THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 3, 1858. 
278 
of this gentleman’s kitchen garden are planted on each side 
with Vines growing on a trellis, three feet high. There is 
from 550 to 600 yards of this trellis, upon which are grown 
two sorts of Grapes—the Madeleine and the Chasselas de 
Fontainebleau; the latter is considered the best white Grape 
grown in these parts. 
This garden contains nearly seven acres, and possesses some 
fine old fruit trees, particularly Peach ; upon one of which 
were counted upwards of a thousand Peaches ; but, as it was 
feared the tree might be taxed too much to bring them to 
perfection, upwards of 400 were removed. 
Pears had made a great start. One called Poire d'Fpargne, 
was expected to be fit for market in a month. 
It was described to me as a luscious Pear, but would not 
keep, and my informant had sold some boxes of it last season, 
in Covent Garden Market, at £5 per hundred Pears. 
The Pear I named in my last notes, as budded on the main 
stems of other stocks, is called the Pelle Angerine , but it lias, 
unfortunately, many other names, and is described in the 
catalogue of Velvorde, near Brussels, and that of Jamin and 
Durand, near Paris, as the Angora, Anderson's, Faua. ? Bolivar, 
Royal d'Angleterre, Grosse de Bruxelles , Beaute de Ter- 
vuerm, JDuchesse de Berry d’Hirer, Grand Monarque, and 
Uvedales St. Germain,— names enough in all conscience. 
It is to be regretted, that the Horticultural Societies of Europe 
do not come to an understanding, to re-baptize all Pears, or 
rather to decide on their original names. Ihat of Palis is, I 
hear, seriously occupied upon it, but I do not learn that it is 
in conjunction with any other Society. 
The Belle Angerine is described as a fertile tree, vigorous 
for pyramids in a strong, and for espaliers in a less rich soil. 
It is* the largest of all known Pears, weighing commonly a 
kilo—rather over two pounds. Flesh, crisp ; long in shape; 
of a poor quality for dessert, but of first-rate when cooked, or 
i as a preserve. It ripens from January to June, and is hand¬ 
some in colour, and very ornamental for the table. 
It was to be seen in the shops, in Paris, as late as the 
middle of June, and the price then asked was ten francs each. 
The shoots of this Pear, budded on other stocks, alluded to 
in my last, had progressed very much, and promised well. I 
found some few trees of it, on its own roots, but it does not 
! arrive at such perfection. . 
I received an invitation to visit the garden of Monsieur 
! Samson Davilliers. This gentleman is one of the adminis¬ 
trators of the Bank of France, and takes the lead as the 
patron of progress in horticulture. No expense daunts him. 
i He takes the place in France that the late Duke of Devonshire 
did in this country. All the different systems find a place in 
his gardens. I may be allowed here to correct a remark made 
| in my last notes, that Peaches were generally pinched at the 
| third bud. I observed it in several gardens, but it would 
appear that it is not found to answer; in fact, I was here 
shown trees that had fallen victims to the system, which was 
first introduced by Monsieur Dubruet. The system of 
Monsieur Forrest, to pinch at eight buds, has proved success¬ 
ful, and is adopted by both gardeners and amateurs. 
Before the Revolution of 1793, fruit trees were grown en 
fuseau —that is to say, on single stems grown to any height 
without branches, but furnished with shoots from top to 
bottom. They have again come into vogue, and there were a 
good many in these gardens. That they bear well is not to 
be doubted, for trees of three and four years old, and from 
three to seven, and even eight feet high, were covered with 
fruit from top to bottom. I would advise our fruit tree 
growers to cultivate this style of tree, so well calculated for 
the small gardens in the environs of London, and our large 
towns. Eight of them would occupy no more room than 
three pyramidal trees, or two espaliers, and are remarkably 
pretty. 
The Peach trees with single stems, is the same idea—a 
f useau against a wall. I saw it turned to another purpose, 
more curious and ornamental, however, than useful, or ad¬ 
vantageous. Half a dozen single-stemmed Pear trees were 
planted in a circle, in the centre ot which is a trellis of wire 
(necessarily circular), round and round of which the six 
trees are trained, equi-distant from each other. The different 
Pears, appearing thus to be one tree, produced a very pleasing 
effect. 
