122 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 18, 1892. 
just opened, and some others are in bud. Thus, though boisterous 
March may have chill winds in store for us, we can, in the mean¬ 
while, rejoice at the feast of pleasure set before us at the present 
time ; and as we walk around the garden and hear the humming of 
the wandering bee as it searches the Snowdrop or the Crocus, 
rejoicing as it goes, we, too, may well, with uplifted hearts, feel 
cheered by the beauty spread around.—S. Arnott. 
[The illustration of the new Iris histrioides was prepared from 
a plant shown by Messrs. John Laing & Sons, of Forest Hill, at a 
recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, when an award 
of merit was granted for it by the Floral Committee. It is a 
beautiful form of the bulbous section, with large full flowers, 
the standards rich blue and deeply cleft, falls broad and well 
rounded, of a deep ultramarine blue streaked and mottled on a 
white ground. It is one of the finest of the reticulata group, 
very early, hardy, and sweetly perfumed. The plant is evidently 
well adapted fur culture in pots, and will be useful for cool houses.] 
COUVE TRONCHUDA AND ROSETTE 
COLEWORT. 
The above two vegetables are not, I think, cultivated as 
extensively as their merits deserve. Couve Tronchuda, or Portugal 
Cabbage, is quite a distinct variety of the Brassica family, with a 
somewhat spreading habit; the leaves, under good cultivation, 
having thick, juicy midribs, which, when stewed like Seakale or 
Celery, form a most delicious dish. The leaves selected for that 
purpose should not be the oldest or the very young ones. They 
should be broken from the stem, and the green part stripped off. 
The hearts may be afterwards cut and treated like Cabbage. To 
obtain thick succulent stems the seed should be sown early, about 
the same time as the first sowing of Brussels Sprouts will do. They 
should be pricked out, and finally planted in rich ground at 
18 inches apart. It has a hardy constitution, and, like most winter 
greens, is much improved in fiavour after being frosted. 
Rosette Colewort is another useful winter vegetable which should 
be cultivated by all who have a large demand with limited space 
at command, as the crop occupies the ground but a short time, and 
is a most acceptable dish, quite equal to Brussels Sprouts. The 
seed need not be sown until June, rather thinly, which obviates 
the necessity of transplanting. I generally make a practice of 
planting the quarters occupied by the main crop of Peas with 
these, making successional plantings as the rows are cleared off. 
The surface of the ground may be loosened with the fork, when 
they may be planted at 9 inches apart and 12 inches in the rows. 
With a favourable autumn they form compact little hearts. The 
best way is to draw them by tbe roots as wanted, and the ground 
is thus clear for digging again.—W. H. Stephens. 
THE FLOWER TRADE IN PARIS. 
[Notes of a Conference held at the Hall of the Association Fran^aise pour I'Avancement 
des Sciences, by ME. H. L. DE Vilmorin.] 
(^Continued from ^page 535.) 
Open Ground Culture. 
The most important “ purveyors ” at the Halles and the 
Parisian flower markets are those of whom we have had least to 
say ; they are the small horticulturists and market gardeners of the 
Seine and surrounding Departments, who cultivate in the open 
ground or under moveable shelters the flowers that afford them the 
best chance of profit. One bestows his care on annuals, another on 
perennials ; some take to the culture of Carnations and Asters, 
others give preference to Dahlias, Begonias, and Chrysanthemums. 
There is scarcely a market gardener who does not raise some 
flowers between his vegetables, and a visit to the market gardens of 
Grenelle, Clichy, Chatillon, or Moulineaux always brings to notice a 
few frames devoted to flowers. The appliances of these growers are 
very simple ; the frame and straw mat constitute the principal. 
Being often sons of gardeners certain special knowledge is passed 
from father to son, with shrewd observations based on custom and 
tradition. It is an honest population—eager for gain, but not 
curious to know new processes, and with a strong attachment to old 
customs and principles. During winter their life is very rough. 
Under frames they keep the common winter flowers. Lenten Roses, 
perpetual Violas, yellow Wallflowers, and Heliotrope ; but their 
culture produces its full effect only with the first strengthening 
rays of the sun. We owe to them the bulbous plants, which charm 
our eyes by their colours towards the end of March or the 
beginning of April, when the small pots are ranged on the asphalt 
of our flower markets, wrapped in a sheet of white paper. They 
do not supply the trade, but bring their flowers or plants for sale 
direct to the flower markets in the different quarters of the City, 
The Parme and perpetual Violets are grown in the open fields at 
Fontenay-aux-Roses, Sceaux, Chatenay, and Verrieres ; but that is 
now rather uncertain, and has a formidable rival in the south of 
France, where the flowers are produced with more certainty. As a 
general rule the growers of bulbs and of plants for sale derive a 
profit from the flowers produced. The gardeners at Montreuil sell 
in that way heaps of Narcissus poeticus and of Parisian Hyacinths. 
