12 



Ql\}c jTarmcr^g iilnntljlu Visitor. 



^ 



c(l almost exclusively in the transportation of 

 porter, are of Fleinisli orij;iti and of |M-0(rigioiis 

 size. It is stated tliat the hest-lraintil fanii and 

 cart-horses of the English, are never alloued to 

 run, but arc taugiil only to walk at the cpiicii step. 

 These liorses are f;enerally lurije and fine, and in- 

 fnfptely more useful than the Enjrlish lace-horse. 

 Whether the team consists of two or tnore 

 horses, the ploufrhman manages hoth liis plonirh 

 and his well-trained horses alone — two horses 

 workinjr abreast. 



The horses of Normandy, or those which car- 

 ry the diliirence between Havre and Paiis, are 

 stout and strong, an<l compactly htult, and evi- 

 dently of that same hardy breed which we liere 

 call Fre7ich or Cannd'mn horses, and wdiich, with- 

 out doulit, were originally brought from this same 

 country into Canaila, by the original emigrants 

 from Normandy. These horses are large and 

 handsome: owing to a colder climate, those of 

 Canada being evidently of diminished size. 



The lands in the vicinity of Paris, and, as I be- 

 lieve, throughout most ot that country, are sel- 

 dom enclosed. In that country, and in the 

 suburbs of that city, flocks of sheep are occa- 

 sionally seen feeding in the open tields, euarded 

 and attemled only by the shepherd-dog, who 

 inarches around the flock in a circle continual! 

 and the sheep that attempts to stiay is 

 arrested and brought back to the fold. 



At the great raiij-oad depots or stations in Eng- 

 land, the car-houses are never built of wood, but 

 of iron incondmstible, with roofs of sheet-iron or 

 of slate. Walls of stone or brick, or pillars of 

 Siollow cast iron support the superstrnctm-e, ibe 

 /dates, purlines and rafters being of the precise 

 form of the edge rail, which is used on our rail- 

 roads;— round rods of iron serve as ties or stavs ; 

 similar rods alsoseive as cross-beams to connect 

 the plates on winch the rafters rest. These con- 

 necting rods are elevated in tlie centre, to allow 

 greater h-ead-room and space above — the slates 

 bein«t secured, resting on narrow strips of iron, 

 which are laid horizontally at intervals across 

 the ral'lers. 



The houses anil 



ll.v, 

 quickly 



now princijially closed, by order of government. 

 Ill the suburbs, and particularly on the side of 

 Vilry and Vincenncs, numerous and new open- 

 ings are to be seen in the midst of the fertile 

 fields, through which the stones arc drawn up- 

 wards by a great wheel, thirty feet in diaiiieter, 

 from the vast caverns beneath, pillars being lelt 

 at intervals to sustain the superincumbent weight. 

 At some other places, as at the hill of St. Cloud, 

 on the road to Versailles, these caverns are en- 

 tered horizon t.illy, and near the base of the hills. 

 The streets of these two great cities are paved 

 generally with stones of a cubical, but never of a 

 round form. In the latter city, especially, asph- 

 altum being cheap, is already much used for 

 side-walks. 

 I 



nouses and public buildings are almost 

 imiversally built of stone, or of brick, and cov- 

 •ered with slate or tile: excejit only the cottages 

 and ont-buildings, in some particu'lar sections'^of 

 the country, are sometimes covered with tliatch, 

 Vo the thiriuiess of a loot ; this thatch being com- 

 jiosed of straw, and an otherwise useless wild 

 grass, called ling. Timber, in those coniiliies, 

 Ijeing comparatively scarce, shin-les of wood 

 seem never to be used, or to be (piite unknown. 

 The straw-thatched roof seldom or never takes 

 •fire in lliai iiioist climate. A new article for 

 roofs has lieen lately introduced, consisting of 

 large sheets of felr. formed of lbs coarsest wool 

 or of woolen rag.'^ ; these being saliiraled or dip- 

 ped in fispbifiMKj, are said to be both durable and 

 •cheap. •i'!i.- v,'a1!s of large public buildings are 

 strcngtbei:./; .-rt frequent intervals, and at all out- 

 ward a-Kgles, iiy Plrong projecting abutments, or 

 ■upheld by other efl'ectual modes," many of the 

 churches iieing built in form of across; the 

 walls of large ■clnirch<;s or cathedrals being 

 fitrengthcned by rat'gesof niassive columns witli- 

 311 ; theee being strongly sonnectei! with the side- 

 walls at top, serve nsl ojily to sup[rort the roof, 

 5iut to 1ceep also the .walls ji! ji'ace. Still more 

 <1urab1e siructm-es.are the Jacsr*.- and aiici^'ut ali- 

 8>eys. These, St? (iirasl have iK-eii, are built of 

 ■(extraordinary strength, with co.:ii{..oi;nd rir di ul.ile 

 .«ide walls; ;lK;se jiarailel or do«ble w.df.s '>»\wj 

 firmly timred by juimerous tr,-uitw-<'r.«e iun? iii;i-i- 

 sive |>arlilions, or sU-ong sul)-.djviJing v. ab's, a 

 range -of iiumeroiis s;na11 comp!uti«..M;ts, oi cells, 

 or cloisters, 1>eing tlins foru;eci vviUicn ihe ■ ?;.lls. 

