July 4, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



LIBRARN 

 NEW YOk 

 BOTANICa, 



UAKbEN. 



GLEANINCIS FROM ROCK AND FIELD 

 TOW.UtDS ROME.— No. 1. 



LEFT Eugluuil in Februaiy, 

 but before my departuie tlie 

 Editors of The Journai. of 

 HoimcuLTL'itE kiiidly pro- 

 mi.sed me space, on my re- 

 turn, for the account of any 

 Ferus or plants I mi^;lit meet witli ; and thougli I fear my 

 success viiM not be deemed very gi'eat, I ventiu'e once more 

 to \\Tite of what it han been, as I have journeyed to and 

 ii'om Rome, witli eyes always tm-ued lonj^dngly to rock. 

 bank, and watercourse, seelung for the tufts of bright 

 waving green, wliich ever and anon would call forth a cry 

 of " Bcstdte !" and a plunge from the carriage, trowel in 

 hand, to dig up the treasm-e and transfer it to the tomist's 

 bag, whicli I carried on my shoulder, or, rather, rovmd my 

 neck, at the umuinent peril of sulfocatiou when the booty 

 was large and heavy. 



I left England on February •22nd, in bitter cold, with 

 snow many inches deep on the gi'ound. We left snow at 

 Lyons on February "23, and as we neared Marseilles we were 

 told that the '" mistral " was l)lo\viiig there : and blow it did ! 

 The OUve trees bent tliek supple Umbs to it — tlie fan- pink 

 bloom of the Almond trees fled before it ; women did fierce 

 battle with crinoline, and men di'ew theii' long cloaks about 

 them, and all the time the sky looked intensely blue and 

 innocent of the riot, and the sim shone brightly, and Ids 

 rays bimit Ulvo fii'e. Happy England 1 happier English- 

 men, to whom •■ misti'al," " tramontana," and " sirocco " are 

 unmeaning words. iVlas ! for those who shudder at thek 

 names, as tliey bring back to memoiy the blasthig, blight- 

 ing efi'ect of tiiese terrible seom-ges. An east wind is bad 

 enough, with the dust and the cliill it brings with it ; hut 

 what of a scorching hot east %vind that seems to biu-n up 

 and shrivel all life m man and natm-e, and to blow Cayenne 

 pepper and Cliili vinegar down your throat ? Yet in spite 

 of the " misti'al " we saw tokens of coming spring e^-ery- 

 where. Vine-di-essers were busy ui the vineyards pruning 

 every spare branch, Olive trees were being banked up — the 

 whole creation seemed watclung and waitmg for the rcsiu-- 

 rection so sm-ely coming from the winter's gi-ave. 



In the market we found Violets, Camellias, Carnations, 

 Anemones, Daflbdils, Narcissus, Koses (Cliiua and red), 

 and large beautiful Heailspase. The flower market of 

 MarseOles is very curious and pretty, each market-woman 

 iiaving a stall covered with a huge imibrella under the 

 sliadow of a tree. In one of these stalls I saw a woman 

 maldng a large flat bouquet of dark Violets as a cross with 

 white flowers roiuid. I asked, "Is that for a church'.'" 

 ^_"0h no," she replied; "it is for a lady who is dead." 

 22 No. 223 -Vol.. rx., New Series. 



These large bouquets arc placeil ou the liicr when the body 

 is carried to its last resting-place, and left on tlie grave, as 

 gentle witnesses of the fleeting nature of all that is most 

 fair on earth. Sometimes the grave is entu'ely bordered 

 with flowers : sometimes there are only vases of flowers 

 decked with ribbons and beads. The vegetables were such 

 as we shoidd see ui a south-country market in England, 

 with the exception that in Marseilles the first crop of Peas 

 was being gathered, and we had some for dinner boUcd 

 and sweetened to (French) taste. 



The first Fern I saw was at Nice : on my way to the 

 English church I passed a cart filled with blocks of stone, 

 and peeping at me from their crevices I saw Ceterach and 

 Trichomanes. The churchywd was full of Roses in bloom 

 (red and wldte). and the scent of Oranges and Lemons 

 tilled the au\ Summer seemed at hand, and we bought 

 dust-coloiu-ed pai'asols and overcoats in expectation of its 

 near presence. En ronte fi'om Nice to Mentone wc saw 

 by the wayside hedges of Roses, the pink wild Anemone 

 (Anemone liortensis ; the nemorosa I have seen but very 

 rarely in Italy), SciQas, -Tonquils. and I believe the pint 

 Cyclamen, witli many other common flowers ; there were 

 also huge Aloes, Cactus, and Palms, with Orange, Citron, 

 and Lemon trees loaded with flowers and fruit. Often 

 when the road was liigh up ou the rock we looked down on 

 precipices made golden with the Orange boughs, and as we 

 tU'Ove on om- glorious w-ay little black-eyed children tlirew 

 branches of Orange trees, covered with li'uit and flowers, 

 into the caniage windows. 



It was Shrove Tuesday, and the villages we drove throng 

 were alive with groups of merrj- laughmg peasants gaping 

 at the processions of mummers, who, in every sort of gro- 

 tesque costimie, paraded the streets. Enteiing Mentone 

 we heard voices singnig a chant. " Oh," said I, " here is 

 a chm'ch procession. Let us wait." Presently we saw a 

 party of men in wliite (in unitation of piiests'>, beaiing aloft 

 a man. who spread out his hands as if blessmg the people. 

 ■' Pio Nono ! Pio Nono ! " shouted the crowd as they rushed 

 headlong on in their mad gaiety. To an English eye the 

 Carnival must ever seem a strange vestibule to Lent. 



Cheilanthcs odora is to be foimd at ^Mentone, lint it was 

 too early to hope to find the small fragi'aut fronds on the 

 steep moimtain sides, wiiere later in the year it grows. 

 Tlie flora of Mentone is a very beautiful one : m April the 

 hedges and rocks are a mass of gay and varied bli lora ; but 

 there are few weeks dm-ing the winter mouths wlieu the 

 botanist may not find ample material for his tui and book. 



Shortly after leaving Mentone I noticed the first tuft of 

 .\iUantum capUlus-Vcueris, and as the luncstone rock and 

 triclding water increitsed, the little tufts became vast masses ; 

 clefts hi the rock, lUie miinatm-e caverns, were covered with 

 the fau'y-like foliage, which in some places seemed to line 

 the entire face of the rock. At rare intervals I found the 

 Ceterach also, hut no other Fern. Cmeraria maiitima 

 gi-ew in great quantities, its soft gi"ey leaves waving to tlie 

 sea breeze, wiiich blew upon them over one of the i'.m-est 

 scenes to be met with on this most beautifid earth. Yet 

 even the exceeding beauty hardly repaid me for the more 

 exceeding frigJit the pass of the Cornice always ^ives me. 



No. 675.— Vol. XXXI v.. Old fEIimS. 



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