Séguin or Lesquin, originates from the department du Nord and is vigorous and of good yield; germinates slowly and keeps well. Holland Red resembles the kidney red, but is less early and more productive; of very ancient race, but has lost none of its qualities. Bresee's Prolific closely resembles the Early Rose, without its failings.

La Négresse or Cetewayo, a peculiar potato of flesh, so dark a violet that it appears almost black. It has been used dishonestly to imitate the truffle.

Several varieties of potato are cultivated almost exclusively for forage, and to this end quality is not so much needed as large yield and economy and ease of gathering. The principal are as follows:

The Chave or Shaw potato has been cultivated in France for about 80 years, and is one of the best for forage. It ripens in August and is somewhat liable to the potato disease.

Chardon, formerly much preferred, but now not so great a favorite. It is tardy, but resists the disease and besides its use for forage is sometimes brought to market when other potatoes fail.

Jeancé, Jeuxy, or Vosgienne, one of the hardiest and most productive varieties, and grown in the Vosges and in the north of France. It is very farinaceous, and is much used for starch-making.

Institut de Beauvais, introduced some three or four years ago. It is half early, enormously productive and one of the best for cattle. It closely resembles the American Idaho potato.

American Marvel, very vigorous and productive, and essentially a forage potato, though sometimes eaten and used in industries.

The alimentary qualities depend greatly upon the soil in which they are grown. Thus potatoes of great yield like the above are also very good for food when grown in the clayey soil, with calcareous sub-soil, of the Beauce, or in the shelly sands of Brittany, or the volcanic soils of Auvergne.

Finally, the varieties of potato most cultivated for industrial purposes are: The Farineuse, or Red-skin Flour-ball, a coarse but very farinaceous variety, rather late, but productive and resisting disease: and the Imperator, vigorous and farinaceous, which, in Germany, is said to have yielded 30,000 kilos to the hectare, the root containing 20 per cent of starch. These results have been equally obtained in France. Potatoes are variously cultivated in France, the most ordinary way being, as with us, simple planting of the tubers, which, however, are sometimes germinated beforehand; they are planted about the first of April, care being taken to avoid late frosts. New potatoes generally appear in Paris markets toward the end of May, though those from the south or from Algeria arrive sooner. Potatoes are also forced under glass bells, being planted successively from January to March, and in this way the Marjolin or Victor are ready for the market 50 to 60 days after planting. Almost as good a yield

may be had by planting in November or December, so that the stalks arrive at two-thirds their height before they are destroyed by the frost, and then covering the ground with straw through the winter. Planting from seed is also resorted to. New varieties of potato are the Canada, introduced into France in 1887-1888, which is vigorous, rather early, and very prolific: also the International, which has a certain reputation along the French coast and is much used for exportation, but is too pale for Parisian taste. In 1889 three new varieties appeared: the Hermann, very prolific, rich in farinaceous matter and strongly resistant to disease, but a tardy grower : the Pasteur, a fine yellow variety, and the Rosalie, also very productive farinaceous and resistant.

SWEET POTATOES (Patates) were shown in one or two French exhibits and also from Algeria. Although more properly belonging to a warm climate, they may with a little care be cultivated around Paris, the principal difficulty being in keeping the tubercles until time for planting in early spring. They are gathered in September.

LEGUMINOUS PLANTS are extensively grown in France, and several large exhibits of them were made, both in the dried state on the Quay and freshly gathered, or even growing, upon the Trocadéro. Among these the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) occupies the most important place. This vegetable, originating in South America, has during four centuries of cultivation developed more varieties than any other ordinary kitchen-garden plant, and a great many of these were upon exhibition. One house, that of Forgeot et Cie, showed sixty-five varieties in the collective exposition of the départment de l'Aube, as well as forty-six of peas.

