282 



GA RD EN EES' MAG A ZINE. 



April 



30. 1898. 



The French Lilac Trade. 



The French lilac trade is not only a very important branch of industry, 

 but its quaint history is equally as significant ; thus, whenever the yield 

 is rich, it truly represents quite a little fortune for the inhabitants of the 

 illage of Frette, which is situated sixteen miles from Paris. The village 



uting in 

 souvenir. ^ 



eck this growing "evil," custom house officers 7% ' * 

 all Parisian railway termini, call upon kZ2 who * 



VI 



itself is in the midst of a veritable lilac forest, having an area of some 



1,600 acres of barren, chalky soil, which during the season of three omy ine pmpuis m UJCir uwn garaens but , - .... ljqi 



weeks will produce nothing else. The branches are cut, tied together, were cut with their consent. This check though well inteT5 ^ * 



as if so many sheaves of corn, and transported during night time to the less insufficient, for what control is there to prevent the sa d ' S D< * 



Paris. On their arrival at the Halles Centrales, the bundles are duly gers from increasing their bunches from other people's garden passen " 



untied and sprinkled over with fresh water. The village of Frette, thus 

 sells yearly £2,920 worth of the choicest lilac ; the five hundred inhabit- 

 ants either own part, or rent plots of the ground from the State or the 

 Commune. When the lilac season comes to an end, the Frettois, which 

 is the name given to the inhabitants, fall back on hiring themselves out 

 as farm servants, others prefer living on the produce of their river fishing ; 

 while during the winter months their principal industry consists of 

 making mats, brooms, and beehives. The village of Frette, though 

 abounding with lovelyililac, is theipoorest and the least looked after, as well 

 as the most neglected in every sense of the word, within the department 

 of the Seine-et-Oise. It is sufficient for the peasants of that popular 

 village — who, as already remarked, make their living mostly by lilac- 

 growing, and many make a few thousand francs by the industry — to plant 

 one single stem of lilac in an almost barren field, where nothing else can be 

 cultivated, to possess within a short time a most productive and flourishing 

 shrub. Curious to remark, when the inhabitants are asked to sell part 

 of their ground, they certainly do not keep their buyers waiting long for 

 a negative answer, owing to their exaggerated pretensions about the price 

 of their plantations. 



While on a visit to Frette recently, the writer was told of an amusing 

 anecdote which fully corroborates the truth concerning the refusal on the 

 part of the Frettois to reasonably sell an inch of their barren soil. Thus, 

 a cobbler some years ago, who carried on his trade at Frette, and who 

 was a large land proprietor, received an unexpected visit from a Paris 

 land surveyor, the latter having come down specially on behalf of an 

 intimate friend of his, with a view of purchasing a small allotment which 

 belonged to the shoemaker. The cobbler was offered two hundred and 

 fifty francs, or j£io, cash down, which implied a price of half a franc, or 

 fivepence per yard, which was considered a very reasonable offer on the 

 part of the surveyor, especially as it was nearly barren soil. The 

 shoemaker, however, most contemptuously refused such a proposal, and 

 exclaimed in the greatest astonishment possible : "What, two hundred 

 and fifty francs ! You seem to forget, sir," he continued indignantly, 

 " that without the least trouble my few perches of land represent an annual 

 yield of lilac to me of one hundred and fifty francs alone ; now the latter, 

 in twenty years, would represent a sum ofi three thousand francs [or ^120 ;] 

 such is the price you will have to pay, if you want to buy my insignificant 

 plot of land." Needless to add, the purchase was not effected. This 

 instance clearly illustrates the value set upon their land by Frettois in 

 general. 



The who'.e surroundings of Frette being equally lilac-producing 

 thefts are much on the increase. The Frettois accuse— and not without 

 cause— cyclists of being the most daring thieves, the more so, as there 

 seems to be no bound to their audacious helpings of the flowery shrub. 

