ClIAI>. III.] 



rilE GARDEN OF PLANTS. 



07 



tagc. Its chief merits are that its plants are better named than 

 in any British garden ; it possesses several arrangements which 

 enahle the student to see conveniently all obtainable useful plants 

 better than in any British botanic garden. Its chief faults are 

 that it has a bad position in an out-of-the-way part of the town ; 

 the greater part of its surface is covered with plants systematically 

 disposed ; the houses are poor and badly arranged compared to 

 those in our own good botanic gardens ; and there is no green 

 turf to be seen in its open parts. It has, in addition, a very bad 

 atmosphere for evergreens, and a ridiculous maze. 



There is one admirable feature which nmst inii bo forgotten, 

 and that is the fine 

 collection of fruit- 

 trees. This was 

 established by the 

 National Conven- 

 tion by a decree 

 dated June 1793 : 

 ''So as to estal- 

 lishthe uniformii 

 of nomenclature 

 necessary for all 

 parts of the re- 

 public." The col- 

 lection dates from 



•■•>■ '"'//■ 3, 5. 2-. -J, 37, '""'■ '■''''" 



the year 1792, when the fruit-garden of the Chartreux of Paris 

 was broken up, and two trees of each variety transported to 

 the Garden of Plants. In 1793 it contained 185 varieties. In 

 1824, when Thouin died, there were in it 265 varieties of pears 

 alone ; it has now more than 1400 varieties of this fruit. It 

 is interesting and important to know that the collection still 

 preserves the greater portion of the very types described a 

 century ago by Duhamel. 



A large division is devoted to the culture of plants used as food, 

 and in commerce. It is at once successful, useful, and complete. 

 The chief varieties of all garden crops are to be seen ; the various 

 species of Pihubarb, all important varieties of Lettuce — in a word, 

 everything that the learner could desire to see in this way. It is 

 not merely the plan of the thing, but the manner in which it is 



