Commercial Gardens. 15 



sented him with the Fifteenth Numbei' of the Gardener's Ma- 

 gazine, and our best verbal advice for his future progress. 



In Cels^s Nursery peat earth plants are chiefly cultivated ; 

 and of these it contains, perhaps, the best collection in or 

 around Paris. They are chiefly grown in pits, without flues, 

 covered in winter with boards, mats, or reeds. In one of the 

 peat borders we found A/iOJia parviflora in fruit. There are 

 a good collection of green-house plants, some hot-house 

 plants, and a good many orange trees. We were sorry to 

 see this nursery in very indifferent order. 



Godefrojfs Nursery at Ville d' Avray^ near Sevres, appeared 

 to us one of the most prosperous and English-looking nurse- 

 ries we ever saw on the Continent. The extent may be three 

 or four acres ; the surface is a uniform slope, laid out in pa- 

 rallelogram compartments with nai'rov/ alleys between ; and 

 the soil is a saponaceous yellow loam, not unlike that of some 

 parts of the Hammersmith nursery. Most nursery articles 

 are grown, hardy as well as hot-house; though the collection 

 of the latter is, of course, the most limited. Magnolias are 

 grown in abundance, and to great perfection. Magnol/a ma- 

 crophylla ripens its seeds, and M. Godefroy has raised plants 

 from them ; as he has also from seeds ripened in his own 

 garden of Magnolm tripetala, glauca, and auriculata ; jPagus 

 pumila and americana have also ripened seeds. We saw 

 Anona triloba in fruit, and were told that Caly can thus «ceri- 

 f61ius (?), Cratae^gus (Mespilus) sorbifolius (?) and Chamaemes- 

 pilus, also ripened fruit or seeds. The bramble-leaved moss 

 rose, the oak-leaved laburnum, the shell-leaved paper mul- 

 berry, the willow-leaved chestnut, and a number of other lusus 

 naturce^ were pointed out to us ; for the English, whether in 

 trees, furniture, books, or other objects, are generally under- 

 stood by the French to value only what is rare, curious, or 

 difficult of attainment. This is too true; though, as we as- 

 sured M. Godefroy, it did not happen to apply to us. It 

 may, indeed, be considered as an attendant upon excessive 

 riches, want of science, or the result of these and the aris- 

 tocratic spirit of exclusiveness. The ties used for training 

 plants in this nursery are the withered leaves of the Esparto 

 rush (Lygeum tSpartum), which are sent from Spain in the 

 packages of soda, and bought by M. Godefroy and other 

 gardeners from the soapmakers. -^mygdalus georgica, a 

 species of Ceanothus, and two species of Fitex (we regret 

 our inability to be more particular) were pointed out to us 

 as remarkably showy plants. 



8ept. 16. — The Garden ofFromonth siuated 17 miles south 

 of Paris, and combines an exotic nursery and an elegant villa 



