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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Departments of Foreign Exchange and Book Reviews 



FRANCE 



J'lic Dcvaslatcd Regions. — Horticulture would appear to 

 have been given not so great a blow as agriculture proper 

 in the districts overrun by the invaders did one not know 

 the part it has played where the sun, too often veiled, has been 

 replaced by artificial heat, for the environs of Lille, the largest 

 city close to the Belgian frontier, were the center of the country's 

 forcing industry. This was naturally practically annihilated and 

 years will be required to reestablish it. Field culture, however, 

 has already been restored. But in the departments of France 

 actually devastated the climate encourages little trucking with 

 the exception of that done intensively near the larger centers of 

 population. On a large scale the gardening was confined almost 

 exclusively to the raising of legumes, save in the valley of the 

 Aisne where a more clement climate ripens the grape. In the 

 province Nord, of which Lille is the metropolis, however, along 

 the coast around Dunkirk, where the sand has been manured, 

 only currants and plums in addition to legumes are produced. 



The taste of the wealthy manufacturers of the Flemish capital 

 and of other towns in southern Belgium so populous stimulated 

 the growing of fruits and vegctaljles under glass. Not far from 

 Lille si.x establishments grew strawberries and tomatoes under 

 13.000 square meters, or 3} 5 acres, of glass: five grew grapes, 

 peaches, cherries, figs and other fruits, quantities of them, for 

 Paris, under 50,000 sq. m., or 13;/i acres. Still more space of 

 the kind, namely 70.000 sq. m.. or 17^4 acres, was devoted to 

 house plants like palms and araucarias. Besides there were 

 "local" establishments, naturally abundant among a population 

 of this kind. Grapes were enjoyed fresh from the middle of 

 November to the end of June, peaches for three months and 

 straw'berries also. The southern part of this province grew quan- 

 tities of apples and around one town over 12,000 acres were cov- 

 ered with orchards. 



The other "li1)erated" provinces had less importance agricul- 

 turally than Nord. In the Somme was a great market-garden 

 center that supplied not only its chief city Amiens l)ut a large 

 part of the province to the north also. Horticulture in this 

 aspect has not suffered so much and is more quickly and more 

 easily rehabilitated. 



But the loss at Laon. south of Lille eighty miles, where the 

 forcing establishments are comparable to those of the latter city, 

 was very great. Here, and at Valenciennes in Nord also, was 

 an especially interesting industry, that of cultivating medicinal 

 herbs. Before the war the harvest was sometimes 50,000 kilo- 

 grams, or over 110,000 pounds. 



In La Marne were grown almost exclusively the usual 

 legumes, especially around Reims, the most consideralile mar- 

 ket of the Champagne. The hills not far from Chateau Thierry, 

 were covered with cherry trees that supplied the trade with 

 Paris and fed a preservin.g factory. 



More toward the east nothing remarka1>le Iiorticulturally is 

 found other than the extensive vegetable gardens at Luneville, 

 southeast of Nancy, and the preserving works at this latter town 

 and elsewhere, supplied with plums and other fruits, some of 

 which were converted into brandy. 



All these industries of course are bound in time to regain 

 their importance, for the local needs will be no less than before 

 and the difficulties of transportation from the south, and the 

 cost of it, will not permit the bringing in from the distance of 

 such quantities of fruits and of legumes as were imported be- 

 fore. 



Alsace. — Alsace has long been a country of gardeners. There 

 were guilds of market gardeners as far back as the XIII cen- 

 tury. Strasburg is girdled by villages, on rich alluvial soil, 

 nearly all of whose 40.000 inhabitants inake their living by truck- 

 ing. Floral festivals are regular institutions. Fine estates with 

 well-wooded parks occupy many of the suburban regions. The 

 Orangery is one of the most l)cautiful public gardens of Europe. 

 The soil is particularly adapted to the growth of trees and this, 

 with the horticultural tradition, made the vicinity, before the 

 German seizure, one of the world's great nursery centers. But 

 the ban upon the French language drove iriany of the old gar- 

 deners from the country. The progress of horticulture further- 

 more was retarded by the Genuan policy of sending in young 

 gardeners trained by study and practice in the schools associated 

 with liotanical gardens in various parts of the empire and who 

 acted as propagandists of their native country's institutions. The 

 appeal is now going forth for all-round training to be offered at 



the inetropolis and at other centers to young French boj's who 

 are heirs of the tradition not entirely eradicated by foreign 

 usurpation. 



