THE FRUIT GARDENS NEAR PARIS. 



553 



the respective directors. In vario»i9 instan- 

 ces the young men afterwards make up for 

 the time they ure tlius absent. But the 

 greater uuuibor of tho-e who attend are 

 amateur.-. .U. Hardy also lectures in the 

 afterno in men wishing to obtain a 



knowledge of the management of fruit 

 :rees. The admittance for each person to 

 any one of these is, however, 3 francs. 

 From fifteen to twenty gentlemen usually 

 attend the afternoon lectures. 



In his first lecture, I was informed, M. 

 Hardy explained the physiology of the tree, 

 the action of the sap, the names of the dif- 

 ferent parts of the tree ; the stem, branch- 

 es, and the technical distinctions of the lat- 

 ter, such as Rameaux a bois, Rameaux a 

 fruit, Brindilles, Lambourdes : branches for 

 wood ; branches for fruit ; fruit bearing 

 twigs, and spurs. The term brindille re- 

 quires however a little more explanation : 

 Pear trees recently raised from seeds are 

 usually armed with thorns, a provision for 

 the defence of the young plants; but na- 

 turally, as the trees get older, and more 

 especially when influenced by cultivation, 

 the thorns are produced less abundantly, 

 and by degrees they disappear. The thorns 

 latterly produced lose their original cha- 

 racter. Instead of being naked, one, two, 

 or more very small buds may be observed 

 upon them ; but still they are pointed, and 

 this being the case, they yet retain the 

 characteristic of a thorn, and cannot elon- 

 gate in the following season. Some after 

 productions may however be seen to termi- 

 nate in a small bud, and the substance 

 throughout is much softer, but still harder 

 than the regular shoots on other parts of 

 the tree. These growths may be then 

 looked upon as thorns modified ; they be- 

 come capable of elongation, and are what 

 the French term brindilles. They proceed 

 at right angles from the branches producing 

 them ; and are not inclined to grow up- 

 right. They sometimes bear fruit before 

 the other branches ; but when the trees get 

 into full bearing, these brindilles are not 

 required. 



M. Hardy concluded by showing how to 

 handle and properly apply the knife. 



The second lecture, he took a maiden 

 plant, and explained how it ought to be 

 dealt with according to the modes of train- 



Vol. iv. 38 



ing for which it might be inteided ; then 

 a plant two years old ; another three, and 

 so on. 



For the third lecture, at which I was pre- 

 sent, he had a pear tree, intended for a 

 pyramid, planted in the centre of a circle, 

 formed by a rope, about fifty feet in diame- 

 ter, outside of which the people stood to 

 hear the explanations, and see the mode of 

 operation. In the tree selected for illus- 

 tration, M. Hardy pointed out faults from 

 not pinching the shoots in the previous 

 summer ; and some others in consequence 

 of former winter pruning. The reasons 

 for cutting each branch as he did, were 

 successively given, as well as an explana- 

 tion of the bad effects of cutting otherwise ; 

 and ultimately the pruning of the tree was 

 completed in good style. We had an op- 

 portunity of closely examining it after the 

 lecture was over. 



We then inspected the different quarters 

 planted with pyramid pear and apple trees, 

 and those containing cherry and plum trees. 

 As there is no wall for peach trees, these 

 are trained against a trellis, backed with 

 straw mats; and with this assistance the 

 fruit ripens perfectly well. 



All the quarters containing fruit trees 

 are surrounded w r ith borders, planted with 

 cherry, plum, and apricot trees, as stan- 

 dards ; and some with excellent effect are 

 trained in form of a vase, or en gobiht, 

 dwarf, or with a stem five feet or rather 

 more in height. The head is formed hol- 

 low, in shape like a goblet, the shoots 

 being annually tied to hoops of wood, 

 adapted to the circumference required to 

 give the desired form. Two hoops are suf- 

 ficient, the two-year old wood being tied 

 to one ; and the equidistant regulation of 

 the one-year old shoots is effected upon the 

 other. As the vase or goblet widens, of 

 course hoops of greater circuit must be pre- 

 pared, either of new materials, or by intro- 

 ducing an additional piece. In some in- 

 stances the hoops were formed of round, 

 apparently one-fourth inch, iron rods ; but 

 wood is preferable to iron, for vegetation in 

 contact with the latter is apt to be injuri- 

 ou ly affected by the rapidity with which 

 it heats and cools. Shoots are apt to 

 spring up in the centre of the goblet ; but 

 they must be pinched in summer; and so 



