Alexis Lepère the Elder

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Lettering Lepere of espalier trees at the entrance to the nursery

Alexis Lepère (born May 9, 1799 in Montreuil ; † May 29, 1883 ibid) was a French gardener and fruit grower. He became well known in Europe for his knowledge and skills in the field of espalier fruit growing and peach cultivation. He was the father of the gardener Alexis Lepère the Younger .

Life

The fruit walls in Montreuil
Palmette to Lepère

Alexis Lepère was born in 1799 as the son of a peach gardener in Montreuil near Paris. In Montreuil, the culture of fruit trees, especially peaches, was very widespread on Talut walls , which is why the place was also called Montreuil aux pêches . This special cultivation method, which had been developed in the town since the 17th century, enabled the city's gardeners to also cultivate fruit species that needed warmth and to produce fruits of special quality, which were supplied to the nearby royal court in Paris and the Paris markets. Several generations had worked as a peach grower in Lepère's family.

Lettering Napoleon drawn from a trellis tree

Already at a young age, Lepère showed a great talent for gardening and fruit growing, so that at the age of 26 he was commissioned to set up the Parc Montreau in Montreuil. He improved the culture of the peach trees through special cutting and tree training forms and claimed to be the inventor of the growth form Espalier caré . This trellis shape was later also referred to as the Lepère palmette or the improved Montreuil palmette . Thanks to the special cutting and cultivation technique, he succeeded in producing high yields and high quality fruit. In his orchard on Rue Cuve du Faubourg, which was just under one hectare in size, he ran a tree nursery and harvested up to 40,000 peaches a year, most of which were sold at unit prices because of their outstanding quality.

As proof of his skill in trellis fruit pruning, Lepère had formed the name Lepere from the branches of eight peach trees on a wall at the entrance to his nursery , above which the branches formed a crown. There was also a wall on the site where trellis trees were raised to form the three words Napoléon , Eugenie and Prince Impérial , making Emperor Napoleon III. , whose wife Empress Eugenie and the heir to the throne Napoléon Eugène Louis Bonaparte , born in 1856 , should be honored.

Due to his extraordinary success he achieved international fame and was known as the emperor of peach breeding. Lepère always tried to pass on his knowledge to other gardeners. He published a book about the culture of the peach and the special cutting technique, which, initially self-published, later became a standard work, appeared in a total of seven editions and was also translated into German.

In the spring and summer months, Lepère gave lectures twice a week in his garden for an entrance fee of 1 franc and gave demonstrations of pruning trees, which were attended by numerous participants, often even from abroad.

Numerous gardeners visited Lepère to attend his lectures or to work with him for a while and to learn from him. Among them were F. Malleson, the court gardener of Claremont House of the King of Belgium , Karl Heinrich Koch and the tree nursery owner Nicolas Gaucher , who later had a significant influence on the spread of shaped fruit growing in Germany. The later royal Prussian court gardener Gustav I. Adolph Fintelmann had Lepère instruct him in the cultivation of particularly demanding types of fruit from March to June 1827.

Lepere was a member of the Société centrale d'horticulture des France and a corresponding member of the Société royale linnéenne de Bruxelles. He was also a member of the Commission royale des Pomologie Belgium .

His son Alexis Lepère the Younger learned from him and emulated him. He made the drawings in his father's book. After the large landowner Albert von Schlippenbach and his sister, Countess Agnes von Hahn , had visited the Lepèr'schen Garten in Montreuil in 1853 and were very impressed by the quality of the fruits grown there, Alexis Lepère the Younger traveled to Northern Germany in the spring of 1854 and laid At Schloss Basedow , the estate of Friedrich von Hahn , he planted fruit on walls according to his father's cultivation methods. He received further orders, so that in the following years he planted more than forty orchards with talut walls abroad, especially in Germany, including on behalf of Albert von Schlippenbach near Arendsee Castle for the Prussian chamberlain Friedrich von Behr on the Vargatz manor at Bandelin and together with Gustav I Adolph Fintelmann on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1862 at the royal vineyard on Klausberg and in 1863 on the site of the former court gardening facility in Babelsberg Park .

