COUNTRY GENTLExMAN’S COMPANION. 
57 
October 2‘5. 
be second to. Bat the great value of sliells is tlieir 
comfort for walking on, because they quickly become 
broken down to the size of coarse bran, and in that 
state form an easy, agreeable substance for the feet, are 
quite as clean in wet weather as in dry, and, on the 
whole, more Qrm after rain than at any other time, each 
shower also helps to wash them whiter ; and though in 
places where there is a great deal of traffic they get ground 
down into a sort of grey dust, their appearance in that 
condition is not bad, and a few more scattered over the 
place again restores the colour. Another advantage 
1 in such a walk, is that weeds can be removed with 
I less expense than in most others, for the walk can be 
hoed over without any detriment to it, which is not the 
case with gravel, which tears up, and rarely sets down 
I again nicely; whereas, the Dutch hoe, in the hands of an 
ordinary labourer, will go over a great breadth of walks 
in a dry day, and a blunt-toothed rake, or switch broom, 
will level it in quickly; the weeds w'e suppose to be dried 
up and nowhere to be seen. And as weeds are to be 
met with everywhere, save in those crowded thorough¬ 
fares where they have not room to grow, an easy way of 
getting rid of them is of some consequence, as I here ^ 
confess I am no advocate for the salting, or poisoning 
process, recommended by some parties, for 1 have never 
yet seen it satisfactorily done ; either it has failed in 
accomplishing its purpose, or the edgings have been 
killed as well as the weeds; and as hot-water and salt are 
both expensive items, I prefer the old-fashioned mode of 
hard labour instead ; for we all know, a weed killed by 
poison remains still where it was growing until it de¬ 
cays; its appearance in that condition being, on the 
whole, worse than when alive; and I know that a mode¬ 
rate salting only once performed increases fertility,— 
weeds, &c., being more plentiful next crop; and, as 
stated above, the “ Shell-cased walk,” allowing the hoe 
to be used without injury to the walk (the next shower 
making all right again), that very important matter is a 
strong recommendation in its favour. 
In hilly districts, where there is a difficulty in conso¬ 
lidating a walk to resist floods of water, a sort of con¬ 
crete bottom has been used by many, composed, as 
above, of lime and stone; still the surfacing material is 
likely to get deranged ; the only remedy for this is to 
have as many side openings as possible in walks of this 
description. I have holes, about four feet deep, dug in 
the ground at intervals, and about a foot and half from 
the edge of the walk. This is cased over with wood, 
and the earth and turf over that, a four-inch drain-pipe 
communicates with the edgings of the walk, so that it 
receives the flow of water which the porous nature of 
the ground quickly disperses. There is, of course, a 
considerable deposit of sand, &c., but as these holes are ' 
generally under turf, they can be examined once every | 
two or three years, and the sand removed, and turf, &c., : 
replaced as before; and they preserve the walks very 
much, the mouth of the drain-pipe being no great eye¬ 
sore, less so, I think, then a grating which does not at all 
times act. However, it is advisable to have tliese outlets 
pretty numerous, and where the ground is not naturally 
porous, some drain or other underground channel must 
be made to take the water oft', the design being to get 
it as fast away as it collects. 
Where walks have to be formed in a stiff, retentive 
soil, or impervious clay, the ground at the bottom of the 
stone-work foundation ought to be made sloping from 
the two sides into the centre, so that the middle may 
I form a sort of valley, in which a drain must be inserted, 
j at least a foot deeper than the bottom of such walk ; and 
' whether drain-pipes or stones be used, there ought to 
I be nothing but stone, or similar drainage, over it; and 
i the outlet to such drains ought at all times to be open 
and free; this will tend to keep such walks dry and 
I comfortable; such walks ought, also, to have an extra 
depth of foundation matter, and care taken that nothing 
of an impervious nature gets into it in the making; the 
object being to let the water pass through the walk until 
it comes in contact with the clay bottom, which, being 
shaped like the central valley of a double-roofed house, 
the water runs down each side into the gutter, and is 
then carried off to some suitable place ; the top material I 
being gravel, or shells, as above, and not, by any means, 
concrete or asphalte; which, however suitable in some 
places, is not so in a clayey, impervious*soil, where there 
is little or no descent. But as asphalte can be used in 
many cases to great advantage, and in this neighbour¬ 
hood is much used for public thoroughfares, I will, at an 
early opportunity, return to it. J. Ronsox. 
NOTES FROM PARIS. 
THE FRUIT EXHIBITION. 
In noticing the prospectus issued in the spring by the 
Commissioners of the Horticultural Exhibition in the I 
Champs Klysees, wliile the preparations were yet in pro- \ 
gress, I stated that the display of fruit would, most probably, j 
be more than usually extensive, yp to the last week of j 
September, however, there were but few signs of my expecta¬ 
tions being fully realized. But within the last ten days a , 
wonderful cjiange has been effected in tliis department. 
Now, several houses and tents are exclusively occupied with ! 
the contributions of provincial Societies and fruit-growers. 
The raised sloping banks, or beds of earth, on which the 
plants foi'merly stood, have been neatly covered with a layer i 
of moss, and on this the numerous collections, comprising j 
several hundred varieties, and thousands of sam]des, have ' 
been laid in plates, and all legibly labelled. There is a , 
decided preponderance of Bears, Beaches, Blums, and : 
Nectarines. One exhibitor has even sent a curious col- | 
lection of Crabs and Quinces. It is no longer one or two | 
fruit-growei’s round Bails who sustain the burden and lieat ' 
of the day; a considerable number of eminent growers, in j 
distant parts of France, have also come forward in their j 
pomological strength, .and emptied their cornucopias in the , 
lap of the central Society. The result has l)een such a j 
display as is seldom, if ever, seen. Nearly every department j 
in France lias contributed, and some of the best collections j 
li.ave come from places situated at a great distance, as Bor- ! 
deaux, in the dep.artment of tlie Gironde, which is bounded I 
by the Bay of Biscay; Havre, at the mouth of the river ! 
Seine, on the English Channel; Drome, near the river i 
Rhone, on the Mediterranean; Loire, near the preceding; i 
Ardeche, in the same direction; Toulouse, in the Haute 
Garrone, close to the I’yrenees; Nancy, in the Meurthe, on i 
the eastern frontier; Lyons, on the Rhone; JMontreuil, a ■ 
famed fruit-growing place ne.ar the English Channel. Tlie i 
other departments near the capital are also more or less j 
represented. Now there is but little to notice with respect j 
to plants or flowers, though the garden is still gay with , 
Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Erythrinas, Gladioli, and Bome- 
granates. Everybody is taken up with the fruit and vege¬ 
tables. Of Melons, Gourds, Bumpkins, and Cucumbers, 
the number is greater than evei-, and three or four long 
borders are entirely occupied with this class. Some of the 
larger samples are not much less than three feet in diameter, 
and several sorts are remarkable for their peculiar forms, or 
varied colours. 
Viewed as a wdiole, the Exhibition may now be considered 
not only as a horticultural museum, in which plants, tiow'ers, 
fruits, and vegetables may be seen, but everything which 
in anyway can relate to them, whether for the garden or 
field. And it is surely to be desired that something of the 
same kind were established in every large town, not only in 
France, but in England also. At all events, I should hope 
that the directors of the Jardin des I'l.antes here, which is 
properly called the IMuseum of Natural History, will be now 
disposed to do something, in order to secure a place for 
fruits and vegetables in their spacious galleries. Are these 
not as much a part of natural history as plants and flowers ? 
Or are they less suited for exhibition in a public garden 
than geological specimens ? It is true that there is what is , 
