Foreign Notices. 383 



question on taking possession of his property; and since then he has 

 been constantly engaged in efforts, both by his example and his advice, 

 to induce the inhabitants to improve the appearance of the country. He 

 had, at first, to combat both a system of blind routine and a host of deep- 

 ly rooted prejudices. 



It is almost incredible that, in the midst of France, within fifty miles 

 of Paris, in the nineteenth century, he should have to fall in with farmers, 

 who, with three or four hundred acres in their possession, should refuse 

 to grow a single load of fodder, and should purchase all the hay neces- 

 sary for the keep of their horses ! — farmers who sowed their seed on 

 fallows, still covered with thistles — who manured their wheat land at 

 the rate of two or three little cart-loads an acre, or often put down no 

 manure at all ! Thanks to M. Vilmorin, his farmers are no longer in a 

 state of such gross ignorance : but the thistles of his neighbours still 

 introduce themselves, and defile his ground. Yet ten years have elapsed 

 since he began his improvements. 



Cedars of Lebanon. — To turn to the best advantage land which 

 was manifestly unfit for either tillage or grass, M. Vilmorin planted 

 seeds of various trees, in order to judge which would succeed best, and 

 he has already experienced the most satisfactory results in his experi- 

 ments of evergreens in a silicious soil. The sylvestre pine, and all its 

 varieties, the maritime pine and the laricio, grow there with great luxu- 

 riance. The growth of this last named tree is a remarkable circum- 

 stance, and ought to be carefully noted. The Pinus Strobus and the 

 other American pines, are also there in great numbers. The cedar of 

 Lebanon, the colossus of the vegetable kingdom, after a long and del- 

 icate infancy, has at last pushed forth most vigorously, and promises 

 ages of prosperity. M. Vilniorin's estate will be, perhaps after some 

 years, the only spot in the world where this tree will be found in any 

 considerable numbers ; for Mount Lebanon itself does not possess more 

 than twenty, and few persons plant more than two or three in their 

 pleasure-grounds. 



Calcareous Earth and Pine Trees. — But if evergreens or resi- 

 nous trees succeed perfectly well in poor silicious ground, the very op- 

 posite is the case in poor calcareous land. The attempts of M. Vilmo- 

 rin on this point have hitherto been exceedingly discouraging. He does 

 not, however, despair of seeing trees of this description at last succeed 

 well enoujxh in calcareous land, to make a fair return to the planter. 

 He founds his hopes on the fact, that thousands of acres in Champagne, 

 as chalky as his own, are covered with pines and evergreens, and prom- 

 ise at last, though at some distance of time, to recompense the farmer 

 for his time and trouble. It is only fair to state, that M. Vilmorin has 

 suffered dreadful losses in these experiments, in calcareous land, from 

 the white worm. I may add, that my own experience leads me to be- 

 lieve, that calcareous ground is not fitted to the rapid growth of ever- 

 green resinous trees. For fifty years I have been in the habit of seeing 

 the mound in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, called The Labyrinth; 

 and, during these fifty years, I can perceive little difference in the ap- 

 pearance of the evergreens planted on it ; they are in the same state 

 and nearly the same height. Now, if it be borne in mind that this 

 mound was formed of the remains of old buildings, substances com- 

 posed of carbonate and sulphate of lime, it will tend lo prove that cal- 

 careous earths are not fit for evergreens ; and that the resinous trees 

 planted in Champagne must stdl be waited for many years until they 

 arrive at a good growth. 



American Oaks. — These trees have been included, to some extent, in 

 the experiments of M. Vilmorin, and he can now declare that no spe- 

 cies of this tree will succeed, even in a middling degree, in bad calca- 



