January 16, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



•13 



the Bois dn Bouloi;rne, the Li Mnette gate, at the extremity of 

 the fashionable quarter of Tassy, this establiEhment covers an 

 area of nearly live acres between the Eue de la Tour, the 

 Avenue de I'Empereur, and the old historical castle of La 

 Mnette. The railway between Auteuil and St. Lazare cuts 

 the ground into two unequal parts, of which the smaller is 

 taken up by frames, the orangery, sheds cellars, &c. 



The frames are more especially intended for raising plants 

 from seed, and for the extensive propagation of softwooded 

 plants for bedding, such as Pelargoniums, Verbenas, Calceo- 

 larias, Salvias, Fuchsias, Chi-ysanthemum frutescens, Arc. There 

 are altogether 2900 lights set in straight lines, and arranged in 

 sections according to the description of plants grown in each. 

 The fi-ames are shortly to be replaced by a range of fifty low 

 houses communicating with each other, and forming the most 

 complete assemblage of glass houses ever seen. Each section 

 is in charge of an under-foieman under the general direction of 

 the foreroan, and he has two or three assistants, with whose 

 aid he has to manage from 100 to 1-50 lights. He alone is re- 

 sponsible for the pl.ants, also for the breakage of glass, and 

 other casualties arising from carelessness, and as a compen- 

 sation he receives a small monthly allowance. The advantages 

 of this system are, that the workman takes better care of the 

 plants and materials committed to his charge, economy is con- 

 sequently secured, and the men, being confined to one depart- 

 ment, speedily gain great e:sperience of the particular plants 

 with which they are engaged. To give an idea of the immense 

 number of plants raised at the Fleuriste de la I'.Iuette (that is 

 the name of the establishment), I may state that it amounts 

 to nearly .8,000,000 a-year. Pelargoniums alone counting for 

 290,000, Cannas for 70,000, and other principal genera in 

 proportion. 



The orangery or conservatory, constructed in a very econo- 

 mical manner, is 226 feet in length, and is used for the pro- 

 tection in winter of hardwooded plants taken no in autumn for 

 planting-out in the following year. A large shed of the best 

 construction serves to shelter soils, peat, and various com- 

 posts, as well as spades, rakes, watering-pots, and light tools. 

 Down the middle for the entire length of the shed runs a 

 table 1-3 feet wide, at which sixty men can pot with freedom 

 the innnmerable plants strnclc itrom cuttings in the frames. 

 Spacious cellars, 9 feet 10 inches high, cut out of the rock at 

 great expense and at a considerable depth below the surface, 

 extend beneath the frames. They are intended for protecting 

 in winter tubers and rhizomes, such as those of Dahlias, 

 Cannas, itc, taken up in autumn. They may also be used as 

 a workshop for the gardeners in severe frosts, and as gas will 

 shortly be laid on, they vrill be still better adapted for the 

 purpose. 



On the other side of the railway are the trial ground and 

 glass houses. Whenever a new phant is announced it is pur- 

 chased at any price, and here tried, for the city of Paris will 

 not lag behind in the race of gardening progress. If the plant 

 is hardy it is grown on trial out of doors along with kindred 

 plants, and under different modes of culture, and after two or 

 three years' experience it is adopted or rejected ; but it must 

 possess many good qualities to dethrone its rivals, and be 

 extensively propagated. The eftect is here studied, especially 

 in masses of one species or variety, rather than in hetero- 

 geneous assemblages of plants without unity or harmony. 

 The trial is all the more severe, because long experience has 

 taught mistrust of the high-soimding, often specious, descrip- 

 tions given by dealers in novelties. If the plant is adopted 

 it is sent to Vincennes, where it can be propagated in such 

 numbers, and over an extent of groimd, that it could not be 

 at La Mxiette. 



The houses, which have been successively erected from 1838 

 to the present time, are not equalled in extent in .any other 

 part of France. They consist of twenty-one ranges, divided 

 into sections according to the mode of culture required by the 

 different classes of the plants, and cover an area of 95,800 square 

 feet. The largest house has an area of 18,222 square feet, is 

 31 J feet in height i.n the centre, and is in three compartments. 

 The central one is fiUod with a splendid collection of Camellias 

 from 1.5 to 23 feet high, planted out, and several of them once 

 formed part of the celebrated collection of the Empress .Jose- 

 phine at Malmaison. Of the two side divisions one is devoted 

 to the protection of those ornamental- foliaged plants which 

 have risen so much in favour during the last few years. There 

 may be seen trees of Wigandia, Nicotiana wigandioides, which 

 is covered in winter with superb drooping panicles of white 

 flowers, Montagiif^as, Polymnia, Aralia papyrifera, and many 



other handsome tropical plants. The division o;i the other 

 side contains a number of large specimen Palms, I'andanuses, 

 and Cycads, which are almost unrivalled. Among them are 

 magnificent examples uf Sabal Blackburniana, Seaforthia, Pan- 

 danus, Phceuix, Thrinax, Livistonia, Zamia, Cycas, Cerato- 

 zamia, &c., not to mention a numerous collection of novel- 

 ties, in fine condition, amountiug to upwards of 390 species. 

