March 2, 18il. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE A.ND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



165 



clustered among the dark green foliage, and especially fit it, 

 being a dwarf plant, for table decoration. 



THE WAR AND FRENCH GARDENING. 

 A WEEK or two ago we gave an extract from a letter to 

 Dr. Hogg, from Mr. Henry Vilmorin, of Paris, in which he 

 mentioned his two brothers, Maurice and Phillipe, as being 

 drafted into the army, and serving with the Mobiles. Those 

 of our readers who know the family will be grieved to hear 

 that Phillipe, the youngest of the Vilmorin family, and a fine 

 noble lad of eighteen, has fallen a sacrifice for his country in 

 the great struggle against the Germans. He was shot through 

 the head at Commer^, near Le Mans, in January last, while 

 courageously leading his company into action. M. Henry and 

 M. Maurice Vilmorin have escaped unhurt. 



The following description of the effects on the Jardin des 

 Plantes of the bombardment of Paris is from "A Special Corre- 

 spondent" of the Times: — 



We drove tkrougli the usual gay and cbeerfal-Iooking throngs 

 along the Quaia to the Jardin, bnt here all was changed. The iron 

 gates were shut, and the usually animated scene was desolate in the 

 extreme. So we drove round to the house of M. Decaiene, whose 

 celebrity as a botanist is too well known for any farther comment to 

 he necessary, and under his most kind and interesting guidance I 

 visited a scene which was full of painful interest. 



The gardens had apparently been a point of especial bombard- 

 ment, and no fewer than eighty-three shells had fallen within their 

 comparatively limited area. We went out to the glass houses to judge 

 for ourselves of the effects. On the night of the 8th and 9th of 

 January four shells fell into the glass houses and shattered the greater 

 part of them to atoms. A heap of glass fragments lying hard by 

 testified to the destruction, hut the effect of the shells was actually 

 to pulverise the glass, so that it fell almost like dust over the gardens. 

 The consequence was that nearly the whole of this most rare and valu- 

 able collection was exposed to one of the coldest nights of the year, and 

 whole families of plants were killed by the frost. Some of the pants 

 suffered the most singular effects from the concussion ; the fibres were 

 stripped bare, and the bark peeled off in many instances. One house 

 into which we went presented a most lamentable appearance of bare 

 poles ; scarcely a leaf was left. All the Orchids, all the Clusiacefe, 

 the Cyclanthea?, the Pandanes, were completely destroyed, either by 

 the shells themselves or by the effects of the cold. The large Palm 

 house was destroyed, and the tender tro;[i3al contents were exposed to 

 that bitterly cold night ; yet, singularly enough, although they have 

 suffered severely, not one has yet died. Imagine Kew G-ardens nnder 

 a heavy fire, and Dr. Hooker standing disconsolate in the midst of 

 them, his most cherished plants in ribands, and his glass houses a 

 mass of powder, and we can form some idea of what M. Decaisne 

 suffered daring those fifteen nights, when shells came bursting under 

 his window, sending spHnters into his flower garden, and shaking his 

 house to its foundations with eveiy explosion. Feeling that, at all 

 costs, he was bound to stick to his post, he passed the whole of bis 

 time actively engaged in covering up his plants in blankets, and 

 straining every nerve to keep the cherished favourites of a lifetime 

 from the ruthless missiles that were searching every nook and corner 

 of the establishment. Two shells fell into the zoological gallery, one 

 into the gallery of mineralogy, where it destroyed some beautiful 

 pieces of paleontology. Three fell into the laboratories and museum, 

 destroying a valuable collection of rare shells, which had just been 

 classified. A long building had been tarned into a hospital, and a 

 shell had burst in it, blowing out every window, and crashing through 

 the wooden wall ; fortunately, all the beds were unprepared, the 

 patients had not arrived, and no lives were lost. A sick man in an 

 adjoining hospital was less fortunate, and was killed in his bed by a 

 shell. The houses, historical as having been the residences of Cuvier 

 and Buffon, did not escape, but fortunately, although several of the 

 shells were found to be full of combustible materials, nothing was set 

 on fire. All through the whole of the fortnight during which these 

 gardens were subjected to this rain of shells, Messrs. Decaisne, Chev- 

 reuil, and Edwards remained at their post, unable to rest, and have 

 since, at their own expense, repaired the damage done, trusting that 

 whatever form of government France may choose it will not repudiate 

 its debts of honour. The British public have nobly come forward to 

 relieve the distress of the suffering population of Paris ; I would now 

 make an appeal to the comparatively small section of society whose glass 

 houses may, perhaps, be supplied with plants which may replace those 

 which have been destroyed. M. Decaisne is making out a list of his 

 losses, a large proportion of which might possibly be supplied from 

 Kew, while owners of private collections might also be glad to testify 

 their sympathy and interest in the cause of science by contributing 

 whatever they may be able to spare as soon as the amount and nature 

 of the loss is ascertained. I feel no donbt that it will be enough to 

 make the facts known, for the British public to respond with the same 

 generosity which they have manifested in other instances. 



