176 



jodbnaij of horticultuee and cottage gardenee. 



( Angust 26, 1876. 



from the tunnel the line of rail rapidly descends from Eardon- 

 neche to Susa. Here the character of the scenery is very wild 

 and rugged ; at first the railway being carried in a series of 

 tunnels and galleries cut along the face of the cliff overhang- 

 ing the valley of the Dora Reparia. By degrees the valley opens 

 out, and the different changes of vegetation again commence. 

 First, alpine plants and short herbage where goats and moun- 

 tain cows graze ; then patches of Eye grass ; then Potatoes, 

 with Walnut trees. Apples and Cherries grown round the 

 cbilets; then a little lower down Vines on the cottages, till by 

 degrees we come to Acacias, Spanish Chestnuts, and fertile vine- 

 yards, with crops of Indian Corn ; and then, as we reach the 

 plains before entering the town of Turin, the interminable 

 rows of white Mulberry trees, with Vines trained from tree 

 to tree, begin. 



The whole of the plains from Turin to Venice are planted 

 with rows of these white Mulberries on which the silkworms 

 are fed. The leaf is different to that of the Mulberry which 

 we usually grow in England, and the growth of the young 

 shoots much more rapid. The trees before we reached Turin 

 were not as yet fit for gathering the leaves from, but as we 

 approached nearer to Venice we saw the leaves being stripped. 

 The silkworms are very voracious, and it is surprising what a 

 quantity of leaves are daily consumed where the larger silk- 

 worm-feeding establishments are kept. They are fed in out- 

 houses well shaded and ventilated, but not allowed to be too 

 cold, on large tiers of wood, trays, or shelves raised one on 

 the top of the other, about 12 to 14 inches apart. They are 

 supplied with fresh leaves two or three times a-day, which are 

 gathered in sacks — men, women, and children all assisting in 

 stripping the leaves by means of tripod ladders, much the 

 same as those used by French gardeners for pruning their 

 trees. The trees are kept pollarded and cut-back, and the 

 young growth is very rapid, making shoots from S to 5 feet 

 long in the season; these are stopped twice, sometimes three 

 times a-year. 



The produce of silk in the plains of Lombardy is very great, 

 and the monotony caused by the never-ending rows of pollarded 

 white Mulberries is equally great, the average distance be- 

 tween the rows of trees for many miles in succession being 

 not much more than from 10 to 12 yards, and only about 

 10 feet or from that to 15 feet between the trees. The inter- 

 vening space of ground is cropped chiefly with Indian Corn, 

 although Eye is also grown ; and between Milan and Verona, 

 where the fields are irrigated, there are also crops of paddy 

 or Eice. The general effect of the plains of Lombardy, though 

 impressing one with their great fertility, is certainly very 

 monotonous, and where whole rows of Mulberries are stripped 

 of their leaves, with bare stems and branches they look very 

 unsightly. 



Turin was our first resting-place on the Italian side. It is 

 a city that would delight the Americans, as all the streets run 

 parallel to each other, and are divided by other streets crossing 

 at right angles. It abounds in straight avenues of cropped 

 trees. I had not time to see the public gardens here, but 

 must give Turin credit for the best turf I saw in Italy or, I 

 might say, on the Continent. This was in the square in front 

 of the central railway station, called Piazza Carlo Felice, and, 

 for a wonder, it was well cut and also well watered. The river 

 Po rushes by one side of the town, and advantage is taken of 

 its enormous water-power to supply the streets with water by 

 means of water-wheels. I saw the same again in the Adige at 

 Verona. They are erected in the middle of the river, with 

 undershot paddles, which the force of the current turns round. 

 The periphery, or outer rim of the wheel, is hollow, formed, in 

 fact, of a series of boarded-in boxes in which the water is col- 

 lected and lifted from the river, and they empty themselves 

 when they get to the top of the wheel by means of small 

 spouts into a larger trough, from which it is conveyed by pipes. 

 The whole apparatus (I am describing one or two I took espe- 

 cial notice of at Verona) is exceedingly rough and simple, but 

 at the same time effective. Thanks, however, to the use of 

 the scythe and irrigation, the grass in the Piazza Carlo Felice 

 was really more like an English lawn. I cannot say the same 

 for the public gardens at Milan, although there they had 

 equal opportunities for irrigation ; but unfortunately they ap- 

 parently trusted too much to irrigation there, and took no 

 pains to cut it, and the grass was merely laid flat by the 

 action of the water, and the undergrowth was brown ; the 

 effect of the lawn being more like one of our English after- 

 math, or (as in Yorkshire we call them) fog fields, in autumn 

 after heavy rains. 



