May 8. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
93 
unless the plants have undergone a course of training for 
the purpose, Strawberries in February and March have but 
a very sorry appearance. Now, however, lilliputian baskets 
and dishes of this esteemed fruit may be seen frequently, 
atld, as might be expected, the berries have considerably 
more colour and flavour than the winter productions. 
Apples and Pears are still plentiful, but at much higher 
prices than usual. But good eating Apples of a common 
description are cheap enough to be within the reach of the 
poor. Hundreds of boats laden with this common fruit 
arrive in Paris from the Provences. Even in winter, unless 
in very severe frost, when the canals and rivers are blocked 
with ice, there are always several dozens of these large boats 
in the river near the Church of Notre Dame, and in this 
quarter of Paris may be often seen one of those busy 
grotesque scenes which some painters, both literary and 
artistic, are fond of delineating. 
Happily for the poor, vegetables are now somewhat abun¬ 
dant. Potatoes, however, are scarcely to be had for use. 
The Carrots, Parsnips, and even Turnips are of course of 
last year’s growth, but, saving a little toughness in the 
; Parsnips, these have been well preserved. Some samples 
of Carrots have been marked with traces of worms; but still 
I there is little to complain of in this particular. Small Early 
\ Horns of the autumn sowing are selling at five and six sous 
the litre. Leeks have been very scarce, and very indifferent as 
to quality during the winter. The latest planted crops are 
I now lifting, and these are much better. This vegetable is 
I a particular favourite with the French, who use it along with 
! the others just named in their soup—a kind of broth, sorne- 
I what like the Scotch broth. But the people here do not use 
barley, nor do they chop the vegetables into hexagons and 
| pentagons, as is the custom north of the Tweed. There 
i is a variety of “ celery”* here, having a large, tough, knotty 
root, which, cut in thin slices, is much used as a salad; but, 
though the taste is agreeable, these slices, however thin, are 
very tough, and by no means easy to masticate. This 
root, however, is now nearly out of season, and its place is 
being occupied with Radishes, Onions, Lettuces, and Dande¬ 
lion, both blanched and green. The long variety of Lettuce 
is as yet rather scarce, and a good stocky head cannot be 
had under six or eight sous (4d.), though, in a month hence, 
two and three sous will be the ordinary price. Good heads 
of Cauliflower are selling at from ten to fifteen sous, and 
Brussels Sprouts at 15 sous, and upwards, per litre ; that is, 
about ?d. a quart. Salsafy is from eight to ten sous a 
bundle, or botte. Asparagus, fine, fetches two francs a 
botte in the market, but in the shops it is much dearer. 
By-the-by, a fine new market was lately opened in the 
Faubourg St. Martin, for vegetables, fruit, and other pro¬ 
ducts of the garden and field. It has been constructed with 
j every consideration for the comfort of the stall-keepers and 
the public generally, and, as is the custom here, it was duly 
inaugurated with music, and flags, and a grand ceremony of 
benediction, in which several dignitaries of the church took 
part. 
HORTICULTURAL SHOW. 
A general programme of the Horticultural Exhibition, 
now soon to be opened in the Champs Elysees, lias been 
i issued by the Imperial Commissioners, but it contains little 
j or nothing in addition to what I have already sent you 
I which intending exhibitors ought to know beforehand. It 
is, therefore, I think, not worth while to translate. I may, 
however, notice one or two points which will be useful to 
those who only decide on sending plants and other things 
after the exhibition is fairly opened, as it must be considered 
to be from the 1st of May. 
According to the Third Article of the programme, plants, 
trees, shrubs, &c., of every description, whether in flower or 
not, will be admissable; also vegetables and fruits, either 
' grown under glass or in the open ground. In addition to 
these, whatever has a direct bearing on horticulture will be 
readily admitted. In this latter clause are included all 
kinds of garden tools, implements, machines, ornamental 
pots, baskets, stands, and vases. In no case ought persons 
to send articles without first obtaining the necessary instruc¬ 
tions from the commissioners, who will inform them, in the 
course of a week, whether and when the contributions can, 
be admitted. 
The prizes will be awarded in medals, and the successful 
competitors will be paid all their expenses of conveyance 
both going and coming. 
Let me just again observe, that all letters should be ad¬ 
dressed, prepaid, to M. Leon Guay, Rue de Church-Mide, 
17, Paris. 
The ground in which this exhibition is to take place 
is being rapidly prepared, although, from what I have 
just seen of it, I do not think it can be anything like 
finished by the 1st of May, when the opening is fixed 
to take place. It will, however, be sufficiently advanced for 
all immediate wants ; and at present workmen are engaged, 
night and (jay, in getting up the houses and an-anging 
the ground. A temporary railing, or rather trellis, has been 
carried all round, and immediately within the enclosure a 
bank of earth has been thrown up and planted with shrubs. 
A stove and an aquarium in iron are already in course of being 
completed (April 20th), and several others have been begun. 
These houses, and, indeed, the whole place, appear small 
and insignificant, when we consider that all nations have 
been invited to contribute. But the commissioners have 
wisely reserved to themselves the power of limiting the 
number of objects. It is not likely, however, that they will 
deem it advisable to exercise this prerogative to any great 
extent, should they find that by doing so a considerable 
number of exhibitors will be excluded. On the other hand, 
it will be found very inconvenient to increase the extent of 
their premises. But we must bear in mind that it has been 
found necessary to construct supplementary buildings in 
connection wit h the Palais d'Industrie, and I think it is highly 
probable that additions will be required in connection with 
the Horticultural Exhibition, either in ground or house- 
room. At present a great number of shrubs, with balls 
encased in baskets, are laid down at the outside of the 
premises, ready for planting as soon as their places are 
prepared. The stove and aquarium already noticed are so 
far completed as to be ready for glazing. They are both 
neat houses, though on a moderate scale as to dimensions. 
Another house, just begun, will be completed in the course 
of ten or twelve days. One or two rustic houses are being 
erected, and a rockwork has been thrown up at one side of 
the stove. 
The weather here for the last fortnight or three weeks has 
been bright, that is to say, scarcely a cloud to be seen all 
day. But we have a cold east wind, which now and then 
veers to the north, just to remind us that it is not quite 
summer yet. However, the trees are breaking rapidly into 
leaf, and the earlier kinds, such as the Maple, are even now 
nearly quite green. Apricot, Bear, and similar fruit-trees, 
are covered with blossom, and the llower-borders are gay with 
Poeonias, Gillitlowers, Cinerarias, Fuchsias, Pansies, Wall¬ 
flowers, and Polyanthuses. But protection during the night 
cannot, in certain cases, be dispensed with; for we may yet 
have some cold, withering blasts, accompanied with sleet. 
I enclose a small sketch of a garden watering-pot, as 
generally used here, not because it may be an improvement 
on that used in England, but simply because it is different 
in respect to the position and form of the handle, and 
because it illustrates the readiness with which the French 
* Celerie rave. 
