June 5,18»). ] 
JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
457 
r ARIS during fine weather in May is more like a vast park or 
garden than the cities we are accustomed to see in Britain, and 
it furnishes ample arboreal, floral, and architectural attractions to 
greatly impress a visitor from this country. It is difficult to 
imagine how a city could be rendered more horticulturally beautiful 
than the fair mistress of the Seine, and it is the more remarkable 
■to those who are familiar with the bare and treeless cities of garden- 
loving England. Delightful gardens abound in Britain, in France 
-they are comparatively rare, but in rendering cities agreeable and 
beautiful we must yield the palm to our continental neighbours, 
and sigh for possible improvements in the great metropolis that 
will be but slowly realised. We Britons are too apt to rest content 
in our insular prejudices, and are reluctant to follow where we have 
not been sufficiently energetic to lead, but no unbiassed horticultural 
visitor to Paris can fail to bring away the conviction that in some 
respects our Parisian fellow workers greatly surpass us. After 
making due allowance for climate and nationality, there is much 
that could be imitated here with advantage, and some useful 
lessons can be learned there that could be turned to good account 
at home. 
Nothing impresses a stranger in Paris so much as the spacious 
boulevards,” the “ places,” the “ avenues,” and the trees. These 
•constitute one of the chief glories of the city, and in May, when 
the foliage is in its freshest verdure, their beauty cannot be 
exaggerated. The trees are not seen in thin or scattered lines, but 
mostly in dense avenues, the shade of which has a considerable 
practical value in a continental summer. Happily, too, in the 
■principal boulevards they are seldom clipped into the dreadful 
formality that often disfigures the rows of Limes in the suburbs of 
London, but pruning appears to be conducted upon a rational 
■basis, judging by the well formed heads the trees possess. Another 
point in their favour is that two or three kinds of trees are not 
employed with painful monotony ; and though Planes and Horse 
•Chestnuts are perhaps the most frequent, there are many others that 
assist in affording an agreeable contrast both in foliage and habit. 
Most conspicuous amongst these at this time of year are the 
Paulownias—first because they possess much beauty of foliage and 
flowers, and secondly because they aie seldom seen in England 
■except as isolated and most unsatisfactory specimens. In Paris 
they are grand, and either in avenues or as single examples they 
must awaken the admiration of all visitors who are in any way 
interested in trees. Paulownia imperialis is aptly named, for when 
■seen in its best condition it is an imperial tree in every sen.se of the 
term. It is stately in habit, and foliage is ample and of the richest 
■green ; and then the large purplish flowers in loose terminal heads, 
with which the trees are loaded at this time of year, are exceed¬ 
ingly beautiful. One specimen near the IMadeleine Church was 
particularly fine during my visit, but I saw numbers in the boule¬ 
vards and parks equally handsome. In England the Paulownia is 
not a success, but some years elapsed before its adaptability for 
•city planting was proved in Paris, and it is strange that it seems to 
suffer here so much, when it is often subjected to much lower 
temperatures in France. Probably,however, the summer tempera 
ture and dryer atmosphere there ripen and harden the wood better, 
thus enabling it, like many other trees and shrubs, to endure 
greater extremes with safety. 
Catalpas also furnish a distinctive feature, and somewhat 
No. 519,—VoL. XX., Third Series. 
similar remarks apply to them as to the Paulownia, for they thrive 
well, flower freely, and perfect their fruit more frequently than in 
England. Gool examples of Catalpas are not, however, so rarely 
seen as Paulownias, but there is considerable difference in the 
time of leaf expansion in the two countries. For instance, tie 
Catalpas in Paris were in full leaf the third week of IMay, while in 
the neighbourhood of London the leaf buds were only just 
expanding, and they are not half out now. Moderate sized trees 
make handsome avenues, and their peculiarly fresh green foliage 
is very handsome until the effect of sun and wind become 
visible. 
The “ Tree of Heaven,” as we popularly designate the Ailantrs 
glandulosa, but to which the French give the less poetical title cf 
“ Vernis du Japon,” is another of the more noteworthy Parisian 
trees, and at first glance is readily mistaken for a common Ash. It 
is of graceful habit when of moderate size, but is apt to become 
rather straggling and level in larger specimens. In the Jardin des 
Plantes and the Rue St. Honorc the Ailantus is well represented, 
its long pinnate foliage having an elegant appearance in contrast 
with the denser Horse Chestnuts, but as a shade-affording tree it 
does not appear to be so useful as the others. Robinias are also 
extensively planted and flower in the greatest profusion in nearly 
every park and garden and for miles along the railway embank¬ 
ments. In the Champs Elysees, from the Place de la Concorde to 
the Arc de Triomphe is quite a forest of Horse Chestnuts, Pavia s, 
and Limes, and this avenue, which is nearly a mile and a half long, 
furnishes one of the most beautiful vistas imaginable in a city, 
while beyond the Place de I’Etoile the drive through the Bois de 
Boulogne to Sevres and St. Cloud is a revelation of delightful park 
scenery that in some parts could scarcely be surpassed for natural 
beauty. 
But there are other special features of Parisian horticulture 
regarding which I wished to say few words in this general summary, 
as some of them will perhaps merit a further detailed notice. Tte 
“ trees ” of Paris have been referred to, but the “ flowers ” are 
equally worthy of remark, for they furnish an attraction that can¬ 
not be overlooked. An early morning visit to the Halles Centrales, 
to the Flower Market at the Madeleine, or a tour round the Boule¬ 
vards to the principal florists reveals some important and interestirg 
facts, astonishing even to those familiar with the great flower trade 
of London. The cut flower business in Paris at certain periods of 
the year must be enormous, and the supplies during May afford an 
idea of the quantities produced and employed in floral decoration 
in everyday life, as well as for special occasions of rejoicing cr 
sorrow. Flowers evidently constitute an essential portion cf 
Parisian existence, and they are used with a profusion and frequency 
by all classes that would be thought extravagance in this country. 
Still the florists themselves exercise an economy in their work 
that might be more commonly practised here with advantage— 
namely, their bouquets, wreaths, sprays, baskets, and stands are 
rarely crowded, the flowers employed are displayed to the best 
advantage, and the general effect is proportionately improved. I 
remarked this not only at the Exhibition but in the leading florists’ 
shops throughout Paris, and especially at M. Nilsson’s, in the Rue 
Auber, where during several visits I saw some extremely tasteful 
productions, and a handsome bouquet from this establishment was 
presented to Madame Carnot on the occasion of her visit to the 
Horticultural Show. From M. Nilsson, who has been very suc¬ 
cessful as an exhibitor in recent years, having gained the j}rix 
d’honneur for floral decorations, I obtained some interesting 
information respecting the flower trade of Paris, which I hope to 
give another time. It is only necessary now to say that the reports 
which have appeared respecting the fabulous prices realised in 
Paris for floral work are mostly erroneous. The prices for all 
ordinary work are nearly the same as here ; for special occasions 
exceptional contracts are sometimes obtained, and there is an advan¬ 
tage in the trade being more steady and continuous, while flowers 
are obtainable wholesale either in the markets or direct from the 
No. 2175.— VoL. LXXXir,, Old Series. 
