File:The American florist - a weekly journal for the trade (1900) (18138516195).jpg

Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw20amer (find matches)
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: American Florists Company
Subjects: Floriculture; Florists
Publisher: Chicago : American Florist Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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rgoc. The American Florist. 1351
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E&hibits of bulbous plants ;it the Trocadero. Exhibits in th« Palace ol" Horticulture. Exhibits'in the Palace of Horticulture. Exhibits of fruit trees along rhe Seine. AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION. Paris. AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT E.XPOSITION.—A PROMENADE WITHOU"^ RIVAL IN THE WORLD.—HISTORY OF THE CHAMPS ELYSEES.—SPLENDID SHOWINGS OF FLOWERS AND FRUIT AT THE EXPOSI- TION.—MANY WIDELY KNOWN GROWERS COMPETE. — AMERICAN APPLES WIN PRIZES AND SPECIAL MENTION.—NEW YORK, ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI THE LEADERS.—VARIOUS OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST. The Porte Monumentale, which is the main entrance to the exposition, is, as is well known, located on the Place de la Concorde, close to the gardens of the Tuileries. At that same place begins the beautiful Champs Elysees, leading to the Bois de Boulogne, which are without rival in the world. About 400 years ago that famous promenade was covered by small residences surrounded by gardens, meadows and cultivated land. Mary de Medicis bought that part of the land extending along the Seine and had it transformed, in the year 1616, into three alleys lined with rows of elms and closed at both ends with iron gates. The princess and her court used the prome- nade, then just a.'^ nowadays known under the name of Cours la Reine, for taking a drive when in need of an airing. The trees planted in 1616 were cut away and replaced by others in the year 1723. The rest of the land, extending on the opposite side towards the Faubourg St. Honore, was tillage and rabbit hunting ground. In 1670 that extensive plain, covering the whole quarter called the Roule, was also planted with trees and converted into avenues interspersed with lawns. The new promenade, was at first denominated firand Cours, but soon after received the name of Champs Elysees, which has never been changed. The central alley, which was the most spacious, began on the Place de la Concorde and ended on the Place de I'Etoile, where afterward the Arch of Triumph was erected. In 1765 the superintendent, de Marigny, had the whole Champs Elysees replanted and remodeled. Numerous alleys were added and the old ones improved, and for a long time no changes were made to de Marigny's plan, if we except the two equestrian statues called Marly's Horses placed by the Convention at the entrance of the grand avenue, and which still exist on the same spot, and the establishment of several fountains under the reign of Louis Philippe. It is true that several cafes, a circus, a panorama and, on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of 1855, the Palace of Industry were con- structed, but all these attractions did not allure the Parisians. The carriages going to the Bois de Boulogne and the neighboring inhabitants having leisure, were, when no festivals were given, the customary visitors to the long, monoto- nous and dusty avenues. To remedy the evil the city council conceived the idea of transforming into gardens, flower beds and groups of rare shrubs the greater part of the Champs Elysees. On each side of the leading entrance to the Palace of Industry two large fountains were constructed. Around the palace summer concerts (cafes chantants) were estab- lished, and scattered among the trees all kinds of amusements and various theaters were erected. The scheme met with great success and has made the Champs Elysees the most popular prome- nade of Paris, and probably the finest in the world. I ts superficies is about 190,000 meters (yards) and the expenses for trans- forming it have amounted to less than $300,000. The old Palace of Industry, which for many years was a very popular building, well known to all foreigners, was pulled down a couple of years ago to make room for two new palaces which rank among the finest buildings in Paris and will add largely to the success ot the exposition. We are just now enjoying the second show of flowers and fruits at the exposi- tion. Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co. secured several first prizes, one for a splendid col- lection of vegetables, including the lead- ing kinds of radishes, lettuces, onions, peppers, etc.; another for several grand lots of calceolarias and single and double cinerarias, and a third one for their col- lection of annual and biennial open- ground flowers, which comprised nearly their whole catalogue. We noted among these flowers the following as deserving to be grown on a larger scale in the United States: CoUinsia bicolor candi- dissima; erysimum, dwarf compact, golden yellow; Eschscholtzia Douglasii, GamolepisTagetes.Kaulfussiaamelloides, Layia elegans, Leptosyne maritima.

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