94' Notes on Marliet-gardeninci and Vine-culture 
" On the plains," as it is termed round Paris, the small farmers 
grow common market-garden crops on the following system : — 
(1) Early peas, sown wide enough apart to admit of (2) early 
potatoes being planted between them. After peas they plant 
(3) haricot beans, and after potatoes sow (4) late peas. Again, 
after haricots they plant early cabbages to come off in the 
spring, peas being sown in their due season between the rows of 
cabbages, and so on as before. 
Cultivation of Special Plants. 
In the suburbs of Paris there are market-gardens on a larger 
scale than the walled gardens of Vaugirard, some of which are 
devoted to the cultivation of fruits and vegetables requiring 
special mention ; also in the district of Amiens there are market- 
gardens on a larger scale than in the peat district. The land in 
these cases consists of the usual marly soil of the country, and 
large quantities of strawberries, asparagus, and dandelions are 
cultivated, in addition to lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, and 
other usual market-garden plants. Of late years the mode of 
cultivation of asparagus has been entirely altered in this and 
other districts of France. The method now adopted was origi- 
nated at Argenteuil near Paris — the headquarters of the asparagus 
culture — and is commonly known by the name of that fertile 
suburb of the French capital. The systematic cultivation of 
the dandelion on a large scale has been introduced very recently, 
and the market-gardeners as well as the consumers are enthusi- 
astic in its praises. 
Dandelion. — This plant, used to a certain extent in England 
for medicinal purposes, but otherwise despised by us as a 
troublesome weed, is now carefully cultivated in France for the 
purpose of being used as a salad, in the middle of winter, after 
it has been blanched by covering it with earth or sand to the 
depth of three or four inches for two or three weeks. No less 
than five varieties are quoted in last year's list of seeds issued 
by the well-known French seedsmen, Messrs. Vilmorin-Andrieux 
& Co. Its great merit, in addition to its hygienic properties, is 
its abundance at a time of year when most other salads are very 
scarce. 
The seed is sown in nursery beds in April, rather a heavy 
soil being preferred. In May and June the plants are pricked 
out in rows two feet apart, and eight inches' distance between 
the plants. The seed may also be sown in rows the same dis- 
tance apart as before, and the plants afterwards thinned, and 
singled to a distance of eight or ten inches between them. The 
plant being indigenous to our climate, as well as to that of 
