and Part of France in 1833. 1 1 



the river Meuse, which is very romantic and beautiful ; re- 

 sembling much the road from Bakewell to Buxton, in Derby- 

 shire. The country abounds in mines of lead, iron, and coal, 

 and quarries of marble. The latter may at no distant day prove 

 an article of great commercial importance; it is obtained in 

 blocks of various lengths, some nearly 20 ft. long : it is uniform in 

 its quality, is easily worked by the chisel or saw, and is readily 

 converted into slabs of large dimensions, of less than an inch in 

 thickness. [See Mag. Nat. Hist., vi. 76.] Orchard fruits are 

 cultivated here to a considerable extent; and, on the southern 

 exposure of the hills, vineyards are numerous and extensive. 



Along the road to Charleroi, Mons, Comines, and Valenciennes, 

 coals are abundant and good, and produce little smoke. The coun- 

 try is open, and the soil moderately good. Succory is cultivated 

 to a very great extent; it is taken up at this time (the latter end 

 of October), and laid in large heaps about the farm yard, pre- 

 paratory to storing it up for the winter, during which season it 

 is forced in cellars and the blanched leaves sent to market as 

 salading. [See the practice described in detail, II. 460.] 



The road through Peron to Paris traverses an open agricul- 

 tural country, affording little interest to the traveller. Approach- 

 ing to Paris, the land is partially occupied in the cultivation of 

 culinary vegetables in alternate ridges or beds, of corn, &c, in 

 which neither art, regularity, nor neatness of method is attended 

 to. Near to Paris the greater part of the land is occupied in the 

 cultivation of vegetables for the Paris market, where they appear 

 to much greater advantage than in the gardens. At a village 

 called Montreuil, about four miles east of Paris, the chief part of 

 the peaches for the supply of this great metropolis are grown ; 

 and, considering the rough state the trees are kept in, the fruit is 

 surprisingly fine, and the crops abundant. The trees are trained 

 on stone walls, generally plastered over, of 8 or 10 feet high, 

 enclosing portions of ground, varying from the eighth of an acre 

 to an acre, and they are planted on all aspects with similar suc- 

 cess. The mode of pruning these trees seems to be without rule 

 or regularity, notwithstanding which, they retain perfect health 

 to an old age, and grow to a good size. The soil is of a brown 

 free-working loam, upon a loose freestone bottom, never very 

 wet or very dry. [See Encyc. of Gard., new edit. § 474. 



The nursery gardens in and about Paris are somewhat nu- 

 merous. The few engaged particularly in the cultivation of 

 exotic plants are not in a prosperous state, nor do they possess 

 a great variety of species, though they have many good plants. 



The nursery gardeners of Vitry, a village about four or five 

 miles from Paris, are very numerous, and are chiefly engaged in 

 the cultivation of hardy fruit trees, forest trees, and shrubs, 

 which they grow well, considering the great irregularity and the 



