356 Notes and Gleanings. 



To the Editor of the "Journal of Horticulture." 



There has been no snow here as yet ; but ice formed tlie other day four inches 

 thick in the more shallow ponds of the various parks and gardens, which 

 were instantly covered with skaters. We of New England may envy the Pa- 

 risian gardeners. Their midwinter is scarcely so cold as our middle of Novem- 

 ber. Many of our greenhouse plants stand out in perfect safety without protec- 

 tion. A walk of two minutes from where I write brings me to the garden of the 

 Luxembourg, which, as at present arranged, is a combination of the old and new 

 styles of gardening. Here, among fountains, statues, fish-ponds, groves of tall 

 forest-trees, and lawns where the grass is still fresh and green, one sees ivy 

 trained in long festoons from tree to tree, and shrubs planted in clumps and masses, 

 which retain the verdure of summer. These are chiefly rhododendrons, which 

 are here in vast quantities, varieties of Japanese euonymus, evergreen privets, 

 hollies, mahonias, aucuba, variegated box, veronicas, and various kinds of yucca. 

 The greater part of these would be killed outright by a New-England winter ; 

 but none of them have suffered here in the least. Pampas-grass stands out 

 with a thick covering of leaves and thatch. China roses are planted in 

 masses of hundreds, without protection ; and the borders are ornamented with 

 tall standard roses, alternating with deciduous shrubs, also grown as standards. 

 The edgings are usually belts of ivy. Vast quantities of herbaceous plants arc 

 planted in readiness for early spring flowering. These are set, for the most 

 part, in lines and ribbons extending along the borders for great distances. Thus 

 iberis and arabis are placed in lines alternating with stocks, aubrietia, doronicum, 

 and daisies. They are removed after flowering, and replaced with summer bed- 

 ding-plants. 



One of the prettiest specimens of landscape-gardening within the limits of 

 Paris is the Park of Monceaux. The surface of the ground is undulating, and 

 its irregularities have been used with admirable efl'ect. The higher parts are 

 crowned with masses of shrubbery, and the hollows are clothed with the richest 

 green grass. Tall groves, a stream, a sheet of water, bridges, a cascade, an 

 artificial grotto, an artificial ruin, rocks covered with trailing plants, old trees 

 clothed with ivy, strange waterfowl in the pools, and a host of sparrows twit- 

 tering in the shrubbery, — these are the features of the Park of Monceaux. 



There is another park, lately begun, on the opposite side of Paris, which is 

 in some respects the most remarkable piece of gardening which it contains. 

 This is the Buttes Chaumont. The site is notorious. Here, during the middle 

 ages, stood the gibbet of Paris, where corpses in scores were left hanging to 

 feed the birds. Here, after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, the headless body 

 of Coligny was hung by the feet ; and Charles IX. and all his court came to 

 exult before the mouldering remains of their murdered enemy. In liter times, 

 the place has served for uses less horrible, but not less ignominious. The adja- 

 cent quarters of Paris are occupied by a dense population of the poorer sort, 

 laborers, mechanics, small tradesmen, and a swarm of nondescripts belonging 

 to the " dangerous classes." In short, it is a district in very indifferent repute, 

 and was worse formerly than now. The Buttes Chaumont, besides serving as a 

 general deposit for the rubbish of the neighborhood, was a place of resort during 



