on Gardening and Rural Affairs. 215 



volume is reserved to the notions of perspective, optics, the art of con- 

 veying information by signals, hydraulics ; to games of dexterity, as well in 

 village festivals as in gardens, and, in short, to gymnastic exercises." 



Un jardinier Agronome : Annuaire du Jardinier et de l'Agronome, pour 

 1826. Paris. 18mo. 



This is intended as a rival work to the Bon Jardinier, but on a smaller 

 scale, and on the principle of never repeating what has been said in the 

 preceding year ; " so that," as the author observes, " after ten, fifteen, or 

 twenty years, the purchaser will possess a work of ten, fifteen, or twenty 

 volumes of original matter." 



Pirolle, M., Amateur Cultivator, and formerly Editor of the Bon Jardinier: 

 Le Jardinier Amateur, ou 1' Horticulture Francais ; Premier Supplement. 

 Paris. 1 2mo. 2 fr. 



The " Jardinier Amateur'''' is a useful treatise on horticulture, as practised 

 in France, perhaps preferable to the Bon Jardinier. It appeared, as we 

 have already noticed, (Gard. Mag. vol.i. p. 519.) in 1825. M. Pirolle in- 

 forms us, that every year, instead of a pretended new edition, a detached 

 supplement will be published, and the present is the supplement for 

 1826-7. 



In glancing it over, with a view to detect any thing new or curious, the 

 first thing we notice is Rumex patientia, or patience-dock, recommended as 

 an excellent sorrel spinnage. It seems that plant has fallen into disuse in ' 

 France as well as in Britain. Pone Sabine, is said to be only Poire d'Austrasie. 

 " Cette poire finira sans doute, comme tant d'autres, par se donner ou se vendre 

 sous'vingt noms differens." The culture of tulips is becoming fashionable in 

 the neighbourhood of Paris ; six lines are put in a bed, and lists are given of 

 the sorts adapted for -each line ; what adds to the value of these lists is, that 

 the colours are designated after each name. Similar lists for this country 

 we hope to receive from Mr. Groom or Captain Butler. Auriculas are 

 said to be still rare in the neighbourhood of Paris ; the Liegois are the 

 greatest cultivators of this flower on the Continent. By an error, probably 

 accidental, the catalogues of English nurserymen are said to contain only 

 twenty-seven varieties of chrysanthemum, while that of M. Noisette contains 

 forty, and that of M. Soulange-Bodin still more. Anemone perennis sem- 

 perflorens, sent to M. Pirolle last year, flowers like the Bengal rose, from 

 April to November. We are not aware that this variety of anemone .is 

 known about London. 



In an article on the varieties of rose, now so numerous, we are informed 

 that almost every variety has nearly half a dozen of names, and that though 

 some commercial catalogues enumerate above 1000 of these names ; yet 

 that it is allowed by the best judges about Paris and Rouen, that there are 

 only between 300 and 400 distinct sorts in the nurseries. By far the best 

 collection in France is in the garden of the Luxembourg ; it includes all 

 the species as well as varieties ; M. Hardi the gardener, on purpose to 

 enrich this collection, has examined the roses of the principal gardens of 

 England, Holland, and France ; every year he receives a number of addi- 

 tions, which, after flowering, he either rejects or adds to his collection as 

 they prove new or mere repetitions ; and though he has nearly 5000 names 

 in his catalogue, yet he acknowledges that the distinct sorts in his posses- 

 sion do not bear a greater proportion to the names, than the distinct sorts 

 in the nurseries do to the printed sale lists. 



The following list is given of " Roses which appear the most worthy of 

 selection by amateurs, taken from the most numerous collections of France." 



P 4? 



