422 Floral Fair at Marseilles, 



The branches are amputated close to the trunk, and the 

 wounded part is well chiseled and smoothed, and sometimes 

 painted. They appear to me, however, to lop too much, 

 and to exaggerate the system recommended by Pontey. 

 This custom they excuse under the necessity of giving air 

 and light to the roads and walks ; but, on this account, one 

 rarely or never sees majestic avenues like that of Christ 

 Church at Oxford, and some others in Britain ; and such as, 

 I trust, our descendants may see, should the frequent exhort- 

 ations you have so wisely given in your earlier Numbers 

 produce the effect which they ought to have produced on the 

 present generation. But I return to my subject matter. The 

 roots of these trees were cut close to the stem, and their 

 heads entirely taken off. Notwithstanding this process, I 

 have seen them sprout with vigour when replanted ; and it is, 

 I am told, rendered necessary by their having remained so 

 long untransplanted. This statement will apply to most of 

 the forest trees noted in the list. 



Scotch pines [Pinus sylvestris], 3 or 4 ft. high, fetched 

 about \s. each. There were but few plants, as the climate 

 is not congenial to this tree. The Aleppo pines [Pinus 

 halepensis] were much more common, and sold, according to 

 their size, from 2c?. to %d. each. For t/uniperus virginiana 

 they asked \s. 6d. Fine white mulberries [Morus alba] 

 from 6 to 10 ft. high, were marked at 3d. or 6d. each; in 

 larger quantities they may be had still cheaper. The culti- 

 vation of this tree and the rearing of the silkworm form 

 one of the chief resources of the department, and have been 

 greatly encouraged and extended of late years. The council- 

 general offered a premium of S^d. for each tree planted ; and 

 it appears, that, during the years 1820, 1821, and 1822, the 

 reward was claimed for upwards of 12,000. Many are ex- 

 ported: in 1825, 50,000 large and 150,000 smaller trees 

 were shipped for Cork, in Ireland. [For some notice of 

 these trees, see Vol. I. p. 339.] 



Large olive trees, 5 or 6 ft. high, with large tronfons at 

 their roots, cut in the same manner as the elms, with the ex- 

 ception that they had usually small heads left, fetched from 

 1^. to 25. each. They had been raised from the stems of 

 trees cut down much after the fashion described by Virgil in 

 his Georgics. This valuable tree, though cultivated in Pro- 

 vence long before our present era, is frequently destroyed by 

 frosts. Scarcely a tree survived the frost of 1819-20. 



Good-sized lemon and orange trees fetched about 1^. 6d., 

 smaller-sized \s. 3d. Great importations take place from 

 Genoa, and large plantations have been created in this 



