$S8 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



I May 16, 1867. 



showing some excellent vineyard forms. Some clean-looking 

 high staiularda of Pears, Apples, &c., are conspicuous. 



At tbiti period tbe mid-day sun was most trying; the work- 

 men in blue linen blouses bad their pocket-handkerchiets 

 spread, Indian fashion, over their caps, and I was glad to 

 throw myself under some Poplars near the stream. All round, 

 the hills near Paris, thick with villas. Vines, and clumps of 

 trees, were under a thick haze of heat, and a sky without a 

 cloud. 



But this was not the way to become acquainted with the 

 other objects exhibited, and Billanconrt is chiefly destined for 

 a future dog and cattle show, besides the machinery and agri- 

 cultural implements now there. So I returned towards these, 

 and found a group of Englishmen watching the ascent of a 

 clumsy French cultivator up a short path. Tbe machine 

 groaned and quivered as the steam was raised to a sufficient 

 strength, but by obliquing, as an old horse will up a hill, 

 the cultivator managed to do it, and then rumbled down tbe 

 walk to a distant part of the island, where I speedily saw it at 

 work on the soil. Further on I came on a white smockfrocked 

 Englishman in an agonised struggle to equip an English horso 

 in, to him, a bewildering maze of white French harness. Very 

 international looked iJiomede's head in his Galilean gear, with 

 flowing tassels, and the good brute seemed somewhat downcast 

 withal. " Coom oup " in the broadest Somersetshire, then 

 some fearful insular denunciation unlit for these pages. " It 

 wunna draw ;" then a pull at the bellybaud ; but, after all, it 

 did not appear a success. I thought the Norwegian^ sheds 

 would soon have a thirsty occupant, but ventured mildly to ask 

 what Somerset thought of the French cultivator, not deeming 

 my own opinion final. After another fierce struggle with tbe 

 white harness, I was informed that four horses would do better. 

 This is conclusive to my mind. 



Then the sheds were examined, and some foreigners criti- 

 cising our hay-making machines, asked for the " address of 

 my house," as I was reposii^g on some less formidable engines. 



Buston, Proctor, &Co.; Clayton; Rnbey ; Eansomes & Sims ; 

 Howard ; Smyth & Sons ; Picksley & Sims ; and Garrett, are 

 here well represented in many branches. 



■ Canada shows ploughs ; the United States their excellent 

 reaping machines. The Belgian department is very fine, rank- 

 ing next to the British, with portable engines. The French 

 threshing machines are more simple than ours, and thus more 

 suitable for small farms. The engines driving them are of less 

 force, lighter, and better suited for transit over bad roads. In 

 drills the French makers often approach suspiciously near to 

 our own; but in spite of this, in workmanship and design, 

 they cannot be compared with our best manufacturers. 



There were a few waggonettes shown, one was priced at £45, 

 and was dear at that sum. Some wheels of fine execution were 

 also dear. They were numbered according to force, from 1 to 

 10, one about 30 inches in height being estimated at "force 2," 

 and priced forty-one francs. 



Further on the visitor finds at present a cattle show, which 

 will be greatly developed hereafter. The sheds are airy, and a 

 single line of rails embedded in the asphalte runs down the 

 middle. Dutch, Norman, and verj' small Breton cows are here, 

 and are very good. Tbe last were reported to me as producing 

 some fabulous amount of butter, which our Channel Island ex- 

 perience did not at all confirm. The cattle were in high condi- 

 tion, exhibiting fine broad backs, and there were some pretty 

 cream-coloured specimens of natives crossed with our short- 

 horned breed. 



No doubt in the summer show something will be visible 

 here. At present much is in an incomplete state. There are 

 no authenticated names as yet over the stalls, and little reli- 

 ance is to be placed on the accounts of the attendants. I saw 

 no English cattle here, nor any from the Channel Islands : 

 suoh are coming later. There are also no Enghsh trees here 

 of any description. 



By this time I had reached the melting point, and took 

 refuge in the steamer with many others. None but business 

 people were there, and no ladies of course. A delay of about 

 three-quarters of an hour took place, and at 3 p.m. (the visitor 

 should note this, and select this mode of return conveyance), 

 we began to ascend tbe stream at about a walking pace. Tbe 

 current will try some of our boating men's prowess, but the 

 river will be much lower by July. The Seine is uninteresting 

 enongh, but there is a very comfortable awning over the deck 

 of the steamer. The return journey was thus far more agree- 

 able, and, no doubt, ladies will choose this way, as we landed 

 close to the Exhibition building.— T. C. Bkehaut. 



