54 



Foreign Notices : — France, 



chanical drudgery of his every-day occupation, — something he can enjoy 

 while absent, and look forward with pleasure to return to." ..." If I were to 

 pray for a taste which should stand me in stead under every variety of circum- 

 stances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and 

 a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss, and the world frown 

 upon me, it would be a taste for reading." {Penny Magazine, vol. ii. p. 375.) 

 Gate-stoppers are frequently found great annoyances, both in the approach 

 roads to gentlemen's houses, at their entrance lodges, and also in garden and 

 shrubbery walks. There is a most abominable one, for 

 example, a few paces within the entrance to the garden of 

 the Horticultural Society at Chiswick ; which I, being a 

 short man, and, like all short people, being generally look- 

 ing up, have frequently nearly fallen over. Now, there is 

 an excellent fall-down gate-stopper, invented by Messrs. 

 Cottam and Hallen \_fig. 7.], which you have mentioned 

 in your Supplement to the Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, 

 and which only costs about a shilling, if of the least size, 

 such as is suitable to a garden gate. There is also a most 

 ingenious self-acting gate-stopper described in the Quarterly 

 Journal of Agriculture, vol. iii. p. 236. ; by which, the mo- 

 ment the half of the gate begins to be opened, the stopper 

 begins to be lowered ; and when the gate is wholly open, 

 the stopper is level with the ground. This last is a Scotch 

 invention, and must cost a good deal more than that of 

 Messrs. Cottam and Hallen ; but it is so ingenious, that I 

 should strongly recommend its adoption in all pleasure- 

 grounds. Messrs. Cottam and Hallen have promised me 

 that they will procure one from the Kirkaldy foundery, where this last-men- 

 tioned gate-stopper was first made, and exhibit it in their museum in Winsley 

 Street. — J. S. B. London, September, 1833. 



Art. II. Foreign Notices. 



FRANCE. 



THE Garden of M. Boursaidt, in the Rue Blanche (IX. 145.), has under- 

 gone some important changes since you saw it in 1829, on account of the 

 deranged state of the proprietor's fortune. The large green-house which ran 

 along the highest part of the garden has disappeared, and its place is filled 

 by an espalier of peach trees, with a trellis of vines, or rather festoons of 

 vines formed by planting a row in front of the wall, about 10 ft. distant from 

 it ; and leading a shoot from the top of each prop to the top of the wall. 

 The Araucaria excelsa, the tub of which is sunk several feet deep in the 

 earth, touches the top of the house, and wants room. The Wistaria Con- 

 sequawa flowers all the year round, and begins to bear seed. The greater 

 part of the plants in this garden is now for sale, and I believe, even the 

 land_ will be sold also. In the latter case I tremble for the existence of this 

 admirable garden. — L. L. L. Paris, July 6. 1833. 



The Nursery and Seed Business, as it appears to me, is in a better position 

 here than in England j that is to say, it is progressively increasing, in con- 

 sequence of the increasing interest taken in every thing relating to the im- 

 provement of the country, and especially of agriculture. The cultivators of 

 ornamental plants are perhaps suffering a little ; for, if it were not for some 

 fashionable _ flowers, such as roses and georginas, they would not be able to 

 support their establishments. One reason of this is, that they have increased 

 in number amazingly within these few years. — V. Paris, Bee. 28. 1833. 



The Country Seats between Havre and Rouen, which you recommended me 

 to visit, I found in miserable order as compared with seats of similar extent 



