Febniarj 19, 1874. 1 



JODBNAL OF HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



169 



there was a perceptible change in the temperature, which im- 

 proved as we got nearer Marseilles. 



On the following morning, when I tnrned-out of the Grand 

 Hotel NoaiUes to see the changes that had taken place in the 

 old city since last I saw it many years ago, I was struck by the 

 extreme mUdnesa of the temperature ; and thinking a change 

 had taken place in the night, I remarked to the porter that it 

 had become very mild, at which he shrugged his shoulders 

 and rather differed in opinion from me. I asked how long this 

 had lasted, and he said all the winter, but that they considered 

 it rather disagreeable than otherwise, for they usually had it 

 much warmer than this. I was convinced now I was nearing 

 the subtropical region I had so longed for. In the entrance 

 hall of the hotel the sides were lined with large tubs planted 

 with Euonymus japouicus in full fruit, handsome plants 6 feet 



high. In the market were an abundance of Artichokes, and 

 I observed plants ornamented with paper flowers of viiriou» 

 colours, much in the way that the small Spruce Firs were at 

 Lyons with the dyed flowers of Xeranthemum annuum. I did 

 not make any stay in Marseilles through a desire to terminate 

 my joui'ney, which had now become very tedious, and I shall 

 endeavour to see something or anything in the way of garden- 

 ing that I may consider worth notice on my return homeward. 

 From Marseilles the railway into Italy is a single line, and 

 its course is all the way close to the shore of the Mediterranean, 

 sometimes through narrow passes of bold rocky alpine scenery, 

 from which it emerges at intervals again to afford a full view 

 of the sea. All the way to Nice there is little to be seen in 

 cultivated grounds but Vines and Olive trees, with occasioually 

 the White Mulberry, indicating that silk is produced, and the 



VIEW FROM THE GnOUNDS OF THE CASINO AT MONTE CARLO, 



hills are covered with Piuus maritima, P. halepeusis, and 

 Evergreen Oaks. Between Toulon and Cannes I observed 

 considerable plantations of the Gnaphalium, the flowers of 

 which are dyed for "everlastings," and of which the "im- 

 mortelles," now become so common among us, are made. I 

 had no opportunity of examining it closely enough, but I 

 beUeve it to be the Gnaphalium margaritaceum. It is grown 

 in the fields in the same way as Lavender is grown by our 

 herb-growers at Mitcham and Hitchin. When we got to 

 Cannes the aspect of vegetation began to change. Oranges 

 appear ; and here and there between Cannes and Nice we see 

 specimens of the Date Palm. These become more numerous 

 as we proceed on the journey, untU, reaching Monte Carlo, they 

 become quite the leading feature in all effects produced by the 

 landscape gardening of the district. Monte Carlo, which is 

 a suburb of Monaco, and where the only remaining gaming 

 tables in Europe are to be found, is one of the most charming 

 spots that can be conceived of. The grounds attached to the 

 Casino have been very artistically laid out ; and here it is that 

 the Palms are to be seen in their best condition, as ornamental 

 trees. Our figure will give some idea of the style of gardening 

 which has been followed. But it is at Bordighera, a few mOes 

 beyond Mentone, on the Italian frontier, where these Palms are 

 grown to a large extent, and whence the supplies of Palm 

 branches are derived with which Rome is supplied for the ser- 

 yioea on Palm Sundays. 



When I looked from my bedroom window of the Hotel 

 de la Mediterranoe, at Mentone, on the morning after my 

 arrival, what a new and marvellous sight presented itself ! 

 Close upon the town there is a range of steep little hills, 

 richly clothed with vegetation, which have been girdled with 

 numerous terraces one above the other, and studded with 

 smUing villas in every variety of fancy forms, each standing 

 in a garden of Orange and Lemon trees. The trees are groan- 

 ing under the load of the golden fruit, the crop of which is 

 now ripening, and in some cases this is so great as to require 

 props to support the branches. Such a sight is like a trans- 

 formation scene. Away beyond these little hills there rise, by 

 a gradual succession of waves of rugged rock, still higher grounds 

 also terraced, wherever a modicum of soil can be obtained 

 wherewith to make Orange and Ohve groves. The soil is rich 

 where there is any, and nothing so exemplifies the patient 

 industry of these hard-working Ligurian people than the fer- 

 tility with which they have clothed these apparently barren hills, 

 and this process goes on higher and higher still till it reaches, 

 as at S. Agnese, a height of nearly 2500 feet. S. Agneso is 

 one of a group of these high peaks which form a range of 

 mountains enclosing Mentone from the north, and protecting 

 it from the cold winds coming from the Alps in that direction, 

 and the spurs of these mountains form a barrier on the east 

 and west, so that by tliis shelter from all the worst winter 

 winds that blow has, with its fine pure air, warm climate, and 



