JESII'Sfe 
[Entered according to Act of Confess, in the year 1877, by the Kural Publishing’ Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN, PARIS. 
On the left side of the Seine, beside the palace 
of the same name, in the heart of Paris, are the 
gardens of the Luxembourg, 
scarcely inferior in beauty r - 
to those of the Tuileries, = - 
until the Communists partly gsjg # 
despoiled them of their at¬ 
tractions during the revolt 
in 1871. Covering an area jj| 
of eighty-five acres, they ,= - 
are still exceedingly inter¬ 
esting and highly instructive 
to the horticulturist. They 
are laid out with all the 
taste and judgment that 
distinguish the works of the 
best French landscape gar¬ 
deners, and are entirely free 
from the incongruous obtru¬ 
sions of the purely artistio 
element which, to the taste 
of Englishmen and Ameri¬ 
cans, appear somev hat 
meretrioious on many of the 
other narks and gardens 
and'around the'gay capital 
of France. 
For many years back, 
they have fortunately been 
under the management of 
one of the clearest-headed 
and most accomplished gar¬ 
deners in Europe, M. Ri¬ 
viere. ThankB to him, most 
of the traces of communis¬ 
tic violenoe are now obliter¬ 
ated, and, like Eleazer’s 
temple of old, it is only 
those who remember their 
former beauty who bemoan 
their present inferiority, 
while Btrangers are loud in 
their praises of the attrac¬ 
tions that still render this 
place one of the most charm¬ 
ing 8 p o t s In the city. 
Among the interesting re¬ 
lics of by-gone days, yet 
preserved iu porfect health, 
are a multitude of old Ole¬ 
anders in tubs. In winter, 
these are stored in the 
Orangery, and when placed 
out-of-doors, in the genial 
summer time, they often 
flower as freoly as beds of 
scarlet Pelargoniums. Thor a 
is also a very excellent col¬ 
lection of orange trees, 
around which are always 
congregated a number of 
carious admirers. A small 
portion of the garden is de¬ 
voted to fruit culture, and 
from the study of this 
model of its kind, visitors 
interested in fruit-garden¬ 
ing might learn much in all 
that relates to the training 
and cultivation of fruit 
treos. 
The fioral decoration out 
of doors is, for the most 
part, composed of a mixture 
of hardy herbaceous and 
tender bedding plants, the 
bordora being usually gay 
with spring flowers before 
those from the conservator¬ 
ies are placed in the open 
air. Here there is no early 
summer clearance of the 
beds, as the plants that suc¬ 
ceed each other, are “ stolen in ” from time to , tional importance, but it has lately been trans¬ 
time, so as to allow no trace of bareness after ferred to the Acclimation Garden in the Bois- 
the winter is passed. There used to be here a de-Boulogne. The hot-honse department is rich 
very large collection of vines, one, indeed, of na- in the possession of the best collection of Orchids 
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VIEW IN THE LUXE3IHOURG GARDEN, PARTS. 
in any public garden around Paris, and the Ca¬ 
mellia-house also is abundantly stocked. The 
common honeysuckle is grown a great deal in 
the gardens aB a low standard bush, freely cut 
back in the winter. 
• - - M. Riviere is an able lec¬ 
turer on fruit culture, prun¬ 
ing, and the like, and dur- 
< ing the winter and Bpring 
speaks to large audiences in 
the Orangery. The custom 
of lecturing on pure garden¬ 
ing, as distinguished from 
botany, is common in 
France, and is the cause of 
the widespread knowledge of 
fruit trees and their treat¬ 
ment among the inhabitants 
of that country. Even ama¬ 
teur workmen and laborers 
possess this knowledge to a 
high degree, and, consider¬ 
ing the large number of 
small farmers each of whom 
has generally an orchard 
patch, the acquisition is 
extremely useful. In lec¬ 
tures on such topics here 
and elsewhere throughout 
the country, the discourse 
is abundantly illustrated by 
living specimens ^exemplify¬ 
ing the points under discus - 
sion, and frequently the pro¬ 
fessor and! class visit some 
famous garden for a still 
more effective illustration. 
A peculiar charm is im¬ 
parted to the Luxembourg 
gardens by stately avenues 
of graceful trees and se¬ 
cluded walks, shaded by 
dense masses of odoriferous 
shrubbery, while fine ter¬ 
races, here and there, diver¬ 
sify the scenery, and fre¬ 
quent groups of classic and 
symbolic statuary, half-hid¬ 
den by umbrageous foliage, 
embellish the long vistas. 
This is a favorite lounging- 
place for the gay Parisians, 
and groups of promenaders 
may be seen, at all times, 
enlivening the smooth as¬ 
phalt-coated walks, while 
the numerous seats are oc- 
| cupied by groups of noisy, 
laughing children, inter¬ 
spersed by their sedate eld¬ 
ers smilingly watching the 
youngsters' gambols or pla¬ 
cidly enjoying the beauty of 
the scene. 
In France, horticulture 
has for ages received special 
attention. As long ago as 
the year 736. Charlemagne, 
by royal edict, established a 
number of public gardens, 
prescribing t he very plants 
which were to he grown, 
and, amidst the multitudin¬ 
ous cares that must have 
pressed heavily on the abso¬ 
lute monarch of so vast an 
empire, he still found time 
to personally see that his 
orders had been obeyed. 
Towards the end of the T6th 
century, Henry IV., of 
France, bad collected in the 
garden of Montpelier up¬ 
wards of 1,300 French Al¬ 
pine and Pyrenean plants. 
