324 Foreign Notices. 



the roots would be kept cool and moist ; comparatively little water would 

 be required, and the plants would acquire a solidity that would enable 

 them to bid defiance to damp and mildew in winter, when they could also 

 bear a few degrees of frost with impunity. — {lb. 1849, p. 212. J 



Art. II. Foreign Notices. 

 FRANCE. 



French Bouquets. — The Marchands de Bouquets are a very numerous 

 and thriving fraternity in Paris. In all the principal streets, and particu- 

 larly in the arcades and passages near the theatres and places of public 

 amusement, are to be found their attractive shops, where nosegays may be 

 procured at from ten sous to twenty francs throughout every day of the 

 year ; a still more numerous, yet humbler class, sell in the public streets, 

 and at the railway stations, roses, violets, carnations, camellias, in fact, 

 every flower in its natural season from January to December at from one to 

 five sous (^rf. to 24</). The amount spent by the Parisians in this way is 

 almost incredible ; thousands of persons obtain a living by selling these 

 halfpenny bouquets ; to understand this, it must be borne in mind that the 

 manners of the continent are different from those in England ; that in catho- 

 lic countries almost every day is the " Jour de fete" of some saint, and that 

 in France it is the custom for every one to present flowers, either growing 

 or cut, to tlieir friends on their birth-day or "jour de fete ;" so universalis 

 this, that a duchess gladly accepts the friendly homage, and the meanest 

 inhabitant of a garret feels neglected, if not insulted, without it. 



To meet this demand, there is a distinct and numerous class of florists, 

 occupying small gardens from a quarter to one acre of ground, adjoining 

 the city walls in the Faubourgs St. Denis, Menilmontant, Charonne, Mar- 

 ceau, and St. Jacques, whose sole occupation is the cultivation of these 

 flowers ; each has his " specialile" which he grows upon a large scale and 

 can afford to sell at a cheap rate. Everything is done upon the most eco- 

 nomical plan ; to save expense, the plant-houses are built two, three, or 

 four feet below the surface, exactly like spanroofed pits ; the front or south 

 lights are glass, the back or north is generally covered over with deal 

 boards ; this enables them to cover the whole thickly over with leaves in 

 winter, and effectually prevents the frost from entering ; there is not one in 

 fifty of these houses ever warmed by any other means ; fuel is very expen- 

 sive ii Paris, and it would not answer their purpose to be at the expense of 

 fire heat. Tan is abundant, and procured at a reasonable price ; it is every- 

 where used in these gardens for bottom heat. 



With these florists you do not find any large collections or general stock ; 

 few grow more than ten or fifteen kinds of plants to bloom in succession, 

 that their energies may be concentrated upon one thing at a time, and, as 

 might be expected, what they do is done well. The " speciality" of one 



