350 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 1, 1864. 



Odier ;" and as this can only niean that I, in a state of 

 inebriety, and in the position which schoolboys assume 

 "when giving each other a back at leapfrog, am obstructing 

 a, young lady's path, I think it my duty, as a married 

 clergyman, immediately to assure your readers that I am 

 perfectly sober, perfectly straight, and have never performed 

 gymnastic contortions in the presence of Miss Louise Odier. 

 — Reynolds Hole, HP. 



DOUBLE-GLAZED 



FRAILES 

 COLD. 



FOR EXCLUDING 



Theke are so many persons who desire to save their 

 plants during winter, who have no means of applying heat in 

 any way, that I think I may do them a service by bringing 

 to their notice the plan I have found so very useful — viz., a 

 double frame to keep out the extreme cold. 



This idea I obtained from seeing double windows em- 

 ployed in several London houses, in Piccadilly, and the west 

 of London generally, to keep out the noise, and maintain 

 the rooms at a more equable temperature. Knowing well, 

 as I do, that a stratum of air between two glasses will keep 

 out noise, heat, and cold, the adaptation of this principle to 

 preserving plants in winter is not very surprising, and 

 having in practice for two or three years proved its value 

 I now bring it before your readers in order to verify my dis- 

 covery, or rather adaptation, of a fact well known. 



I have had my lights made with a very broad frame, so 

 that two sashes can be made upon it, one under, one over, 

 so that they both lift at the same time, when it is necessary 

 to give air to the plants beneath. I have some of the usual 

 —shall I say old-fashioned ? — glasses, the snow has fallen 

 upon them, and I find a very marked difference in the melt- 

 ing of the snow. The snow rapidly disappears from the 

 single lights, but on my double sashes it remains. I will 

 not go into the science of radiation, conduction, transmis- 

 sion of heat, &c, suffice it to say to a gardener, that with a 

 double light the cold will not go down to half-buried pots or 

 plants as through a single light. — Septimus Piesse, Ph.D., 

 F.C.S., &c.j Chisvrick. 



NOTES MADE IN THE ENVIRONS OF PARIS 

 DURING A VISIT IN SEPTEACBER. 



About five years ago you were pleased to insert in your 

 pleasant and useful Journal, a few notes made by me during 

 a visit which I had then paid to the Talley of Montmorency, 

 celebrated for many horticultural productions — amongst 

 fruit, Pears, Peaches, Grapes, Cherries ; and amongst vege- 

 tables, notably Asparagus. 



I have again paid a visit to that beautiful country, and I 

 am not singular in my estimate of it, for since I was last 

 there a vast number of country seats of more or less import- 

 ance have sprung up, the Parisians having taken a lesson 

 out of our book by residing in the environs, not, it is true, 

 quite to the extent we do here, but leaving Paris for five or 

 six months of the summer only. It takes a long time to 

 reconcile ladies who have resided all their lives in so gay 

 and so fascinating a capital as Paris, to satisfy themselves 

 with the quietude and domesticity of a genuine country life. 

 No opera ! No theatres ! No society even — at least not that 

 varied and amusing one which they have been accustomed 

 to. A country residence, therefore, during the winter months 

 would be looked on as little less than an expatriation. In 

 fact, until a radical reform takes place, it would be difficult 

 for a family to carry out such a project, unless they made 

 up their minds to do so in the most primitive style, and 

 wait upon themselves ; for one of my friends having made 

 up his mind to give up his town house, coachman, footman, 

 cook, lady's maid, and all the rest of the fry, waited upon 

 the mistress to inform her that they must leave her service. 

 ""Why, what does all this mean? What is the matter that 

 you should thus all wish to ieave at the same moment ? " 

 " Well, Madame, we are very contented and very happy 

 in your service, but we hear that it is your intention to re- 

 main in the country all the year round, and in the winter 

 we should all die of ennui." 



When it was told to me, I remarked at once, " Well, you 

 let them all go of course." " Indeed, we did not, but, on 

 the contrary, gave up our project, as we were quite certain 

 that we should never be enabled to replace our old servants 

 by others." 



