312 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
conversations between him and Mr. Detriche, much punc¬ 
tuated with vigorous gesticulations so characteristic of the 
French, and carried on at such a rapid fire rate that, for the 
most part, my unaccustomed ears could distinguish only a 
word here and there. 
However, the farmers were always glad to give explana¬ 
tions and information to “le M’sieur d’Amerique,” about 
anything which he wanted to know, but it was amusing to 
see how futile were their efforts when asked; would they 
“kindly speak a little more slowly?” For a sentence or two, 
every word would be said slowly and separately, but before 
they knew it, they were off at full speed again and it sounded 
like the whiz of an automobile engine. 
After inspecting the seedlings, we were always expected 
to go into the house, n© matter how humble a cottage or hut, 
and have a 
glass of wine; 
surprisingly 
good wine .it 
usually was 
too, and for¬ 
tunately very 
light. 
The French 
peasants im¬ 
pressed me as 
very healthy, 
happy, con¬ 
tented people, 
Their necess¬ 
ities are few, 
and the wages 
while low' in 
amount, are 
probably of 
greater pur¬ 
chasing capa¬ 
city in France 
than Ameri¬ 
can rates of 
pay are in the United States. I should consider the average 
French peasant decidedly better off than the average unskill¬ 
ed agricultural laborer in the United States. I think that a 
visit to France on business, especially the nursery business, 
which takes one out in the country and among the agricul¬ 
tural part of the community, is really much more interesting 
and enjoyable than a mere pleasure trip. One is brought in 
contact with phases of French life, that the ordinary tourist 
does not see. 
Methods of Cultivation 
The methods of cultivation seem at first, to an American, 
as rather crude and uneconomical, but after studying local 
conditions, one comes to the conclusion that the French 
growers know their own business better than an outsider 
can teach it to them. Manual labor and stable fertilizer, 
w T hich, with us, are most costly factors of agricultural pro¬ 
duction, are in France the cheapest, and the land which in 
America is comparatively cheap, is, in France, very dear. 
Consequently, the end sought in France, is to make a meter 
of ground yield the greatest possible amount of product, and 
it is accomplished to a wonderful degree, by means of high 
fertilization and intensive hand cultivation. Horse culti¬ 
vation is employed but very little, even in stock of larger 
size that has been transplanted to grow T on; and among the 
seedlings it is quite unheard of. 
The seedlings are thickly grown in beds of usually i ]/* 
meters in width. The pear seedlings and many of the apple 
are transplanted “en cotelydon” as they say in France; that 
is, they are dibbled off while still bearing the cotyledons, or 
primary leaves which are formed by the two halves of the 
seed after it has sprouted and pushed itself up out of the soil. 
This transplanting of course, is what gives the seedlings their 
fibrous root growth. The Apple and Pear seedlings are 
practically all 
grown at 
Angers, as 
they require 
a heavier soil 
than is found 
in the other 
Nursery cen¬ 
ters. The 
M a h a 1 e b , 
Mazzard and 
My rob ol an, 
extensively 
produced at 
Angers, Or¬ 
leans and 
Ussy, are 
sown directly 
in the beds 
and are grown 
wdthout tran¬ 
splanting. All 
the seedlings 
are carefully 
weeded and 
the ground is frequently stirred about them, sometimes 
with pointed sticks or small hand hoes, or more often 
with the bare fingers. In dry seasons, like the early 
part of the present one, they are watered with sprink¬ 
ling pots. This was one of the methods which struck me as 
especially crude, but it is surprising how rapidly a French 
peasant can water a block of seedlings. The water is piped 
or flowed to little tanks or pools here and there about the 
field. There are narrow little walks, not over eight inches 
wide, between the beds of seedlings. The workman takes 
two large sprinkling pots, holding about two gallons each, 
fills them at the tank or pool, and with one in each hand goes 
along the narrow, little walks, watering two beds of seedlings 
at a time. 
CO-OPERATION 
The French Nurserymen have recently taken a lesson 
from America, as to the benefit of co-operation. They have 
formed an association among themselves which has regulated 
NURSERIES OF CHAS. DETRICHE, Sr., ANGERS, FRANCE. 
Packing Room. Stock being Packed for Shipment to America. 
