7 °

lister’s travels in francs.

They make a conferve of the fruit; which I like above any of their wet (weet meats;it was made by cutting them into thin dices, and throwing away the (lone ; which ourpeople fpare fometimes, and leave in the flefh intire, and fpoils the fweetmeat, and fetsit a fretting.

They employ the (tones in brandy, and diftilthem in fpirits.

In the beginning of April we had (tore of afparagus, but they were often fo bitter, tome at lead, that there was little pleafure in eating them. It is certain they were muchworfe, than ours in England in that particular. Which puts me in mind of the wildafparagus, which grows plentifully with us on the fea coaft in Lincolnfhire. This isvery fair to the eye; yet no culture of our gardens, by often tranfplanting, could makeit eatable. I fancy the afparagus recovers fomething of its natural force in a warmerclimate ; for the fweet tafte is as it were a mark of degeneration. If they would havethem good here, they mud renew the feed from England or Holland.

The wild afparagus of Languedoc is another plant called Corruda.

I procured out of Languedoc a fort of Prascox vine, about fifty plants, by the Cler-mont carrier ; the which 1 gave to Mr. London , our king’s gardener, for my lord am-baffador. This grape is white, verv thin (kinned, and clear as a drop of water; i.t isufually ripe at St. John’s-mafs in July at Montpellier , where it is called Des Unies.

There are alfo in this town Praecox grapes, as Dr. Turnefort told me in the phyficgarden ; but whether the fame with the Unies I know not.

I have faid they delight much in figs in pots or cafes; but here is another way ofpreferving the fig trees let in the ground, which is much praftifed ; and that is to lap,and tie them up in long draw, from top to bottom ; for which they are placed at alit&le didance from the walls. This alfo is pradifed to fuch trees as dand in the middleof the parterre; they did not open them till mid-May.

The exotic trees, which the Parifjans mod delight in. for their garden v/alks, and forthe (hade in their courts, are the Maroniers, or horfe chefnuts, of which they have in-numerable ; for the fruit ripens very well here, and comes up of itfelf. Alfo the AcaciaRovini, which is very common, and makes pretty alleys, and which (hey lop and turnto pollards, with good effect; but of thefe lad the leaves are late in putting forth, itbeing the 15th of May our dyle, when thefe trees were fcarce green.

May 25. When I took my leave of Monfieur Valliant, 1 found him in his flower gar-den ; he (hewed me a parcel of ranunculufes, in full flower, which ha had received buttwo years before from Condantinople ; they were very beautiful and rare, at lead fuchas I had never feen ; as pure white, white and green, white and itriped with carnation,pure carnation or rofe-colour, ftriped carnation, &c.

Of thefe he had fold fotne a pidole a root, and honed in a year or two to be moreplentifully docked with them, that he might afford them cheaper. I did fee afterwardsa few of them in the royal pipinerie, and alfo in the feedfman’s garden, Monfieur LeFebre: but both came from him.

I alfo took notice of his iron cradles or hoops over his beds, which were removea-ble, and to be made higher and lower, according to the height and nature of the flowersthey were defigned to cover. This, me-thought, was far beyond all the inventions ofwooden covers, and might with fail-cloths and mats well ferve for a fort of portablegreen houfe, to the leis tender plants.

I faw Le Eebre’s flower-garden, May 9. The tulips were in their prime; indeed,he had a very large and plentiful colleftion. The panachee or firiped tulips tveremany, and of great variety. He obferved to me, that from his large and numerousbeds of felf-flowered tulips, that is, of one colour, as red, yellow, &c. they expefted

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