596 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



therefore it may occur to the reader that they are useless 

 therein ; but the little fences of bent wood which furnished 

 the idea for these iron edgings were generally used to pre- 

 vent grass near drives and walks from being trodden 

 upon; and of course those now recommended will answer 

 the purpose better. However, it is in much-frequented 

 places along drives, and in public gardens and parks, that 

 their chief merit will be found. They may be seen in 

 every public garden in Paris, from the gardens round the 

 Louvre, where you may notice them obscurely running along 

 outside of the Ivy edgings, to the slopes of the Buttes Chau- 

 mont and the more frequented parts of the Bois de Bou- 

 logne; and they must ere long be as widely adopted in 

 England, for it is impossible to find a better or more pre- 

 sentable edging. In all squares or lawns where croquet is 

 played they will, if set rather deeply, be found peculiarly 

 useful in preventing the balls from running over the beds 

 and breaking the plants. In some London squares I have 

 recently noticed the beds raised bodily to a height of fifteen 

 inches above the level, as a protection against croquet balls. 

 All this trouble might be saved in a few minutes by placing 

 these rustic iron edgings around the beds. 



The Cloche. — This is simply a large and cheap bell- 

 glass, which is used in every French garden that I have 

 seen. It is the cloche which enables the French market 

 gardeners to excel all others in the production of winter 



and spring salads. Acres of them 

 Fig. 352. j^ay be seen round Paris, and 



private places have them in 

 proportion to their extent — from 

 the small garden of the amateur 

 with a few dozen or score, to 

 the large one where they require 

 several hundreds or thousands of 

 them. They are about sixteen 

 ^^^'Sr^tae'"'"'"- inches high, and the same in dia- 



meter at the base, and cost in 

 France about a franc a piece, or a penny or two less if 

 bought in quantity. 



