490 Foreign Notices. 



FRANCE. 



The Cercle Generale d'Horticulture, of Paris, has again taken the lead of 

 the Royal Society, by holding an extra show for fruit and dahlias, at the 

 Grand Gallery of the Luxembourg Palace, on the 25th September and three 

 following days. The exhibition was well attended, considering that Paris, 

 like London, is at this moment half empty. The fruit consisted principally 

 of grapes, pears, and pines ; many of the specimens were equal to any thing 

 ever produced here. The great fault in Paris, and indeed throughout 

 France, is, that societies offer prizes for too much, namely, for the largest 

 collections ; on the contrary, were they to define the exact number of fruits 

 or flowers, the collections, although less numerous, would appear to much 

 greater advantage, and be more fairly judged upon their intrinsic merits. 

 At present it is evident that a small collection, however fine, stands no 

 chance against a cart-load of rubbish, and, as a consequence, very many 

 amateurs are deterred from sending at all. The experimental gardens of 

 the Luxembourg have been long celebrated for a collection of vines, the 

 most complete and extensive in the kingdom ; and on this occasion Mr. 

 Hardy, the chief gardener, exhibited somewhere about one hundred varie- 

 ties, all of which were grown in the open air. Among them were natives 

 of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Persia, Syria, &c., 

 and all, or nearly so, at maturity, without any artificial appliances. The 

 berries of some were enormous, especially Damas Blanc, Muscat real, Mal- 

 aga, Romanza, Ribier, Ribier de Calabre, Balkin, Gros Guillaume, Corni- 

 chon, and Syrian. The Frankenthal (Black Hamburgh) were very nearly 

 if not quite as large as those usually grown under glass in Holland or Eng- 

 land. The most handsome specimens were Raisin Prune de Herault, a 

 round, black grape ; Rouge de Rolle, larger than Black Hamburgh ; Mira- 

 cle, black, very large bunches ; Raisin Prune blanc de Naples, like the 

 Fontainebleau but more yellow ; Muscat de Sardaigne, large white ; Ro- 

 manza, much larger than Black Hamburgh ; Sideritas de Smyrne, large 

 rose color ; Chasselas Napoleon, finer than C. de Fontainebleau ; Cabral, a 

 large sea-green colored kind ; and Rosse Panse, a long white. In M. Bar- 

 bot's collection there were splendid specimens of Gros Guillaume, Gromier 

 du Cantal, Gros Ribier de Maroc, Superbe de Decandolle, Trousseau, Gros 

 Damas, Muscat d'Alexandrie, Chasselas Dore, Frankaenthal, Cornichon, 

 and Chasselas Violet. There was also a large basket of Chasselas de Fon- 

 tainebleau from M. Berger, of that golden waxy color for which they are so 

 renowned, and which alone was worth going far to see. M. Dupuy Jamin 

 had a large collection of pears ; among the finest were the following : — 

 Passe Tardive, Beurre Gris d'Hiver Nouveau, Belle Angevine, Bon Chre- 

 tien d'Espagne, Beurre Aurore, Gros Givet, Belle de Berry, Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme, Beurre de Lombardy, Bergamotte de Pentecote, Saint An- 

 dre, Doyenn6 d'Estrekemann, Souvenir de Boulogne, Beurre d'Aremberg, 

 Bon Chretien Turc, Napoleon d'Hiver, Bergamotte d'Austrasie, Belle de 

 Flandres, St. Francois, Calabasse Royale, Bergamotte de Bruxelles, Bon 



