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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDE SER. 



[ June 16, 1863. 



rata than there wa9 at the Show. I do not know whether there 

 was any restriction placed as to the places from whence pro- 

 ductions might be sent, although I should think not ; but from 

 the catalogue it appeared as if all the exhibitors lived not very 

 far from Paris. 



The most remarkable vegetable was unquestionably the Aspa- 

 ragus, and of these some enormous heads were exhibited ; but 

 although Mons. Louis Lheraut called them " amelioriees," I do 

 not think they deserved the title. The heads were quite 4 inches 

 in diameter, perfectly blanched, except about an inch of the top, 

 which was the only edible part of them ; and as I had the oppor- 

 tunity of tasting them I can aver that they were insipid and poor ; 

 and it certainly seemed a parody on those giants to notice, as I 

 did on passing at the rear of the Restaurant des Trois Freres, 

 which is supposed to know what is " the thing " in cooking 

 better than any other house in Paris, that the garqons de cuisine 

 were busily engaged in scraping off a good portion of the stalk, 

 so as to leave them of a decent size to send to table. There 

 was an interesting exhibition by one of the Argenteuil growers 

 of Asparagus in its different stages of growth, from seedling 

 plants to those eight years of age, at which time it appeared to 

 me that they considered the Asparagus to be in perfection. 

 They had been lifted up, roots and all, from the various beds, 

 and one was thus enabled to see the character of the soil. This 

 appeared to be almost exclusively sand, which had been enriched 

 with plenty of dung and copious supplies of liquid manure. On 

 inquiring at the great central markets the price of Asparagus, 

 I found that that from Argenteuil ranked the highest, and that 

 in proportion to its size was its price ; the largest costing about 

 two francs the bundle of about fifty heads, while a much more 

 eatable vegetable could be obtained at about one franc the 

 bundle. 



As the various winter substitutes " barbe de capucine," &c, 

 were now past, Cabbage and Cos Lettuce were exhibited as the 

 principal ingredients for salads. There was one collection of 

 seventeen varieties of Cos sent by M. Meurice, and also a seed- 

 ling variety of his own raising ; but I did not recognise anything 

 very desirable in any of thesi beyond what we have ourselves. 



There came one or two collections of Artichokes and Cabbage, 

 but nothing among them that deserved particular notice. One 

 could not help thinking that if some of our enterprising English 

 growers were living in the south of France they would have 

 contrived to have had many interesting subjects at the Exhi- 

 bition, for many other vegetables were to be seen at the markets, 

 and at such shops as Chevet's in the Palais Royal — as fine To- 

 matoes as could be grown, French Beans, Potatoes of good 

 quality, &c. ; so that with a little more enterprize and expendi- 

 ture a really interesting exhibition might have been produced. 

 As it was, a much better display could be seen elsewhere. 



If the vegetables were indifferent I cannot say much for the 

 fruits. There is a M. Ferdinand Gloede, a correspondent of 

 your friend Mr. Radelyffe, who has written prodigious things 

 concerning Strawberries, and I expected when I saw his name 

 amongst the list of contributors that one would see a won- 

 derful- collection. He had a basket containing twenty-four 

 varieties — but what a basket ! It was divided into compart- 

 ments about 4 inches square, and in each of these were placed 

 some half a dozen Strawberries, many of them — most of them, 

 indeed, I should say — English varieties. But oh ! could Mr. 

 Smith of Twickenham, or Mr. Turner of Slough, have seen 

 the Sir Charles Napiers, Sir Harrys, Victorias, &c, they would 

 have wondered that any one calling himself a Strawberry-grower 

 could have sent such poor specimens of Ms skill. It was inter- 

 esting, however, in one point of view — viz., as showing that 

 there is a probability of the French having something better 

 ban the "fraise de quatre saisons," which up to this time has 

 been the sole stay of the lovers of the Strawberry amongst them. 

 But it will be some time before they can match Mr. Smith's 

 British Queen, in my humble opinion the greatest triumph of 

 Strawberry-growing to be seen anywhere. 