Time, however, works wonders, and in the course of a 

 very few years I have no doubt we shall see families making 

 the country their permanent residence, and this will pro- 

 duce a favourable effect by increasing the traffic on the rail- 

 ways, which, except by the morning and evening trains, is 

 very small even during the summer months, as families 

 residing for six or seven months of the year hi Paris, have 

 no desire to go there very frequently. Of course, I am 

 alluding to the families of merchants and those engaged in 

 commerce. Constant residence would also tend much to 

 encourage horticulture, for although a vast deal of money is 

 already expended in the pursuit, yet it is confined to those 

 who may be strictly termed the rich. These have certainly 

 very pretty and tolerably well-kept gardens, and, as a rule, 

 very extensive ones, but they would be neater-looking, bear 

 examining more minutely did their owners have them con- 

 stantly under their eyes during the winter as well as summer 

 months. Well-kept lawns would then be better appreciated, 

 but I see no improvement in them since last there. The 

 ladies, who take the initiative in all gardening matters, ap- 

 pear to understand the difference between an English and a 

 French-kept lawn, but they are powerless over the obstinacy 

 and stupidity of their gardeners. Talk to one of these latter 

 about cutting the grass once a-week and he would simply 

 think you mad. As to rolling and cutting edges, it is quite 

 out of the question, and the iron roller continues to be un- 

 known. 



I am only referring to the private gardens. The public 

 ones decidedly take the lead. In them every available im- 

 plement is taken advantage of. I sarw one which may be 

 known here, but was quite new to me. It was a double 

 roller, or rather a pair of rollers, one following another 

 and worked by a locomotive. The rollers were, I should 

 say, 4 feet in diameter and of great power. The grass- 

 cutting machine I could not hear of either in Paris or its 

 environs. What are Messrs. Green about ? What Messrs. 

 Shanks, that they do not make their machines known? 

 They are wanted badly enough, for even in the public gar- 

 dens the lawns do not come up to the standard of excellence 

 required by the critical eye of an Englishman. In other 

 respects these gardens are tastefully laid out and artistically 

 arranged. The system of ribbon-beds and massing is not 

 carried out to the exclusion of mixed borders, which I ex- 

 amined with minute attention. The harmony of colours 

 was well observed, as was geometrical precision as to dis- 

 tances, and every border was a mass of either flowers or 

 foliage, although there was nothing strikingly new to record. 

 Clumps of Fuchsias hiding the stems of standard Roses, 

 Gladiolus serving the same purpose, Dahlias tied up as they 

 grew so as to form a straight column, were stiff perhaps, but 

 the blossoms were concentrated, none straggling about or 

 hanging down. 



I have said that the borders were a mass of flowers or 

 foliage. This latter may not seem a desideratum to us ; but 

 French taste runs much on handsome-leaved plants of the 

 tropical class, amongst which Cannas figure to a consider- 

 able extent. These are used both as single objects and in 

 large masses without the admixture of any flowering plant, 

 save, perhaps, an edging of some large Geranium — the Pink, 

 much the same colour but larger than Christine, being a 

 favourite. By-the-way, does Tom Thumb grow larger there 

 than here? it so appeared to me. But to return to the mixed 

 borders. Every plant is placed in a hollow, so that water 

 may be given without fear of its running away from the 

 roots. The system of watering, too, is good and uncommon. 

 A series of Indiarubber tubes is formed by screwing one into 

 the other until the required length be arrived at. These 

 tubes are perforated with very small holes, and care is taken 

 that in screwing them on to each other, the holes form a con- 

 tinuous and straight line. The tubes are laid on the ground, 

 alongside a border let us say, the cock is turned and a fine 

 and gentle shower falls on everything within its reach. One 

 man can thus regulate a long length of tubing, removing it 

 from time to time as required. I saw this system in opera- 

 tion in the gardens of the Tuilleries and the Jardin d'Accli- 



