 
 380 
 
 Rose, climbing, isolateil on grass, 93 
 
 Rouen, 34t!; t'ruit-notes at, 346 
 
 Royal IIoiti< ultural Society, 52, 71, 73 
 
 Rush, common, for tying, 270; for tying 
 plant:*, 450 
 
 Pt. Clothilpe, 183 
 
 St. Cloud, view from Bois de Boulogne, 12 
 St. Jacques, Square and Tower of. 111 
 St. Petersburg, conservatoi ies in, 225 
 Salads in Paris, 478, 535 ; Barbe de Capu- 
 
 cin, culture of, 487; Corn-salad, or 
 RIache, 489 ; Lettuces, culture of, 481- 
 487 ; Scarole, 488 
 
 Saulsaie, Regional school at, 341 
 
 Scarole, 488 
 
 Sceaux, fruit-gardens at, 331 
 
 School of Botany in " Jardin des Plantes," 
 58, 50; of gardening in Paris, 72 ; of 
 Horticulture at Versailles, scheme of, 
 273 
 
 Scientific garden should also be a beautiful 
 one, 49 
 
 " Scientific " research not interfered with 
 by opening gardens at all hours, 64 
 
 Se'cateur, the, 288, 445; English experience 
 of the, 457 
 
 Sclaginella denticulata, in winter-gar- 
 dens, 232 
 
 Shallot, the true, 535 
 
 Smoke-nuisanco in London, 150 
 
 Sports and varieties, value of, (JO ; should 
 be observed and increased, 60 
 
 Spring-grove cemetery, 177 
 
 Square des Thermes, 114 ; Montrougo, 
 112, 113, 122 
 
 S()uares, 110; central portion, how spoilt, 
 122, 123; edging to puldic, 114; effect- 
 ing of opening to public, 118, 119 ; ever- 
 greens in, 127; how to plant. 111; in 
 London, defects in, 122, 123; necessary 
 in suburbs also, 120, 121 ; planting of, 
 123-125; present aspect. 110; what they 
 might be. 111; seats in, 123; should 
 contain playgrounds, 125 ; Trees in, 123 : 
 walks in, 123 ; wanted as much or more 
 than parks, 121 
 
 Stanhope, Sir H., on Cordon-Penrs, 296 
 
 Statuary, 87, 199, 201 ; in public gardens, 
 137; in public squares, 113 
 
 Straw-mats for wall-protection, 276 
 
 Strawberry, four seasons, 346; propagation 
 of, 347; culture, 347 
 
 Streamlets in public gardens, 67, 102, 104, 
 10."), 107, 114, 115, 209 
 
 Street built over canal, 135 
 
 Street pavements, 141 
 
 Structures, in squares, 123; needless, in 
 gardens, 40, 41, 42, 70 
 
 Sub-tropical effects producible in gardens 
 throughout Great Britain and Ireland, 
 29,31 
 
 Sub-tropical gardening, 20, 21, 31 ; plants 
 for, 26 
 
 Sub-tropical vegetation in conservatories, 
 223 
 
 Suisnes, fruit-gardens at, 332 
 
 Terra-cotta work in gardens, 200, 203 
 Terrace-gardens, 84, 195, 198,258 
 Thermes, Square des, 1 1 4 
 
548 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Thomcry, 98 ; grape culture af, 381 
 Tool houses in gardens, 40, 41, 42 
 Training and pruning, 390 
 Training Fruit-tree?, vertical, 418 
 Tiavel necessary for landscape-gardener, 
 
