January 16, 18CC. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



45 



so that in one sraall space, not larger than your hand, j'ou 

 would see the treasures of the mo=t remote lauds orouslit 

 together ; there would be dark agate trom Derbyshire, petrified 

 wood from Hindostau, opals from Hungarj', turquoise from 

 Persia, etc. The work is very slow and tedious, so that it 

 takes nearly twenty or thirty years to finish any great under- 

 taking ! lu the time of the ex-Grand Duke I went to see the 

 unfinished monument of the first Grand Duchess, when the 

 second had grandchildren I The opals are the most difficult 

 stones to manage, as it is necessary to set them in a hollow 

 space, whereas all other stones rest on some flat surface. The 

 imitation of flowers is exceedingly perfect, and in this I noticed 

 a decided improvement, the study of Nature having given place 

 to a certain amount of mannerism that once prevailed. 



The Ceterach was the only Fern I noticed about Florence, 

 and that was very small. 



From Florence we went to Bologna by rail. I wish my pen 

 could give the very slightest idea of what those simple words in- 

 clude ; never could I forget that railway jom-ney ! the awful pre- 

 cipices, tlje frightful chasms, over which we sped on our perilous 

 way; now passing through the very heart of a great mountain, 

 emerging from its side on a narrow pathway that seemed to 

 tremble and quiver at our weight ; again entering the Apen- 

 nines by tunnels so close and long that the compressed air 

 was like a great weight on the brain, and respiration became 

 difficult ; now shooting out on a frail wooden bridge spanning 

 over a torrent rushing down far below ; now gliding along the 

 very face of a rock, so high that one recoiled from measuring 

 the depth below ; the glowing suuset giving the richest colour- 

 ing to the scene, and after sunset came the moon, and then — 

 Bologna. 



Bologna is the very quaintest of all the quaint old towns (jf 

 Italy. It has the gravest look of learning lurking about its 

 heavy arcades and sober red-brick buikUugs ; the leaning towers 

 bend down towards each other, as if proposing problems in a 

 whisper, and sober-coated ravens describe circles in the air, 

 and everything in the old town has a wis 3 iind winking look, as 

 if it had studied too much for its health. 



At the Villa Eeale on May 3rd I found the royal gardener 

 putting out his bedding plants, whicli did not seem more for- 

 ward than ours in England. I noticed but few yomig plants, 

 the Geraniums were for the most part those of the last year 

 much cut down ; they had been kept during the winter in 

 earth-pits, with very slight protection. The Orange trees were 

 large for trees growing in tubs, and very healthy, but these, too, 

 had been protected during the cold season. The gardener was, 

 like all the Italians, most polite, he left us to wander about 

 the garden and gather wild flowers as we liked, and on my 

 admiring some brilliant Ixias (Ixia crocata), he immediately 

 gave me a large potfiil, tying them up for me, flowers, leaves, 

 and bulbs, in a tidy bundle, and telling me I need not touch 

 them till I wanted them to plant in An- ust. The peculiarity 

 of the Ixia crocata is the transparency of the base of the corolla, 

 which, when the sun was shining on them, gave the flowers 

 the appearance of fire. In these gardens I gathered handsome 

 specimens of the Orchis pyramidaUs and the Anemone hor- 

 teusis still in bloom. There was also a very fine Petunia nyc- 

 taginiflora [?] . The white Acacias were in their first fresh bloom. 



The picture-gallery of Bologna contains Raphael's St. Cecilia, 

 some good Fruncias ; but the gems are from Guido's masterly 

 hand, his Crucifixion, Sampson, and Murder of the Innocents 

 arc magnificent compositions. — FiLix-rajMix-i. 



MILDNESS OF THE SEASON. 



The day before Christmas-day I picked a very fine bloom of 

 Gloire de Dijon Rose from a north wall, but on the last day of 

 the year from the same tree I cut six or eight beautiful blooms, 

 one or two being as exquisitely shaped as we should get them 

 in May. Still further to show the mild character of the wea- 

 ther here, in Somersetshire, I saw on the 3rd of January two 

 male specimens of the brimstone butterfly (Gonepterixlihamuij, 

 flying about. I saw them in the same parish, but about a 

 mile apart. I was completely astonished at the sight of the 

 first, and he certainly was either astonished at me, or at find- 

 ing there were no flowers and leaves. He did not appear to 

 approve of the temperature, though the morning was sunny 

 and bright, and he alighted on the ground, and I captured him, 

 thinking it worth while to add to my cabinet a brimstone taken 

 on the 3rd of .January ! I injured him rather in the catching, 

 but otherwise he was a good specimen. The other did not settle. 



but flew about very strongly, to the surprise of a woman to whom 

 I pointed him oui, and who evidently seemed to consider that 

 something serious would happen. I am not aware that the 

 brimstone butterfly hybemates, as the small tortoiseshell vei-y 

 frequently does — of the latter, I have seen five or six at a 

 time in my sadJle-room — if they do not, these must have 

 emerged from their chrysalis st.ite at a verj- early period of 

 the year. I should be very glad to know whether they do 

 hybernate. — Y. B. A. Z. 