 Siich were the sancluarjes orahodes-uS'ihe in.-uks 

 of forKjer days. 



Tlie stone which 'is princ1[ia%' ^>f:«ii in J^iHi- 

 don, is a sjiecies of sandsl(nie, soft -.-s first. ; nd 

 easy to extract from the ijiiarry, tmid t« won-.; 

 and «n these accounts pvcn fu-" mare ext<;!isivelj 

 used tha.M harder gianiltL The high chalkj clitTs, 

 which hound the Biilish channel on liolh sidi's, 

 .appear to be hut a viu-icty of this same saiid- 

 Kione. From Havre .to Paris, and on botJi sides 

 ■of the river Seijio, a good portion of th/? coiiyiry 

 appears to i)e uiideiiaid with this same stone— a 

 considerable portion of Paris being bniltnp from 

 stones obliuned from vast quurries or suhterrane- 

 ous caverns, which have be'en S'urmed benetith the 

 city itself; the openings of tiicse caverns being 



I former communication I have stated that 

 the frnit-bearing s|}ecimen trees, in the garden 

 of the London llorticultin-al Society, were gen- 

 erally planted in close order, or but six or eight 

 feet asunder, in the row, and encouraged to 

 branch low. A portion of the pear trees, having 

 been trained in the rpienouille or [lyramidal form, 

 by bending downwards the young shoots at mid- 

 snmmer,aiid thus confined for a season, they retain 

 their jiosilion forever after unchanged, lii some 

 instances, tlieir lower limbs, being loaded with 

 fruit, were found lying on the ground. Such was 

 the case, as particularly witnessed with those new 

 kmds, th<j Dunmr re and Rouselencli, of Mr. 

 Knight, both of which have so lately proved in 

 that garden lo be among the number of the most 

 productive and valuiible of all fruits. 



At the Garden of Plants at Paris, the trees of 

 the iiear being preservei: in perfect qnenoiiille or 

 pyramidal form by the most scientific operations 

 of spur-pruning during mid-summer, are thus 

 rendered abundantly productive to the ground. 

 The same system is perfectly understood and 

 practised by some of the most' distinguished cul- 

 tivators of Viiiy. 



In several (larts of England, and particularly 

 atVitry and other parts of France, the business 

 of the nurseryman descends Ironi liither to son, 

 and liom generation to generation ; and, by care- 

 ful and long-continued observation, the intelligent 

 nurseryman is enabled to know and to identify 

 with accuracy his fruit trees of many species, in 

 most of their kinds and varieties, by sight, and 

 by iiispeolion of the tree and its leaf, or even in 

 inaiiy cases by the tree alone and its wood dur- 

 ing winter. JJy certain features and indications 

 they are known, ami by signs even more invaria- 

 ble and infjdiible than by the mere inspection 

 and examination of the fruit, liable as is the fruit 

 to vary in quality and appearance, in different ex- 

 positions- ami .soils; or, as the pastor, or good 

 shepherd, knows, and is fully able to recognize, 

 by their varied features, each and every individ- 

 ual of bis owr; flock. 1st, they are distinguished 

 by the general I'urni of the tree, some growing 

 tall and bandsonu', the shoots rising vertically or 

 upright, in others horizontal or straggling, or pen- 

 dulous. 9d, by tlie .crowlh of the young wood, 

 which in some is very strong or stout, in others 

 slender and feeble; — fiy tlie form and position of 

 the eyes ; — by the color of the yoimg wood, which 

 varies from dark brown or black to yellow or deep 

 red ; — by the color of the blossoms, which vary 

 from dark red to white ; — or by the color of the 

 leaf, and nl.'^o by its peculiar cjiaracter and form. 

 Of the fruits the most appro»-ed, an<l of the 

 more recent introduction, the following kinds ap- 

 pear from the best informaticru I was enabled to 

 obtain, to stand pre-eminent. Of Gmjies, the 

 Canon- flail Muscat ; M'U' Sweel /later; IVilmoVs 

 J^ew Ear!,/ JTuscal ; JVilmoVs .Yejf Blnrk Ham- 

 /ntrg ; this last being remarkahfy di.stiiict in its 

 appearance, and larger than the B\:\r.k Hamburg, 

 moresingnlaram! beautiful ; ye; not indeed deem- 

 ed superior in regard to flavor lo that celebrated 

 variety. From i\lr. Ronald, who front Jiis j-.nsi- 

 tion and opportunities, ought certainly to know, 

 I have nnderslood distinctly, that this kind is jden- 

 tical with the new and celebrated " Victoria." — 

 'Black Champion is another kind, recoimneiidcd 

 by !i\i: Gray the younger, who so very lately de- 

 ceased, as new and much superior to Black Ham- 

 bi.'rg, being both a lar-er berry and of higher fla- 

 voi', and an excellent hearer. 