 Lilac-thieving is not limited to the village of Frette and its environs, 

 but the suburbs of Pans equally suffer from similar acts of dishonesty. 



Guards are posted at various distances at Frette during the collecting 

 of the shrub, to keep off thieves; but, (notwithstanding the most careful 

 watching, cyclists manage to pluck away as audaciously as ever, trusting 

 to the speed of their machines to carry them safely away. The majority, 

 on approaching a shrubbery dismount, creep on their hands and knees to 

 the coveted spot, and cut away at the branches, while some comrades 

 keep watch ; at the least signal of danger, they regain their bicycle, thus 

 firmly believing in the maxim that : 



u lie who steals and runs away 

 Will live to * rob ' another another day." 



Generally speaking, the French lilac industry has made great progress 

 of late )ears ; much of this is largely due to the fact that Parisians have 

 taken more kindly to the plant ; it is not too much to say that actually 

 lilac is Par excellence the most favourite flower of Parisians of both sexes, 

 ut course this craze has greatly benefited culture, hence the successful 

 harvests throughout France during recent years. There is an incessant 

 ?JL m * °\ ° m , P . ans d ™ng the season, especially by housewives, 

 ™ f to h * se * n d <^y laden with the two varieties of lilac ; no time is 

 constat fr. u T 10 f ? de ' as extra quantities are purchased, thus a 

 ^^e^^ l U^^^^« eve 'y home; whether poor or 

 durin, \" e e ^^J^^ rail -ay stations offer a pleasing sight 



filled brro^ h. nf 1 1,laC Season ' where the courtyard is usually 

 prices Y g ° f ^ Sexes offcri »g branches of lilac at moderate 



I^rU^ th <*s in and around the public parks of 



devastation of lilac trees irHhe « — h ^ beCn im P osed Thus > the 



park 



01s de Boulogne, having assumed a 



«^ w kivc me qn™*T r " tS ^ each # ate re q uest eyery person 



for thieving ; too ofter! C e K the Penalty of being prosecuted 



Notwithstanding these strict m handfuls represent a day's collection, 

 that vigilance and watching r^ easur ? s ' lhe keepers themselves confess 



breaking of lilac hSSSfiH^ M *** ^ £ hecking the whol *sale 

 of spite not only break twia* k concern ed by promeneurs, who out 

 plucking flowers which thev ctnr trani P le flower-beds down, besides 

 till safely out of the park T ?" ay ln their Pockets and handbags 



P K^ates. It is a well-known fact that the passion 



of Parisians for all kinds of flowers is irresistible N v 

 would ever think of returning home after a Sunda5° - nch fani 

 country without some horticultural or botanical ° Utlmr in * 



better to check this growing 



stationed at w «» *-...*c* 7 ^tuimi, can upon nas<; " v 9X1 



flowers to produce a laisser-passer ; . this ticket or pass aJmSw ° arryil * 

 signed by the owner of suburban gardens with whom the t «vS " g l 1 * 

 been spending the day, and setting forth that the said flowi avc 

 only the outputs of their own gardens, but that the flo * ° 



ugh well inte 

 prevent the s 



way to the station ? Any persons unable to X^^^^^S^a^ 

 passer are compelled to give up their bouquets to the officials ; no &?£ 

 inflicted, as that would entail too much trouble to trace the oris f I 

 supposed theft, and of the owner's identity ; all that is done is rWJ, 



confiscate the suspected flowers and shrubs, which 

 destroyed by the custom house officials. 



erely 



are ultimately 



Though cyclists are looked upon with an evil eye they are not thf 

 only sinners, for another class ot forgetters of the Decalogue— wealth! 

 ladies— are equally as guilty ; thus it is a common practice anion? rich 

 Parisian ladies who drive about in their carriages to drive to neighbour 

 woods and favourite spots well stocked with lilac and other flower? 

