476 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Jane 18, im 
results of imperfect root action. When the roots are inactive it is 
perfectly useless to top-dress with rich compounds, as it may take years 
for them to work through inert soil. By far the simplest plan is to lift 
the roots and lay them in fresh compost, and of all Vines I believe 
Muscats are the easiest to bring into good health. Many gardeners are 
afraid to touch a root of a Vine, and jealously top-dress without removing 
any soil. I know a case in which an inside border was top-dressed for 
years, and when another gardener took charge, and began to hunt for 
roots, he could not find one. The soil was taken completely out, and 
the roots, like black stems, were all outside. 
The old Muscats in these gardens are now in course of renovation, 
and next season they will appear to be young and vigorous Vines. 
Last season, after the roots had taken hold, we cut down four of the 
old Vines to within a foot of the border, and the result was good 
clean rods, and in the coming autumn we sha'l cut down the re¬ 
mainder. These are bearing good Grapes, but the rods are old with 
crooked spurs, and the sap will flow more freely through young 
stems. 
I think it is a great mistake to run up young rods from a spur, as 
the rods resulting are invariably weak. A vinery might be renewed 
by cutting down a couple of rods annually. The best Muscats 1 ever 
saw were from old Vines cut down. From the middle to the end of 
September is a good time for lifting the roots, when at that time I will 
send a note if acceptable. This is not the season for lifting, or indeed 
renovation of any kind, except, perhaps, keeping free from insects and 
lightening the load of fruit. 
Vines that are in a languishing state—and no doubt there are thousands 
such—should be renovated without delay. Where there is a will there 
is a way, and September and early October is not an over-busy time 
in any garden. If this work is delayed it may be the same next 
season. Whenever I have extra work on hand I think if there was to 
come a few days’ wet weather, so as to put a stop to outdoor operations, 
that in a few days or so we should get the work straight again, so I put 
down lifting Vines or any other such work as if the weather was wet. 
When the Vines come into a thriving state you forget all about the extra 
work entailed, and feel pleased that it was done when it was. All 
gardeners who have had weakly Vines under their charge know the 
anxiety attending whether the Grapes will set, whether shank, colour, 
or the foliage wither. With healthy Vines this is different, as it is all 
p’easure, except, perhaps, when a hailstorm comes and smashes half the 
glass and riddles the leaves and fruit.—A. Young. 
FLOWERS AT PARIS. 
Better than Florence Paris deserves at this moment to he called 
the city of flowers. On all sides are seen crowds of gardeners moving 
the clumps ornamenting the borders and the baskets. There are long 
lines of trucks carrying to the Exhibition swathed in mats bushes with 
green plumes and curious flowers. Every morning at dawn heaps of 
many-coloured bouquets enliven with their varied colours the pillars 
grey with dust, and in the markets, along the quays, and at the side of 
the parapets, are cartloads of Lilac and Lilies of the Valley. 
But it is particularly at the florists of the town that the wonderful 
flowers are to be seen opening and flourishing. A visit to this palace of 
flowers is one of the most attractive experiences that one caa imagine, 
and it is easy enough. The town of Paris does not want to exhibit; it 
is beyond competition, its competition would be too redoubtable ; but if 
like great ladies it does not bestir itself, it awaits with much gracious¬ 
ness at home the visitors who will not fail to go to the conservatories to 
admire at “ La Muette ” the superb collections in full bloom—the 
Rhododendrons, brilliant Carnations, the Azaleas with such delicate 
shades, the Pelargoniums with such curious speckles and such vivid 
tints, and the Tulips with their wondrous mixture of colours. The 
florist of the town enjoys a European reputation, He is under the 
direction of a master and an artist, Mr. Laforcade. His conservatories 
contain actually more than six million plants. This establishment has 
rendered great services to horticulture by making popular the use of 
large coloured plants which were not yet acclimatised in France. He 
has obtained this result with little expense by means of the exchanges 
he has made with all the foreign horticultural establishments. 
At all times the Parisians have been fond of flowers and gardens. 
The old Paris streets—Hautefeuille, Beautreillis, de la Cerisaie, des 
Hosiers, du Jardinet, des Lilas, de la Courtille—have preserved the 
remembrance. They held the distribution of Roses—a gracious tribute 
paid by the lay peers to the Parliament of Paris—every year during the 
month of April and May. At the festivals they adorned themselves 
with garlands of Roses supplied in bushels by the gardeners of the sur¬ 
rounding villages. The cradle of the floral culture at Paris has not 
been the Jardin des Plantes, but that part of the Faubourg of St. Ger¬ 
main circumscribed by the streets of Seine, Jacob, Bonaparte and the 
Beaux Arts. There stood formerly the little PrAaux-Clercs. It is on 
these marshy grounds that about 1580 some Ivebeaux made gardens, the 
centre of which was cut by a road that became later the street of 
Marais, at the present day Rue Visconti. 
In the seventeenth century the plant amateurs—and they were still 
rare—went to this enclosure in preference to the garden of the king 
which as yet was only a pharmaceutical garden. There flourished in 
the shade Fig trees and Peach trees, Roses, Geraniums, Lilac, Rose¬ 
mary, Basil, and Onions. 
