Markets of Paris. 227 



sumption by land carriage ; which gives that part of the town 

 adjoining the market an air of great bustle and activity. Vege- 

 tables are furnished abundantly, but in small portions, by the 

 respective growers, who live generally in the more immediate 

 neighbourhood of the city, as I shall have occasion to explain 

 hereafter. The markets are attended principally by females, 

 who appear to take an active part in all kinds of business. The 

 growers come to the city, as with us, very early in the morning ; 

 but are not allowed to remain in the markets, or rather in the 

 streets adjoining, where the vegetables are placed or exposed 

 for sale, after seven or eight o'clock, when the retailers, who 

 are very numerous, commence and keep the market throughout 

 the rest of the day. On April 29. peas from the open ground 

 were tolerably plentiful, and asparagus abundant. There were 

 also fine Roman Cos lettuces; a beautiful variety of green Cos, 

 which had been preserved in frames or protected throughout the 

 winter ; and two varieties of cabbage lettuce, called laittue gofte, 

 resembling much our Sicilian tester or union cabbage lettuce 

 in its early stages. The markets appeared to be abundantly 

 supplied with some excellent cauliflowers, which were said to 

 have been plentiful for the last two or three weeks : also excel- 

 lent cabbages of the heart-shaped variety; while Roseberryand 

 Alpine strawberries, from the open ground, were in tolerable 

 supply ; spinach in the greatest abundance ; sorrel also exten- 

 sively ; with a profusion of radishes, principally of the red turnip 

 variety. There are several markets exclusively appropriated 

 for the sale of the various articles constituting the supply to the 

 city, such as the following: — one for potatoes, one for onions, 

 and a third for vegetables generally. There is also a separate 

 market for fish ; and another for butter and eggs ; all covered. 

 The large market for the distant country growers is called la 

 Marche des Innocens^ the exterior line of which is also com- 

 pletely built on, leaving the interior a large square, which is 

 every morning more or less occupied by the cultivators, and 

 afterwards, throughout the day, by the venders of all the minor 

 articles of general consumption. Quite distinct, and at a con- 

 siderable distance from all these, is the market for flowers, on 

 tlie south side of the Seine, a space 200 yards long by thirty 

 wide, on which several rows of robinias are planted, which 

 thrive vigorously. It is arranged into compartments on each 

 side, and in the centre there is a supply of water in a reservoir. 

 The plants are tastefully displayed and arranged on each side, 

 and in compartments, and the centre : the latter portion is 

 generally cleared by nine o'clock in the morning, to allow the 

 ready access of company during the remainder of the day; the 

 sale in the morning being materially confined to the dealers, 

 who, as with us, purchase the plants, and convey them to the 