OuT-oF-nooR Ste-Iwdekkt Ripe in J.isr.\BY. — What a season 

 we have had so far ! On Saturd.a.y one of our men brought me 

 a fully grown and nearly ripe Strawberry ; strange for the Otl; 

 of .Tanuary! I fear we shall suii'er for it. — J. R. Peai;sos, 



BANISHING MOLES. 



I H.vvE in my charge a large Rose -bed, the Roses are on their 

 own roots, and jiegged down ; lately moles have mined among 

 them, lifting some of them nearly out of the ground. My em- 

 ployer is not willing that the depredators should be caught, as 

 he consider.s they do good by destroying wirewonns. That, of 

 course, I cannot deny, but the question is, Will the good done 

 by them be sufiicient to compensate for the injury they may do 

 to the Pioses ? without taking into account the trouble of 

 having continually to clear away the heaps of soil thrown up by 

 them, and the untidy appearance they give to a place. — C. C. 



[We have tried to drive moles away with bruised gi'een 

 Elder leaves, which you cannot, however, now obtain, and used 

 biuised Laurel leaves in the runs of moles, with fair efi'ect ; 

 and in the winter time we have opened the runs in different 

 places, and poured iu a little tar. Independently of the scent, 

 they cannot endure anything filthy ou their fur.] 



GARDENING IN JAPAN. 



My first visit to Yedo, soon after arriving in the country, 

 being but short, and, owing to other circumstances, offering but 

 limited opportunities tor seeing the suburbs of the city, I was 

 anxious to renew it, more particularly for the purpose of visiting; 

 the commercial gardo.^s in the neighbourhood. By the courtesy 

 of the Hon. Robert II. Pruyn, United States Minister, niy wish 

 has been gratified. Early on the morning of July 13th, iu com- 

 pany with Jlr. Portman, Secretary of Legation, and another 

 visitor, I started for a twenty-mUo ride on the Tokddo, to the 

 great city. 



The road, for the greater part of the way, presents the appear- 

 ance of a continuous village. After passing the town of Kana- 

 gawa, the Rice fields are cultivated close to the margin of the 

 road, extending like a gn-en carpet to the rising ground, about a 

 niUe distant, and gradually coming nearer to it as you approach 

 Yedo. Until you" anive at the river Logo, the spot of greatest 

 interest is where 31r. lUchardson was murdered iwo years ago. 

 The road here, for the distance of about a mile, is bordered with 

 Pine trees ; and though of rather .-tunted growth, they give relief 

 to the monotony of the dead level. Passing through the town of 

 Kawaski vou arrive at the river, a stream of considerable length, 

 and navig'able f r flat boats for a distance of about thnty nnles. 

 This river is tlie limit, toward Y'cdo. to which foreigners may 

 ride by treaty stipidation ; but, from the nervous state of feeling 

 produced by several attacks on thorn when away from Y'okohama, 

 the privilege is not now often taken advantage of 



Here you dismount, and arc ferried across to the other side in 

 scows. The road from here, until you approach Sinagawa, a 

 suburb of Y'edo, is less closely built rip than the part of the road 

 just passed over. For two or three miles distance from the river 

 the land is quite flat, vet not low enough for the cultivation of 

 Rice. The soil is a light sandy loam, and well suited to the 

 cultivation of vegetables. Occasionally, as you pass along, you 

 see orchards of trained Pear trees, of the kinds peculiar to the 

 countrj-. The trees are planted, as nearly as I coidd judge, from 

 12 to 15 feet apart. After .attaining the proper height, the tree 

 is allowed to form branches, and tiiese are trained to a rough 

 framework of the tame height, perfectly level, and extending 

 over the whole area of the orchard. AVhat oliject the cultivator 

 has in training them in so careful a maimer i have not as yet 

 ascertained ; but why may it not have its advantages in enabling 

 him to securu his crops in the highest possible condition ? Every 

 fruit is thus brought into view, and within reach of the gatherer, 

 who, where trees arc left to grow in their natui-al fonn, too often 