Under Louis XIV. and Louis XV. the culture of flowers had not found 
its way into the taste of polite society. In the royal dwellings and the 
parks of the great lords one only saw green plots with steep sides, 
trained Yew trees, labyrinths of fatiguing Elms, Quincunxes in parade, 
and flower gardens formed in lines. Le Notre and La Quintinie were 
architects, not gardeners. It was not until about 1770, after the publication 
of the “ Letters on Botany,” by J. J. Rousseau, and the “ History of 
Modern Taste in Gardening,” by H. Walpole, that flowers gained the 
ascendant. The Alexandrian Pink, Bengal Roses and Moss Roses, Egyptian 
Mignonette and that of Tunis, Tulips, Tuberoses, and the Levant 
Narcissus, made their triumphal entrance into the boudoirs. It was all 
quite the fashion, conservatories were multiplied and Trianon was 
created. 
In all the wonderful feasts of the Revolution flowers played a con¬ 
spicuous part. They were scattered in profusion. The taste for flowers 
was so great that a “ Police Pamphlet ” of 1789 complains of the obstinacy 
of the Parisians in keeping gardens hanging at their windows. “ Even 
those of the low class,” says the author, “who have no ground for 
planting, make gardens in pots and boxes. The magistrates are opposed 
to these gardens. After several ordinances forbidding them, they did 
not succeed in putting a stop to them, so great is this inclination for 
gardens which exceeds, even in the minds of the poorest, reason and 
self-interest.” At a distance of one hundred years ago look again at 
this gay floreal, the balconies decked with Lilacs with their nodding 
heads, the windows ornamented with their foliage and flowers, and you 
will see what the decrees and prohibitions of the police against this 
innate taste of an artistic people are able to effect in the soul of these 
Parisians, lovers of all that represents life, colour, and light, and 
preferring, as says the police ordinance, the perfume of flowers to theiff 
own interests .—(Le XIX. Si'eclo.') 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
June 11th. 
A dark wet morning and most unseasonable weather probably 
deterred many exhibitors and visitors from attending the meeting of 
the above Society’s Committees at the Drill Hall, James Street, on 
Tuesday last. With the exception of the large collections of cut flowers 
from Messrs. Kelway, Barr, and Paul little space was occupied, and the 
gloom rendered the display still duller than it would otherwise have 
been. 
Fruit Committee. —Sir C. W. Strickland, Bart., in the chair ,- also 
present, Messrs. R. D. Blackmore, John Lee, J. Cheal, G. W. Cummins^ 
W. J. Bates, J. Hudson, P. Barr, J. Willard, G. Wythes, and J. Wright. 
Mr. John Doughty, gardener to Mrs. Tomlin, Angley Park, Cran- 
brook, sent a handsome oval-shaped well-netted Melon, the result of a 
cross between Eastnor Castle and Read’s Scarlet, but it was not of superior 
flavour, and consequently passed. Mr. C. Ross sent from Welford 
Park a medium-sized heavily netted Melon named Standard, the result 
of a cross between Dickson’s Exquisite and Hero of Lockinge. Th« 
fruit was not quite ripe, but was of such promise that the Committee 
desired to see it again. 
Cucumbers, excellent in appearance, of a new variety called 
Stapley’s Wonder, were exhibited by Mr. Stapley, but the quality wafj 
not considered equal to that of existing varieties. 
Mr. A. Dean sent good sized well-formed bulbs of the Queen Onion 
as showing the curious effects of last season, for the seed was sown ic> 
April, 1888, and the plants only drawn for the meeting. A vote of 
thanks was accorded. 
Examples of Benary’s Buttercup Cabbage Lettuce were placed on 
the table from Chiswick. They were of a decided yellow tinge, andi 
some of the members regarded the variety with favour. 
Strawberries gathered from plants in an open quarter at Chiswick on 
the date of the meeting were placed on the table. A variety named 
Crescent Seedling, sent to the gardens from M. Vilmorin, was repre¬ 
sented by three fruits, King of the Earlies by one, and Noble by one,, 
but this only changing. Thus Crescent Seedling takes the lead in¬ 
ripening, and the fruits were larger than those of King of the EarlieSy 
though not by any means so large as Noble. 
Floral Committee. —Present : W. Marshall, Esq., in the chair;, 
and Messrs. R. Dean, T. Baines, H. Herbst, W. Goldring, J. Walker,, 
E. Mawley, T. W. Girdlestone, VV. Holmes, F. Ross, B. Wynne, Shirley 
Hibberd, John Laing, and Lewis Castle. 
Messrs. Paul & Son, Cheshunt, exhibited a large collection of single- 
and double Pyrethrunns and Pseonies, together with plants in pots of 
Paul’s single H.P. Rose, of climbing habit with large white or blush 
tinted flowers, the petals broad and rounded, also several small 
standard Orange trees (bronze Banksian medal). Messrs. Kelway and; 
Son, Langport, contributed an extensive group of hardy flowers, 
Piconics, Iris, Pyrethrums, and Delphiniums, several of which were- 
certificated (silver-gilt Banksian medal). Messrs. Barr & Son, King 
Street, Covent Garden, also had a large collection of choice hardy 
flowers, amongst which Irises and Pasonies were conspicuous (silver 
medal). Mr. G. Prince of Oxford had two boxes of Tea Rose blooms- 
Princess of Wales and Comtesse de Nadaillac being very noticeable for 
their size. Messrs. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, had several new double 
tuberous Begonias, Miss French, creamy white, Lady Goldsmid, rose, 
and Mrs J. Chamberlain (certificated) being the best. Mr. E. F. Suchy 
Maidenhead, sent some seedling Pinks and a number of hardy flowers- 
T. Brooke, Esq., Barkby Hall, Leicester (gardener, Mr. J. Lansdell), ex¬ 
hibited three seedlings from Crassula lactea, the flowers varying from 
white to rose. Mr. R. Dean, Ealing, showed bunches of Pinks and 
