Chap. XXV.] IMPLEMENTS USED IN FRENCH GAEDBNS. 441 



be seen how easily and quickly the superb Orange-trees 

 alluded to are brought from their hibernatory in the spring to 

 their summer-quarters, and as easily taken back in the autumn. 

 The fore part of the machine is made to ' lock ' so that it turns 

 m little more than its own length. It is in every respect a 

 most complete apparatus for this and for like purposes." 



Truck foe Tubs oe veey laege Pots.— This very handy little 

 truck is what the French use for moving large plants in tubs and 

 large pots. It would be difficult to find anything more useful in 

 its way. Large specimen plants are quickly and easily moved by 

 this means. The pot or tub is caught by the little iron feet, 

 then thrown on its side and tied firmly if a long distance has to 

 be traversed. 



Geafting Mastic— The thorough knowledge of grafting pos- 

 sessed by the French led them long ago to invent various kinds 

 of grafting-wax or mastic, which greatly facilitate grafting. 

 These, while distinct improvements for propagators and practical 

 gardeners having much grafting to do, render grafting on a small 

 scale by amateurs a pleasant operation. The mixture commonly 

 employed for grafting in this country is not such as many amateurs 

 care to make, and now that grafting-mastic is readily procurable 

 it is scarcely worth while making our old-fashioned unpleasant 

 preparation for the sake of a graft or two. The best of the French 

 compositions for grafting is that called Mastie I'Homme Lefort — 

 an awkward name for an excellent article now procurable through 

 seedsmen. 



Impeoved Feuit-shblves. — In the Pear-room at Baron Eoth- 

 schild's at Ferrieres there is an excellent plan for arranging the 

 fruit — the successive shelves of fine Pears being so formed that 

 every individual pear can be examined without touching it. In 

 the case of a fruit requiring so much care as the Pear does, from 

 those who desire to have each variety, or even each perfect speci- 

 men, used at the right moment, this is an important improvement. 

 In the Pear-room at the Versailles School of Horticulture the old 

 flat form of bench is in use, and all the shelves are closed in by 

 wooden doors, so as to exclude the light from the fruit. 



Plough-hoe. — This is used for cleaning the numerous long 

 straight avenues in national and other large parks. A few men, 

 each guiding one of these, clean the weeds from an avenue almost 



