450 THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTBEUIL. 



the top of each, and these are united in a somewhat arching 

 line above, and spread out again into a crown over 

 the name, while on each side a single tree springs up, and, 

 forming a border for the letters, spreads out above into a 

 triple nourish on each side of the crown. It is a finer object 

 than the Napoleon, and bears a splendid crop. The sketch 

 gives but a very poor idea of the beauty of the tree, which 

 I by no means figure here by way of recommending it or 

 similar curious forms, but simply to show the mastery at- 

 tained over the trees. Such a fanciful form is interesting 

 in a great Peach garden, where the grower wishes to show 

 his skill, but is useless for private gardens or for general 

 purposes. It should be added that the formation of the 

 LEPEKE was much easier than that of the NAPOLEON 

 tree, inasmuch as a plant is devoted to every letter in the 

 former. 



The well-made walls all run east and west, and are placed 

 within about ten yards of each other. This proximity of 

 the walls makes the scene quite different from what we have 

 in England. It is done so that many walls may be accom- 

 modated on a comparatively small space, and they are also 

 effective in concentrating the heat and for sheltering. The 

 ground is thus divided into very long narrow strips, the white 

 walls covered with the fresh green of healthy Peach trees, and 

 the ground planted with fruit trees, Strawberries, and Aspa- 

 ragus. The soil is of a calcareous nature, and the long 

 strips enclosed by the walls are generally about fourteen yards 

 across. The syringe is rarely or never used, sulphur being 

 the remedy for spider. The ground was in all cases mulched 

 near the trees, a wide alley being left ; and for preparation 

 of the border they simply trench and manure the ground a 

 couple of feet deep, and about six feet wide. The trees are 

 pruned on the spur system, and as for their shapes, they are 

 many, in addition to the alphabetical ones alluded to above. 

 The Taille en Candclabre is one of the handsomest and most 

 useful. To form it two branches are taken to the right and 

 left along near the bottom of the wall. From the uppermost, 

 single shoots are taken at regular intervals to the top of the 

 wall— the lower branch simply running along to the end and 