 The coachmen are instructed beforehand 



and not to forget to stop when passing 



to keep a good look otr 

 a flourishing shrubbery, t 

 mount the box, cut away at the branches, and when a certain quantity 

 has been gathered the sprays are secreted carefully under the seat, and 

 the occupants of the carriage return to Paris smiling with innocence. 



Edward Conner. 



The Narcissus Crop. 



When the first blooms of such common types of narcissi as the English 

 Lent Lily and Telamonius plenus (double daffodil) commenced to open 

 their blossoms, I made up my mind for a poor season. Speaking 

 generally, my fear has not been realised, for up to the present time it has 

 been, in this garden, a really good one. We grow some thousands of 

 bulbs in various places, such as rose borders, p;iony beds, amongst 

 herbaceous plants, and in the Michaelmas daisy border, as well as i" 

 about two acres of wild garden on grass. We never hav e had so good a 

 display as during the past fortnight. Not only is the foliage robust and 

 healthy, but the individual blooms are of really good quality. At the 

 time when the varieties alluded to were opening their first flowers, a 

 contemporary alluded to the promise of a poor crop, and gave as a reason 

 that the excessive rain and cold weather experienced in March of last 

 year was no doubt the cause. This coincided with my own ideas, as 

 here we experienced more than an average rainfall at the time. No doubt 

 this is all against the due and necessary growth and maturation of the 

 bulbs for the next season's flower crop. *By the end of April ijjj inches 

 of rain had fallen in this neighbourhood, which in a yearly average ol 

 30 inches is excessive. I noticed, too, that where the bulbs were grow- 

 ing in less exposed situations, such as near trees, they produced still 

 fewer blooms than those of the same variety quite in the open. This was 

 still further proof that the weather of the previous season was partly 

 responsible for the semi-failure. Less rain having fallen during the two 

 succeeding months, the later flowering kinds were not so adversely 

 affected. 



The cultivation of narcissi has, of course, a beneficial effect upon the 

 results, as in all other flower crops. Here there is no comparison in m 

 luxuriance of the foliage and flower of N. Horsefieldi, for exampj 

 growing on grass, as compared to others established in the ncn so 

 the rose and herbaceous borders. Thousands of bulbs of v <™* 

 Ornatus and Poeticus, growing amongst fruit trees, have not ine ^ 

 appearance of robustness, owing to the somewhat poor nature 

 soil, as compared with the more generous treatment accordea ^ 

 in other sites. To grow narcissi in the best possible ^ditiM 

 there must be no haphazard method of treatment allotted to mc 

 Especially fine are the blooms this season of varieties like , 0SUSf 

 Emperor, Golden Spur, Princeps, Barri conspicuus, Odorus rug 



"~ — ~ n & Nelsoni ^or, jtajjg is 



uuuius plenus-the last named grown under g 

 It is not in every garden where space I 

 to grow numbers of the various narcissi in beds by tften ^ 

 adopt the plan above alluded to of filling the space between 1 ^ y 

 occupants of the peony garden, rose borders, as well as | amoj ^ 

 herbaceous plants in a wide border, and amongst the ^T^^S* 

 In all these positions we meet with much success, ine iw brigb fcf 

 tremely useful for cutting, while, when growing, thf" CJ>rv 

 up an otherwise dull part of the garden during the 



7 x 



boxes of rich soil. 



March 



and throughout April. 



Swanmore Park Gardens. 



E. MOLYSEt 



Strawberry Royal Sovereign.-! 



have 



anotb^H 



I 



from 



Laxton 



1 — 

 plants 



inned 



seen UP 

 The 



by 



* vue earnest ^rr"- ' m-\ Dmitri. i DC r i^m 



Heckfield by the late Mr. Wilds^' ft ^* 

 >yal Sovereign, under adverse co" d u« ^ rie ty. G«£* 



r mnct thp. o ace of the oiuw *«Aeoirf**T- 



there is at the present time a 



iaginable 



shade — ^ 

 in fc^.ifck 



fruit of Royal Sovereign 



larkably 



