THE NURSERYMEN OF PARIS 
IaCQUES l^OYER 
PLEASURE in all horticultural pursuits has 
been singularly developed in Erance during 
recent years. 
For every villa, of w^hich such vast numbers have 
been built during this period in the suburbs of 
Paris and the other large cities of France, a garden 
has become a recognized part of the scheme. In 
short, my fellow countrymen have become so exceed- 
ingly practical that they are unable to conceive 
of a country house without at least a morsel of 
earth alongside, in which they may plant a tree or 
two, some flowers and, last but not least, the kitchen 
garden. 
It may readily be imagined that these tiny plots 
are by no means “parks,” with a monumental air, 
after the manner of Le Notre, supporting a vast 
palace with wide extent of greensward as a setting 
for the display of formal and stately promenades 
or brilliant fetes. Such establishments are now, in 
France, few and far between, and their place has 
been taken by a multitude of bourgeois houses, 
with small parterres agreeably varied with nooks and 
dells, with stretches of greensward here and there, 
with gently curving paths bordered by conifers of 
varied foliage on either side, and the kitchen garden, 
with its fruits and salads, vegetables and savory 
herbs; where one may also gather an abundance 
of apples and pears and the juicy peach. 
But to procure all these good things for planting 
in his garden the amateur is entirely dependent 
upon the services of the pepinieristes, who furnish 
him with the young trees and plants grown with 
expert skill to an admirable condition for trans¬ 
planting. It is the methods employed by these 
gardeners which I purpose to describe. 
The more important of these establishments are 
found in the suburbs of Paris, where the temperate 
climate is especially favorable for such industries.* 
Let us first consider the growing of the orna¬ 
mental trees and shrubs. The Parisian nurserymen 
grow many kinds of shrubs and vines, among others, 
* The photographs from which the accompanying illustrations have been 
made were taken at the establishment of MM. Croux et fils at Chatenay and 
at that of M. Nomblot-Bruneau at Bourg-la-Reine (Seine), and show very 
clearly the different activities of a typical Parisian nurseryman. 
