174 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



st rations relative to the culture, pruning and whole ma- 

 nagement of fruit-trees, including the vine. These demon- 

 strations are frequently attended by several of the nobles 

 of France, while the Chamber of Peers is sitting. Some 

 of the Deputies, also, occasionally give their attendance. 

 The number of regular students of horticulture from the 

 provinces is not great ; but the opportunities of instruction 

 thus freely offered, must gradually tend to the spreading 

 of information and improvement, and they certainly afford 

 a trait of enlightened liberality worthy of the nation. 



Leaving the " school" of fruit-trees, we crossed the grand 

 avenue, and entered the proper nursery-grounds, which are 

 situate on the west side of it. These presented a very large 

 collection of young fruit-trees, especially peaches, plums, 

 cherries and pears. The stocks in general seem small or 

 weak ; at least they are slender, compared with those em- 

 ployed in the Edinburgh nurseries : this was particularly 

 the case with the plums and pears. The plum-stocks are 

 chiefly suckers (drageons) from the cherry-plum, St Julien, 

 damask and jaret ; but these are not reckoned so good as 

 well-established seedling stocks. The cherry-plants, though 

 also on weak stocks, looked well. When sold, a demi-franc 

 (5d. Sterling) is charged for each ; and all the other kinds 

 arc proportionally cheap. On passing a full grown speci- 

 men of Prunus Mahaleb or perfumed cherry-tree, we no- 

 ticed that the ground below and around it, was covered 

 with seedling plants, which had sprung spontaneously from 

 the fruit shed by the large tree ; and we now remarked that 

 many hundreds of the young cherry-trees had been budded 

 on mahaleb stocks thus procured. These stocks are of slow 

 growth, but fit for budding in the third year ; and cherry- 

 troea placed on them arc said to come sooner into bearing 

 than those on wild-cherry stocks. Although, perhaps, a tri- 



