448 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 



BorcVs Rnidisseitr. 



of a very thin wire, which besides being quite as efficient is in- 

 finitely neater than the bolt-like wire employed here. They 

 have a still better and simpler raidisseur in use at Thomery. It 

 is simply a small piece of cast-iron costing little more than a 

 garden-nail — so small that its presence on wall or trellis does not 

 look awkward as some of the larger kinds do, but for all that, it 

 is a very effective tightener. The walls at Thomery are very 



neatly wired by its 

 help, and it is equally 

 useful for espaliers. I 

 have indeed never 

 visited a garden in 

 which the walls and 

 trellises were so neatly 

 done, and all by means 

 of this simple strainer 

 and the galvanised 

 wire. 



Mr. Palmer of Ver- 

 sailles writing in the ' Garden ' on this subject says : " Among the 

 numerous ' raidisseurs ' manfactured in France there is none, 

 perhaps, more effective and simple, and certainly none cheaper 

 than the tightener made by Borel, of 10, Quai du Louvre. It 

 consists of a small iron bolt with a flat head, of the exact 

 size here given. The hole in the flat head B is used for winding 

 up the bolt by means of a nail or round piece of iron. The 

 hole at C is for introducing the end of the wire to be wound 

 up, which coils away between the flanges (d d). The bolt revolves 

 between the coils of the stirrup-shaped wire loop X, which is 

 itself fastened by a wire to the end-post or hook of the espaliers. 

 The whole affair, with the wire loop ready mounted, is sold for 

 three-halfpence. Before this last raidisseur was invented, I had 

 successfully used for many years the following plan of tightening 

 wires. I made a loop somewhere about the middle of my wire by 

 twisting it round a cylindrical piece of iron or bolt, which I left 

 in it to prevent its closing, while I stretched the wire by hand 

 and fastened the two ends. This done, I gave the bolt as many 

 turns as were necessary to obtain the required degree of tension, 

 and then withdrew it. I could at any future time give an addi- 



