287 



many islands favored by nature with a milder cli- 

 mate and richer vegetation than the adjacent conti- 

 nent. Instance yonr own Newport, Rhode Island, 

 with a winter that resemble > more that of Charles- 

 ton, S. C, than a New England one. I instance 

 also the island of Jersey and Guernsey in the chan- 

 nel, and as last illustration that of Hyeves, with 

 its mild Sicilian climate and rich vegetation, whilst 

 the neighboring coast of southern France is sandy 

 and sterile. The Island of Hyeres has sent beauti- 

 ful Evergreens, splendid Magnolias, Khododen- 

 drons. Agaves, dwarf palms, date trees, pomegra- 

 nate trees, lemon and orange trees and a couple of 

 j gigantic Cereus. 



Next to the reserved garden is a fruit garden. 

 And here the "espalier" system is exhibited in all 

 its varied forms, from the simple to the compound, 

 from the plain straight to the tortuously complica- 

 ted. That is called by the French the arboriculture 

 de precision. The variety of specimens is not verj^ 

 great, but both fruit and vegetable of pretty much 

 all conceivable kinds is there, from tomatoes to 

 pine-apple, from frontignac grapes to artichokes, 

 and the kinds shown are the best ones. Here also 

 you can study man, or for that matter, you can 

 study men, women and children. Oh ! the looks 

 I and the inner sighs, to touch but with the eyes 

 I only ; to taste, but with the imagination only. The 



• most outspoken are as usual the children ; the next 



* are the daughters of Eve , the rear is brought up 

 j by the sons of Adam. 



Not less than fourteen glass-houses are on the 

 grounds. Here you can study all shapes, systems, 

 I arrangements and sizes. Hot houses, warm houses, 

 I cold houses, fruit houses, vineries, French, English, 

 I Belgian, Dutch, Grerman style ; the plain, the ele- 

 ^ gant, the combined, with and without wings or 

 central dome. The largest is the middle one, a 

 bold piece of architecture, of bolder conception than 

 anything I ever came across. 



A very fine cascade, falling over rocks of divers 

 shapes, and some of them "with verdure clad" 

 of different zones. The water forms a little sheet, 

 stocked with the famous carps of Fontainebleau. I 

 said famous. Perchance you are ignorant enough 

 not to know that old Fontainebleau, from time imme- 

 morial has a nursery of carps — that many and many 

 moss-covered fellows swim there one or two hundred 

 years old — age not warranted — and comes up from 

 the recesses of the deep, when the children throw 

 crumbs in the water. A school of them has been 



8 brought also to stock this lake. 

 Ad vocum water, let me mention the Aquaria. 

 nJ^ There are two of them, and it is worth travelling 



many a long mile to see them. A stream flows 

 through the sheet water aquarium. All the fishes 

 of Europe have their representatives to this finny 

 congress .Salmon, pike, carp, eels, mackerel, down 

 to the most insignificant. 



The salt water aquarium is a beautiful and most 

 creditable construction. Decorated with stalactites, 

 sea plants, etc. ; peopled with fishes of all possible 

 hues and shapes. Oysters and Lobsters have their 

 own habitations in it. 



Impossible though. Dear Monthly, to particu- 

 larize all the wonders of this garden. If 'premiums' 

 for subscribers are still the order of the day in your 

 country, I would propose to you to take all your 

 readers, or rather all your subscribers over here in 

 the Great Eastern. There is horticulture in this 

 exhibition sufficient to fill your next ten volumes, 

 and possibly you can then draw these 'life' subscri- 

 bers- And so I will not mention the paviliions, 

 kiosks and arbors innumerable, nor the galleries, 

 exhibition tables, and the like. I will lead you to 

 but three more co?/sn'i;c;'('*o?/s, two for the orchestras, 

 that entertain the ear, whilst vegetat:on feasts the 

 eye. And lastly to the pavilhon of the Empress, 

 a most charming little concern, wonderful to behold. 

 Not as it would .be the height of indiscretion to 

 trepass on the abode of a lady, and that lady so 

 good and so sweet as the Empress of the French — 

 we here part. And until we meet once more in 

 these exhibiting grounds. 



I am yours ever, W. 



JorfiriilfHPs! HetirFS, 



PENIfA. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Essay on Window Flants (see page 268. ) 

 (discussional meeting, Aug. 6th) 



President D. Rodney King in the chair. 



Mr. King said amongst the plants recommended 

 by the essayist the Cactus tribe was particularly 

 well adapted to window culture, they suffered nothing 

 by occasional neglect, and bore a dry and close room 

 with impunity. He referred to Mr. Meehan as a 

 lover of Cacti, and invited him to give his experi- 

 ence with them as window plants. 



Mr. Meehan, confirmed the views cf Mr. King 

 in regard to the availability of Cactuses and succu- 

 lents generally as window plants. Some, WkeCereus 

 flagelUformus^ had a drooping habit well calculated 

 for hanging vases; others like RJvipsalis had a grace- 

 ful character as bushes, which harmonized with 

 other flowering plants, and even the most uncouth 

 looking had a beauty when closely scrutinized, which 