Lorraine. — This, like its sister state, also is a natural horticul- 

 tural center. In fact it was gardeners from this province that 

 several generations ago introduced into Germany the taste for 

 the cultivation of fruit trees. Hither resorted many young men 

 from the Sarre region and the Rhenish provinces to serve their 

 apprenticeship. Now, since the armistice, many of the ancient 

 families have returned to take possession of their ancestral es- 

 tates. But owing to the scarcity of labor some time must 

 elapse before there is restored to the noble estates their pristine 

 splendor. They fell into considerable neglect during the long 

 German occupation when the government gave little encourage- 

 ment to horticulture in any form. Throughout the great war 

 the neglect was absolute. Recovery has begun, however, and 

 the botanical garden of Metz, with its interesting collection of 

 trees, notably the exotic, is again going to supply the public 

 parks and gardens with stock to the production of which it 

 used to be largely given. — Condensed from Reznie Horticole, 

 Le Jardin and Vie a la Campagne. 



AUSTRIA 



There is no necessity for explaining that horticulture 

 as a whole is badly affected by the present economic 

 and political situation in this country. Austria has not only 

 lost a long and exhaustive war, she has lost much more by 

 peace. German Austria is reduced to a poor, small country with 

 few natural resources, and surrounded by states that are none 

 too friendly with her. The worst, however, is the fact that 

 each little "land" within the narrow limits of the present repub- 

 lic acts in the most selfish way. 



I resided in the U. S.'A. during the war, because I was 011 

 an exploring trip in western China when the war broke out, 

 and not being able to go back to Austria, I accepted an invita- 

 tion from Prof. C. S. Sargent to go to the .\rnold Arboretum at 

 Jamaica Plain, Mass. Therefore, when I came back to Vienna 

 in October, 1919, I perhaps, more deeply felt the contrast be- 

 tween the past and the present than anyone who had remained 

 during the past five years, and had become used to the misery. 



Vienna has always been the centre of horticulture interest in 

 old Austria, it is even more the centre to it at present. But, 

 what a change! The beautiful city, once the meeting place for 

 all who went to central and eastern Europe, is still beautified by- 

 gardens full of Lilacs, Forsythias, Irises, and other lovely flowers, 

 but about all parts famine is lurking, and far too many pallid- 

 faced children and worn-out mothers are to be seen. 



Tlie main impression is that everything (I might say every- 

 body ) needs repair. Everyljody is so exhausted by the war and 

 its evil consequences as to have lost the energy necessary to keep 

 up the struggle. 



Some of the gardeners, of course, are by no means badly 

 affected by the present situation. Many of the market gardeners- 

 have become well-to-do men. They sell their few vegetables at 

 prices undreamed at any previous time, because there are a 

 few rich men, too, who can pay for them. But the people as a 

 whole are not able to buy lettuce, spinach, or cauliflower at 

 the present rates. The case of the florist is. to a certain de- 

 gree, different. Scarcity of labor and very high wages, comliined 

 with the high cost of fuel, wood, glass, and every other material 

 he needs for keeping up his establishment, make it impossible 

 for him to maintain his former standard and even difficult to 

 grow what is needed today. 



Vienna has been famous for its beautiful gardens, but these 

 are beginning to disappear. The public gardens are kept fairly 

 well by the city, and in this extremely lovely and warm Spring, 

 the private gardens and suburbs look much finer than they really 

 are. The work of the landscape-architect is restricted. Where, 

 formerly, he planted handsome flowers and shrubs, there are 

 now growing lettuce, cabbage, potatoes and other useful things 

 The number of war-gardens is immense. Hundreds of colonies 

 of what are called "Schreber" gardens have sprung _ up. and 

 the Schreber-garden movement is one of the characteristic fea- 

 tures of the time. 



The situation of the Horticultural Society is a rather lucky 

 one. It was in possession of a valuable piece of ground in one 

 of the best parts of the city, but it has sold part of it during 



