70 



THE JARD1N DES PLANTES. 



Fio. 29. 







Plantes. There are fine collections of palms and otter 

 subjects of much importance for a botanic garden, and the 



house collections are on the 

 whole good, but the plants 

 in a great many cases are very 

 diminutive and poorly deve- 

 loped, therefore we will pass 

 them by. 



There is one admirable 

 feature which must not be 

 forgotten, and that is the 

 fine collection of pear 

 trees. M. Cappe has had 

 charge of this section for 

 about thirty-five years, and 

 is now a very old man, but 

 still he attends to his trees, 

 and has them in fine condi- 

 tion, though contending with 

 much difficulty, because the 

 space upon which the trees 

 stand is really not enough for one-half the number, and 

 thus he is obliged to keep lines of little trees between and 

 under big ones, and so on. There are few things in the 

 horticultural way about Paris better worth notice than this 

 collection of pears. 



Remarking that they have a graceful way of comme- 

 morating great naturalists by naming after them the streets 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of the garden, I will 

 pass on to the more important feature of the garden ; that 

 is, its very extensive and well named collection of hardy 

 plants. The only species of Pelargonium that ventures 

 into Europe (P. Endlicherianum) is grown here, and it is 

 quite hardy. The first of the principal arrangements of 

 hardy herbaceous plants, &c, is a curious and distinct one. 

 It is simply two large and wide spaces planted with 

 masses of ornamental species ; and looks pretty well, 

 though far from being arranged in a way to develope fully 

 the beauty of its contents. Edgings composed of the several 



1: 



ardin des Plantes. 



