THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



68 



of Paris, is tliat of conducting a tiny streamlet irregularly 

 tkrough tlie grass^ and bordering it with water and marsh 

 plants ; here there are a few examples of it for the most 

 part creditable. In one case, however, the streamlet in- 

 stead of coming from any probable source of higher rock or 

 brushwood, starts out of a plastered hole in the grass, in a 

 way one cannot admire. By the side of this and a neigh- 

 bouring streamlet alpine plants are placed, to grow here 

 and there in little beds along the stream, and indeed now 

 and then on a plastered spot in the middle. They are 

 associated with such lowland marsh plants as the loose- 

 strife ; and in one instance a willow had started up and 

 shaded some choice dwarf Saxifrages and Rhododendrons. 

 It is creditable to attempt the cultivation of these plants 

 here, but alpine plants can never be grown thus. If they 

 could, it would be difficult to enjoy their native beauty or their 

 tiny character alternated with such things as the bullrush 

 and the flag ! With the supply of water that these parks 

 command, nothing could be easier than the creation of a 

 rocky mound healthfully covered with true alpine plants. 

 However, as no English landscape gardener has yet pre- 

 sented us with a rockwork well covered with its proper 

 ornaments, instead of merely ivy, Virginian creeper, &c., it 

 would be captious to find fault with the French for failing 

 in a branch which requires so much taste and knowledge of 

 plants. Not a few of the minor masses of rock — and there 

 are many of them — are in better taste ; and being less pon- 

 derous, they will some day no doubt display the plant life with- 

 out which a rockwork is a poor affair. A piece of very bad 

 taste is shown in bringing a cafe right to the edge of the 

 walk commanding one of the best views of the rocks and 

 water. Restaurants and refreshment places are wanted, 

 but they should not be thrust in face of the most impor- 

 tant spots. People should never go to such places for 

 the sake of the cafe, however interesting it might be as an 

 accessory. There are unobtrusive and readily accessible 

 positions where they may be situated. 



One feature deserves denunciation — the glaring way in 

 which the walks are exposed. There can hardly be two 



