eld up by sticks.

The dahlias had enormous props; and between these straight lines could
be seen the winding branches of a Sophora Japonica, which remained
motionless, without either perishing or growing.

However, since even the rarest trees flourish in the gardens of the
capital, they must needs grow successfully at Chavignolles; and Pecuchet
provided himself with the Indian lilac, the Chinese rose, and the
eucalyptus, then in the beginning of its fame. But all his experiments
failed; and at each successive failure he was vastly astonished.

Bouvard, like him, met with obstacles. They held many consultations,
opened a book, then passed on to another, and did not know what to
resolve upon when there was so much divergence of opinion.

Thus, Puvis recommends marl, while the Roret Manual is opposed to it. As
for plaster, in spite of the example of Franklin, Riefel and M. Rigaud
did not appear to be in raptures about it.

According to Bouvard, fallow lands were a Gothic prejudice. However,
Leclerc has noted cases in which they are almost indispensable. Gasparin
mentions a native of Lyons who cultivated cereals in the same field for
half a century: this upsets the theory as to the variation of crops.
Tull extols tillage to the prejudice of rich pasture; and there is Major
Beetson, who by means of tillage would abolish pasture altogether.

In order to understand the indications of the weather, they studied the
clouds according to the classification of Luke Howard. They contemplated
those which spread out like manes, those which resemble islands, and
those which might be taken for mountains of snow--trying to distinguish
the nimbus from the cirrus and the stratus from the cumulus. The shapes
had altered even before they had discovered the names.

The barometer deceived them; the thermometer taught them nothing; and
they had recourse to the device invented in the time of Louis XIV. by a
priest from Touraine. A leech in a glass bottle was to rise up in the
event of rain, to stick to the bottom in settled weather, and to move
about if a storm were threatening. But nearly always the atmosphere
contradicted the leech. Three others were put in along with it. The
entire four behaved differently.

After many reflections, Bouvard realised that he had made a mistake. His
property required cultivation on a large scale, the concentrated system,
and he risked all the disposable capital that he had left--thirty
thousand francs.