Alexis Lepère died on May 25, 1883 and was buried in the Montreuil cemetery. His grave is adorned with a listed monument with a bust of Lepère, donated by the fruit growers of Montreuil.

Honors

Gravestone in the Montreuil cemetery
Street sign of Rue Alexis Lepère in Montreuil
  • In 1836 he was awarded two medals by the Société royale d'horticulture de France.
  • In 1855 he was by Napoléon III . appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur .
  • In 1867 he was made Knight of the Order of Leopold of Belgium .
  • The French Minister of Agriculture and Economy awarded him a gold medal for his services to fruit growing.
  • In 1875 the rose breeder Jacques Vigneron named a Remontant hybrid after Alexis Lepère.
  • Rue Alexis Lepère is named after him in his hometown of Montreuil .

Types of fruit

Alexis Lepère the Elder was the breeder of the seed-grown peach variety Pêche Lepère , which was also known in Germany as Galande von Montreuil , which was brought on the market in 1846. The peach variety Alexis Lepère , launched on the market in 1876, was bred by his son.

Works

  • Pratique raisonnée de la taille du pêcher en espalier carré: contenant sa culture, sa multiplication, les principes généraux de la taille et leur application à la forme carrée, la taille dit à la Montreuil, les moyens de restaurer les vieux arbres, et de remédier aux maladies et accidents dont le pêcher peut être frappé, et la description des variétés de pêches les meilleures à cultiver.
    • 1st edition self-published
    • 2nd edition 1846
    • 3rd edition 1852
    • 5th edition 1860
    • 6th edition 1864
    • 7th edition, published by Mme Ve. Bouchard-Huzard, 1873
  • The culture of the peach tree in square, fan, heart trunk, Leyer, gust of wind, candelabrum and other forms, along with explanations about pruning, reproduction, the diseases of the peach tree and a list of the best varieties. For gardeners, gardeners and friends of the peach tree. After the fifth French. Original edition translated from French by J. Hartwig. Publishing house by Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar, 1861
    • The culture of the peach tree on the trellis. For gardeners, gardeners and friends of the peach tree. 2nd revised edition, published by Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar 1886

