The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-22 00:00:00

ROYAL LONDON YACHT CLUB.

The sailing programme of this club has just been passed
through committee and approved of by a general meeting.
Opening Trip, Saturday, May 12.—Yatchts to meet at
the Union Yacht Club-house, Gravesend, and sail thence
at noon for a cruise, under the orders of the commodore.
Dinner at the Union at 6 p.m.

First-class Match, Friday, Juno B.—Prizes: First boat, 70
guineas in plate; second 20 guineasin plate. Course, Erith,
round the Noro Light and back. Time for tonnage, 25 to
50 tons, 30sac per ton ; above that, 20sec per ton. Entries
close Juno 1, at 10 p.m.

Second and Third-class Match, Saturday, July 7.
Prizes : Second-class—first prize, 30 guineas in plate ;
second, £lO cash. Third-class—first prize, 20 guineas in
plate ; second, £5 cash. Course, second-class, from Erith,
round the Nore Light and back. Third-class, from Erith
to the Chapman and back. Time for tonnage, second-class,
half a minute per ton ; third-class, one minute per ton. En-
tries close for both classes on July 2, at 10 p.m.
Ocean Race, Tuesday, June 5, from the Thames to Har-
wich.—£2s has been voted by the club, and the rest will
be raised by voluntary :subscriptions. Other particulars
to be hereafter settled by the sailing committee.

THE UNIVERSITY BILLIARD MATCHES.

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The University billiard matches will be played at St.
James's Hall on Saturday, after the boat race. The double
match will commence at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the
single match at 8 o'clock in the evening. We understand
that Messrs. Stokes and Payne, who have represented Ox-
ford and Cambridge respectively four times, will this year
retire. Mr. Watts-Russell, who played last year, and Mr.
Rodgers, of Exeter College, will represent Oxford ; and
Mr. Wickham, of Magdalen, Cambridge. Mr. Wickham's
partner in the double match is not yet decided on. Messrs.
Cox and Yeman will again furnish the table, and Oxford
Jonathan will, as usual, be marker.

GARDENING IN PARIS.

(From Land and Water.).
The municipal nursery is a practical garden of
acclimatisation, but it forms no part of the domains
of the "Societelmperial d'Acclimitation;" it is a se-
parate and totally independent establishment ; it is
not one of the ordinary lions of the city, but blooms
like the modest violet in a quiet corner, unseen and
undreamt of alike by the vulgar and fashionable
crowd. It is snugly placed in the confines of the
Bois de Boulogne, adjoining the once royal pro-
perty of La Muette, which figures joyously, but
not always very creditably, in the court annals of
the 18th century, and not five minutes' walk from
the Passy railway station. The gardens cover a
considerable space of ground, and contain 20 or
more hot-houses and conservatories, the most im-
portant of allbeing the forcing-house, which is fur-
nished with all the best and newest means of pro-
pagation, and is in all respects admirably arranged ;
two or three other houses are devoted to camellias,
including a most famous collection which came from
Malmaison, the resident of the Empress Josephine,
and other flowering plants, some growing in beds,
and others in pots and tubs, for decorative pur-
poses ; the other conservatories are little occupied
during the warm season, but during the winter
months are literally crammed with theplants which
stand out in the various public gardens of the city
in summer, and are brought home to the nursery
during the time when Boreas roams about the earth,
and would make said havoc amongst these delicate
strangers. Besides the intelligent director, M.
Barrilliet-Deschamps, the staff,of the garden con-
sists of an inspector, a chief, and 25 other gar-
deners, 15 of whom have charge each of a special
section, 40 or 50 pupils, and about 20 boys. This
is a large force—but when we know that this gar-
den sends out about two and a half millions of
plants of all sizes per annum, for the decoration of
the city and houses, all that can be reserved for
future use during the winter, it does not appear in
any way too large. But this is but the nucleus of
the municipal school of Flora ; it is specially de-
voted to new, delicate, and half-hardy plants, the
municipality having the nurseries for shrubs and
trees in the Bois de Boulogne, and a large garden
for hardy plants at Vincennes. Under the same
administration are the gardeners and labourers em-
ployed in the various parks and gardens, all of
which are under the charge, with respect to decora-
tive matters, of the Paris gardener already named.
The municipal gardening employs more than 500
persons, and a number of light, well-made spring
carts and vans for the conveyance of its products to
and from the garden ; the horses, being wanted only
during a portion of the year, are hired of contractors.
The success which the Paris gardener has at-
tained in acclimating or partially acclimating exotic
plants has earned for him deserved celebrity, and
he was rewarded the other day with the Cross of
the Legion of Honour by the Emperor.
One of the most remarkable instances of partial
acclimatisation is that of the Canna, which, pre-
vious to 1855, were always cultivated within doors ;
the number of varieties now grown in Paris is very
considerable, and many of them succeed well:
amongst these are the Canna atronigricans, remark-
able for its beautiful dark red leaves; Canna gigan-
tea Desfontaines, a very rare species of colossal
dimensions, not to be confounded with C. gigantea ;
C. lloutletii, a new and very fine plant, with blackish
midrib and bearing large carmine coloured flowers;
C. nigricans, with large brownish red leaves, the
most successful of all ; C. iridiflora and C. lilfflora
have not yet been made to succeed out of doors.

