10 Notes on England and France. 



the side of Yitry and Vincennes, luimerous and new open- 

 ings are to be seen in the midst of the fertile fields, through 

 which the stones are drawn upwards by a great wheel, 30 

 feet in diameter, from the vast caverns beneath, pillars be- 

 ing left 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 entered horizontally, 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, as- 

 phaltum being cheap, is already much used for side-walks. 



In a former communication I have stated that the fruit- 

 bearing specimen trees, in the garden of the London Horti- 

 cultural Society, were generally 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 quenouille or pyramidal form, by bending 

 downwards the young shoots at midsummer, and thus con- 

 fined for a season, they retain their position forever after 

 unchanged. In some instances, their lower limbs, being 

 loaded with fruit, were found lying on the ground. Such 

 was the case, as particularly witnessed with those new 

 kinds, the Dunmore and Rouselench, of Mr. Knight, both 

 of which have so lately proved in that garden to be among 

 the number of the most productive and valuable of all 

 fruits. 



At the Garden of Plants at Paris, the trees of the pear 

 being preserved in perfect quenouille or pyramidal form by 

 the most scientific operations of spur-pruning during mid- 

 summer, arc thus rendered abundantly productive to the 

 ground. The same system is perfectly understood and 

 practised by some of the most distinguished cultivators of 

 Vitry. 



In several parts of England, and particularly at Vitry 

 and other parts of France, the business of the nurseryman 

 descends from father to son, and from generation to gene- 

 ration ; and, by careful and long-continued observation, 

 the intelligent nurseryman is enabled to know and to iden- 

 tify with accuracy his fruit trees of many species, in most 

 of their kinds and varieties, by sight, and by inspection of 

 the tree and its leaf, or even in many cases by the tree 

 alone audits wood during winter. By certain features and 

 indications they arc known, and by signs even more inva- 



