THIRTY-THIRD BIENNIAL SESSION 
95 
various other public parks and gardens, and are often under the general di- 
rection of the University of Paris. I attended a dozen or more of the meet- 
ings held under the auspices of the National Horticultural Society, and they 
were equally interesting and instructive. Some of the meetings were held 
in the “Gardens of the Luxembourg,” and at other points in the city of Paris. 
One meeting was held at the National School of Horticulture at Versailles. 
At other times excursions were made to some of the best nurseries, seed 
farms, etc. 
Certainly some good grows out of almost every ill. France, now the most 
democratic, was not so long ago the most absolutely or autocratically gov- 
erned of all the great nations of Europe. During this reign of absolutism 
and royal infatuation, many immense palaces were built. Connected with 
these were extensive forests, parks and gardens, all established with the 
most lavish disregard of cost. Just how many of these palaces there are I 
do not know, but certainly some of them are now put to a much better use 
than was originally intended. As I have already intimated, the National 
School of Horticulture is well-housed and equipped by being located at Ver- 
sailles, and by using the greenhouses and gardens connected with this ex- 
pensive palace. The headquarters of the National Horticultural Society is 
located in the Gardens of the Luxembourg, and the parks and gardens that 
were originally used only by the so-called royalty are now free to the public 
and are visited by thousands every day. A somewhat similar use is being 
made of the palaces of St. Germaine, St. Cloud, The Tuileries, etc. 
The Palace of Rambouillet, one of the most distant from Paris, and 
located in a stock-growing rather than fruit-raising section, is wisely used 
as a great storehouse of wool, and its spacious parks and gardens devoted to 
the breeding and improvement of one of the choicest strains of the merino 
sheep. Some of the rougher portions of the grounds are devoted to experi- 
mental forestry. Yet how much more could have been accomplished, if 
these hundreds of millions of dollars had been devoted to the welfare of the 
many instead of the self-glorification of the few. 
Discussion. 
Question: I would like to know what materials they fertilize their 
grapes with in France? 
Mr. Lazenby: They use the commercial fertilizers to a considerable 
extent, and also of course save very carefully all the organic matter of all 
kinds; in some of the river valleys they go to the extent of using large 
quantities of silt from the streams. 
Question: Do they practice thinning their plums, or do they not bear in 
such clusters as here? 
Mr. Lazenby: Well, I did not see any case of thinning myself. It would 
look from the crops on some of them as though they must have been 
thinned however, because the fruit was large and not overcrowded; but I 
cannot say from my own observation. Thinning is done quite carefully in 
many districts with the grape. 
Question: Would it not very largely depend on the cost? I would like 
to have the speaker tell if he can what the cost of labor is in France 
that would do that thinning and bagging. 
