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CHAPTER XL 



The Jardin Fleuristk and other Public 

 Nurseries of the City of Paris. 



In its public nurseries Paris possesses a very useful aid which we 

 have not in England. With us each park or garden produces or 

 purchases its own supplies ; in Paris all the public gardens of 

 the city are furnished from the city-nurseries. There are two 

 sets of public gardens — those of the city comprising the boulevards, 

 squares, parks, and church-gardens, and those of the State, the 

 gardens of the Luxembourg, Tuileries, Louvre, and others. All 

 are equally open to the public — all arranged with a view to its 

 pleasure and convenience ; but in the case of the State-gardens 

 each supplies its own stock. What we have to deal with now is 

 the manufactory, so to speak, for the great number of gardens 

 and open spaces made during recent years. At one time the old 

 State-gardens were by far the most important in Paris ; now they 

 are surpassed by those created specially for the city and its 

 people. In commencing to improve the public gardens of the 

 city, it was a wise step to begin with central nurseries, from 

 whence all those gardens could be supplied. 



The advantage of having public nurseries of this kind to 

 supply the parks, gardens, and squares of a great city is so great, 

 that it is surprising they have not been already adopted by us. 

 Not only could the necessary trees, shrubs, and flowers be 

 procured much more cheaply, but a greater selection of choice 

 subjects would be at the disposal of the planters. By selecting 

 ground favourable to each class of plants, shrubs, or trees, each 

 could be grown to perfection, and at a cheaper rate than they 

 could be bought; and the necessity of inquiry, selecting and 