THE GARSTON VINEYARD. 



(Concluded from page 262.) 



On resuming our walk through the house of mixed Vines, 

 one is struck with the superiority of the Black Alicante over 

 all other Grapes. There is scarcely a house in the Garston 

 Vineyard which does not contain several Vines of this most 

 valuable Grape. See it where you will, no matter in what 

 aspect, it has the same beautifully finished appearance. The 

 great advantage which it has over Lady Downe's is its free 

 setting. Lady Downe's is equally valuable as a late-keeping 

 Grape, but very often it is a shy setter, and the bunches are 

 in consequence very ragged ; the best plan to adopt is, when 

 it is in flower, to give a gentle skiff with the syringe. In 

 1864 I exhibited at the Crystal Palace September Show a basket- 

 ful of Lady Downe's Grapes, weighing 36 lbs. ; they were as 

 fine as any I have ever seen of this variety, both in point of 

 colour and evenness of berry ; the flavour was also all that 

 could be desired. The house in which they were grown was 

 started on the 1st of December, 1863 ; tbey were ripe in the 

 second week in June ; and from that time up to the first week 

 in September scarcely a berry shrivelled, and the colour re- 

 mained as perfect as possible on several bunches which were 

 left on the Vines till the end of October, or eleven months 

 after they were started. I just mention this to show that to 

 have Lady Downe's in perfection it is necessary to let it hang 

 a long time after it is ripe ; and to ensure its keeping well 

 throughout the winter it should be ripe by the second week in 

 October. If it is well ripened by that time, ond tbe roots are 

 in a good state, the bunches will hang perfectly fresh and 

 plump till the end of February or middle of March. The 

 same may be said in favour of Black Alicante. 



The next Vine that met my view was a Barbarossa ; this had 

 three bunches on it. One of them measured 23 inches long 

 and 16 inches across tbe shoulders, and its weight could not be 

 less than 13 lbs. ; it was not, perhaps, quite so well coloured as 

 some of the others, but it was a splendidly-formed bunch, and 

 would doubtless have been well finished in point of colour had 

 the autumn been more favourable. 



The next Vine was a Black Alicante ; this had five large 

 bunches, which would average 4* lbs. each. In one of the 

 bunches I noticed a berry of extraordinary proportions, as 

 large as the largest Kirke's Plum, and, like the rest of the 

 berries, as black as Sloes. I thought it might be worth while 

 to save the seeds, to see whether the Vines raised from them 

 would produce berries generally of like proportions. The 

 berry was not like those which are often met with — double, 

 but perfect in itself. I have since forgot to ask Mr. Meredith 

 if be saved the seed, and if so, what number of seeds the berry 

 ' contained. 



On one Muscat of Alexandria Vine in this house I noticed 

 eight beautiful bunches of fruit ; they would average not less 

 than 3 lbs. each, and exhibited that beautiful amber shade 

 indicative of the highest state of perfection in this variety. 

 The berries were large and very even. The neighbouring Vine 

 to this was a Black Alicante, which had five splendid bunches 

 averaging 4i lbs. One of these, at the top of the Vine, I 

 should think would not weigh less than 7 lbs. ; it was a perfect 

 model, the berries being beautifully coloured, and as even as 

 if cast in a mould. Next to this I saw a White Tokay with 

 seven bunches, averaging about 3.! lbs. ; these were also beau- 

 tifully finished. The next Vine I passed was Child of Hale 

 with three bunches, which together would weigh not less than 

 32 lbs. This Vine produces some immense bunches, but there 

 appears to be some difficulty in ripening them properly. Like 

 the Lady Downe's Grape, 1 think the variety must be started 

 earlier in tbe season to have it in perfection. 



Altogether there are fifty-seven Vines in this house. Sep- 

 tember is the best month to see it in perfection. Mr. Meredith 

 told me on leaving it that he had never before experienced so 

 much difticult.y in colouring Grapes as he had done that autumn. 



We next entered what is called the north house ; and many 

 good Grape-growers, had they seen this splendid houseful of 

 Grapes, would have scarcely believed such wonderful results 

 possible in a building of such simple construction, and situated 

 in an aspect one would think so unsuited to the growth and 

 well-being of the Vine ; but here were Grapes, principally 

 Black Alicante, Lady Downe's, and Barbarossa, as fine in 

 bunch, having the same evenness of berry, and in colour quite 

 as good as any in the bouse I had just left, and of which the 

 aspect is due south. The house is 128 feet long by 17 feet 

 wide, and the roof, which is very flat, is glazed with Hartley's 