The culture of the bean is easy; around Paris it is planted in light soils, precocious varieties being planted about April 30, but most varieties not until the latter part of May, the planting being continued up to about August 10. String beans (haricots verts) are much appreciated by the French and are cultivated also under glass from the middle of January to the end of March. Both climbing and dwarf beans are grown in France, some of the principal varieties being worthy of mention as follows:

The Soissons, a large, white, climbing bean of superior quality, with a hard parchment-like pod; a red variety is also known. Soissons has long been celebrated for its beans.

The Prague, of various colors, the Algerian or black butter bean, the Intestin and Prédome, are all climbing varieties, with soft or edible pods.

Among the dwarf beans are the Bagnolet or Swiss gray, the Swiss red and the Soissons dwarf, much grown around Paris, especially to be consumed as string beans. These are hardy and vigorous, but somewhat late in development and are best suited to open field culture. A new variety (1888) is the Bagnolet vert. The Belgian H. Ex. 410—VOL V- -5

black bean is a very precocious variety, and the one which is most used for forcing.

The Flageolets, as the Chevrier, the Merveille de France and the new Roi des Verts, are especially used for conservation or for drying. When the pods are still green they are gathered and dried in the shade, in the open air, the seed thus preserving its green color.

The Spanish climbing bean (P. multiflorus) although much cultivated for ornament, is frequently used as a vegetable, especially in the green state. The Lima bean (P. lunatus) a very slow grower, is more suited to warm countries, and does not fully develop at Paris; a variety of this, the Sieva, is less tardy.

The Dolique bean (Dolichos) also ripens with difficulty at Paris, but does well in Provence; a variety, the Asparagus bean, with an extraordinarily long pod, ripens more easily. Other new varieties of bean (1887-1888) are the improved dwarf Barbés and the Coco-tricolor, both well suited to the south of France and to Algeria, the latter being a very prolific and precocious climber; also the dwarf Fleuriel and the improved dwarf Valentin, this last being of American origin and a very early grower.

Fèves (Faba vulgaris) of which there are several varieties, have long been known in France, and are extensively cultivated, the principal sorts grown being the Fève de Marais and the Windsor, both of English origin. This crop is but little exhausting to the soil and is often planted in order to prepare clayey lands for wheat-bearing; it is also one of the best of green fertilizers, a dwarf variety, the Fèverolle, being generally used for this purpose. Fèves are planted from February to the end of April, being gathered from May to August, and eaten green or fully ripe.

PEAS (Pisum sativum) were almost as extensively shown as beans, and are very widely cultivated in France. They are generally sown in good, light soils; and as often as possible in newly broken or in fallow lands; they are not manured, experience showing that fertilizers tend to make the vine too vigorous, producing stalks at the expense of the fruit. For the production of green peas, very popular in France, sowing takes place in November and December in the south of France and is continuous up to July, later varieties replacing more precocious ones. Forcing under glass is also resorted to, especially for dwarf varieties; when the young plants have reached a height of 9 to 10 inches the stalks are bent flat to the ground, thus producing more ramification and a greater number of pods. Peas to be gathered ripe are generally sown in March or April and until June.

Of all the shelling peas the Prince Albert is the most precocious. The Emerald and Express, both new varieties, are almost as early, and the Daniel O'Rourke is also early, and more productive. The Caractacus is less early but more vigorous than the Prince Albert.

The Michaux de Hollande is the variety most cultivated in open fields around Paris, a variety of this, the Michaux de Ruelle, being much used for preserving.

The Leopold II is a rapid grower, giving all its products in a few days, thus being valuable for market gardening. The Clamart is a late variety of large grain. The Shah, a new English variety, is fully as early as the Prince Albert. Other varieties of climbing peas are the Champion of New England, Duke of Albany, Knight's Wrinkled Sugar-pea, and the Telephone (new), all of which are cultivated in France and were shown at the Exposition.

Among dwarf varieties are the Gontier, the best adapted for forcing, and almost as early as the Prince Albert; MacLean's Blue Peter, very early and of a green grain when ripe; the Fillbasket (new), of green grain; the American Marvel (new); Alliance Climax, and the Wilson; the last having a very large seed. The Ram's Horn and St. Desérát peas are climbers, having a soft, edible pod, and are hence called "Mangetout," and the Royal and Capucin are dwarf peas of the same sort. The dwarf Serpette of the French is the William Hurst pea of England, introduced into France in 1888 and much esteemed.

