260 THE FLORIST. 
forests, the, stems up. to. i feet kept clean and bound. ‘by. close 
straw ropes, the shoots. at; the top pruned well, the roots are laid in 
good soil, and will be kept well, watered until there is no, doubt about 
their pushing. ‘Lhe. matrix on.which those trees are planted is a bed 
of coarse gravel, and the soil.is poor;.yet all this is proyided. for. The 
Oriental. Plane trees planted three years ago on the banks of the Rhone 
afford a most agreeable shade, and carriages drive beneath them. 
I went to the botanic garden, which includes a zoological garden and 
I know, not what besides—too, much, for, it cannot; be kept nice, and 
therefore fails to please you. Nearly all public gardens except those at 
Kew, seem. to,.be.,in.a,state.of infancy, transition, or decay ; Kew i is 
always perfect, regal,.and.something to boast of... When L. N, said 
elght years ago to my friend N., ‘‘ We will haye something superior | to 
Kew,” the young diplomatist was silent, and he declares, if 1 had, put 
the thought; into his head at the proper time, he would haye said to the 
Emperor, “‘ Sire, God, makes.trees! . To destroy, trees that. have lived 
a thousand years, each year adding value to their fruit, and grandeur 
to their stature is.a/great crime,.as, the mercenary troops did at 
Perugia. Fig trees, Olives, and Mulberries are now used for fire- wood, 
the produce of .which was the patrimony of families, to say nothing of 
the loss to the city or.the scenery once so extolled and now.so disturbed,” Y 
Fifty acres,must beincluded in the boundary of the botanic garden, 
which in fact.is. no boundary at.all,, You drive in, out, and everywhere 
without let;.or hindrance, and without payment, in: any shape, being 
demanded. ‘There are impotent efforts at effect in large oval spaces 
out. of grass, whichis kept half mown. . Some of these. huge ovals were 
filled with blue Nemophilas,.others with Verbenas ; but, they,are lost, 
the wild flowers.laugh at them, when suffered _ to make. a, little head, 
and to lift up their blossoms amidst the grass,. As. to lawn, itis quite in 
yain to covet what cannot, be had; all looks. tawdry, like the flowers 
one sees on May-day, when Jack-in-the-Green exhibits the used-u 
favourites, of the ball-room.. There is not force of men, depth of. ae 
or a succession of plants to keep parterres gay.. Let them fill their ovals 
and_parallelograms with low. shrubs and be content with a small portion 
of well-kept garden and. exotics, and, encourage the growth. of all large 
timber trees and ornamental shrubs, and the place would be. attractive, 
I have taken.a good, deal of trouble to demonstrate all this toa person 
who has influence here, and, who.sees, what ought to be done. 
Near my hotel; in .a..street;, as, public as, Cheapside, and nearly a as 
great a thoroughfare, there is a morsel.of Nature so purely. satisfactory, 
and such a refreshment, that 1 heartily wish every city in, Europe had 
such an oasis; and those green, spots might. be obtained ata slight, cost, 
if there can. be brought to. bear, upon,it the sincere. earnestness ‘which 
enabled a citizen to place this lovely. gem in the very heart of Lyons. 
‘There-are.four, compartments, in.each ;division.of a strip, of, ground. Att 
from. the centre of the street..,.A fountain.is the conspicuous object ;. 
ils merely of, stone, ‘a mere tazza, hut, of good. proportions, and grand, 
oth, in the column, of water it, throws up; aud,from the basin into which 
it falls,, The beds. of, flowers. are merely. purple, ‘Candytuft,, and_ the 
‘yariety of the small Antirrhinum which in all but colcur resembles ‘the 