There were some very fine specimens of trees grown in the 
old cup-shaped style. I do not know if that is the technical 
term, but I mean when all the branches from one main stem 
form a perfect circle, hollow in the middle. I can see no 
reason why such a system of growth should not succeed; but 
certain it is, that no trees had much fruit upon them—many 
none. 
As a curiosity, I may name some fine specimens of Tines, 
grown upright to a rod of iron, about ten feet high, and cut 
on the spur system. By the way, I could not discover any- 
wlieie a Tine on the long-rod system. The bearing shoots 
were pinched, sometimes at the eye beyond the bunch, some¬ 
times at the bunch itself. All these Tines, planted here and 
there amongst the lines of fruit trees in the open borders, 
were very handsome, covered as they were with Grapes ; nay, 
I believe there were more Grapes than leaves ; but we can 
only look at such things and admire. The Grapes would 
not ripen in this country. They might be tried in Mr. Rivers’ 
orchard-houses. 
I left these gardens, which are of immense extent, much 
pleased; although they more resemble a nurseryman’s than a 
private gentleman’s. There was no style, no neatness, nothing 
to render their general appearance attractive. They gave one 
the impression of being more cultivated for their produce, and 
for experiments, than for the pleasure they might afford by 
their beauty. This is, no doubt, the rule in this part of the 
country; and, indeed, with the exception of the public gar¬ 
dens, is, I understand, the rule throughout France. But the 
love of gardening is spreading fast, now that men, dwelling in 
cities and towns, are taking to themselves country houses. A 
few years ago, one never heard of a Parisian leaving town 
daily for the country. A summer country residence was a 
rarity; it has now become general, and with it a love of gar¬ 
dening has sprung up, so that we shall probably soon see 
neatness and elegance more studied. How many gardens 
have we in England presenting a pleasing—nay, beautiful 
appearance, without a rare flower, shrub, or tree, in them! 
Commend me, nevertheless, to such gardens. 
Amongst the nurserymen’s gardens I paid a visit to, was 
one belonging to Monsieur Napoleon Boisson, at Montlignon, 
another village of the valley. The first thing which struck me 
was the mass of fruit w T ith which every tree, small or large, 
was laden. Cherry trees, bodies of solid red. By the way, 
the French do not appreciate the Cherry, which we place in 
the first rank—the Bigarreau. They call it a hard-fleshed 
fruit, and very indigestible; it is, nevertheless, a finer- 
flavoured fruit, in my opinion, than any I tasted. For some 
few years past, the Cherry par excellence —the Montmorency 
—has borne so badly in the neighbourhood, that it was seriously 
thought that the trees were worn out, like some of our old- 
fashioned Apple trees ; but this year decided the question the 
other way,—there never was known such a crop. 
They have also one they call the Fnglish Cherry, a very 
good fruit, and good bearer; and the Royal, a variety of May 
Dulce, and which, with Belle de Choisy, stand as the best. 
The last is a bad bearer, whereas the first produces abundantly, 
and is often planted as an espalier. 
There were plantations of Apple, Pear, Apricot, and Peach 
trees, en fuseau —those from two to four years old well covered 
with fruit. 
A Green Gage, in various forms, grown only in this garden, 
called Reine Claude hdtif, is a very hardy tree, which ripens 
its fruit a full month earlier than any other kind. This tree is 
largely cultivated by Monsieur Boisson, for export, and he tells 
me, that against a wall it yields a most excellent, early, and 
valuable fruit. We much want something of this sort in 
England, where, generally, the Green Gage is sadly void of 
flavour. 
Then there was the Beche des Vergers , grown as a standard, 
a very prolific tree, yielding a good fruit, although not equal 
to the fine wall Peaches. Its hardy habit would render it, I 
should think, a valuable addition to us, as grown against a 
wall it would be a very safe producer. 
I had a long conversation with Monsieur Boisson, an intel¬ 
ligent man in his way. Amongst other things he told me that he 
should have from twenty-five to thirty thousand Pears this 
season, of good and valuable sorts, which he intends to ship 
to this market. Now, suppose they net him 2 d. each only, 
they will produce from £200 to £220, but I think that 
valuation too low, as the class of Pears grown, particularly 
