Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/109

Rh spaces, leaving ample room for free movement. Their trees should be high-stemmed and umbrageous; conifers, except in rare instances, as permanent dwarfs, should be excluded, and flowers and delicate plants little if at all used except in vases and baskets (corbeilles) or as fringes of architectural objects. Interest will

desirably centre in a fountain.—Every considerable town in Europe now possesses grounds which are resorted to for public recreation, and most have several of different types specially prepared and kept at public expense.

In France the state has long held and managed extensive "woods and forests," remnants of

the original forests which covered the country in the time of Caesar. More than 20 such are found within a distance from Paris which makes them available for a day's pleasuring by means of railway excursion trains. They vary in extent from about 1,000 acres, as at St. Cloud, to 41,000, as at Fontainebleau. Each of these contains a château which at some time has been a royal residence, in connection with which there is a "park" or garden of several acres, generally containing a lake, fountains, statuary, monuments, parterres (as in the above engraving), and sometimes conservatories, aviaries, or other interesting objects. More or less historical interest also es to each, and in some quaint old customs are maintained, by which visitors are attracted.

The forest proper is wilder, and in its depths many animals are found in a state of nature. It is however divided, by a network of broad avenues crossed by first, second, and third class roads and walks, into spaces of five to ten acres, so that in passing through it vistas open at frequent intervals on both sides and in all directions. Some of these forests are distinguished for great rocks, trees, and picturesque scenery; some contain in their depths broad meadows and savannas, others lakes or streams with cascades; all are guarded from depredations and policed by an organized body of men thoroughly trained in their

under a military discipline. Among the more noted of these suburban resorts around Paris are those of Boulogne, Vincennes, St. Cloud, Marly, St. Germain, Rambouillet, Chantilly, and Compiegne, which together contain more than 170,000 acres. The first five are within 10 m. of the city, and may be reached

by rail in less than half an hour. Versailles is another resort yet more famous, and in which the woods are of less importance than the palace and gardens. The woods of Boulogne and Vincennes, being nearest the city, one at its west and the other at its east side,