 Another large house, in three spans, holds the remainder of 

 the collection of large Camellias ; these are in tubs, and whilst 

 those planted out aiford a multitude of cut blooms, these are 

 used to decorate the apartments of the Hotel de Ville at the 

 great balls given by the Prefect of the Seine ; indeed, all the 

 large stove and greenhouse plants are principally gi'own for 

 this purpose. Ordinary gi'eenhouse plants, such as Azaleas, 

 Acacias, Epacrises, Heaths, &c., are grown along with the 

 Camellias, and receive much the same treatment as regards 

 culture. 



A square pavilion, fiUed with very tall Palms, Dracaenas, 

 Ficns, Aralia. itc, forms a vestibule to a high lean-to contain- 

 ing a collection of no less than 110 species of Ficus. Ficus 

 elastica (Urostigma elasticum), or the Indianrubber tree, takes 

 up the greatest amount of room, although there are some other 

 species of nearly equal merit for beds of peat soil out of doors 

 in summer. 



Further on, in sections according to the description of plants 

 grown in them, are large and fine houses devoted to Dracasnas, 

 to Aroids, to Ferns,' to large-leaved Solanums. to Begonias, to 

 Musas, to Hibiscus, to Pelargonium giandiflomm, to large 

 Galadiums, i-c. Lastly, other two houses deser\-e special 

 mention ; these are the propagating-house and that which 

 goes by the name of the " sen'e de sevrage." 



The propagating-house is employed for the rapid propagation 

 of all hothouse and hardy plants that do not strike readily in 

 frames, and the appliances are such as are nowhere else to be 

 seen. It is impossible, however, to convey a clear idea of the 

 arrangements from mere description ; suiBce it, therefore, to 

 say that there are shelves all round, and, besides, two bark 

 beds, in the interior of which shelves rise in giadation Uke the 

 steps of a stair, and under these run the hot-v;ater pipes en- 

 closed by sheets of iron. The pipes, sixteen in number, are 

 4J inches in diameter, and run all round the house. Being 

 thus confined within the pit ,hey maintain the heat of the tan 

 in which the pots are plunge I, and afford that degi-ee of bottom 

 ; heat which is so favourable ' j the emission of roots. The step- 

 like arrangement of the shelves covered with tan, on which 

 bell-glasses are placed, allows of the young plants being kept 

 very close to the glass. Six young gardeners are employed 

 throughout the year in propagating, and for jilants difficult to 

 1 strike or raise from seed special means are pro',-ided. This 

 house furnishes about a million of young plants every year. 



The " serre de sevi'age" is that in which the young plants 

 .are placed as soon as they have recovered from their first trans- 

 plantation or potting, and when they are well established they 

 are removed to their' respective houses or frames to make way 

 for new comers. A portion of this house is occupied with 

 choice specimens of new stove plants on trial, or for propa- 

 gation. 



I may add that the other branches of this est.ablishment, 

 such as seed-rooms, storehouses, &c., are well organised, and 

 that the regulations are mo,st judicious, and so, too, are those 

 with regard to the superintendence, order, and discipline of the 

 men. Lectures on the theory and practice of hoilieulture are 

 periodically given by the heads of dep.artments to the workmen 

 and apprentices, aud discussions held. The expenditure for 

 this great establishment does not exceed £8800 a-year. 



Such is the organisation of an establishment the like of 

 which does not exist in the whole world, and which proves 

 what horticulture can do for the ornamentation of the capital 

 of a gi-eat nation. — Ed. Andke, ./art'iHcr PriHCij;fli tic Ja Ville 

 dc Paris. 



IKESINE HERBSTn. 

 Allow me through your valuable .Journal to say a few words 

 on behalf of the Iresine Herbstii. I planted a large bed of it 

 in this garden last season, and although we had a large num- 

 ber of beds planted in the usual way with bedding plants, 

 not one was so much admired as the above, more especially 

 during the months of Julv, August, and September — in fact, it 

 was beautiful up to the middle of October. I also consider it 

 invaluable for the stove for this season of the year. I have 

 some fine specimens in eight-inch pots 2 feet through, and 