The animals fared better than the plants — not only have none of 

 them been eaten by the population of Paris, as the latter fondly sup- 



pose, but although several shells burst among them they have escaped 

 uninjured. Of course, when food was so scarce for human beings, 

 the monkeys and their companions were put upon short allowance. 

 This fact, coupled with the extreme rigour of the season, increased 

 the rate of mortality among them, and one elephant died, but was not 

 eaten. The two elephants and the camel that were eaten belonged to 

 the Jardin d'Acclimatation, and had been removed in the early stage of 

 the siege from their ordinary home in the Bois de Bologne, for safety, 

 to the Jardin des Plantes, where, however, it would appear, it was not 

 to be found. The birds screamed and the animals cowered, as the 

 shells came rushing overhead and bursting near them, as they do 

 when some terrific storm frightens them ; latterly they seemed to be- 

 come used to it ; fortunately the part of the garden which they inhabii 

 is somewhat removed from the museums, at which the fire seemed 

 more especially directed. The gates of this favourite resort were kept 

 closed, because the price of firewood is so high and the scarcity of it 

 such that the people are unable to resist the temptation of coming 

 into the garden in search of fuel, and for the present it is found wise 

 to shut them out ; indeed, so much greater is the necessity for fu&l 

 than for food at present that the provision trains have been stopped 

 by order of the Government to allow the coal trains to pass. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



At a meeting of the Committee of the Seed Trade, held at 

 Anderton's Hotel, on February 22nd, Dr. Maxwell T. Masteks- 

 in the chair, it was decided that a memorial should be forwarded 

 to the Postmaster-General containing the following resolutions :— 



" 1. That for several years previous to October 1st, 1870, seedsmen, 

 had the privilege of sending by post small parcels of seeds and other 

 articles under the then existing arrangements of the sample post, 

 these parcels being generally so small in size as to be in much danger 

 of being lost in the coarse of transit by rail, or other modes of pabhc 

 conveyance. 



"2. That this privilege was a great boon both to the buyer anfl 

 seller of seed, the seller being in the habit of sending to all parts of 

 the United Kingdom and abroad many hundreds of such parcels 

 annually. That to purchasers residing at remote distances from rail- 

 way stations, or in places destitute of the ordinary means of transit^ 

 this privilege was one of the greatest importance, as parcels could be 

 obtained through the post, safely, expeditiously, and cheaply, owmg 

 to the superior organisation of the Post Office mode of transit. That, 

 the enjoyment of this privilege tended in a great degree to develope an, 

 important branch of the industry of the kingdom— that of the pro- 

 duction of seeds. _ , 



" 3. That the postal arrangements now in operation interfere most 

 injuriously with the transmission of seeds through the post ; as pur- 

 chasers residing in all parts of the United Kingdom, the Colonies,. 

 India, the United States of America, &c., are no longer able to receive 

 such iiackages by post, unless paid for at letter rates, which are simply 

 prohibitory, inasmuch as the cost of transit by this means would he- 

 equal to at least 20 or 25 per cent, of tte average value of the seeds 

 so forwarded. In this manner a considerable loss is entailed on the. 

 retail seed trade, as many of the persons engaged in selling seeds have 

 gone to considerable expense to meet this particular requirement c* 

 the public— namely, that of obtaining certain seeds, delivered at a. 

 nominal rate, promptly and safely. Xhat so expensive are the means 

 of transit, otherwise than through the post, and so much danger is 

 there of loss or delay, that were it not for the facilities offered by the 

 Post Office, there is much reason to believe such purchases would not 

 be made. . 



"4. That this Committee beg leave to advocate the estabhshment 

 of a ' Parcels' Post,' by means of which there could be forwarded 

 through the Post Office seeds, or other goods, in execution of an order. 

 That such a parcels' post as that advocated by this Committee is in 

 operation in other countries, and is found to be of great general con- 

 venience, and that the establishment of such a system in this country 

 would prove a great boon, not only to the particular trade represented 

 by the Committee and their customers, but i lio to other trades who 

 have been great sufferers from the restrictions at present in force. 

 That the transmission of parcels so sent might be subjected to certain 

 restrictions as to weight and dimensions, and that the postal authorities 

 might reserve to themselves the right to examine the contents of such 

 parcels if deemed expedient to do so. 



" .5. That such a parcels' post is advocated by the Committee of the 

 Seed Trade, not only because it would remove the numerous objections 

 urged againt the present postal restrictions, but also because it would 

 tend to prevent any evasion of the regulations laid down by the Post 

 Office authorities." 



It is also resolved that a deputation from this Committeeba 

 appointed to wait on the Postmaster General, in_ conjunction 

 with a deputation from the Manchester Trade Association. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAKDEN. 



Should the weather prove fine and the ground be found in. 

 a condition for sowing (when it crumbles beneath the foot it 

 may be said to be so), the sowings of the principal crops map 