Of Pears, very lately ])roved by Mr. Thomp- 

 son at the Garden of tiie London Ilorlicultural 

 .Society, the Van Mon.s Leon le Clerc, as he stated 

 tome very recently, is believed to be the best 

 pear i:l the world, uncommon size, beauty, flavor. 



and all things considered. The Bcurre Bosc, and 

 the Louise Bonne de Jersey, :\.s there l.itely proved, 

 have 7;iorc than rivalled the; Marie Louise as most 

 valuable and productive and profitable kinds. — 

 The last named, particularly, has prnyc-d with us 

 a prodigious bearer, and is in very high rp|)Ute 

 at Paris ; it is there called the Louise Bonne d'Av- 

 rcmchcs, as it is stated by them to have originated 

 either at Avranches or at Cherbourg. " 



The Duchesse d'Orleans is another new kind, 

 of a beautiful golden russet color, which is very 

 highly spoken of in Normandy. Of the later 

 trials, or of 1841, as Mr. Thompson informed me, 

 the following other kinds have been there ap- 

 proved, as being of very distinguished merit, and 

 as highly deserving of extensive circulation. — 

 Thompson Pear, a new Flemish fruit ; Allhorpe 

 Crassanc of Knight, Hacon's Incomparable ; and 

 the Dunmore, also of i^Ir. Knight. This last is 

 large and of most excellerit quality, a jirodigious 

 bearer, and ripens between those two main and 

 rnost profitable and established varieties, the Wil- 

 liams Hon Chretien and Blarie Louise; or it rip- 

 ens a little before the last named. From this 

 cause, the genuine trees of the Dunmore, as 1 am 

 informed, are now sold by some as high as half 

 a guinea each. Rouseleneh is another new kind, 

 originated by Mr. Knight, and lately proved to he 

 eminently valuable. AH Mr. Knight's new kinds 

 prove great hearers generally, according lo Mr. 

 Thompson. 



Of new ornamental or useful productions, I 

 will here speak particularly only of two distinct 

 species of trees, namely, the Deodara ami the 

 Paulownia. The Panlovvnin imperialis is yet ex- 

 ceeding rare. It is of a growth so rapid that, in 

 a highly fertile soil, it is stated to have grown to 

 Ihe height of twelve feet in a single season. The 

 leaves are of unusual size. The tree which 

 bloomed for the first time in the Garden of Plants 

 at Paris, in open cuhiirc, and in the beginning of 

 May last, is stated to liave produced flowers ojf a 

 blue color, like the splendid Glo.vinia ccerulia. — 

 This new tree is from Japan, — the jiarent tree of 

 all in France. lu Normandy the Paulownia is 

 tender while yonn;r, afterwards hardy. 



The Deodara, Cedrus Deodara, or Pinns Deo- 

 dara, or Holy Cedar of the Motiutains, is a new 

 tree from the elevated mountjiins of India, other- 

 wise termed the God tree, so called because cer- 

 tain nations of those countries worship beneath 

 its shade. 



The Deodara is an evergreen tree with leaves 

 like the larch. The trunk groves t;tll and upright, 

 the branches horizontal or pendulous. At Liv- 

 erpool I first saw the tree, in December I84I, and 

 perfectly hardy in that cold but moist climate.— 



By to)): 



it was there made to assume the form 



of the weeping willow. Altogether, it is a most 

 rare, useful and splendid tree. In a late number 

 of the Gardc7ier^s CJironicle, a rnost valuable jour- 

 nal which is edited in London by Dr. Lindley, 

 he there states that the Deodara " is as hardy and 

 fast growing as the hirch, more valuable in its 

 timber, and with the evergreen beauty of the Ce- 

 dar of Lebanon. Of all the trees of British In- 

 dia, this is incomparably the most important to 

 England. It has every good quality and no bad 

 one." Thus speaks Dr. Lindley ; and from his 

 pre-eminent botanical knowledge, and from the 

 ))osilion which he occui)ics, no one in ihct conn- 

 try ought to be a better judge. 



Other new hardy and beautiful trees are — the 

 Sorbus liybridus, or silver leaved mountain Ash, 

 the Gariya eliptica, and some oihers which I 

 might name; but none comparatively appear to 

 be worthy such distinguished notice as those 

 which are aliove described. W. K. 



Nonaiitnm Hill, Newton, Nov. 1843. 



Wo.ndehful Sights in the Am. — The vener- 

 able .'\merican Lexicographer has thoiigl'.t it 

 worth while to notice, in the New Haven Hejald, 

 '.he use which appears to linve been made in re- 

 cent [)ublic,itions of certain atmospheric phe- 

 nomena, in reference to the great change which, 

 it is said, is to come over the world this year, 

 ile says : — 



"To per.sons not accustomed to see any iimi- 

 snal phenomena in the heavens, such a fiery ap- 

 [jearance of the clouds must be very terrific." lir- 

 norance in such cases, is a calamity. I had scvii 

 more wonderful ayipearaiices in "the clouds or 

 heavens, and was not in the least disturbed. 



"In the dark day. May 1!), 1780, the heavens 