There were two collections of fruits, one having Vines, Green 

 Gage Plum, Cherry, and Pines in pots — this was contributed by 

 Madame Froment (veuve), of the Route d'Orleans ; and another 

 containing bunches of Muscat of Alexandria, and Black Ham- 

 burgh or Frankenthal, but very, very far inferior to those which 

 were exhibited at the Crystal Palace on the 23rd ult. The only 

 things which Btruck me as at all remarkable were the Pines, and 

 this not from their size, but the smallness of the pots in which 

 they were grown. There were some very tolerable Smooth 

 Cayennes grown in pots not more than 9 inches across and very 



shallow— at least I presume they were grown in them. This 

 seemed to me (in my ignorance, perhaps), a good plan, for the 

 immense space occupied by Pines militates against their growth ; 

 and I remember one characteristic set forth in favour of the 

 Hurst House Seedling was, that it bore fruit in a small state, 

 and consequently took up less room. 



On the whole, then, it will be seen that I have not formed 

 any very exalted opinion of the productions of French horti- 

 culture. The magnificent fruit which one sees later in the year, 

 the delicious Chasselas Musque of Fontainbleau, and the mag- 

 nificent Pears of Tourraine, are due rather to the excellence of 

 the climate than the skill of the producer. In a season when 

 skill really tells, when the difficulties of climate have to be over- 

 come — then it is seen how indifferently French horticulturists 

 contend with it, or at any rate how little enterprise they throw 

 into their gardening. The fault is not theirs. The laws of 

 property and the habits of the people are against them ; and 

 were they the same amongst us I feel that, notwithstanding the 

 energy of our Saxon race, we should very likely fall into the 

 same ways that they have done ; and where, but for the number 

 of amateurs in our own country, would the skill and enterprise 

 of our nurserymen be remunerated ? — D., Deal. 



STRAWBERRY FAILURES. 



The following letter from a correspondent we have put into 

 the hands of one of our weekly contributors, and append his 

 reply thereto. Our correspondent, "A. Z.," says: — 



" I have tried in vain to procure a crop on the most accre- 

 dited plans, and in many kinds of soil, moving my beds to all 

 parts of a small garden which produces excellent vegetables, and 

 many kinds of fruit. 



"I need not trouble you with my failures during past years, 

 but will describe my last futile attempt two seasons ago. De- 

 termining not to do things by halveB, I rooted out all my old 

 Strawberry plants, and procured runners of Keens' Seedling and 

 British Queen from a neighbour, with whom they bore abun- 

 dantly, and whose garden lies on the same light, sandy stratum, 

 and slopes as mine, to the south. These runners I planted on 

 the old beds, having dressed them with maiden earth, old hot- 

 bed manure, and soot ; at the same time I put in others, with- 

 out any preparation, in every part of the garden. At first, the 

 plants having been previously neglected, looked dry and withered, 

 but by the spring they had become fine plants, and blossomed 

 profusely, but bore no fruit. 



"Fortwo seasonB, whilst giving the fairest promise, I found the 

 large trusses of beautifully expanded blossoms, some carrying 

 upwards of fifty heads, almost entirely barren. Now, what can 

 I do ? I am too true to the craft to give in ; at the same time 

 I know I have already tried all common and many uncommon 

 experiments, and the plants whether grown on the richest or 

 poorest ground, present the same result of fine foliage, and 

 profuse but futile flowering. Do you recommend any other 

 sorts ? I would be content even with the small Alpine, but I 

 once failed in raising it from Beed. I mean to profit by your 

 hint, and plant out a few pots I have slightly forced this spring. 

 Some of these did not flower, may 1 keep those in the same 

 pots for forcing again ? 



" Having detailed my failures, I should like to take this op- 

 portunity of recording my successes, and thanking Mr. Anderson, 

 to whose kind advice I in part owe them. He may, perhaps, 

 remember a little correspondence we held on the cultivation of 

 plants and Vines in the same house. Acting up to his caution 

 not to attempt too great a variety, I have confined myself to 

 such plants (and they are among the most beautiful) as were 

 best suited to my means, and thus by constant care and growing 

 experience, I contrive to keep up an unfailing succession of fair 

 and fragrant flowers, from January to December, without en- 

 trenching on the requisites of the Vines, or preventing therr 

 yearly produce of a well-balanced crop of highly-flavoured fruit. 



Although it is not difficult to define the cause of the want of 

 success in the present season, it is very much so to account for 

 the failures of former years. On dry, sandy sods, as I under- 

 stand yours to be, and in an unusually dry spring like the past 

 one, the blooms of Strawberries either become abortive, or the 

 plant lacks the vigour necessary to swell the incipient fruit into 

 growth, and a poor crop is the result. Even in our own case, 1 

 believe we should have had a very slight Strawberry crop had 

 we not watered them thoroughly about the middle of May, and 



