June 15, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



279 



we do not regard the present an opportune time, but that 

 we recommend the reference of the <|uestion of plant- 

 nomenclature first to a representative body of American 

 botanists. 



" We suggest the coi\sidcration, by such a body, of the 

 following questions among others : The law of priority ; 

 An initial date for genera ; An initial date for species ; 

 The principle, 'once a synonym alwa)fs a synonym'; 

 What constitutes publication ; The form of ordinal and 

 tribal names; The method of citing authorises ; Capitaliza- 

 tion ? We recognize the Botanical Club of the A. A, A. S. as a 

 representative body of American botanists, and commend 

 to that body for discussion and disposal the subject of 

 nomenclature as set forth in these resolutions." 



These subjects are important to every botanist. It is to 

 be hoped that the projected movement will be responded 

 to and that it will receive the support of all persons inter- 

 ested, so that these questions shall no longer vex American 

 botanists. 



The Flower-trade of Paris.* 



■pLOWERS and always flowers, in the dog-days as during the 

 J- hard frosts of winter — this is what the Parisian public de- 

 mands. As long as a low temperature does not interfere with 

 the growth and expansion of Howers in our latitude, the horti- 

 culturists of the environs of Paris almost altogether supply its 

 markets. But as soon as cold weather arrives, the artificial 

 heat of the greenhouse must replace solar heat; and if this 

 alone were available, horticultural products would be very 

 costly. Happily, therefore, now that rapid transportation has de- 

 veloped so marvelously, a part of the necessary floral provision 

 of Paris comes from the south of France — from the shores of 

 the Mediterranean. 



Whether they come from the immediate neighborhood or 

 from the most distant provinces the flowers all converge, in 

 arriving at the capital, toward a central point, whence they 

 pursue their journey in various directions according to their 

 purchasers. This centre of the trade is at the Halles Centrales, 

 or main market of Paris. 



Every night, at Paris, shelters with its darkness a spectacle 

 well worthy of being displayed by day. Strangers seldom wit- 

 ness it ; but this greatest flower-market in the world must be 

 seen if one would understand the importance of the trade in 

 flowers and the number of persons whom it occupies. At 

 present it is inadequately accommodated; but it is proposed 

 to build in the Halles a special structure for the flower-trade, 

 or else to create for it a wholly independent market-place. 



The flower-market is now held, in a tremendous draught, 

 beneath the shelter of a covered street which crosses the great 

 market. In this cold passage-way, open to all the winds of 

 winter, flowers begin to arrive as soon as night falls. First, 

 heavy railroad trucks bring the consignments of the south in 

 very light boxes and baskets of willow or of split and braided 

 reeds. Then come the growers of the vicinity of Paris, bring- 

 ing their wares in two-wheeled covered carts, and having 

 started at different hours, according to the distance they had 

 to traverse. All try to arrive as early as possible in order to 

 secure a good station, or else send representatives to secure 

 one, arriving themselves at a later hour, shortly before the 

 opening of the sale. 



Discharged from the trucks and wagons, the merchandise 

 is spread upon the sidewalks and a portion of the asphalt road. 

 Each seller pays, per diem, four or five cents for each metre 

 of space, according as it is sheltered or exposed. Some thirty^ 

 of them, however, pay for their stations by the month. Paths' 

 are left between the masses of flowers of different exhibitors 

 for the free circulation of purchasers. 



As the temperature falls during the long dark winter nights, 

 the waiting is tedious and the wind is very chill. Protected by 

 thick coverings and guarded with solicitude against anything 

 that might diminish their commercial value, the flowers them- 

 selves are less to be pitied than their unfortunate proprietors. 

 But when the weather is very inclement the sale is transferred 

 to the vast cellars under the f^alles, and the aspect of the flower- 

 market is then very picturesque. Temporary and shifting sta- 

 tions are established, tables are made with wooden horses, 

 and on these tables are displayed the flowers which, in these 

 days of heavy frosts, are of few varieties — Violets, yellow Nar- 

 cissus, with Roses and Mimosas from Cannes. 



The sale commences at three o'clock in the morning in 

 summer, and at four in winter. Then the animation and ac- 

 tivity of the market arc remarkable. At this hour there are 

 few amateurs. All transactions pass between tradespeople, 

 who, as a rule, know one another, and are rapidly accom- 

 ]5lislicd. Most of the purchasers are middlemen, who later 

 sell again in the city what they have bought in the early morn- 

 ing. And we also see traders who, without leaving the mar- 

 ket, embark in quickandapparently remunerative speculations. 

