5B3 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 9, 1»9I. 
A nUN THROUGH NORMATSDY. 
1\Iany British vi i'ors to Paris who have a wholesome dread of 
the inal ile 77icr invariably select the Dover and Calais rout3 for the 
shortness of it? sea passage, and to business men the time saved on 
the journey is also an important consideration. By journeying this 
way, however, in the daytime there is little in the scenery to please 
the traveller until the immediate neighbourhood of Paris is reached, 
and a most imperfect idea is formed of the landscape attractions of 
FIG. 52. —THE chateau DE GOUVILLE, NORMAXDY. 
France. The route via Xewhaven and Dieppe gives a five or six 
hours’ sea passage and three or four hours longer total journey ; 
but considerable compensation for this expenditure of time is 
derived from the character of the countrv passed through on the 
French side of the Channel, and beyond that it is materially 
che3i>er, and few travellers either for business or pleasure in these 
days can afiPord to disregard this. Even in February on a bright 
sunny day the beauties of picturesque Normandy are very apparent, 
and sufficient could be seen in my journey from Paris to Eouen to 
create a very earnest desire to revisit so delightful a district in the 
summer or autumn months. Friends who have spent a week or two 
in a walking tour speak most enthusiastically of the pleasure they 
derived from their “ invasion ” of Normandy, and my experience, 
brief as it was, fully confirms their eulogies. We are accustomed 
to regard our own charming county of Kent as one of the most 
varied in our island, and the familiar designation “ the Garden of 
England” fairly indicates the popular appreciation in w'hich it is 
held., Normandy is, as it were, a repetition cf Kent on the opposite 
side of the Channel, but with its characters more strongly developed 
and every featuie more clearly defined ; there is, perhaps, less of 
the smoothness and rolling undulation, with more of the bold and 
the picturesque. That, at least, wms the impression produced upon 
my mind in journeying both by rail and road, while to it is added 
the quaintness and the interest of an ancient nation so closely asso¬ 
ciated historically with our own. No Briton whq retains a memory 
of an early smattering of history can visit Normandy without expe¬ 
riencing much more than an ordinary interest in a foreign county, 
and this will be still further increased by observation of the points 
of resemblance still existing between the peoples. The intercourse 
following the Norman Conquest existed so long tint there could 
not be otherwise than an approximation in customs and habits with 
the greatest tendency of course to the rat’onal character most 
strongly marked at the time. There can be little doubt that much 
'f the foundation of the English national character—Independent 
boldness and hardihood—is derived from the Normans ; and one 
other point also cannot fail to strike a visitor to Normandy, and 
that is there is more of the home life of our own country districts 
than in these portions of France with which the average tourist is 
more familiar. 
The Rouen Dis'rracT and Orchards. 
However, the object of these notes is not to provide an elemen¬ 
tary dissertation upon Norman history, but to refer to something 
more strictly within the province of the Jownal of nortiailture, a 
celebrated garden and its surroundings. Favoured with an 
invitali n from the Comt3 de Germiny ti visit his garden and 
collectiors of plants at the Chateau de Gouville, one beautiful 
morning found me at Rouen station as the completion of the first 
stage of my journey thither. Time did not admit of much delay, 
and after a hurried glance at the quaint at rictions of Rouen, 
which has been compared to “a Manchester without smoke,” but 
seems to me more like “ a purified Sheffield ” as regards the billy 
character of its scenery, I was soon on the r ad to Gouville. The 
best vehicle obtainable was an antiquated structure to which was 
yoked a horse of substantial dimensions and 
seeming strength, but which w'as subsequently 
found to be afflicted with an indisposition to 
active fxerc ise qu'te in proportion to his size. 
“ Monsieur le Cocher ” too professed to have 
an intimate acquaintance with the road that 
an hour’s experience proved to be purely 
imaginary ; but owing to these two rather 
unpropitious circumstances I enjoyed a pro¬ 
longed journey through a delightful country 
on a clear sunny spring-like day such as we m 
England se'dom have in February. Frotn 
the station the road ascends a steep hill until 
an elevation is reached commanding a fine view 
of Rouen and the Seine, which there assuni'^s 
the character of an imposing stream very dif- 
erent from its Parisian aspect. Thence we 
jrroceed through an ag iciiltuml district—well- 
farmed lands, with neat hedges, and every 
appearance of active supervision attended by 
prosperity. Through the Apple orchards too 
our steadfast steed leisurely conveys us, and 
we have vistas of trees of all kinds from hoary 
lichen-clad veterans of the West of England 
or Irish type down to vigorous trees in their 
prime, but all look in good bearing condition, 
and it is said the crops from some of these old 
trees are enormous in favourable seasons. It 
is noticeable, however, that little planting seems 
to have been done for yeais, and there will 
ceme a time when the old orchards are exhausted and an important 
industry wi'l be ruined. At present the supplies are good, and 
cultivators appear content, excapt that they do not obtain so 
groi a market in England as was at one time the case before 
American Apples were imported so largely. Now, however, the 
manufacture of cider receives increased attention, and a profitable 
demand has aiisen for well prepared samples of this useful product. 
I have never had an overpowering inclination for cider in England, 
and very seldom have the samples tested caused me much satisfac¬ 
tion—frequently, in fact, quite the reverse. The Normandy cider, 
however, which I had the privilege of tasting, was a beverage of a 
very different character, and I should think in moderation it is as 
wholesome as it is agreeable. 
Another characteristic of the district which is sure to arrest 
attention when the trees are leafless, is the abundance of Mistletoe 
growing m dense clusters on large and small trees at all height?. 
We are told every Christmas when the crates of this ^important 
parasite appear in such numbers in the London markets, that a 
considerable proporiion of it comes from Normandy, and it has 
always been difficult to understand where such extensive continuous 
supplies could be procured. A few dayswandering about Rouen 
and some other large towns in that part of France would revet 1 
the secret, for the supply must be almost inexhaustible. I 
endeavoured to ascertain whether any systematic attempts are 
made in propagating the Mistletoe, but could obtain very little 
definite information. In some places it is evident that cultivation 
has been and still is carried out, for the bunches appear at a regular 
height on a series of trees, but in the majority of cases it is 
thought the birds are the only means by which it is propagated, 
and it is only the English demand that saves it from extermination 
as a pest. Whether it be regarded as a “ weed,” or as a “ cultivated 
plant,” young people need have no fear that a peculiarly English 
custom will fall into abeyance from a deficiency of material, for 
Normandy can supply their requirements for years to come. 
Quitting the orchard region the road our guide thought proper 
to take led i s along steep hillsides down into deep tree-clad valleys, 
and through quaint old tewms like pictures fiom a distant age. 
Once or twice man, horse, and vehicle were cendemnedin unsparing 
t rms, but after all the man was freely L rgiven, for he must have 
an eye to landscape effects, or he would never have selected such a 
road. From several paits the scenery was exquisite, and when the 
trees are clothed in the green tints of spring or the varied hues 
of early autumn, one could easily imagine how greatly its beauty 
would be augmented. The bold bills, the abundant trees, and the 
feitile valleys with their bright little streams form the features of 
