51S 



BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE CENTRALE D'HORTICULTURE. 



cing, or for a children's play or school- 

 room, the study of a professional man, an 

 artist's studio, or an observatory, would be 

 very large, light and airy ; equally removed 

 from all noise from the apartments below, 

 as secure from disturbing the quiet of the 

 two principal stories beneath. 



The doors leading to the side and front 

 vestibules, boudoir, bathing and dressing- 

 rooms, &c, should be made with ground 

 or stained glass sash doors, and thus give 

 ample light, and a pleasing effect to the 

 central hall. 



The kitchen, drawn on the principal floor, 

 may be placed in the basement, with the 

 wood and wash-room, if preferred. 



The hexagonal shape is stated to be, in 

 the cells of bees, the most mathematically 

 economical in attaining the greatest possi- 

 ble strength, and largest internal area, 



that can be enclosed with an equal exter- 

 nal wall. A polygonal structure, for dwell- 

 ings designed for a larger family, could be 

 id ado very convenient and more economical 

 than square, parallelogram, or winged T, or 

 L shaped houses; since the latter require 

 so large an expenditure of external wall for 

 their superficial area, and expose so large a 

 surface to the elements. Those forms de- 

 mand also a greater waste of area for halls 

 and passages, and occasion a great loss of 

 time, labor and convenience, in passing 

 from the several apartments ; while in the 

 octagonal or similar form, access to all the 

 apartments is easy. The area occupied by 

 the hall is a good radiator and conductor of 

 heat in winter, and is the least valuable 

 space for living or sleeping apartments. 

 Henry A. Page. 



Boston, March 5. 1850. 



REVIEW. 



Bulletin de la Societe Centrale d'Horticul- 

 ture, du department de la Seine Inferieure. 

 (Bulletin of the Central Horticultural Society, 

 lower Seine district.) Nos. 4 and 5, for 1850. 



We have been favored by M. Tougard, of 

 Rouen, the president of this society, with 

 these Bulletins, showing the state of horti- 

 culture in that part of France. 



The society appears to be in an active 

 and flourishing condition ; and we gather 

 some interesting facts from the report of a 

 special commissioner, regarding the market 

 garden culture of France in a commercial 

 point of view, which may interest our read- 

 ers. 



According to the statistical reports, there 

 are in all France 51,000 hectares* of land, 

 cultivated as market gardens. It is esti- 



* The hectare is a little more than 2J acres — (strictly, two 

 and four-temks of our acres.) 



mated that the average product of these is 

 6,000 francs (about $1,200,) per hectare, 

 say in the rough, a total of 253,000,000 of 

 francs, (about $50,600,000.) Supposing 4 

 laborers to the hectare, we have 204,000 

 workmen exclusively employed in the mar- 

 ket gardens of France. If we estimate the 

 value of a hectare at 6,000 francs, we have 

 a capital of 306,000,000 francs employed in 

 market garden cultivation, and a capital of 

 408,000 francs, (say $81,600,) paid daily 

 for this class of labor. In this market gar- 

 den culture, from four to six workmen are 

 required per hectare, (about two men to the 

 acre,) the labor of the master and mistress 

 included. Their wages vary according to 

 the season and the sex. In summer, the 

 men earn 2 francs (40 cents) a day, the 

 women 1 franc ; in winter, the men earn 