Some of our nurserymen dispose of an abundance of Pseony and 
Rose flowers ; and Fontainebleau and Montereau, the country of 
the beautiful Gladiolus gandavensis, send out during summer 
thousands of spikes of that flower. 
Culture Under Glass. 
It is easier to form an idea of the importance of the cultivation 
which furnishes the Parisian trade with plants and flowers grown 
under glass. We may estimate that 400 to 500 horticulturists, 
using 2500 or 3000 glass houses or groups of 20 frames, contribute 
the following :— 
Lilac . 
20 raisers, 
using 
300 glass houses or sashes 
Roses . 
15 
400 
it 
a 
Bulbous Plants ... 
12 
>} 
n 
60 
it 
it 
Ericas and Ferns... 
15 
500 
it 
it 
Foliage Plants 
50 
M 
250 
it 
it 
Plants in Bloom ... 
300 
n 
n 
1200 
it 
it 
Camellias . 
10 
>> 
i» 
25 
it 
it 
Azaleas . 
20 
>) 
V 
50 
it 
it 
Gardenias . 
5 
5> 
?> 
15 
it 
it 
Orange Blooms 
1 
7 
it 
a 
Orchids. 
10 
♦f 
15 
it 
it 
It is easy to understand that each plant having its own character¬ 
istics, specialties are imperative for culture on a large scale. When 
variety is necessary it is always at the expense of the quality 
of the produce ; each flower has, therefore, its centre of pro¬ 
duction, which is the secret of abundance and of cheapness by 
the concentration of all forces towards a common result. That 
specialisation enables one to establish the following floral map. 
Inside the fortifications at Montrouge, Vanves Glaciere, Avenue 
de Chatillon, and Grenelle Roses are forced, for which the stocks 
are procured from the large nurserymen residing at Brie-Comte- 
Robert, Bourg-la-Reine, and Ivry. The city has also, in the Picpus 
quarter, as a specialty the Parisian Stock, known in the vernacular 
as La quarteronne. Versailles grows the Azaleas like Vincennes 
and Montreuil-sous-Bois. The forced Lilac comes from Vitry-sur- 
Seine, Montrouge, and Montreuil, which latter place is a centre of 
extreme activity, providing Paris with Camellias, Gardenias, Nar¬ 
cissus, Hyacinths, and Cyclamens. As soon as the Peach yields 
fully the whole population abandon the flowers and direct their 
attention to it. 
Bourg-la-Reine, Fontenay-sous-Bois, Clamart, and Verrieres, 
as mentioned, are devoted to the Parme and perpetual Violets, also 
Fontenay-aux Roses. Neuilly is noted for forcing the Lily of the 
Valley, the same as Bagneux, where, at a time, the Parisians were 
glad to pick Strawberries. Fontenay-sous-Bois furnishes us still 
Primulas, Cinerarias, and Stocks. 
The Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, and Tuberoses which inundate 
our streets and markets come from Ivry and Montrouge. The 
Ericas and Ferns are brought from Vincennes ; the Heliotrope and 
Cyclamens, which have been so much improved in the last five 
years, are grown at Clamart. 
Le Vesinet, devoted formerly to the Turnip, has changed that 
vegetable for the aristocratic Orchids like Versailles ; these flowers 
are also grown in the City at the Avenue de Chatillon. Pierrefitte 
has endless fields of Carnations, and in Bourg-la-Reine that flower 
is forced to supply us during the whole winter. In the valley of 
Chevreuse all kinds of open-ground flowers are grown, both annuals 
and perennials. Unique in its way, within the walls, at Charonne, 
a succession of gardeners, heirs to a venerable conservatory, furnish 
the fresh Orange flowers. We will next see how the flowers are 
forced, beginning with the Lilac.— Eug. Schaettel. 
(To be continued.) 
ERANTHEMUM PULCHELLUM. 
Blue flowers are scarce amongst stove plants, hence are always 
acceptable, more especially those which flower during the winter 
months, and one of the most useful is this old, very free-flowering, 
easily grown plant. I have plants in 4 inch pots not more than 
from 4 to 6 inches in height, nearly covered with flowers, and yet 
the plants have the healthiest foliage, and are useful alike for 
cutting from and for decorative purposes. 
I usually cut the old plants, the shoots of the previous year, to 
within one or two joints of their origin, keeping the plants rather 
dry for a fortnight after flowering. The plants start away freely 