 At the beginning of the sale, while the flowers are alnmdant, 

 they liuy them for low prices, and then, hiringaseller's station, 

 they wait till values have gone up, and, displaying their wares 

 with taste, dispose of them at a profit. Dealers of this sort are 

 called hucksters. 



Every one is not free to cry his wares in the market. Only 

 two individuals have this right, and for it they make a deposit 

 of 10,000 francs. Moreover, the entire market is under police 

 surveillance, and everything proceeds in an orderly way. 



The Commissionnaires de Fleurs (flower agents) and the 

 forts (porters, or, literally, "strong men") still remain to be 

 mentioned. The Commissionnaires are forty in number, and 

 perform a double function. In the first place, they facilitate 

 the use of the market for producers living at a distance. Every 

 Provencal horticulturist cannot afford to keep in Paris a repre- 

 sentative to receive his consignments, carry tliem to the mar- 

 ket and superintend their sale. So he arranges with a Com- 

 missionnaire, who takes charge of the reception and sale of the 

 Howers, reserving, of course, a percentage of the receipts for 

 himself ; and meanwhile, from this centre of the trade, he 

 keeps his client informed of all its fluctuations, so that he may 

 direct his efforts to the best advantage. In the second place, 

 the Commissionnaire performs a very useful work of selection. 

 From the enormous quantities of Howers which he receives, 

 before they are taken to the market he separates the rare and 

 much-sought-after ones, and sells them to the chief florists and 

 to rich amateurs. The whole cost of the production and trans- 

 portation of a consignment may thus sometimes be paid for 

 by a few choice articles, which are called the " Very Fine 

 South" (le trfes beau midi), so that the remainder, which is 

 called " Ordinary South " (le midi ordinaire), when taken to the 

 market can be sold so cheaply that afterward, from the barrows 

 of the peripatetic peddler, we can buy them more cheaply in 

 the streets of Paris than at Nice or Cannes. On an average 

 these Commissionnaires receive, altogether, some thousand or 

 twelve hundred baskets of flowers, which come chiefly, espe- 

 cially in winter, from the south ; the number of the local 

 florists who come in person to the market varies during the 

 different seasons, being greatest in summer, but on an average 

 they deposit about 800 baskets of flowers at their stations, and 

 so some 2,000 basketfuls are sold daily at the Halles. 



The forts of the Halles are famous, and form an an- 

 cient corporation, the honesty of which is proverbial. They 

 unload each wagon as it arrives, and give its proprietor his 

 station-ticket, so he can go in peace to put his wagon in an in- 

 dicated spot on one of the neighboring streets, while his mer- 

 chandise is being carried to his station by the forts, who are 

 responsible for its safety. And for ten cents anight his wagon 

 and horses are cared for by another band of employees 

 specially charged with this duty. 



At nine o'clock the sales are finished. The peddlers' wagons, 

 with their loads complete, scatter through the streets ; the 

 florists send their purchases home in hand-carts; and the 

 growers take the road again, sleeping the sleep of the just un- 

 der the great green hoods of their wagons, while their horses 

 follow their own wills, encumber the middle of the high-road, 

 and sadly impede circulation. 



* Translated from Monsieur Philippe de Vilmorin's Les Flcnrs a Paris, 



The Time of Roses. 



'T'HE path which rises at the back porch and runs, in an 

 ■*■ easterly direction, between banks of Peas, Beans and 

 Strawberries throughout the length of the vegetable-garden 

 tmtil it is linally lost in a sea of wavy Wheat, is bordered on 

 both sides throughout its course by a number of old-fashioned 

 shrubs and other plants. Among these is a Rose which wanders 

 at will over the grassy banks and is just now in perfection of 

 bloom, glorifying the vegetables and even lending a touch of 

 poetry and grace to our Tomatoes and Cauliflowers. This is a 

 Damask Rose planted fifty years ago by the dear old lady who, 

 with her white-haired husband, once lived at Rose Brake, and 

 was as enthusiastic over the flowers of her day as are we over 

 our newer loves. To this old lady we are indebted for the 

 blue and white Irises which cluster at the foot of the large old 

 Cherry-tree, a sapling in her time, for the exquisite double 



