12 Investigation of the Theory 



confused way in which they crop their lands. Their nurseries 

 are chiefly in open fields, and their trees are grown on alternate 

 ridges with crops of wheat, rye, &c. On the same ridge may 

 frequently be seen, intermixed, apples, pears, plums, cherries, 

 and peaches, but very rarely a number stick, to indicate the 

 particular kind of any of the sorts ; so that little dependence 

 can be placed on the accuracy of the growers as to names or 

 sorts. 



The nursery gardeners, or florists, who supply the markets of 

 Paris with flowers, reside chiefly in or very near that city ; the 

 produce of their labours, at all the seasons in which I have visited 

 Paris, from July to November, has always surprised me much. 

 The beauty and superiority of the articles they bring forth 

 amount to perfection itself, and are truly surprising. To enu- 

 merate all the articles which I saw exposed in the Paris flower- 

 markets would form a very long list, and, indeed, would be 

 quite beyond my recollection. 



I am, Sir, yours, &c. 



Joseph Knight. 

 Exotic Nursery, King's Road, Chelsea, Jan. 8. 1834. 



Our readers, we are sure, will agree with us in thanking Mr. 

 Knight for this interesting communication, and entreating him 

 (as he makes an annual Continental tour) always to give us a 

 similar account of it. We wish all nurserymen and gardeners 

 who travel on the Continent could be persuaded to do this. 

 There is a great want of spirit among the young nurserymen 

 about London. They think they have done a great deal if they 

 have ventured as far as Paris ; but we are sure, that, if they were 

 to travel through Germany, and even into Italy, they would greatly 

 enlarge their minds, acquire much more professional inform- 

 ation than they have any idea of; and, what they will, perhaps, 

 like best of all, extend their commercial connections. — Cond. 



Art. III. Investigation of the Theory of the Rotation of Crops. By 

 the Author of the " Domestic Gardener's Manual," C.M.H.S. ' 



Sir, 

 My attention was arrested by the remarks of the reviewer of 

 what is termed " De Candolle's Theory of the Rotation of Crops," 

 in a late number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture (xxi. 

 320 — 327.). I shall notice a few of these remarks as I proceed; 

 but, before I do so, I feel imperatively called upon to place 

 before you and your numerous readers a statement of a few 

 plain facts. They who know me, or who have perused any of 



