FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDENS NEAR PARIS. 



217 



about 6 feet, and then curves gradually forward over the foot- 

 path. The back was formed to a considerable height of arches, 

 the openings of which are closed in with sheet iron, in order to 

 transmit heat the more readily from dung linings when neces- 

 sary. But the heating is now generally effected by means of 

 hot water in flat copper conduits, 10 inches deep, and 2 centi- 

 metres, scarcely an inch, wide. They consequently occupy but 

 little space in the width of the house, or horizontally. Copper, 

 either as round pipes or in the flat form, is here preferred, 

 chiefly on account of its being a more rapid conductor of heat. 

 In some cases open troughs, for a supply of moisture, are 

 formed on the tops of the copper conduits. 



In one pine-house, consisting of Queens, the fruit was nearly 

 ripe, and a fair size. The plants were grown in small pots in 

 sandy peat, and in shifting the plants were not disrooted. In 

 another house the plants were growing, not in pots, but planted 

 in a bed of peat soil, laid on stable litter, well beaten, for bottom 

 heat. They had a vigorous appearance, and will be two years 

 old when they mature their fruit in the ensuing summer. The 

 Cayennes, and other large sorts, were those so planted out. 

 Some were planted out of pots into peat soil in January last, 

 after their fruits were formed ; the plants were thriving, and 

 the fruits were swelling exceedingly well. The number of Pine 

 Apples annually fruited in these gardens must be immense. 

 The houses we had already passed through were extensive, when 

 we came to four more fruiting ranges, each 100 feet in length, 

 6 feet wide, and 7 feet high at the back. 



A seedling Pine Apple was shown to us by M. Grison. It was 

 a monstrosity, preserved in spirits, with a cockscombed crown, 

 a line following the wave of which was no less than 6 feet in 

 length ; another fruit, diverging from the same stalk, was of the 

 usual form. 



In a house heated by a flow and return copper conduit, there 

 was a Musa Cavendishii in fruit. It was not quite a year old, 

 and was planted in leaf mould, resting on a bed of stable litter 

 and leaves. 



Vines were being forced in wooden pits, surrounded with dung 

 linings. These pits were certainly of a very cheap construction, 

 merely some posts and boards nailed together, and only 3£ feet 

 wide ; but the quantity of grapes produced in that limited width 

 was astonishing. The vines were trained horizontally along the 

 back, which was apparently not more than 3 feet high. A 3-inch 

 earthenware pipe was laid along the front for hot water, sup- 

 plied by means of a small boiler placed at the end of the range. 

 The variety in forcing was the Chasselas de Fontainebleau, or 

 Royal Muscadine, as it is generally called in England. The 