The same success has attended the planting out
of many of the Musa family, which was commenced
five or six years since. Specimens eight, ten, or
more feet high have decorated the public gardens
during the last three years, and one very large, 21/.
paradisiaca, was to be seen the other day in the
Parc Monceau, with an immense bunch of fruit
half developed. ' Generally, however, the smaller
kinds are to be recommended.

The Draaea are also found to answer admirably,
provided they are kept free of stagnant moisture at
the roots ; peat mould is generally used, but with
the addition of a little compost for the more vigor-
ous varieties.

But of all the collection of plants brought into
cultivation, that of the Solanum family is perhaps
the largest ; they succeed admirably, and new va-
rieties are being constantly sent out.
Several varieties of Hibiscus have been cultivated
to a great extent, and may be seen in all the parks
and squares of Paris. Amongst the most beautiful
are :—Hibiscus giganteus, a fine shrub, bearing a
profusion of large flowers, yellow and brown,
throughout the summer ; H. lacustris, with white
flowers tinged with rose ; H. rosa sinensis, a splendid
plant, growing five, six, or more feet high, bearing
magnificent red flowers all the summer ix the open
air, and all the winter afterwards in the hot-house ;
H. speciosus roseus, another very beautiful plant,
with brilliant rose-coloured flowers, and remaining
out of doors all the winter with only a slight pro-
tection of leaves around its roots.

The above will give• a fair idea of what the muni-
cipality of Paris has done in the way of acclimati-
sation of flowers and flowering shrubs, and the extent
of the operations of the garden in question may be
roughly estimated from the fact that it cultivates
and distributes about 900 varieties of Pelargoniums.
The Paris gardener is not allowed to sell any of
his productions, but a catalogue of disposable plants
is printed for private circulation, with very moderate
prices affixed, and exchanges are made with gar-
deners or others who have anything new or useful to
give in return.

At the present time there are two if not more new
parks and several squares and smaller plantations,

forming in and about Paris, and the gardener will
have enough to do to supply these new customers
in addition to those already on his list; there is no

doubt, however, that the supply will be made to meet
the demand, for the Paris authorities have shown
themselves most active and successful agents of

acclimatisation and distribution.

The Oaths Bill, which was read a first time in the
House of Lords on Tuesday, is set down for the second
reading on the 16th of April. The debate on the second
reading -of the Reform Bill will commence on the 12th,
and it is scarcely possible that any division can take place
before the 16th. Thus the two debates will be going on
in the two Houses simultaneously, and will be watched by
the country with keen and daily growing interest.