242 REPORT ON THE FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDENS NEAR PARIS. 



tuces, Carrots, &c , are over, the beds are stirred up a little, and 

 some soil, chiefly decayed manure, is put on ; and Melons are 

 then planted. They ripen without glass. The soil of the enclo- 

 sure here appeared to be composed chiefly of decayed dung, in 

 which Melons grow planted out in summer. The soil, open and 

 light in substance, but dark coloured, is readily heated by the 

 sun's rays. Two young men were planting Cos-lettuces in a 

 border in front of a wall with a south-east aspect ; and one of 

 them was experiencing the immediate warmth of the soil, without 

 either shoes or sabots. On the preceding day, when we were 

 in the Jardin des Plantes, I remarked that the frost was then 

 but just out of the walk on the north side of the mound. 



Establishment of M. Coccomier, Jils, Avenue de Bel Air, 

 Faubourg St. Antoine. — The establishment of M. Josseaume is 

 noted for what is termed Asperges blanches; but M Coccomier 

 produces on an extensive scale another description, the Asperges 

 vertes, the shoots being green. He purchases roots annually to 

 the amount of 20,000 francs — about 800/. He prefers plants 

 of 3 years old ; those of four years are generally once cut, and 

 then they do not answer so well for forcing. The plants are 

 packed close on the beds, and the roots covered with light de- 

 cayed dung, the buds of the crowns being scarcely covered. With 

 a brisk bottom heat, kept up by linings, the shoots are soon fit to 

 cut, green and tender. 



Establishment of M. Moreau, Rue de Charonne. — The forcing 

 here consisted chiefly of Lettuces, on dung-beds, as at some of 

 the places already noticed, some being covered with frames, and 

 others with bell-glasses. The number of these glasses was nearly 

 4000. Each glass covered five Lettuce plants, consisting of four 

 Cabbage-lettuces, and one Cos-lettuce in the centre. 



I left Paris, March 18, by railway to Rouen. Proceeded next 

 day, by diligence, through Normandy and Picardy to Boulogne, 

 and arrived in London on the evening of March 20. 



In concluding this account, I have to acknowledge the kind- 

 ness I experienced in France from every one engaged in horti- 

 culture to whom we had occasion to apply for information. I 

 found all intelligent and obliging, anxious to avail themselves of 

 improvements in horticulture, and willing to communicate a 

 knowledge of their modes of cultivation to others. 