 76 
 Tree-ferns for cool winter-garden, 240 
 Tree-planiing, 86, 92, 102; in London 
 
 parks, 152 
 Trees, effect of planting in cities, 118 ; for 
 boulevard planting, nursery for, 169 ; 
 for parks and gardens, 160 ; for street 
 planting, 219; how grown for city 
 planting, 166 ; in avenues, pruning of, 
 15; in boulevards, 138; in cenieieries, 
 178 ; in cities, gratings round, 138 ; in 
 groups, 16; in London, wrong ideas 
 upon, 149; in the Little Trianon, 207; 
 in tubs, 80, 83, 84; mutilation of, at 
 Versailles, 216; overcrowded on boule- 
 vards, 139 ; remarkable in the Little 
 Trianon, 210, 211 ; suitable for cities, 
 149, 152, 154; thrive better in London 
 than in Paris, 134; for city planting, 
 170; transplanting large, 161 
 Trellis for pear-trees, 264, 266, 268; on 
 
 dead wall, 253 ; wire, cost of, 264 
 Trellises for espalier trees, 338, 455, 456 
 Tropical plants grouped under trees, 258, 
 Tropical vegetation in conservatories, 223 
 Troyes, fruit-notes at, 348 
 Tuileries Gardens, 83 
 
 Variety, the life of true gardening, 4, 31 
 Vases, 80, 87 ; in gardens, mistaken use of, 
 
 203 
 Vegetables grown in France, list of, 503 
 Ver.-ailles, 74, 84; Gardens at, 193; 
 
 Garden-statuary at, 201 ; School of 
 
 Horticulture, 261 ; programme of school, 
 
 272 
 Vincennes, Donjon of, 102, 103 ; school of 
 
 Fruit-culture, 274 
 Vine culture at Thomery, 378 ; important 
 
 points in, 385 ; profitable in open-air in 
 
 England, 378, 380 ; grafting, 385, 387 
 Vines, a mode of training on walls, 389 ; 
 
 in hoiizontal cordons, 385 
 Virginian Creeper in wreaths, 93 
 
 Walks by margin of water, 12, 13, 104 
 
 Walks in kitchen garden, reasons why 
 needless, 461 
 
 Walks, needless, in French gardens, 70 
 
 Wall-copings, 339, 353, 363 
 
 Wall, hollow, growing flowers in, 92, 93 
 
 Wall Pear-trees, 262, 268 
 
 Wallace, Sir Kichard, garden at Paris, 
 256 
 
 Walls, cheap form at Lyons, 339 ; at Vaise 
 Lyons, 344; for fruit-trees, best colour 
 for, 416 ; made of blocks of plaster, 363 ; 
 wooden, for fruit-culture by cottagers, 
 421 
 
 Water, use of, in Paris market-gardens, 
 460 
 
 Water-basins, 85, 90, 96 ; hideous effect 
 of, 195 
 
 Water-margins, 258 
 
 Watering public squares, 112, 113 
 
 Watsin on Cordons, 293; on Cordon -Pears, 
 302 
 
 Weeping-Beech on banks, 17 
 
 Wild flowers in public parks, 10 
 
 Wild Roses in groujis, 8 
 
 Winter garden, 19; a cool, 238; at Marie- 
 mont, 228 ; choosing and grouping of 
 plants in, 231; cool, planting of, 239; 
 distribution of plants in, 233 ; drainage 
 of, 230 ; ground plan of, 236 ; of a warm 
 temperature, 230; orchids and stove- 
 plants in, 243 ; plant arrangement in, 
 232 ; planting in, 230 ; preparation of 
 soil for, 230 ; shade in, 243 ; walks in, 
 229 
 
 Winter gardens, 222; advantages of cool 
 over warm-temperate, 238 ; M. Andre''8 
 notes on, 227 ; planting for contrast, 232 ; 
 rockery in, 232 
 
 Wire, galvanised, for garden walls, 456 ; 
 for training fruit-trees, 431 ; for wiring 
 garden walls, 453 
 
 Wire, Eaidisseurs for tightening, 446 
 
 Wistaria and Ivy, 250 
 
 Wood-pavements, worst form of street 
 paving, 141 
 
 Wreaths on trees, 92, 93, 94 
 
 Yucca, 26, 29, 101, 114, 181 
 
 >, 
 
 2.2 50 
 
^&»,