500 Notes and Reflections during a Tour : — 



Among the plants we observed a large brugmansia in flower, 

 some good specimens of the more common Australian shrubs, 

 and cuttings of A^erium striking root in phials of water. There 

 is a small lawn containing one or two round clumps, and a 

 circuitous walk, sanded and rolled, but not many exotic 

 shrubs. The kitchen-garden occupies three fourths of the 

 whole territory, and is very well cropped. Along the tops of 

 the walls a horizontal vine-shoot is trained and spurred in ; 

 the crop was abundant and the Muscadines beginning to 

 ripen. By far too many of the leaves were stripped off; 

 those left on were full of holes, which the gardener, Jean 

 Picot, told us were the effects of a hail-storm. This good 

 man's hobby was the georgina, of which he had raised some 

 new sorts : his crops showed him to be a good empirical 

 practitioner; but, as far as we conversed with him, he scarcely 

 knew any thing of the science of his art. 



The Villa of the Abbe Gossier is in the Rue du Nord. The 

 situation is one of the highest in Rouen; and from a pavilion 

 on the top of the house are seen the whole of the town, and 

 an extensive reach of the river. The garden contains above 

 an acre, surrounded by a wall, and somewhat varied in sur- 

 face by Nature, but much more so by the art and taste of the 

 Abbe. Before the principal front of the house is a small 

 lawn bordered by groups of trees, which completely shuts out 

 Rouen, and forms a varied outline to the sky and the distance. 

 All except this lawn is in the artificial style suited to a 

 walled garden, and consists of terraced slopes, espaliers, 

 hedges, dwarfs, vines, shrubs, fanciful little railings, and a 

 line of posts and chains. Among the crops we observed 

 large and excellent alpine strawberries, of the sort which 

 produces no runners, the space between the plants being 

 covered with rye straw : the Abbe propagates them by divi- 

 sion, for the reasons given by M. Racine for propagating by 

 runners (p. 124.), and sometimes also by seeds; at all events 

 the plantation is renewed once a year. The Abbe informed 

 us that no sea-kale was grown about Rouen, but we have since 

 sent him abundance of seeds, and he may at any time pro- 

 cure both seeds and plants from M. Vilmorin of Paris. There 

 is an orangery ; and amongst a variety of curious contrivances 

 about the house, is a painting of a portiere and a watch-dog, 

 which is calculated to surprise one on entering from the street, 

 and which, we believe, wc were told was intended to startle 

 strano;ers and beairars. 



rill . ^^ 



1 he Abbe is the president of the Agricultural Society here, 

 and is very anxious for the progress of the art in this part 

 of the country. We were amused at the account he gave us 