I will, however, continue my remarks upon the Milan and 

 Venice gardens in another number. I had more time at 

 Milan and Venice than at Tarin to make notes on the public 

 gardening. — C. P. P. 



EARLY SUMMER FRUITS. 



The first fruit of summer is always looked for more eagerly, 

 eaten with greater zest, and is also more closely criticised than 

 the more abundant and varied supply of autumn ; it is, there- 

 fore, highly important that it should be as good in quality and 

 quantity as is possible. That both these important properties 

 are liable to suffer from the baneful influences of an unfavour- 

 able season has been fully exemplified in the present year, and, 

 unfortunately, when fruit is cultivated extensively, little if 

 anything can be done to avert the evils attendant upon fre- 

 quent rain, a sluggish moisture-laden atmosphere, and a cloudy 

 sky. 



Stkaweerbies. — Immense quantities of Strawberries have 

 been spoiled. A magnificent crop of La Marguerite, with some 

 fruit measuring fully inches in circumference, and which I 

 particularly wished to keep for a few days after it was ripe, 

 was almost totally destroyed by wet, the dense clusters of fruit 

 lying spotted, mouldy, rotten — a lamentable sight not easily 

 forgotten, and an evil as difficult to remedy, for we have no 

 other early Strawberry equal to La, Marguerite either in size 

 or appearance. The fruit of Vicomtesse Huricart de Thury 

 withstood the effects of the superabundant moisture better 

 than any other. It is undoubtedly a useful sort, but I would 

 not give the preference to a Strawberry simply because its fruit 

 keeps better than others. La Marguerite, President, Sir C. 

 Napier, Cockscomb, Dr. Hogg, and Frogmore Late Pine are the 

 sorts upon which I depend for a regular seasonable supply. 

 Newer varieties are on trial, but I have as yet seen nothing 

 worthy to take rank with my select half dozen. A white 

 variety having been asked for I have again planted Bicton Pine ; 

 its really fine fruit forms a novel and handsome feature in a 

 dessert. 



Easpbebeies and Cubbants. — Prince of Wales is pre-eminent 

 among Easpberries, its fine, large, handsome fruit being very 

 abundant. Much of its earliest and best fruit was spoiled by 

 the rain. Red Currants also suffered from the same cause. 

 The finest Bed Currant is Knight's Large Bed, answering ad- 

 mirably to its designation in every respect ; stem, branches, 

 foliage, and fruit, both in bunch and berry, are all considerably 

 larger than the ordinary type. This kind, with Victoria for a 

 late sort, merits extensive culture. 



GoosEBERKLEs. — Split fruit have been very prevalent among 

 large prize Gooseberries, many bushes not affording a single 

 sound berry ; the smaller kinds have not suffered so much. 

 A collection of Gooseberries forms an interesting feature in a 

 fruit garden. Many of them are without doubt comparatively 

 worthless when ripe, yet all are useful in the green state. 

 From upwards of a hundred varieties I may select Early 

 Sulphur, Ironmonger, Warrington, Keens' Seedling, Dan's 

 Mistake, a fine, large, red kind, of good flavour, and not apt 

 to crack ; Langley Park Green, White Raspberry, Green Wal- 

 nut, Pitmaston Green Gage, Overall, Red Champagne, and 

 Roseberry, 



Cherbies. — Among fruits of loftier growth none are more 

 easily cultivated than Cherries, for no matter what may be the 

 nature of the soil, if it only possesses ordinary fertility the 

 Cherry will flourish in it and yield abundant crops. Unfortu- 

 nately there are two evils from which its fruit is particularly 

 liable to suffer — the birds and rain. For the rain there is no 

 remedy, but the ravages of birds are easily avoided by the use 

 of Haythorn's netting, which is decidedly preferable to the 

 fish netting, being more durable, and keeping out small insects 

 as well as birds. In order to render this valuable means of 

 protection available a comparatively dwarf mode of culture, 

 either bush or pyramidal, must be adopted, preference being 

 usually given to the latter form as the most productive in a 

 given space, trees of 12 or 14 feet being as readily screened as 

 others of half that height. The best, most useful, and cer- 

 tainly most attractive way of doing this is to plant two parallel 

 rows, and about 10 feet apart, with a path between the rows ; 

 the netting is then easily put over the whole of the trees, 

 stretched upon a slight wooden frame, thus forming in favour- 

 able seasons a charming avenue, equally useful and orna- 

 mental. The netting should not rest upon the soil, but 

 should have a neat calico binding along the bottom, with 

 small brass rings at regular intervals, by which it is attached 