Web links

Commons : Alexis Lepère the Elder  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Lepère, Alexis. In: T. Rümpler: Illustrierter Gartenbau-Lexikon, 3rd revised edition, Paul Parey publishing house, Berlin 1902, p. 452
  2. Histoire des murs à pêches. on the homepage of the Paris district of Montreuil, accessed on January 24, 2015
  3. a b c Topic topos : Tombe d'Alexis Lepère, Montreuil-sous-Bois ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Foreign Correspondence. In: The Gardeners' Chronicle. 1842, p. 870
  5. W. Lauche: Handbuch des Obstbaues on a scientific and practical basis. Published by P. Parey, Berlin 1882, p. 596 ff
  6. K. Koch: From a report on a trip to France. In: C. von Salviati: Annals of Agriculture in the Royal Prussian States. 23rd year, 46th volume, Verlag von Wiegand and Hempel, Berlin 1865, p. 435f
  7. Mr. Alexis Lepère's work in northern German orchards. In: C. von Salviati: Annals of Agriculture in the Royal Prussian States. 22nd year, 43rd volume. Barthol and Co, Berlin 1864, p. 59f
  8. M. Müller: A visit to the peach gardens at Montreuil and mainly to that of Mr. Lepére. In: Gartenflora: Monthly for German and Swiss horticulture and flower studies, 4th year, published by Ferdinand Enke, Erlangen 1855, p. 43f
  9. ^ W. Robinson: Peach-growing at Montreuil. In: Gleanings from French gardens: comprising an account of such features of French horticulture as are most worthy of adoption in British gardens. Frederick Warne and Co., London 1868, p. 189
  10. T. Schmidt: The most important gardens, and commercial garden establishments in Paris and its immediate vicinity - a hint for young German gardeners who visit Paris. In: Berliner Allgemeine Gartenzeitung. Volume 7, Verlag der Nauck'schen Buchhandlung, 1839, p. 279
  11. Pruning and Management of thePeach Tree. According to the Method of M. Alexis Lepère, of Montreuil, near Paris. In: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Volume 8, Royal Horticultural Society, 1853S. 137ff
  12. KH Koch: The German fruit trees: Lectures held in Berlin in the winter of 1875/76. Published by Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart 1876, pp. 542ff
  13. Nicolas Gaucher: Handbook of fruit culture: From practice for practice edited. Published by P. Parey, Berlin 1896, p. 170
  14. ^ Gustav Adolph Fintelmann: The peach cultivation at Montreuil near Paris. In: Negotiations of the Association for the Promotion of Horticulture in the Royal Prussian States. 19th Volume, 1849, pp. 16-31.
  15. Alexis Lepere: The culture of the peach tree in square, fan, heart trunk, Leyer, gust of wind, Armleucter and other forms, along with explanations about pruning, reproduction, the diseases of the peach tree and a list of the best varieties. For gardeners, gardeners and friends of the peach tree. Translated from the French by J. Hartwig from the fifth original French edition. Publishing house by Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar, 1861, p. VII
  16. Mr. Alexis Lepère's work in northern German orchards. In: C. von Salviati: Annals of agriculture in the royal Prussian states. 22nd year, 43rd volume. Barthol and Co, Berlin 1864, p. 59
  17. ^ M. Delessard: Notice sur Alexis Lepère, Fils. In: Journal de la Sociètè Nationale d'Horticulture des France. Tome 18, Paris 1896, pp. 1011-1016.
  18. ^ Arendsee and the finer fruit growing of the Count of Schlippenbach. In: Weekly of the Association for the Promotion of Horticulture in the Royal Prussian States for Horticulture and Herbology. No. 30, Berlin, July 30, 1864, p. 233
  19. J. Münter: Report on the exhibition of plants, cut flowers, fruit, vegetables and agricultural products of the plant and animal kingdom organized by the horticultural associations for New Western Pomerania and Rügen in Stralsund during the days from September 13 to 16, 1866 . In: Weekly of the Association for the Promotion of Horticulture in the Royal Prussian States for Horticulture and Herbology. 9th year, published by Karl Wiegandt, Berlin 1866, pp. 313–317.
  20. ^ Protocols of the Association for the History of Potsdam - Tenth Assembly. In: L. Schneider: Mittheilungen of the association for the history of Potsdam. Gropius'sche Buch- und Kunsthandlung (A. Krausnick), Potsdam 1864, p. 45 f.
  21. M. Heise, M. Vranic: Potsdam, Park Babelsberg, former Hofgartnerei - The Lepère'schen quarters I. In: Yearbook MSD 2007-09, Berlin 2009, p 57
  22. Staff news . In: L. Wittmack (Hrsg.): Garten-Zeitung - monthly for gardeners and gardeners, 1st year, Paul Parey-Verlag, Berlin 1883, p. 390
  23. Entry on A. Lepère's tombstone on the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication homepage , accessed on November 23, 2014
  24. Entry on the tombstone of A.Lepere on the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication homepage , accessed on November 23, 2014
  25. A. Lepère: Pratique raisonnée de la taille du pêcher en espalier carré: contenant sa culture, sa multiplication, les principes généraux de la taille et leur application à la forme carrée, la taille dit à la Montreuil, les moyens de restaurer les vieux arbres, et de remédier aux maladies et accidents dont le pêcher peut être frappé, et la description des variétés de pêches les meilleures à cultiver. 7th edition, published by Mme Ve. Bouchard-Huzard, 1873, title page
  26. Entry on World of Roses for the Rose 'Alexis Lepère, accessed on November 14, 2014
  27. ^ W. Lauche: Galande von Montreuil. In: Lauche's first supplementary volume to Lucas and Oberdieck's Illustrated Handbuch der Obstkunde. Published by Paul Parey, 1883, p. 703
  28. ^ UP Hedrick: The Peaches of New York - Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year. JB Lyon Company, Albany 1917, p. 365
  29. ^ Société pomologique de France: Catalog descriptif des fruits adoptés par le Congrès Pomologique. Imprimierie Paul Legendre et Cie., Lyon 1906, p. 84