, 1882-05-26
The Market Gardeners Of Paris.

A correspondent of The Garden
has been visiting the market gardens
of Paris, and reporting what he saw
among them. A brief outline of his
notes relating to asparagus and mush-
room raising will probably be inter
esting to many of our readers.
The Mardicher de Paris is his
own laborer, if we except his wife
and Children (if he has them), and in
a few instances one or two laborers
who are themselves growers on a
smaller scale than their employers.
Of all the classes that make up the
population of the gay capital, the
market gardeners are the most indus
trious, sober and thrifty. Every
where found them the very person
itication of politeness and good will,
willing to pnrier tres doucement, and
to tell those about them to do so too,
for the benefit of one like myself,
whose French is rather scanty even
though avowing, at first introduction,
that the object of my visit was to
learn with view to practice, and if
possible compete, yet they were anx-
ious to explain their system of crop
ping, its reasons, advantages and dis
advantages, and the proportion of
profit from the various crops, taking
immense pains with gesture and rep
etition to be understood. A peculi-
.lty, and perhaps no small factor in
the success Of Partisan market gar
dening, is the devotion in localities,
and among individuals, to specialties,
thus Argenteuil to asparagus cul-
ture, Arcueil to mushrooms, Clamart
to strawberries, Montreuil to peaches,
Yaugirard and Grenelle to salad and
ordinary vegetables, etc. OF course
no hard and fast lines can be drawn
"At Argenteuil / received hearty
reception from NJ. Godefroy Lebeuf,
the chief asparagus grower. Of the
district, who greatly surprised me by
his readiness to give information, ex-
pecting, as | did, to encounter reti-
cence and an unwillingness to dis
close trade secrets to a foreigner The
system of asparagus culture adopted
is widely different from the English
plan. The plants are planted from
three to four feet apart in shallow
trenches, eight or nine inches deep {;
care is taken not to lay the plant
down sidewise, but to spread the roots
out all around 80 that the crown lies
fiat, as it is expected togrow; for the
first year, sufficient mold is pulled in
just to cover the crown, and the al
leys are cropped as usual In the
summer when the harlm grows high,
Il strong stick is inserted near each
plant, to which the haulm is tied to
prevent the wind waving it about and
SO damaging the formation of the
young crowns for the next season. A
little mold is added each year, till the
third year, when the asparagus is
ready for cutting, and all the mold in
the alley is put on the row, generally
in little mounds, over each plant to
the depth Of six or seven inches. The
cutting is done with smooth edged
kniyes, care being taken to take the
bud out close to the crown that the
old stump may not, as in England,
Interfere with the growth of the new
buds. Every piece Of asparagus /
saw exemplitied the rule of NJ. Lee
beuf, that it wants, air, and must be
kept entirely free from weeds, rule
not entirely understood, l fear, among
us. 1t will be seen that in this there
is an extensive use of skilled and in
telligent hand labor, and tits difficult
to see how the system can be carried
out with the same perfection in En-
gland where large breadths of it are
grown" ua f.. ur. .rHrl .u.I
The writer visited the mushroom
caves of Arcueil, which exist as fea-
't,lre "of a special geological forma-
ton" These caves are described as
"miles of disused stone quarries,
which, by being built over at the top,
form galleries twenty or thirty feet
below the surface of the ground,
dark, and with a temperature several
degrees warmer than that above" II
was warned in Paris, says our trav-
eler. f'that my favorable experiences
Of French politeness would there re-
ceive rude shock that / would find
the 'champignopists of Arcueil jeal-
ouS OF the secrets Of their calling and