:4S4 HORTICULTU&AL TOUR. 



of the cross alleys, are laid with some kind of pounded 

 scoriae, such as we call danders, with a thin coating of 

 sand over the surface. They thus dry very speedily, 

 and may be used almost immediately after rain. The 

 compartments for the plants are all oblong squares ; but 

 the stiffness of these is judiciously broken in upon, in two 

 places ; towards the middle of the grounds by a square 

 piece of water, having its broad gently sloping banks rich- 

 ly adorned with shrubs of the most varied character ; and 

 near- the Museum, by a circular pond, surrounded with 

 showy greenhouse plants in tubs and pots. 



Next to the Seine gate, on the left, the first compart- 

 ment consists of a small thicket of early flowering trees and 

 shrubs, intermixed with vernal plants. The cross-walk in 

 front of this little thicket is shaded by rows of the Ailan- 

 thus glandulosa, here forming trees of considerable size. 

 The ailanthus, we may remark, seems to have become a 

 common ornamental tree at Paris, while in England it is 

 lather 'neglected. Even here it requires a sheltered situa- 

 tion ; but it was now in vigorous foliage, and, we are told, 

 retains its fine pinnated leaves till winter, long after the 

 walnut and the ash have shed theirs. 



On the right of the Seine gate there is a larger collec- 

 tion of early-flowering trees, called the Bosquet du prin- 

 tcmps. It forms a kind of open grove ; and in the inter- 

 sticcs are presented to the student, inlittle heaps, distinguish- 

 ed by tallies, specimens of the different well-marked garden 

 soils, such as sand, loam or clay, humus or black earth, 

 bruyere or heath-soil, gravel, chalk, &c. ; and likewise of 

 the principal different kinds of manures. 



In the central compartments fronting the gate, is a large 

 collection of all the plants generally accounted medicinal. 

 This is not merely a medical arrangement for the advan* 