Another variety of the pea is the Chick-pea or Garavance pois chiche (Cicer arietinum) quite common in southern Europe and of Italian origin; when cooked whole it is indigestible, but it may be used as a purée. In warm countries it may be sown in the autumn and gathered in the following summer, but in France it is sown in the spring and gathered in the autumn, before it is quite ripe. The pois-chiche is very common in Spain and there are many precocious varieties there, those with white seed being used for food, and those with red and black for animals only. This pea is also used as a succedaneum for coffee in France and is a good green fodder, especially for sheep, and is also a good green fertilizer.

The Gray pea (Pisum arvense) is also much used as a green or dry fodder, especially for sheep, either alone or in mixtures.

The LENTIL (Ervum lens) belongs to the south of France, but is cultivated about Paris, succeeding well in dry, sandy soils; in rich lands it gives much stalk and leaves and little grain. There are several varieties, usually sold after being dried and split. The lentil is also used as a forage, but is not so much cultivated at present as formerly. Green vegetables used for cooking were not shown at the Exposition anywhere except upon the Trocadéro, in the tents above referred to, where they made a most beautiful display.

ASPARAGUS is native to many parts of France, and is one of the most popular vegetables. There are two principal varieties, the common and the large violet Holland, the former of which has been greatly improved by experimental culture at Argenteuil, near Paris. No especially new varieties were shown.

ARTICHOKES (Cynara scolymus, L.) of large size were also exhibited. Only five varieties are enumerated by French seedsmen, and only one of these, the Laon, is extensively cultivated around Paris or in northern France, though a winter variety is grown in Provence. CABBAGES were shown in great variety. This plant, a native along almost the whole western coast of Europe, has been greatly modified by cultivation, and there are now over 70 varieties of it, which may be divided into 7 classes, all of which were more or less represented at the Exposition. Of these the ordinary cabbage, chou pommé, or cabus, is the commonest, the most noteworthy varieties of which are the Etampes very early, one of the best and adapted either to autumn or spring culture; the large York, a good spring variety; the Joanet or Nantais, an excellent small and very early cabbage; the large Coeur-de-Bœuf, very productive but only moderately early; the Sugar loaf, a long, oval cabbage, succeeding well even in warm climates; the Quintal, or Alsace, a large cabbage and one of the most productive, which is much cultivated in Alsace and Germany for sauerkraut.

All the above have compact heads; the Milan cabbage is more open, and there are several varieties, the best of which is the Milan des Vertus, very productive and much improved during 50 years of culture about Paris. The chou à grosses côtes, or butter cabbage, is a still more open variety, with large leaves. Very early cabbages, such as the Étampes, or York, are generally planted toward the end of August or first of September; the larger and later varieties are planted in August or in February and March. The York, Cœur-deBoeuf and Sugar loaf come to a head in May, and there is a regular succession of ripening varieties until December. The Milan cabbages are planted in February and up to May. Cabbages generally require good, loose soils, with plenty of manure, and transplanting should be done with great care.

Brussels sprouts were on exhibition, and also Cauliflowers. The former are planted in April and transplanted in June, giving products throughout the winter. Cauliflowers of which the principal varieties are the dwarf Erfurt, the Lenormand, the Holland hard and the Parisian half-hard, are planted at various seasons in January or February. They are cultivated under glass and afterwards transplanted into the open air. Cauliflowers require good rich soil, copious manure and frequent watering. Two varieties of cabbage much more common in France than in America are the Chou-rave or kohlrabi and chou-navet, the former with a fleshy stem resembling a large radish, and the latter with a fleshy root and very much like a turnip. Late varieties of these are sown in May or June to be gathered in three or four months.

A peculiar variety, related to the cabbage is the chou-marin, Crambé, or sea kale, much cultivated in England, but somewhat neglected in France.